If you were to pass beyond the borders and into
Ironm1;1ster itself, you would behold one of the won-
ders of the world. The great Shaengarne river rushes
through a deep canyon of rock and ice in a series of
cascades and waterfalls, throwing up freezing froth as
it bashes against massive spires of rock that rise from
the riverbed. Ironmaster is built in these spires and
into the walls of the canyon, the tunnels and towers
strung together by high bridges and cliff-side walkways.
To hear Storn talk of the place, you would think that
dwarves scrabbling about at such heights through the
open air was as normal as badgers in a burrow, but I
don't mind saying I set aside my ale after he spoke of it.
Ironmaster owes its existence to the restlessness of
Ilgostrogue Sstar, who left Citadel Adbar long ago with
nearly a quarter of the population of the North kingdom,
headed for what is now Mirabar. By all accounts he was
mad, and hoped to extend a dwarven empire to the sea.
Once there, and settled, he grew restless again, and
headed farther west with his troop, finally settling his
nerves in sight of the sea over the Shaengarne River.
There the dwarf leader died, and his heir demanded that
the folk that followed him build a settlement in tribute
to Clanmaster Sstar's grand vision of a dwarven empire.
The dwarves found extensive deposits of iron in the
hills surrounding their valley, and so named their city
Ironmaster.
Ironmaster proved true to its name, and the dwarves
have been tunneling out under to tundra for centuries,
following the veins of metal. This brought them into
contact with duergar of the Deepkingdom a generation
back, and Ironmaster has been at war with them ever
since. Storn was himself a veteran of many battles for
tunnel territory, and despite being so young that not
a hair of his beard was white, his knowledge of tun-
nel-fighting tactics rivaled my own.
Their war with the duergar isn't Ironmaster's only
secret, however. My friend Storn wielded two silvered
axes, as befits any devote follower of Clangeddin Silver-
beard, but when I returned to him an axe he had thrown
in the heat of battle, I noted its remarkable weight, and
Storn told me that the blade was not steel beneath, but
adamantine. I questioned him more about this, and
his readiness to tell me of its origin speaks to both
the abundance of adamantine among the Ironmaster
dwarves and of my friend's innocence about the wider
world. Apparently, the dragon-worshiping humans of the
distant island of Tuern have long given raw adamantite
mined from their island to the smiths of Ironmaster,
and they render finished works of adamantine back to
the Northlanders in return. Of course, not all the ada-
mantine makes it back to the Northlanders, but since
the humans are ignorant of the means of forging ada-
mantine, they are likely none the wiser. What a trove of
arms and armor must lie hidden beyond Ironmaster's
borders! Ah well, surely they put it to good use against
the duergar.
I don't think Storn will mind my sharing his city's
secrets. You can go and ask him if you like. He'll no
doubt enjoy another little "vacation" from the war in
the tunnels.
MITHRAL HALL
The ancestral home of Clan Battlehammer, Mithra!
Hall was a place of great potential wealth when it was
founded in the days of Old Delzoun. Dwarves of Clan
Battlehammer left Citadel Adbar, heading west in the
hope of finding mithral deposits hidden in the south-
ern spurs of the Spine of the World. These they found,
and so began the delving of Mithra! Hall, with Clan
Ironshield founding Settlestone nearby as a means of
buffering the market for the products of the hall's ore.
Mithra! Hall enjoyed centuries of profit before its delv-
ing permitted the shadow dragon, Shimmergloom, to
break through into the world. A settlement of thousands
was reduced to fewer than three hundred-all of them
too young, too old, too weak, or too ill to fight-who fled
to Settlestone. There, they waited for months for word
from King Garumn that their lands were again safe.
When messengers to the city didn't return, it was clear
that Mithra! Hall had been lost, and its dwarves headed
north, first to Ironmaster, where they were treated with
such distrust that they couldn't remain, and then to
Icewind Dale.
When Garumn's grandson, Bruenor, was old enough,
and sure of his path, he gathered allies to retake his
former homeland, and went on a great many adven-
tures with the group later known as the Companions
of the Hall. At the end, Bruenor slew the dragon
Shimmergloom and reclaimed Mithra! Hall for Clan
Battlehammer after almost two centuries.
After Bruenor regained the throne, his personal friends
attracted some powerful enemies to Mithra! Hall, includ-
ing the drow of Menzoberranzan. This is one reason, his
supporters claim, that the king abdicated in favor of his
ancestor Gandalug Battlehammer: to protect the people
from his personal enemies. Some of Bruenor's detractors
claim it was wanderlust that made him leave, but none
will bother (or dare) to ask him. In any case, when Ganda-
lug died, Bruenor did his duty and resumed the throne.
Before Bruenor died, he was instrumental in gaining
dwarven support for the Treaty of Garumn's Gorge,
which brought peace between the dwarves and the
ore Kingdom of Many-Arrows. When the ores, in time,
broke their treaty and made war on the North, he
returned from the dead almost as though he had been
summoned to rally the dwarves to defend themselves
and punish their enemies. Some say he delayed receiv-
ing the rewards of Moradin's own Dwarfhome to return
and aid his fellows and kinsfolk. Such sacrifice, such
loyalty, makes a dwarf king worthy of the crown.
Bruenor Battlehammer, the Eighth and Tenth and
Thirteen King of Mithra! Hall, no longer leads Mithra!
Hall or the Battlehammer dwarves that live there.
Since his return to life, he has refocused his attention
on Gauntlgrym, and doesn't claim the kingship of his
former home. Instead, the crown has been offered to
General Dagnabbet Waybeard, granddaughter of Brue-
nor's ally, the great general Dagna.
When last I visited Mithra! Hall a few years ago, I
passed through the rebuilt ruin of Settlestone, where a
garrison of two hundred stands to protect the approach
to the Mithra! Hall. Once I reached the gates, the