Once part of the mighty Dwarven Empire, Dirnor owes its existence to the massive Dwarven Civil War that shook the continent of Calsin nearly a thousand years ago. Since that event, it has survived as the largest of the three dwarven nations, despite being the most culturally removed from traditional dwarven values. This is likely due to the willingness of the plains dwarves to mingle with other cultures, as well as the brilliance of General Dirnor during the war itself.
The Dwarven Civil War started out as a simple attempt to expand the Dwarven Empire. The elves had granted the humans conditional freedom in Istinis, to help protect against the dangers of the Scorched Lands. While high elves, dark elves, and humans all occupied the land, humans were in the vast majority (primarily because the elves wanted as few of their own kind sacrificed to guard the sulfurous lands). Within a decade of the country's founding, as borders were still being set, the dwarves marched over the mountains and invaded.
Prior to this event, elven spies had already learned of the plan, and withdrew rapidly to their own country. The human leader of Istinis, Hesdor Plight, had only weeks to prepare for the upcoming battle. A wise leader, he pulled all his troops back, leaving wide swaths of land open. The dwarves were met with almost no resistance, and wound up taking over nearly twice as much land as they had intended. Hesdor, intent on protecting the Scorched Lands, sent a severed dragon's head to the leaders of the dwarven invasion force. This made the dwarves realize what could happen if they destroyed the protective fortresses, and allowed them to draw to a halt.
While this could have easily been a resounding victory for the Dwarven Empire, it wound up as the exact opposite. Perhaps Hesdor knew that such a thing would happen. Perhaps not. In any event, the two dwarven generals leading the assault, Dirnor and Tornor, were hungry for a war they were unable to fight. After several meetings with the Emperor, Hartusic the Bronze, Dirnor and Tornor set up two subservient dwarven states. In theory, this would allow for a more efficient rule and set the stage for a continent-wide Dwarven Empire. And, for a short time, it worked. Both countries began to prepare their armies, readying for the eventual assault against both Istinis and Elsinor.
As events progressed, though, the Dwarven seat, Taninor, began to grow disgruntled with Tornor and Dirnor. Living on the plains, the ground simply wasn't fit for digging, not in the same way as the mountains that they were used to. In addition, many of the slaves taken during the conquest were skilled carpenters and architects. After several failed attempts to build underground cities, the dwarves of Tornor and Dirnor simply began living above the ground.
Within a year of the first above-ground dwarven city being built, Hartusic the Bronze issued a declaration that doing so was considered heresy, and would be punished with force. A minor attempt was made to create another underground city, but most of the effort spent by the two dwarven states went into diplomats and official invitations to visit, to explain that the dwarven way of life didn't need to due just because they were above the ground.
All that effort went to waste, as Taninor sent troops to march against Tovamrid, a city in Tornor. With that first blow, the war exploded. At first, Dirnor and Tornor worked together to fight against Taninor, though they soon turned against each other as well. After years of fighting, the boundary lines settled into the same locations they're in today.
Didel
Didel is one of the many cities in Dirnor that never saw a second of war. Upon taking the land from Istinis, Dirnor quickly found itself in a rather perilous situation. The humans to the south, while not immediately hostile, were certainly not in the friendliest of moods. The high elves to the north, on the other hand, quickly sent troops to the border of the new country. They knew the dwarves were likely to invade the moment that they saw an opening, and didn’t want to give them an ounce of reason to believe an invasion might be successful.
While this wasn’t an immediate problem, it did mean that Dirnor began to struggle with trade almost immediately. Independent traders, both dwarven and otherwise, found that their goods simply weren’t being allowed across sovereign lines. The concerns certainly weren’t unfounded, the dwarves had used unwary traders to ship military goods in the past, but it soon began to injure the country’s economy.
To combat this rising issue, General Dirnor sent envoys across the mountains to the dark elves. No strangers to combat and warfare themselves, the dark nation consistently had its own problems getting others to accept their trades. After some debate about location, the southern mountains were chosen as the first border city between Dirnor and Delsinar. Explorers mapped trails through the mountains while architects began construction on roads and bridges through the perilous mountain passes.
