The Fortress of Egilsten

Population: ~5,500 dwarves
Ruler: Prince Berja Gunnirsson Egilir
Thanes: Ingrid Alfarsdottir Alring, Jari Jarisson Falengr, Agil Eivarsson Harfangr, Byrni Magrsson Steinson, Grimmir Ormirsson Jyrar
Clans: Egilir (noble), Alring, Falengr, Harfangr, Steinson, Jyrar

Egilsten stands at the extreme north end of the Goblin Country, between that awful land, the giant-haunted plains of Umbrinol, and the ruinous empire of the necromancers, Teral. It was founded in the Ninth Age by the dwarf Egil Grimmson, who still stands as a folk hero to the dwarves of Egilsten to this day. Though the fortress has no colony stone, it sends tribute to the Rikonung of the Dwarves as though it were a recognized colony.

The fortress at Egilsten's heart is built on a rocky promontory overlooking the Bluerill River. This promontory commands the fords at the southern end of Riverwood Forest, and passage is impossible for many rods to the north or south, giving Egilsten control over the river-crossing. The fortress itself is old hewn rock, cut from the bowels of the hill; granite cliffs face the river and the town below, while a winding path on the northern side of the slopes permits entry to the stronghold. It has seen little use in recent centuries, as few have been foolish enough to attack Egilsten. The dwarves, somewhat uncharacteristically, have permitted moss to grow along its walls and partially obscure it from a distance.

The town proper sits around the base of the hill, and is ringed on three sides by a mighty wall, and to the east by the river. A statue of Egil Grimmson stands athwart the courtyard of the fortress, visible from everywhere in the town. There are six major dwarven clans, and thus six clan-halls clustered within the walls. As is true of most green dwarf settlements, there are a number of temples in the town, but none so well-placed as that of Eiri Earthfather at base of the approach to the fortress, or the one to Helda Stonemother at the only entryway through the walls, on their south side.

A secondary town of some 1,200 halflings and 800 rock gnomes has grown up around the fords, outside the walls of Egilsten proper. The dwarves consider these quaint little houses to be under their protection, and visit fire and blade upon any who disturb their wards. The gnomes and halflings are permitted to elect their own mayor and do most of the dwarves' trading for them; this trade settlement is known as Tjaldgul, which means gold-market in Orthr. The halflings and gnomes generally refer to their town as Toggilford, but this is a corruption of the dwarven name.

The dwarves of Egilsten have fought for the halflings of Umbrinol in the past, and are considered consummate mercenaries. Ingrid Alfarsdottir, the Thane of Clan Alring, has been on many campaigns in the west and south.

Aurelien Greenmantle and his murderous band of goblin-killers has often made use of Egilsten as a resting and restocking point. The Toggil Inn has thus been improved with the use of stolen goblin gold, and now stands as a major traffic point between Teral and Umbrinol.

The Conquests of Essad

In the year 505 of the Tenth Age, Essad was wracked by slave uprisings, rebellions, and war. By early 506, Soloth had declared war and the Agricon was flooded with slave-armies from either side. It seemed clear that Hyrek Thur's loose coalition of High Masters would collapse and plunge Essad back into the lawless nightmare from which it had emerged. However, throughout the course of that year the Rex Exactor relied heavily on the rise of a new generation of adventurers in the Slaver-Kingdom. With great acuity, he funded no less than twelve groups of murderers, some of whom wound up killing each other. With the aid of the Dogs in the capital, the Cowled Hunters in the north, the Slavekillers in the littoral, and a number of other lesser-known groups, he managed to retain control of the kingdom.

The rebellion was badly hurt when one of its leaders, a slave named Ajax, was captured and executed on the fighting sand by none other than the Exactor's most famous Dog, Oloz. However, nearing the end of 506, Oloz and the Dogs of the Exactor turned on their master and caused a disaster in Thurayn: destroying the House of Ashad, and bringing the wrath of Vodei upon the entire city. It was flooded with black rain. The Dogs all but vanished, fleeing to Portomagno, Dorlan, to escape the consequences of their treachery.

But the Exactor did not rely on merely those untrustworthy mercenaries. In the time that the adventurers were helping secure political stability in Essad by, for example, rooting out such traitors as Sabius Omm and the Seftere Masters, the Rex Exactor also secured a lasting relationship with the Fire Giants of Pernag.

When the giants came to the field, the slaves could not resist them. The rebellion was ended in a bloody purge, annihilating the old High House of Seftere and securing the undivided loyalty of the other High Masters. In place of the Seftere, the Exactor offered a position of High Mastership to the Solothan wizard Drozon the Red, who had taken up residence in Essad's capital city. Though he was also a member of the ruling council of Kallatha, City of the Wyrm-King, Drozon accepted and used his magical might to back the Essadi armies on the Agricon.

The Solothans crumbled and, through a series of clever maneuvers, the Exactor's agents triumphed on the field. Soloth was quickly humiliated and Kallatha was forced to sign a treaty granting Essad mastership over all former territories of that city. Within months, Solothans were being put in chains to serve Essad. Many former Solothan overlords and overseers joined the Iron Guard out of fear.

After the failed Solothan invasion, Essad lay dormant for several years. In early 509, swollen with new slaves and wizards, the Rex Exactor launched a series of attacks on Teral and Dorlan. The Dorlish Invasion has conquered most of northern Llun, and Teral capitulated prince by prince. Now, Essad controls much of the north in a grand new Slaver-Empire. The Rex Exactor has appointed governors over all of Teral, and Dorlan now suffers an attack on two fronts: from the Teralian March and the mountains of Llun. Essad is poised to conquer most of the Cloud Sea Coast.

The Sworn Princes

Before the collapse of Old Teral, there was a great and powerful elf-city called Gwydarliu, which men called Cathadria, within its borders. Though the Cathadrians resisted their conquest for many years, eventually they yielded to the Teralian general Archetor the Strider. These were the days before Teral's obsession with their mortuary cult reached its peak, and the elves were content to serve their distant master at Thalon.

In the years after Alanus the Fat's accession to the Imperial Throne of Teral, worship of the Necromancer began to spread. This was the time of the first Sworn Prince, Tywyn Lorianal of Gwydarliu. He pledged his service to Alanus, though the emperor was a reckless worshipper of the Necromancer Tharus. This began the long and awful decline of Cathadria, leading to its eventual depopulation when the Social War destroyed most of Teralian civil society.

Lorianal was succeeded by Oberys and Dorolien. Together, they have become known as the Sworn Princes. Their names are accursed for their complicity in the sins of Teral, never to be forgotten by the elves of Iiriem and the other nearby kingdoms for their crimes.

The Sworn Princes also ruled territory beyond the West Wall: a vassal-kingdom of elves called Seinaria, which means "beyond the wall" in Elvish. This kingdom was the retreat of the Sworn Princes. Though Lorianal is entombed beneath Cathadria itself, both Oberys and Dorolien were built great crypts in Seinaria, which now stands as a goblin-haunted ruin.

Myth and legend still surrounds the Sworn Princes as figures of great darkness: elves who sold the souls of their people for peace, security, and prosperity.