Earthfast

Athelmist

Bronzehammer

Hammerhand

Hillsafar

Ironaxe

Grimshield

Moonstar

Orothiar

Rolidar

Shattered Shield

Namarforge

-1197

The lackluster King Uindolfin Hillsafar of Sarphillar is killed whilst practicing with the ruler's throwing hammer. Bashing his own brains out the unfortunate king is quickly interred and his successor, the charismatic and flamboyant Prince Pyradar Hillsafar is elected the next King of Sarphillar.

-1195

With the encouragement and financial support of King Pyradar, dozens of heavily armed mining expeditions depart Mount Ironaxe for the southern Earthfast Mountains in search of new delves and holdings. One expedition led by the king's own brother, Garunn Hillsafar, discovers massive deposits of magnetite, iridium, and mithricite ore beneath "the Red Sisters", a trio of jagged peaks separated by a sharp gorge cleft formed by a meteoric impact. The first delve, beneath the central peak is dubbed Earthfast and Garunn becomes its first Duke or Ironlord.

-1190

The First Tornskulls War is fought in the Earthfast Mountains as the resident orcs mass together to drive out the newly entrenched dwarves from Earthfast. The Tornskulls horde is ultimately repulsed at the first gate of Earthfast with their Over King Llorkh perishing in personal combat against the Ironlord's bodyguard, Garandur Hammerhand. As a result, Clan Hammerhand is elevated to the preeminence of the Hammerhand Legion, forming the core of Earthfast's fighting force. The first gate of Earthfast earns the nickname of the "Black Gate" for the amount of orc blood spilled upon its walls.

Construction is begun upon the third and second gates of Earthfast, dubbed the "Hammer" and "Anvil" respectively as their overlapping fields of fire are designed to smash any dark horde between them.

-1186

The Second Tornskulls War is fought at the foot of Earthfast as the desperate goblinoids of the Earthfast attempt to destroy the dwarven hold before work on the secondary defenses can be completed. Despite the recruitment of a tribe of mountain ogres, construction on the gates is merely delayed. The ensuing decimation of the population of goblinoids in the Earthfast Mountains sets any further horde formation back by generations.

-1125

In praise of the dwarven victories during the First and Second Tornskull Wars, Ironlord Garunn commissions the beginning of a secondary delve into the easternmost of the Red Sisters as a site of sacred dedication to Clangeddin Silverbeard. When complete, the hold, called the Alagh Rorncaurak, or Battlecavern of Unquenched Valor, will be connected to the central city of Earthfast by a single bridge across the gorge carved in the likeness of the pointing arm of the god of valor and will form a network of internal fortresses around a natural cavern at the root of the mountain.

-810

The Ice Way – the main subterranean trade way linking northern and southern Sarphillar is cut by the sudden emergence of tens of thousands of goblinoids and their demon tainted masters. King Starag orders the sealing of the passageways south and begins fortifying the paths and tunnels leading north to his realm. A trade portal is established between the cities of Mount Suncatcher and Earthfast thus negating the relative threat posed to trade by the ever increasing orcs.

-775 DR

The Ironhammer and Thunderfist legions of Sarphil begin a systematic extermination of the orcs beneath their lands. The highly mechanized nature of their attacks more than balances their vastly inferior numbers. In a few short months 100,000 orcs and their demon kin are slain and the orcish Over King Gargendar is slain. With the dwarves offensive driving the orcs south deep into the central Earthspurs, the elves of Lisenar come under increasing pressure from the east.

-700

–153

With ever increasing numbers of dwarves being born in southern Sarphillar and the principality of Earthfast, King Ulric signs a charter leading to the founding of the city and port of Proeskampalar. The city quickly becomes an important trading partner of Westgate due to an influx of refugees from fallen Jhaamdath. The city grows rapidly standing as it does near the greatest ruby, emerald, sapphire and diamond mines on the North Coast. From its earliest days, the city is known for its skilled goldsmiths and gem-cutters.

610

Led by forces of Mad Queen Hathlia the dwarves of Sarphillar conquer the lands of the Vast, overcoming Grimmerfang and his orcs. The victorious dwarves drive the orcs far to the north and south into the mountain heights. Claiming all the Vast as their own, the dwarves found a surface kingdom. “The Realm of Glimmering Swords”, dwarven songs call it, though it also has a less grand, everyday name: Roldilar. In a slap in the face to the queen and her northern court the nobles and thanes of the south secede proclaiming their independence from the ancient and corrupt northern realm.