Dinir
The border city between Tornor and Dirnor, Dinir has a history that precedes the dwarven presence in the land. When the humans and elves moved down to take up residence, Dinir was simply one of the towns that they built. Situated in a gentle forest, situated between several rivers that came down out of the mountains, it was an ideal location for agriculture and industry. When the dwarves took the country, the residents surrendered peacefully, and the dwarves happily moved in. Here, the transition was almost seamless. Dwarves began to work the fields with their subjects, and peace reigned. Upon the foundation of the two dwarven states, Dinir found itself place in Tornor, well behind the border of Dirnor.
As the war continued, Dirnor eventually turned on Taninor and invaded rather than assisting. Tornor fought back with far more strength than Dirnor had planned on, and soon found their troops drawing to a halt far away from the boundary lines that they had intended to cross. Tornor resources were stretched thin, though, and soon, Dirnor had pushed all the way back to Dinir. Here, though, they ran into an issue.
Dinir was a location of immense cooperation between the dwarves and the former inhabitants. Working together, the city had fortified themselves behind the walls and stored enough food to keep themselves satisfied for months. With nothing left to do, the troops from Dirnor simply surrounded the city and sat back to wait. It is said that these troops had the easiest front in all the war. With the abandoned fields and homes, they practically lived a life of luxury, until the war ended and a new treaty was drawn. Since the city had been besieged but not captured, it was designated as a border city. The gates opened, and the Dirnor troops moved inside to help build a wall across half the city. Though the shoddily-constructed wall has since been replaced, the city as a whole still stands to this day.
Dirotoussou
One of two border cities between Dirnor and Elsinor, this city was one of the few that was around prior to the dwarven invasion of Istinis. In fact, it had originally been a military camp, a location for soldiers to journey to on their way to deployment in Istinis. As such, the city contained heavy fortifications, constructions built in order to allow the soldiers to practice constructing new forts and castles down along the Scorched Lands.
As such, when the dwarven army showed up at the gates, they found a nearly impossible situation. To the credit of the high elves, a potentially disastrous situation was rapidly averted by the elves simply offering a peace treaty. In exchange for not attacking the city, they would allow the dwarves to build onto the structures currently in place. At the time, the dwarves had not yet begun construction on above-ground cities, which led to a series of misunderstandings about what construction was and wasn’t allowed, which parts of the current city that the dwarves could tunnel under, and more. This was quickly alleviated once the dwarves were allowed to begin above-ground construction, and led to the fortress of today.
Donson
The first of the border cities between Dirnor and Istinis, Donson is a perfect representation of the spirit of Istinis that lives to this day. Upon withdrawing from the lands now occupied by Dirnor and Tornor, Hesdor Plight (king of Istinis) sent a legion of troops to the settlement of Donson. There, he instructed his head general, a dark elf named Thesiron, to handle the situation.
In response, Theserion drew a line down the middle of the settlement and erected a small fence, stretching a mile long. He then planted a flag of Istinis on the southern side, a flag of Taninor on the northern side, and formed up his troops. When the Dirnor army arrived, they simply stationed a garrison of troops to help build the settlement up, and sent the rest of their troops onward. This was the closest that Dirnor came to conflict with Istinis during their time as a country.
Intorist
Intorist holds the distinction as one of the few cities founded during the war, rather than before or after. Gorific, a leader of several legions of troops, was known for being a bit flighty of mind, only keeping his position because he was quite brilliant. When the dwarves invaded, he was given the task of sweeping through the land and crushing any resistance that they came across.
Of course, there was almost no resistance, and his troops made it all the way to the mountains of Delsinar before turning around and coming back. On their way, the stopped at nearly every farmstead and settlement they found, making checks to ensure loyalty. The soldiers didn’t care because it kept them out of harm’s way, and Gorific felt that he was doing his job.
This slow pace ultimately led to their being out of contact when the war finally did break out. In fact, nearly two months had already passed before anyone in the company learned of the civil war. Instantly, they were ordered to the front lines. However, before they could get there (once again, Gorific kept getting distracted), they were informed that Dirnor was now at war with Tornor.
