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Originally posted by George Krashos

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Originally posted by JPDeed

Hi George,

Where would some locations be that shield dwarf and gold dwarf settlements interact, and in general, how do you see each subrace perceive each other as communities rather than individuals?

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I can't think of anywhere in the Realms that a shield dwarf settlement and a gold dwarf settlement would be in a position to interact on a large scale. That said, I present to you one of the more peculiar dwarven discoveries of recent times.

In the Year of the Rock (1289 DR), a group of dwarves of Clan Deepshield, a small clan situated in a series of deep caverns beneath the southern Stormhorns east of Proskur and known as Sarndul, came upon a dwarven tunnel complex in the peaks of the neighbouring Sunset Mountains. Unlocking a series of rune doors (doors that opened only after a series of dethek runes were pressed in the correct sequence - pressing the wrong rune caused various magical and mundane traps to be triggered), the dwarves entered a series of interconnected rooms and storehouses and discovered that the complex had been constructed as a safehold for King Bryth Firebeard, blood of Thordbard, last ruler of fallen Oghrann. They found little of note other than magically preserved food, a cache of weapons and armour and a a small mithral sphere, covered in runes, and described by the High One Tol Deepshield as "the merest of baubles, but verily singing with the touch of the Soulforger".

Holding the sphere and pronouncing the word "barast" created a shimmering, silver portal that snatched all who touched or passed through it to another subterranean complex. Little in the way of treasure was found in this further complex but careful exploration of the surrounding region caused the elders of Clan Deepshield to discover that the further complex was located on the northern fringes of Torglor, deep beneath the Snowflake Mountains and once a sub-kingdom of fabled Shanatar. Clan Deepshield used this further complex for storage and for limited exploration but soon considered that the dangers posed by the Middledark meant that the complex, which they named Borontar, had little value other than as a fungi farm for food.

And so it was with some surprise in the Year of the Starfall (1300 DR) that dwarves of Clan Deepshield, making a routine visit to harvest fungi, encountered dwarves of Clan Hundelve of Tarnhall in the Deep Realms surveying their work. What was initially a tense encounter soon gave way to stout converse as dwarven politeness and social graces took hold. As it turned out, Clan Hundelve had been aware of Borontar for over five centuries, they too having come across a mithral sphere identical to the one held by Clan Deepshield, and had also considered the place of little real value. Clan elders had however mandated that the place be visited every 50 years and that was the reason for their presence. And so it was that a scant ten-day later Axelord Ebersar Deepshield, blood of Arn "the Giantslayer", ruler of his clan met with Axelord Rathagos "the Red", son of Tybult, leader of Clan Hundelve to discuss the fate of Borontar. After some careful and shrewd negotiation it was agreed that Borontar would continue to be used as a vast fungus farm, supplying Clan Hundelve with a source of food that it would use to ease its reliance on provender coming out of Daunting. In return, Clan Hundelve provided the Deepshield dwarves with raw metals that were in scarce supply in the North, primarily hizagkuur and a metal known as yaethil (in our world, nickel).

As such, the settlement of Borontar (for a settlement it has become: a small collective of fungus farmers, carters, guards and the everpresent bureaucracy that facilitate the trade between the two clans) has flourished although not without teething problems. As expected, the gold dwarves of Tarnhall find the shield dwarves of the Stormhorns to be lacking in refinement, slow of speech and wit and 'nothing better than farmers'. The dwarves of Clan Deepshield find the gold dwarves to be soft, full of airs and graces and 'in need of a good go round with an orc horde'. Only the patience and growing friendship of the two main administrators Daurant Deepshield and Obar Hundelve has seen matters run smoothly. They have rightly deduced that Borontar was likely a way post between fledgling Oghrann, great Shanatar and the Deep Realm in the very early days of the dwarven settlement of the North, created to speed couriers, high level diplomats and to serve as an emergency refuge. That said, the interactions between the gold and shield dwarves have been cordial and without any major incident. There have even been three marriages, although secrecy has caused elaborate tales to be put in place as to how a gold or shield dwarf has ended up in Tarnhall and Sarndul respectively.

In recent decades, with the arrival of githyanki in the ruins of Torglor, the dwarves of Borontar have put an emphasis on security and greatly reduced their quiet exploration of Borontar's environs.They have built up a small arsenal of weapons and armaments scavenged from the ruins of Torglor that they know are most effective against creatures strong in the Invisible Art but do not intend to hold Borontar to the detriment of their own holdings. If the day comes that Borontar is discovered by any powerful enemy, then it is likely that this interaction between gold and shield dwarves will cease and swiftly so. Until then, this unique situation remains a testament to dwarven commonsense and racial kinship.

-- George Krashos

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