'Before you can understand the history of Ironhold and the lands around you have to understand the geography.
The land north of
Mountain Hall is one vast peninsula stretching out into the northern seas. And
what is this peninsula called? Jotunheim. And what does Jotunheim mean? The Land of the Giants. A land
ruled since the dawn of time by Giants.'
'So what's Ironhold doing in the midst of such a land? Well the truth is that for a long time the dwarves on
this peninsula were ruled by Giants and paid tribute to Giants. Although dwarves like all other smaller races
were considered inferior by the giants it is also true that dwarves were for a smaller race somewhat favoured by the Giants because of our mining, engineering and smithing skills. And then one day we weren't. The Frost Giants had
usurped the Utgart throne and then the Frost Giants decided they would just abuse every other race in Jotunheim.'
'What did the dwarves do about this? Well in secret they began to delve a new hold called Ironhold that would be
free from Giants and designed specifically to keep Giants out and they begun their delvings in the southern
mountains of Jotunheim where the Giants seldom came as the climate began to warm. Sadly in the midst of
this construction other dwarves fleeing war and destruction came to Ironhold in great numbers and it became
impossible to conceal the new hold any more. The Giants discovered it and imposed a tribute on its citizens and the Dwarves had no option
but to pay it. But the strength of Ironhold continued to grow until after several hundred years the Dwarves
rebelled and gained their independence.'
'The Giants were pretty sore about this but after a few years both parties saw sense and signed a trade treaty and stability returned to the region. A few thousand years later, however, new settlers moved onto the plains
of Lodalf from the mighty
Pelorean Empire. The Dwarves warned the settlers about the Giants but all they said was
'What Giants?' When they found out the Dwarves were not joking they sent for their military and in those days
the Pelorean Empire military was mighty indeed. They drove off the Giants and the settlers continued settling. One year, however, the winter was harsher than usual and folks called it the Long Winter and struggled to travel at all
through the thick snowdrifts. The Giants had been patient and, not being at all inconvenienced by the snow drifts
attacked every settlement they could find reducing several to rubble.'
'These events caused the Pelorean Emperor to have a rethink and since he had other problems in his Empire he
said to the colonists, 'You're own your own', and he withdrew the troops. The remaining towns struggled on for many years but
every time there was a severe winter they feared the return of the Giants. Then after a few centuries when the
settlers began to feel the Giants would never return out of the blue came what humans call the
Great Darkness and the Dwarves call
the Long Night. The Giants returned to the plains of Lodalf and in twenty years they sacked every single human
town including the settlements of the
Reavers on the East coast.'
'The Giants, however, did not stay in Lodalf but moved on to the Northern Plains of Cambria leaving Lodalf
depopulated for a thousand years. The Dwarves, with all their other trading partners gone, save a few non-human hunters, decided to build a new outpost overlooking the Cambrian plains so they could trade with the Giants. This
they called Mountain Hall. After a thousand years, however, the Darkness lifted
and the Giants retreated to their homes in the Ettin Mountains and seemed to adopt an isolationist stance refusing to trade withe the Dwarves any more. Exactly 1666 years ago in a fateful speech
King Drarin III of Ironhold declared that 'the Age of Giants and Dragons was over' and commissioned a magnificent
new entrance to Ironhold. He also enlarged its interior halls making them in fact more like those of the Giants
themselves.'
'Just over five hundred years later, however, a military force erupted out of the Ettin Mountains but it seemed
to prove King Drarin's point. It consisted of Orcs and Hobgoblins and there were no Giants in sight. Nevertheless
it was potent enough to beseige both Ironhold and Mountain Hall and in the end it was only defeated with the help
of Cambria. In response to what humans call the First Northern War
the Dwarves of Ironhold built a series of forts to keep watch on the Lodalf plain.'
'An attack by Orcs from the south was therefore not what Ironhold was expecting and the assumption was initially
that it must be a minor incursion. The orcs, however, were accompanied by a large red dragon and Ironhold was
sacked. Orcs captured after the climax of the Second Northern War confirmed that the original plan was for Angrax to assault Mountain Hall as well but luckily the dragon was both
greedy and treacherous and wanted to make sure the treasures of Ironhold were his alone. After the attack
the Dwarves of Mountain Hall sent scouts into the mountains to see whether they could discover where the Orcs
and Dragon originated from but appalling weather meant the task was futile and by next spring the trail was cold.'
'The next attack, however, was anticipated by the Dwarves and the
Third Northern War ended in a crushing victory for the Allied Army and
a serious injury for the dragon. A few years after the completion of this war, a shade under three hundred years ago, came the news that the theory
that the Giants had left Jotunheim or completely died out was false. An attempt by Cambria to found a colony on the
west coast under the very shadow of the Ettin Mountains had ended in disaster with Giants enslaving the civilian
population and slaughtering the military unit sent to protect them.'
'So here we are back in the middle of Jotunheim, the only province in Malgoth's Empire to survive in some form into modern times with its rulers no doubt descended from those who also knew Durnlach, Demon Prince of Balors, as their overlord. Food for thought.'