Rolidars’ dwarves build themselves stone towers and bring herds of sheep, goats, and shaggy-hair cattle up from the lands south across the Inner Sea to roam the rolling grasslands cleared by the orcs. The dwarves devote themselves to drinking (concocting fiery, legendary potables to do so), mining, and the making of wondrous armor, finery, adornments, and weaponry.

611

With support from the Ironlord of Earthfast, the dwarven city of Sarbreen – the City of the Hammer is built upon the southern coast of Vastar at the mouth of the Fire River. This dwarven city becomes a beacon of free trade throughout the Selu’marrar.

649

Orcish numbers again reach plague numbers and all too soon, they rise again, and the surface dwarven kingdom of Rolidar vanishes like an elephant swarmed by a million ants. Without the support of the Thunderhammer Legion of Sarphillar the dwarven defenses are broken by defeats at the fords of the Vesper and in the Battle of Deepfires, a long and bloody fight that rages throughout the underground ways of Mount Grimmerfang for nearly twenty days.

In the aftermath of this disaster, the weakened dwarves retreat east and overseas southwards. A number of dwarven clans flee under the earth, while other craftsmen and non-combatants migrate to Myth Drannor. Humans remain and fight the orcs to retain their new homes. Sarbreen is abandoned. Orcs promptly pillage and burn the fallen city, and its ruins become the haunt of monsters, pirates, and brigands; heaps of stone rubble above ground and a maze of abandoned dwarven tunnels and chambers below.

The walled city of Ylraphon is again reduced to rubble by a lengthy siege that is only broken by the use of a giant bull headed demon to crack the gates. Almost every warrior is slain defending those people fleeing through various portals and underground passages into the northern marshes and to the hidden city of Lisen.

732

Earthfast weapon-smiths were commissioned to forge the Greatsword of Impiltur to mark the coronation of King Sarshel the True of neighboring Impiltur.

734

The Greatsword of Impiltur is finally finished in time for the coronation of the son of Sarshel "the True", Halanter I.

In recompense for the delay, Ironlord Barundar mac Idrinpresented Halanter with Sarghathuld, a legendary sword of the fallen dwarven realm of Roldilar. Sarghathuld would lie in Impiltur's Royal Vaults, while the Greatsword of Impiltur became Halanter's ceremonial sword of state. King Halanter became the first Impilturan ruler to make a pact with the dwarves of Earthfast. Halanter was known as Arausamman, or "Great Friend", to the dwarves of Earthfast for centuries to come.

1090

When the dust and din of battle clears and the mighty horde is no more tens of thousands and dwarves, humans and elves lay dead upon the field. Buried in great barrows amongst the countless by the survivors is Queen Nilythra II Namarforge and buried with her is Gorathmund. With Nilythra’s death and the loss of the Gorathmund, the ruling dynasty of Sarphillar is no more. Despite countless expiditions by dwarves with claims to the ancient throne, without the Ruler's Hammer none can ever claim the throne and the mighty kingdom soon splinters into individual halls and holds with the fading Principality of Earthfast being the biggest remaining remnant of a once proud empire.

1345

The ruling Ironlord Torg mac Cei's queen-consort perishes in battle with with goblinoids.

1359

Fighting as a common mercenary in disguise, Alusair Obarskyr, Princess of Cormyr earns the respect of the dwarven folk of Earthfast fighting in the Twilight War against the goblinoids of the Earthfast Mountains. She earns the nickname the "Mithril Princess" before they ever learn her true identity.

1360

Earthfast was the first to respond via letter to King Azoun IV's call for a crusade against the Tuigan Horde, with Ironlord Torg committing 2,000 dwarven soldiers to the Army of the Alliance. This helped sway other allies to the cause.

The Alliance was victorious but Ironlord Torg was slain by the Tuigan Khahan, Hoekun Yamun in the final battle. The dwarves interred their dead and Ironlord Torg in a stone cairn on the battlefield, and left the next day. They returned to Earthfast and their isolation and did not seek increased relations with the neighboring states.

1369

Resurgent orcs launched wave after wave of attacks on Earthfast, particularly against Alagh Rorncaurak, the cavern and temple of Clangeddin. The dwarves of Clan Hammerhand were much-needed reinforcements, and their assistance gave the dwarves time to fortify the temple's defenses.