Capital: Crôm Feyr (population: 33,000)
Population: 17,000 (89% Vaas, 11% other)
Demi-humans: 952,000 (96% deep dwarves, 4% halflings)
Humanoids: few (mostly goblins)
Government: Monarchy (currently ruled by the Vraiken Clan)
Current Leader: King Andrathor Vraiken "Andrathor the Grim"
Coat of Arms: golden star and silver axe over an anvil on a purple field.
Exports: gems, gold, silver, iron, dwarvish-crafts, weapons, mercenaries
Humans call this realm "Hammerfell," Elves call it Stukharë, but the dwarves simply call it Orrek; the mountainous, northern realm of the dwarves of Corwyn.
Much of Orrek's territory consists of three massive mountain ranges: The Axehead, the Grey, and the Swordpoint Mountains, each of which were once each home to three separate dwarven realms: Azkar, Chokar, and Urkhar. These three nations were fiercely independent, until the terrible Goblin Wars decimated all three and forced their unification.
Borders
Orrek’s western borders are the Swordpoint Mountains, which separate the dwarven-realm from the Wildlands, and its eastern borders are the Axehead Mountains, which separate the realm from the Barrens, the Vast, and the kingdom of Erindar. Orrek’s northern border is the long, rocky coast of the Myr Thalal, and its southern borders are split between the Kronarwood and the Nolar Vaas.
Politics
Orrek is a monarchy, but the dwarves are subdivided into many clans. The four most powerful dwarven clans today are: the Vraiken Clan; which is the royal family of Orrek; the Belthas Clan; which rules the Swordpoint Mountains, the Hammerstrike Clan; which rules the Grey Mountains, and the Aken’Vhor Clan; which rules the Axehead Mountains. Below the four ruling clans are over 150 sub-clans of dwarves.
Military
The King of Orrek has on real standing army, other than a loyal force of a few thousand professional dwarven soldiers of his clan. However, in time of war, the king can call upon his clans and sub-clans to field a force of up to 60,000 fierce dwarven warriors.
Life & Society
The dwarves of Orrek are gruff, serious folk. Most dwarves found in this region are Mountain-Dwarves, commonly called ‘Deep-Dwarves.’ These folk excel at mining and crafting, and their products are legendary on Corwyn. Dwarves take simple iron and make extraordinary weapons, armor, and toys from it. Dwarves are not overly friendly to humans, but will sell their wares easily enough for the right price.
Only elves are seriously mistrusted by the dwarves and not welcome in their lands. Dwarves are ever vigilant against goblin tribes of the North, and wage continual campaigns against them, much to the relief of other northern folk. In fact, the Highlands would not be safe for any travel at all, if it were not for the dwarves and their skills in the art of war. Sadly, dwarves are in decline in the north, for their time of glory is long past.
As the centuries have passed, they have become more reclusive and withdrawn into their mountain strongholds.
Geography
Axehead Mountains: (Chokar Mountains) large mountainous region in far eastern Orrek, stretching south from the Myr Thalal coast to eastern edge of the Kronarwood. The range serves as the border between Ammarind and the Barrens, and as part of the northern border of Alveron.
Frostfang Pass: an extremely long and often quite deadly passage though the northern tip of the Swordpoint Mountains, then further east, the Grey Mountains. The entirety of the passage is within the territory of Orrek, thus the road is both maintained and guarded by dwarvish soldiers. The High Road winds it way though this passage, between the cities of Hüertgen and Crôm Feyr.
Grey Mountains: (Azkar Mountains) large mountainous region in central Orrek, stretch south from the coast of the Sea of Vaas down into the region calledthe Vast.
Hammerfell Pass: an extremely long and often quite deadly passage though the Axehead Mountains. The entirety of the passage is within the territory of the Dwarf-Kingdom of Orrek, thus the road is both maintained and guarded by dwarvish soldiers. The High Road winds it way though this passage between the cities of Darôk and Arkan Feyr.
Kronarwood: large wooded region in southern Orrek
Myol’s Peaks: extremely treacherous and high altitude region of the Grey Mountains. The temple to Ragnor, the Dwarf-God of Stone is located here.
Swordpoint Mountains: (Urkhar Mountains) mountainous region in western Orrek, along the border with the Wildlands.
Important Sites
Arkan Feyr: (population: 21,000) large stone city located in the Axehead Mountains, built by the dwarves of the ancient Inorlaiken Clan in the Second Age. This city was once the capitol of the Dwarf-Realm of Chokar and the home to the Greystone Chair of that realm. Today, it is a thriving dwarvish city and an integral part of the Dwarf-Realm. The city is accessible via the Chokar Road leading north from the High Road between Darôk and Amara.
Axeway: important dwarvish road running south from Orrek, to Kharos-Thûngol.
Chokar Road: paved and well-maintained road that runs south from the Dwarf-city of Arkan Feyr along the western base of the Axehead Mountains until it reaches a junction with the High Road running between the cities of Darôk and Amara.