This caused a bit of dissension among the ranks. Gorific, while often-distracted, was quite a pleasant man to be around, and had gathered many more dwarves into his army as he traveled. Prior to the schism between Dirnor and Tornor, many Tornor dwarves had sought out his army simply for the company. This clearly left Gorific with a strange predicament. His orders stated to slay the Tornor dwarves, but he had grown quite fond of their company. Instead, he forged a letter to General Dirnor about tracking rogue Tornor spies that had infiltrated and then escaped from his command. Dirnor ordered him to ensure that they caused no harm to the country. In keeping with those orders, Gorific ordered his men to stop and put up camp. The unit reached the nearby settlement of Intorist, and there they stayed for the remainder of the war.
Surprisingly, Gorific was able to keep his troops hidden for nearly two years while the war drug on (though falsified reports and careful messengers), and was only discovered in the waning months of the conflict. He was subsequently executed for his treason, his body allowed to rot and be eaten by birds, the greatest disgrace possible for a dwarf. At least, that’s the report that his second-in-command sent back to the capitol...
Isogodriir
Often labeled as the greatest city in Dirnor, Isogodriir is certainly a beauty to behold. Prior to the dwarven invasion of Istinis, the location had been mapped out as a potential new border city between Elsinor and Istinis. Construction was just beginning when the dwarves invaded. Seeking to avoid a conflict, the elves instructed the architects to begin planning for a dwarven addition to the city. They did so quickly, and surprised the invading dwarves with plans for a glorious structure.
The dwarves took the plans for the city back to General Dirnor. By the time it reached him (a length of several months), the decision had been made to allow dwarves to live above-ground. The message of approval was taken back to Isogodriir with joy, where construction began immediately.
To this day, Isogodriir stands as a pillar of both societies. Several elven museums stand there, along with hundreds of statues of great elven heroes throughout history. The dwarven side, while not quite as well-maintained, is still one of the most decorative cities in Dirnor.
Noudin
The second city founded between Dirnor and Istinis, this one shares a similar story with Donson. As the humans withdrew from the land, they placed a small garrison of troops in Noudin, declaring their hold over it. Unlike Donson, though, Noudin was already quite a great city, a powerful center of trade in the nearby areas. The dwarves saw that, and rather wanted it for themselves. Not wanting to provoke a war between the two nations, though, they simply made camp outside the city walls and sat back to wait.
As it happened, they didn’t have long to wait. Dirnor himself gave the command not to invade, and to be welcomed into their city if at all possible. Dwarven settlers were sent to the city, where, after a number of trade negotiations, they were eventually welcomed into the walls. Many more years passed before the technical boundaries were established, setting in place the current structure.
Nountor
The capital of Dirnor, Nountor is undoubtedly the most beautiful natural location in the entire country. Search parties were sent far and wide to determine the best location for building the new capital city, which brought back a wide variety of results. The greatest, though, came from an explorer named Fironit, who discovered a massive natural cave system in the forests of the land. Though the entrance was small, a mere ten feet across, traveling inside revealed hundreds of miles of twisting, winding pathways and enormous caverns. The dwarves settled the land immediately, filling the caves with homes and businesses.
Of course, it wasn’t long after this that they realized that the ground here was rather unstable. Several cavern collapses killed thousands of dwarves, and though Nountor was the last underground city outside of Taninor, it eventually moved topside as it was determined to simply be too unsafe to live. The close proximity of a large lake, though, allowed for a brilliant view even above ground, eventually leading to the modern-day city that completely encompasses the five-mile-wide body of water. The original caverns are still in use, but only for research purposes and classified Dirnor dealings.
Rotdifi
The second border city between Dirnor and Delsinar, this mountain fortress was founded shortly after the war had concluded. Having exhausted most of its resources fighting the battle, Dirnor was in desperate need of further trade and income.
Though neither Elsinor or Istinis had taken a stance in the war, and certainly had nothing to fear from Dirnor in its depleted state, neither nation was stupid, either. Following the Taninor attempt to poison the Inland Ocean and the birth of the aqahartis, Elsinor and Istinis very nearly closed off trade entirely. Delsinar, on the other hand, was impressed with the dwarven capacity for destruction. Within months after the attempt to poison the massive body of water, Delsinar sent slaves into the mountains to begin work on the new city. By the time envoys from Dirnor arrived, many of the roads and foundations had already been built. This, more than anything else, is what prevented the fledging nation from simply collapsing in debt as they tried to recover from the devastation.
