The Blood Age

The Blood Age

Written by: Valen Grandaxe

The following story is taken from a tome of the Runelords which offers detail to the full extent of 'The Great Collapse' and the true nature of dwarven government before the fourteenth century. By the year 1254, in times remembered only by the oldest of dwarves living today, there occurred a pivotal event in dwarven history known as ‘The Great Collapse.’ Emperor Thorgarn Ironborn, the ruler and heir of the Ironborn Dynasty ruled over the Empire of Khorvad with an iron fist, leading a race of dwarves who had slowly become divided by cultural differences. Early in its reign, the Grandaxes and Frostbeards, mighty dwarves of the icy northern mountain ranges, refused the rule of the Emperor and instead made their own lives as exiles, living in great holds carved from wood and stone. Even the forest dwarves refused to live under the rule of cave dwarves and were persecuted and hunted down by their own kin until they faced near annihilation. The Dynasty kept a tight control over its inhabitants and had their Empire stretch across the lands from the city of Kal’Urguan to the far reaches of eastern Aegis. Beneath them stood clans who out of either fear or greed would aid the Empire in times of war. Society was cruel and unforgiving with public executions and show trials held regularly for any who posed a possible threat to the Emperor. Any public opposition was stamped out quickly, the only knowledge of times before the Dynasty being held within ancient scrolls of the Clergy. During the ‘Great Collapse,’ scholars and elders of the dwarves were rounded up and publicly executed for what were claimed to have been heretical writings against the Empire. These scrolls were burnt and all knowledge of past ages lost as an attempt to purge any unwanted information from the Empire.

In years prior to the Empire, Runesmithing had been used by the dwarves as a force of good, passed down from generation to generation descending from Urguan himself. Always throughout history, a Triumvirate of Runelords had managed its use, ensuring that it would never be abused for personal gain. Knowing the nature of the Empire, the Triumvirate had gone into hiding, fearing what would happen if the full extent of this knowledge was spread. However, the Runelords had already made sure to pass down much of the knowledge to their closest of kin. Dwarves were forced to give up what knowledge they had while those who refused were swiftly executed. Alas, the damage was already done and the Ironborn utilised what little knowledge they had possessed, with devastating effect upon the dwarven populace. Kin slaying became a common practise, with the experimentation of grotesque and blasphemous flesh runes. The weak were enslaved, under fear of torture if they were to ever attempt escape and Thorgarn quickly became known as the cruelest of his line. After the ‘Great Collapse,’ the largest and most destructive civil war in dwarven history ensued. Long had opposition been forming against Thorgarn’s rule and so too that of his father and older brother. Rumours had often spread that Thorgarn himself had murdered his own brother in order to leave himself the only true heir to the Dynasty. After the massacres and dishonourable acts made against their own kin, it wasn’t long before opposition would take action. Far to the north, clans of all creeds and cultures gathered at the summit of Mount Arvas, where hundreds of years prior, ancient Mountain Dwarves had defeated the immortal, Ondnarch. Here, many elder clans including the Grandaxes, Frostbeads and Ironguts united to form the Remnant of Urguan, aiming to restore the old ways set out at the start of time by the father of all dwarves, Urguan. At its head was Simmpa, a cave dwarf in exile who had witnessed first hand the crimes of the Ironborn. No longer would dwarves stand idly by as their home was ruled by kin slayers. In time, the horns of war would sound and from the north came a vast alliance of clans, each under a banner of freedom and justice. Yet they would show no mercy to those who remained loyal to the Empire and hundreds upon thousands of dwarves lost their lives throughout the course of the war, lasting just over thirty years. By that time, the Ironborn were surrounded, barricaded away in the grand halls of Kal’Urguan, knowing only too well what would happen if they were caught trying to escape. They would fight until their last dying breath and so when the city was sieged, it was Simmpa himself who met the Emperor in battle. Before the throne of Urguan, they would duel to the death. Of course, it was Simmpa who gained the upper hand and in the end, he who beheaded the Emperor and claimed Kal’Urguan as his own. Henceforth, a new Kingdom was forged from the ashes of the old Empire and the name Khorvad shunned from history forevermore.

During the course of the war, many dwarves were familiar with the art of Runesmithing and its abuse was largely to blame for the mass murder of many elders and scholars who had written texts presenting an unfavourable view of the Dynasty. In order to combat this, a select cult of Runesmiths forged a secret society, in order to protect the last remnants of the ancient art. Continuing the old traditions of the Triumvirate, they would pass it down from ancestor to ancestor, bound by a blood oath never to use it as a means of furthering personal or clan related goals. Never again would it be the cause of such great destruction as had come during the Blood Age.