Crôm Feyr: (population: 43,000) major dwarvish city and capitol of Orrek, located in the northern region of the Grey Mountains. This dwarf-city was ordered built under King Gyor the Master-Builder, who wanted an eternal monument to dwarvish ingenuity. With the completion of Crôm Feyr, Darôk; the former dwarvish capitol city, became secondary. The city is very busy from trade with cities spread across Corwyn.
Darôk: (population: 30,000) small dwarvish city in the southern part of the Azkar Mountain range. Darôk was once a dwarvish capitol, but with the completion of Crôm Feyr, it became a secondary city. The city of Darôk is still very busy with trade from Ammarind and Erindar, as well as other Dwarf cities. The city is accessible via both the Axeway running north to the dwarvish capitol of Crôm Feyr and south to the city of Cordova, and the High Road east to the cities of Amara and Arkan Feyr.
Hüertgen: (population: 11,000) important dwarvish trading center in the realm of Orrek.
Thürgen Feyr: ‘The Hall of Fire’ (Kh) capitol city of the ancient dwarvish realm of Urkhar, built in the Second Age by the Clan of Krandåhk.
Local History
The northern mountain kingdom of the dwarves has a long and detailed history. As far back as the early Second Age, the race of dwarves had begun to settle in the three enormous northern mountain ranges of West Corwyn. The dwarves’ early colonization was very difficult because these same three northern mountain ranges were also very much desired by the race of goblins, for the hidden wealth of gems and ores beneath their surface. As the conflict raged, the dwarves asked the race of elves to aid them in their struggle against the goblins. The dwarves felt that with the use of powerful elvish magic, they could easily overcome the goblins, whose numbers far surpassed their own. The elves felt that dwarves were not ready for magic, and refused to give the gift of arcane knowledge to the dwarves, beginning a long bitterness between the races, and the dwarves fought on without magic in their struggle. By 550/2, the Silvar-Elves became embroiled in a civil war against their Dark-Elf cousins. The dwarves flatly refused to give any aid to the western Silvar-Elves in their war, out of revenge for the earlier elvish insult. This compounded the enmity between the two races which has lasted even to the present day. In any event, the dwarves continued their long campaign to rid the northern mountains of goblins and make the region their homeland.
The three strongest dwarf-clans fought wars against the goblins for control of the three largest northern mountain ranges. First to be taken by the dwarves were the Grey Mountains or the ‘Azkar’ as the dwarves named them. By 659/2, the dwarves of the Velenkhür Clan conquered the Azkar Mountains, led by Vharig the Conqueror, who became their first king.
The dwarves of the Krandåhk Clan soon followed with their victory over the goblins in the Swordpoint Mountains, which the dwarves named the ‘Urkhar.’ The first Dwarf-king of Urkhar was Kyros the Proud, who was crowned in 672/2. Not to be outdone, the Inorlaiken Clan soon conquered the Axehead Mountains, which they named the ‘Chokar.’
The first Dwarf-king of Chokar was Gromnir the Invincible, who was crowned in 757/2. The three Dwarf-realms in the north remained peaceful and prosperous for many years, until 409/3, when the goblins of the north, led by Gordak the Merciless, began their long campaign to take back the three mountain ranges from the dwarves. So began the War of Sorrows, which was called that because it lasted for more than 250 years, and caused the deaths of so many dwarves. The War of Sorrows was long and bloody, fought largely underground, involving costly battles of attrition and long sieges, such as the siege of Darôk which lasted 57 years.
The war also caused the destruction of all three royal dwarvish bloodlines, as their kings fell in battle. First to fall was King Vholnir Velenkhür the Tireless, the last Dwarf-king of Azkar; who fell in battle with the goblins in 436/3. Second to be slain was King Khargan Krandåhk the Luckless of the Dwarf-realm of Urkhar, who was slain in 592/3, when the city of Thürgen Feyr was captured by a large goblin army led by Grumak the Skullcrusher. Grumak slew Khargan and stole his Val-Khûra, taking it deep below the surface of Corwyn. A great dwarvish warrior named Celathor Kronehelm eventually tracked down and killed Grumak and recovered the stolen orb in 652/3, but was himself slain in the climactic Battle of Khonë Valley in 655/3.
Khonë Valley was the last battle of the War of Sorrows, and the goblins were defeated so badly that they did not trouble the northern dwarves again for many centuries. This terrible battle also saw the death of King Goran Inorlaiken, the last king of the three original clans who conquered the north. Celathor’s son Algathor finally united the three Dwarf-realms into a single powerful entity in 660/3. Algathor wisely saw that only as a united nation could the dwarves survive against their goblin enemies, and that many of their defeats in the war had been due to clan infighting and lack of cohesion. Even to this day, the three regions are all loyal to the Dwarf-king on the Anvil Throne, located in the magnificent Dwarf-City of Crôm Feyr, the new dwarvish capitol city built in 785/3.