Toinson
Of all the cities in Dirnor, Toinson saw more conflict than perhaps any of the others. Prior to the dwarven invasion, it had been a mid-sized post in Istinis, a location for soldiers to stop by on their way to and from the Scorched Lands. When the dwarves invaded, it was chosen as the prime location for a border city between the two new dwarven states.
This is also where the alliance between those two states ended. Dirnor knew that if Tornor was forced to fight a two-front war, they would likely collapse. Dirnor rather wanted the opportunity to seize the entire new land for himself, and prepared an ambush.
It wasn’t unusual for troops from Dirnor to move through Toinson on their way into Tornor and the front lines. Thousands of troops went through prior to the schism, so when two legions of Dirnor soldiers marched into the gates, it was hardly of concern. At least, until those troops slaughtered every single Tornor soldier in the city and took it for themselves.
Tornor reacted instantly, alerted to the threat through messengers and enchantments. They sent an equal number of troops back to the city, and were able to re-take it through a series of tunnels that had been constructed prior to the betrayal just in case of an emergency.
Dirnor then besieged the city, blew up the tunnels, and dug counter-tunnels of their own to prevent Tornor soldiers from simply tunneling out. The official status of the city changed hands several more times before Tornor was forced to withdraw its troops in order to help quell the humans rebelling in Donisil. Since then, it has stayed in the hands of Dornor.
Tordiir
One of the few cities founded after the war, Tordiir shares a story with many of the smaller settlements from Tornor. As the ashes settled and life began again, while other cultures and species were certainly allowed within the country, they weren’t exactly welcomed with open arms.
Nountor was the largest culprit of this, by far. As the capital, the dwarves who lived there thought themselves far superior to the other infidels that dared live among their ranks. Though there were exceptions to this, other species in Nountor certainly felt discriminated against, and eventually, a number of them set out to do something about that sad fact. Several hundred merchants simply packed up their wares and left town one summer night. Having prepared the move for months, workers down in Tordiir were already prepared, and had even begun building small homes. The merchants arrived, settled down, and life began as normal.
The next morning, as the exodus was discovered, several hundred troops were sent out after the caravan. It was believed that they were making a run for Istinis, which would have labeled them as mass traitors. However, upon simply finding them less than a hundred miles away, it was determined that no wrongdoing had been committed, and they were allowed to live in peace. Interestingly enough, this move caused the economy of Nountor to temporarily collapse, until dwarves took up those merchant positions, which lead to a greater acceptance of other species across the nation.
The Dwarven Civil War started out as a simple attempt to expand the Dwarven Empire. The elves had granted the humans conditional freedom in Istinis, to help protect against the dangers of the Scorched Lands. While high elves, dark elves, and humans all occupied the land, humans were in the vast majority (primarily because the elves wanted as few of their own kind sacrificed to guard the sulfurous lands). Within a decade of the country's founding, as borders were still being set, the dwarves marched over the mountains and invaded.
Prior to this event, elven spies had already learned of the plan, and withdrew rapidly to their own country. The human leader of Istinis, Hesdor Plight, had only weeks to prepare for the upcoming battle. A wise leader, he pulled all his troops back, leaving wide swaths of land open. The dwarves were met with almost no resistance, and wound up taking over nearly twice as much land as they had intended. Hesdor, intent on protecting the Scorched Lands, sent a severed dragon's head to the leaders of the dwarven invasion force. This made the dwarves realize what could happen if they destroyed the protective fortresses, and allowed them to draw to a halt.
While this could have easily been a resounding victory for the Dwarven Empire, it wound up as the exact opposite. Perhaps Hesdor knew that such a thing would happen. Perhaps not. In any event, the two dwarven generals leading the assault, Dirnor and Tornor, were hungry for a war they were unable to fight. After several meetings with the Emperor, Hartusic the Bronze, Dirnor and Tornor set up two subservient dwarven states. In theory, this would allow for a more efficient rule and set the stage for a continent-wide Dwarven Empire. And, for a short time, it worked. Both countries began to prepare their armies, readying for the eventual assault against both Istinis and Elsinor.
