Secret of Pax Tharkas
Page 36
And beyond the mountain dwarves, the true historian cannot ignore the Neidar, the hill dwarves. Indistinguishable from each other by appearance, the hill dwarves are descendants of dwarves who long ago chose to live on the surface of the world rather than underneath it. Because of this, the Neidar are more dispersed than the mountain dwarves. They lack any concentrated nation along the lines of Kayolin or Thorbardin, and the hill dwarves live in many parts of the world, usually in towns or villages that are nominally independent, but sometimes these communities become part of whatever surrounding surface nation, usually human-controlled, in which they find themselves.
The three major dwarven realms of the world, which in the past were linked through trade, culture, and easy land routes of travel, were divided by the Cataclysm. The dwarves of the Khalkist, in the rugged mountains south of Sanction, were essentially cut off from all contact with the two other great dwarven kingdoms. It was the expedition of the Mad Prophet, Severus Stonehand, who brought dwarf culture back to the First Home. Though the Daewar exiles face many challenges, including fiery mountains and hostile neighbors, they strive to forge a new nation upon the ruins of the old.
My initial studies concerning Kayolin have been limited by a lack of access. However, it is known that the dwarven nation under the Garnet range has been spared much of the tumult that has rocked Thorbardin. Ruled by a governor who is technically subordinate to the high king in Thorbardin, Kayolin has been a de facto independent state since the time of the Cataclysm. Prior to that devastating event, much overland trade linked the two nations. But with the creation of the Newsea, the land connection between Kayolin and Thorbardin was severed, and with it most communication and virtually all trade between these two hallowed lands ceased.
Still, Kayolin is known to be involved in affairs of Northern Ansalon, including having forged at least a loose alliance with the empire of Solamnia. That dwarven realm is the source of the highest-quality steel in the world, and its mines, delving ever deeper, continue to tap into the closely held mineral wealth of Krynn. Its great city, Garnet Thax, is a wonder of subterranean architecture, with its many levels arrayed around the virtually bottomless shaft know as the Governor’s Atrium.
Lacking contact with the other dwarven realms, some Kayolin dwarves have advocated complete independence. I have a report from a reliable source that the governor has taken to calling himself “king” and that Kayolin no longer views itself as a member of the greater dwarf society. I have been unable to confirm this information with my own observations, but events have conspired to make it possible for me to visit Kayolin sometime in the near future.
In Thorbardin itself, the kingdom has been usurped. The former thane of the Hylar, the last legitimately appointed high king in all dwarvendom, was Tarn Bellowgranite. He was driven from his realm by a revolution led by another Hylar, Jungor Stonespringer. With several hundred followers, Bellowgranite withdrew to the fortress of Pax Tharkas, where he is expected to live out his days.
The fanatical dwarves who ejected him seem determined to turn their backs upon the world. They have sealed both of the great gates that connected Thorbardin to the outside world. Foreign dwarves and the rare representatives of other races were simply rounded up and, in many cases, executed. This is the harsh truth of Thorbardin today: it is a nation, and a people, which has completely and utterly turned its back upon the rest of the world.
One day, however, that world may come and find them.
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