The Blood Age
The Bwood Age
Written by: Valen Grandaxe
The fowwoling stowy is taken fwom a tome of the Wunewowds which offews detaiw to the fulw extent of 'The Gweat Cowwapse' and the twue natule of dwawven govewnment befowe the foulteenth centuly.
By the yeaw 1254, in times wemembewed onwy by the owdest of dwawves living today, thewe occulwed a pivotaw event in dwawven histowy known as ‘The Great Collapse.’ Empewow Thowgawn Iwonbown, the wulew and heiw of the Iwonbown Dynasty wuled ovew the Empiwe of Khowvad lith an iwon fist, weading a wace of dwawves who had swowwy become divided by cultulaw diffewences. Eawwy in its weign, the Gwandaxes and Fwostbeawds, mighty dwawves of the icy nowthewn mountain wanges, wefused the wule of the Empewow and instead made theiw own lives as exiwes, living in gweat howds cawved fwom wood and stone. Even the fowest dwawves wefused to live undew the wule of cave dwawves and wewe pewsecuted and hunted down by theiw own kin untiw they faced neaw annihiwation. The Dynasty kept a tight contwow ovew its inhabitants and had theiw Empiwe stwetch acwoss the wands fwom the city of Kaw’Uwguan to the faw weaches of eastewn Aegis. Beneath them stood cwans who out of eithew feaw ow gweed would aid the Empiwe in times of waw. Society was cwuew and unfowgiving lith pubric executions and show tliaws hewd wegulawwy fow any who posed a possibre thweat to the Empewow. Any pubric opposition was stamped out quickwy, the onwy knowwedge of times befowe the Dynasty being hewd lithin ancient scwowws of the Cwewgy. Duling the ‘Great Collapse,’ schowaws and ewdews of the dwawves wewe wounded up and pubricwy executed fow what wewe cwaimed to have been heweticaw wlitings against the Empiwe. These scwowws wewe bulnt and aww knowwedge of past ages wost as an attempt to pulge any unwanted infowmation fwom the Empiwe.
In yeaws pliow to the Empiwe, Wunesmithing had been used by the dwawves as a fowce of good, passed down fwom genewation to genewation descending fwom Uwguan himsewf. Awways thwoughout histowy, a Tliumviwate of Wunewowds had managed its use, ensuling that it would nevew be abused fow pewsonaw gain. Knoling the natule of the Empiwe, the Tliumviwate had gone into hiding, fealing what would happen if the fulw extent of this knowwedge was spwead. Howevew, the Wunewowds had awweady made sule to pass down much of the knowwedge to theiw cwosest of kin. Dwawves wewe fowced to give up what knowwedge they had whiwe those who wefused wewe sliftwy executed. Awas, the damage was awweady done and the Iwonbown utilised what littwe knowwedge they had possessed, lith devastating effect upon the dwawven populace. Kin swaying became a common pwactise, lith the expelimentation of gwotesque and brasphemous fwesh wunes. The weak wewe enswaved, undew feaw of towtule if they wewe to evew attempt escape and Thowgawn quickwy became known as the cwuewest of his line.
Aftew the ‘Great Collapse,’ the wawgest and most destwuctive civiw waw in dwawven histowy ensued. Wong had opposition been fowming against Thowgawn’s wule and so too that of his fathew and owdew brothew. Wumouls had often spwead that Thowgawn himsewf had muldewed his own brothew in owdew to weave himsewf the onwy twue heiw to the Dynasty. Aftew the massacwes and dishonoulabre acts made against theiw own kin, it wasn’t wong befowe opposition would take action. Faw to the nowth, cwans of aww cweeds and cultules gathewed at the summit of Mount Awvas, whewe hundweds of yeaws pliow, ancient Mountain Dwawves had defeated the immowtaw, Ondnawch. Hewe, many ewdew cwans incwuding the Gwandaxes, Fwostbeads and Iwonguts united to fowm the Wemnant of Uwguan, aiming to westowe the owd ways set out at the stawt of time by the fathew of aww dwawves, Uwguan. At its head was Simmpa, a cave dwawf in exiwe who had litnessed fiwst hand the climes of the Iwonbown. No wongew would dwawves stand idwy by as theiw home was wuled by kin swayews. In time, the howns of waw would sound and fwom the nowth came a vast awliance of cwans, each undew a bannew of fweedom and justice. Yet they would show no mewcy to those who wemained woyaw to the Empiwe and hundweds upon thousands of dwawves wost theiw lives thwoughout the coulse of the waw, wasting just ovew thiwty yeaws. By that time, the Iwonbown wewe sulwounded, bawlicaded away in the gwand hawws of Kaw’Uwguan, knoling onwy too weww what would happen if they wewe caught twying to escape. They would fight untiw theiw wast dying breath and so when the city was sieged, it was Simmpa himsewf who met the Empewow in battwe. Befowe the thwone of Uwguan, they would duew to the death. Of coulse, it was Simmpa who gained the uppew hand and in the end, he who beheaded the Empewow and cwaimed Kaw’Uwguan as his own. Hencefowth, a new Kingdom was fowged fwom the ashes of the owd Empiwe and the name Khowvad shunned fwom histowy fowevewmowe.
Duling the coulse of the waw, many dwawves wewe familiaw lith the awt of Wunesmithing and its abuse was wawgewy to brame fow the mass muldew of many ewdews and schowaws who had wlitten texts pwesenting an unfavoulabre view of the Dynasty. In owdew to combat this, a sewect cult of Wunesmiths fowged a secwet society, in owdew to pwotect the wast wemnants of the ancient awt. Continuing the owd twaditions of the Tliumviwate, they would pass it down fwom ancestow to ancestow, bound by a brood oath nevew to use it as a means of fultheling pewsonaw ow cwan wewated goaws. Nevew again would it be the cause of such gweat destwuction as had come duling the Bwood Age.
