Douglas Niles: Fate of Thorbardin

A Treaty for the Ages Yet to Be Lived

This document, yet to be negotiated, shall be agreed upon between the Dwarves of the Mountains and the Dwarves of the Hills at the conclusion of the Tharkadan War. I, Gretchan Pax, Priestess of Reorx-He who is the Master of the Forge and the benign patron of all clans of dwarfkind-hereby vow upon my honor and my life to remain at the bargaining table and to hold here the principal negotiators until such time as the completed treaty shall be officially and irrevocably signed.

We representatives of the two mighty clans of the Dwarf Peoples meet in the great hall of Pax Tharkas. This vast chamber has only recently been scoured of the blood spilled in yet another futile and destructive war between our peoples. All acknowledge the tragedy of this long-held hostility among us, of which the Tharkadan War is only the most recent example.

Herewith and present, as the pact is documented and copied and secured, are the following notable representatives of the Neidar and Mountain Dwarves. Each will affix a signature as a personal pledge to honor this treaty. All are seated at the large, circular table in the center of the great hall, and each has pledged to represent his or her respective faction with truth, honor, and dignity:

For the Mountain Dwarves in Exile-

Tarn Bellowgranite, former king of Thorbardin and now the ruler of Pax Tharkas. At his right hand:

Otaxx Shortbeard, chief general among Tarn Bellowgranite’s garrison forces, and a lifelong follower, adviser, and compatriot of the former king.

Mason Axeblade, the field captain in direct command of the Tharkadan troops.

Tor Bellowgranite, the young son and chief heir of the Bellowgranite family, who will observe the proceedings as a proper introduction to the responsibilities of sovereignty and command.

For the Hill Dwarves of the Kharolis environs-

Slate Fireforge, descendant of that legendary clan and the righteous voice of reason who sought to prevent the war that his clansman were ensorcelled into commencing.

Axel Carbondale, Chief Captain of the Foothill Clan and now commander of the hill dwarf army.

To moderate this treaty, hearing the words of both parties and seeking to glean the wisdom and to cull the animosity from the participants, the following are agreed:

Crystal Heathstone, royal heir of the hill clans and wife of Tarn Bellowgranite, as such being the former queen of Thorbardin.

Gretchan Pax, humble cleric and most unworthy scribe. Also, the primary author of this document, though it is agreed that other voices shall make themselves known in these pages, with proper annotation.

For purposes of this treaty, the disputes addressed shall extend back to the time of the Cataclysm (sometimes called the First Cataclysm), during which the foundation for eternal war was so unfortunately laid.

It is our resolve, underlined by the authority of Reorx himself, that this agreement shall be regarded as a permanent renunciation of such misguided violence. That is, that war between mountain and hill dwarf shall not only cease for all time, but that the two nations shall agree to cooperate and assist each other by whatever means possible in striving toward the goal of a world that is secure for all dwarfkind.

(NOTE: Tarn Bellowgranite wishes to state, on behalf of the mountain clans, that it has long been his objective to attain such a goal. He has ever striven to avoid military conflict with the Neidar, he declares, and in fact has taken a Neidar woman for his wife these past many years. He has never authorized a military venture against the Neidar, he adds, and was plainly shocked when such a venture was directed against his own people in this hallowed place.)

(NOTE: Axel Carbondale wishes to respond, on behalf of the hill dwarves, that the Klar raiding parties that so frequently sallied forth from Pax Tharkas were under the authority, if not the direct command, of Tarn Bellowgranite. Axel queries how it is that these raiders were known, by proof and by witness, to return to Pax Tharkas with spoils gained from their attacks against the Neidar, and that no visible effort was made to punish them or to return said spoils to their rightful hill dwarf owners.)

(NOTE: Mason Axeblade wishes to note, on behalf of the military garrison of Pax Tharkas, that the Klar are notoriously difficult to control. Furthermore, their captain, Garn Bloodfist, is currently chained in the Tharkadan dungeon, charged with disobedience of his thane’s direct order.)

(NOTE: Crystal Heathstone, Neidar maid married into a mountain dwarf clan, wishes to suggest that such bickering is pointless and that perhaps it would be useful to allow Gretchan Pax to continue to moderate the negotiations.)

And thus the discussion and treaty-making resumes …

The story behind this proclamation commences with the Cataclysm and the wounds that were torn into the fabric of dwarf history even as that reign of destructive violence tore away at the flesh and the blood of the world itself. The world of Krynn was torn and ravaged by the vengeful might of the gods. Seas flooded formerly prosperous farmlands. Mountains rose where placid lakes and glens had once held pastoral sway. And the peoples of Krynn, human and elf and dwarf and all the rest, could only cower and seek shelter from the immortal onslaught.

What were the exact events of that dark storm? Today none may know for sure, but all have their beliefs. The hill dwarves claim that their mountain cousins sealed the gates of Thorbardin before them and ignored their frantic pleas for succor and protection. In the aftermath, more hill dwarves perished than can be counted among the stars in the sky.

The mountain dwarves claim that they offered that shelter willingly, that the gates were held open for as long as survival allowed. When none of their outside-dwelling kin presented themselves, the mighty portal was sealed. By the time such hill dwarves as had survived the initial catastrophe reached the gates of Thorbardin, there was no simple means of communication between the outside and underground worlds, and thus the plight of the exposed Neidar was for the most part unknown.

(NOTE: Slate Fireforge, on behalf of the hill dwarves, thinks that the latter explanation is disingenuous, er, “hogwash.”)

(NOTE: Tarn Bellowgranite, speaking for the mountain dwarves, wonders what magical enchantment exists in the ancestry of Slate Fireforge that he may know such a fact with any degree of accuracy.)

(NOTES, ad nauseam: The ancestry of a great many dwarf families is questioned, sometimes in distasteful specifics, by others present. The negotiations are suspended for a day of feasting and celebration.)

Upon resumption of the talks:

Whichever version of the story is true (and it should be noted that they are not mutually exclusive-G.P.), the result was a cultural scar that has not only lasted for many hundred years, but continued to fester and rot and inflict further damage as the years passed by. Within the century after the Cataclysm, the disputed history was distorted and expanded beyond all recognition by the cruel devastation of the Dwarfgate War, in which whole mountains were destroyed and the power of the villainous wizard Fistandantilus corrupted dwarves and men alike into a fever of murderous combat.

At the conclusion of that war, Thorbardin was bruised and battered and sealed against the world. The hill dwarves were shunned by their undermountain kin and left exposed to the vagaries of existence in an outside world controlled by humans and elves. The wounds of the Dwarfgate War, it is safe to say, created an infection that has never healed.

All gathered here can agree (in principle! No notes are required at this point.-G.P.) that it was this infection that left the hill dwarves vulnerable to the persuasions of the apparently stalwart Harn Poleaxe as he made the case for a war against Pax Tharkas. All now see that Poleaxe was possessed of a dark, evil force, and it was this force that compelled him to march toward war. Because of the bitterness abiding in dwarf hearts, that compulsion was all too easily made real.