A Survey of Brogendenstein

~Transcribed from writings of Amy Silverscales-Dizonne~

Umbrick’s Halls were not always so dark. Years and years ago, not many less than a century at the time of this writing, Umbrick at the peak of the Spires was a peaceful place for the dwarf-folk. This in the days of Before Reckoning (BR). Duty, honour and endurance, amongst other noble values, were of the custom and creed of the samman (dwarves) there. But as in all things, the hearts of mortals are easily deceived. Greed crept into the hearts of the dwarves.

The dwarves dug too deep. In search of riches in gems and mithril, they awoke something in the dark. They stumbled across the halls of their darker, deeper cousins- the duergar. The gate emerged, dividing Umbrick’s Halls, and war ensued between the distant kin.

The duergar were elated by the wealth of Umbrick’s Halls. And driven by a darker force of greed, began making secret deals. The dark dwarves knew of the weakness of their surface cousins. In the dark, they made deals, until one dwarf of Umbrick finally succumbed. One night, he awoke and crept through the halls to unlock the Great Gate. His reward, was a swift death. The duergar army broke into the night, killing and slaughtering all they came across. But there were some who resisted- and our story begins there, with the legendary Belrun Battlehammer.

Belrun Battlehammer was the stout son of a wealthy nobleman, and had some blood ties to the King of Umbrick’s Halls. When the surprise invasion alerted Belrun from his bed, he gathered who he could and led a counter-attack. He was successful, if only barely. The Halls were overrun and he saw the carnage.

He and his company true to him swathed their way through the duergar and dashed from the halls. Battlehammer grieved for the last of his home, but he knew he could establish them elsewhere, so his fellows might know some peace.

Farther down the mountainside did he establish the Golden Halls of Brogendenstein.

Due to the valorous acts of Belrun Battlehammer and the wisdom he exuded throughout his conduct, he was declared the First King of the Golden Halls of Brogendenstein. Battlehammer knew, however, that in this time of weakness and retreat, he could not stand alone. In a moment of prayer to the great Moradin, he saw two figures to either side of the Dwarf-father- Yondolla and Garl Glittergold.

Battlehammer turned to the fledgling Fort Bendir, where Maliss Silverfist was beginning the work of Yondolla’s children. (sidenote: Maliss Silverfist was Mayor of Bendir before Lincoln Ambliss, which dates would date the reign of Silverfist before 10 AR. If this is the case, we can deduce that the fall of Umbrick is at least around the beginning of Arelith Reckoning, if not later.)

Working with Silverfist, Battlehammer secured the Earthkin Alliance. It was a defensive treaty established by the children of Moradin, Glittergold and Yondolla to unite the ‘earthkin’ together in times of great peril, and when pressed by dire threats. Notably, Stonehold, Morghunn, and other nefarious groups.

King Battlehammer forever lived in the shadow of the great Spires, and oft his eyes were adrift to its peak, to the Halls of Umbrick and his forefathers. He led many a-great sojourns there, in order to reclaim his lost crown. But none of them ever succeeded.

Battlehammer sent out a call to the east, to a dwarf amongst a clan who he had long respected. Gorann Bloodletter heard the cry of Belrun Battlehammer, and amidst strife and war amongst Clan Bloodletter, he answered the call and came to the hold of Brogendenstein.

King Battlehammer taught Gorann everything, and treated the dwarf like his own son. While the First King was wise and virtuous, his heart lay in Umbrick. In sudden action, did he pass along the Crown of the Golden Halls to Gorann ‘Scar’ Bloodletter. Belrun Battlehammer, an old dwarf by then, set off to the Halls of Umbrick to find his lost crown. Alone he went, testing the darkness of the Depths, and not even the bards now know of what happened there…

King Bloodletter, the Second King of Brogendenstein, worked hard to continue the legacy of his predecessor. King Bloodletter worked with Lincoln Ambliss of Bendir to maintain and uphold the Earthkin Alliance. He maintained the legacy and honourable virtue of Umbrick’s Hall, and for many a-year did he reign with a just and peaceful hand.

But soon his heart was torn with duty- duty to Brogendenstein, duty to his old friend Belrun, and duty to his clan in the east, who were still at war. In the end, his ancestors took precedence and so he passed along the Crown of the Golden Halls to Maxkar Delinar – the most significant mistake of the Second King of Brogendenstein. Maxkar Delinar now holds the heinous title of the ‘Do Nothing King’.

Under the rule of the Third King of Brogendenstein, King Delinar, the dwarves of the Golden Halls were unmoving. They acted only at the last instance and no initiative was ever shown under the reign of Delinar.

~ Ser Nelehein of Impiltur, Sage-Knight of the Road and Last of the Great Skalds of Impiltur, 73 AR