As events progressed, though, the Dwarven seat, Taninor, began to grow disgruntled with Tornor and Dirnor. Living on the plains, the ground simply wasn't fit for digging, not in the same way as the mountains that they were used to. In addition, many of the slaves taken during the conquest were skilled carpenters and architects. After several failed attempts to build underground cities, the dwarves of Tornor and Dirnor simply began living above the ground.
Within a year of the first above-ground dwarven city being built, Hartusic the Bronze issued a declaration that doing so was considered heresy, and would be punished with force. A minor attempt was made to create another underground city, but most of the effort spent by the two dwarven states went into diplomats and official invitations to visit, to explain that the dwarven way of life didn't need to due just because they were above the ground.
All that effort went to waste, as Taninor sent troops to march against Tovamrid, a city in Tornor. With that first blow, the war exploded. At first, Dirnor and Tornor worked together to fight against Taninor, though they soon turned against each other as well. After years of fighting, the boundary lines settled into the same locations they're in today.
Didel
Didel is one of the many cities in Dirnor that never saw a second of war. Upon taking the land from Istinis, Dirnor quickly found itself in a rather perilous situation. The humans to the south, while not immediately hostile, were certainly not in the friendliest of moods. The high elves to the north, on the other hand, quickly sent troops to the border of the new country. They knew the dwarves were likely to invade the moment that they saw an opening, and didn’t want to give them an ounce of reason to believe an invasion might be successful.
While this wasn’t an immediate problem, it did mean that Dirnor began to struggle with trade almost immediately. Independent traders, both dwarven and otherwise, found that their goods simply weren’t being allowed across sovereign lines. The concerns certainly weren’t unfounded, the dwarves had used unwary traders to ship military goods in the past, but it soon began to injure the country’s economy.
To combat this rising issue, General Dirnor sent envoys across the mountains to the dark elves. No strangers to combat and warfare themselves, the dark nation consistently had its own problems getting others to accept their trades. After some debate about location, the southern mountains were chosen as the first border city between Dirnor and Delsinar. Explorers mapped trails through the mountains while architects began construction on roads and bridges through the perilous mountain passes.
Dinir
The border city between Tornor and Dirnor, Dinir has a history that precedes the dwarven presence in the land. When the humans and elves moved down to take up residence, Dinir was simply one of the towns that they built. Situated in a gentle forest, situated between several rivers that came down out of the mountains, it was an ideal location for agriculture and industry. When the dwarves took the country, the residents surrendered peacefully, and the dwarves happily moved in. Here, the transition was almost seamless. Dwarves began to work the fields with their subjects, and peace reigned. Upon the foundation of the two dwarven states, Dinir found itself place in Tornor, well behind the border of Dirnor.
As the war continued, Dirnor eventually turned on Taninor and invaded rather than assisting. Tornor fought back with far more strength than Dirnor had planned on, and soon found their troops drawing to a halt far away from the boundary lines that they had intended to cross. Tornor resources were stretched thin, though, and soon, Dirnor had pushed all the way back to Dinir. Here, though, they ran into an issue.
Dinir was a location of immense cooperation between the dwarves and the former inhabitants. Working together, the city had fortified themselves behind the walls and stored enough food to keep themselves satisfied for months. With nothing left to do, the troops from Dirnor simply surrounded the city and sat back to wait. It is said that these troops had the easiest front in all the war. With the abandoned fields and homes, they practically lived a life of luxury, until the war ended and a new treaty was drawn. Since the city had been besieged but not captured, it was designated as a border city. The gates opened, and the Dirnor troops moved inside to help build a wall across half the city. Though the shoddily-constructed wall has since been replaced, the city as a whole still stands to this day.
Dirotoussou
One of two border cities between Dirnor and Elsinor, this city was one of the few that was around prior to the dwarven invasion of Istinis. In fact, it had originally been a military camp, a location for soldiers to journey to on their way to deployment in Istinis. As such, the city contained heavy fortifications, constructions built in order to allow the soldiers to practice constructing new forts and castles down along the Scorched Lands.
As such, when the dwarven army showed up at the gates, they found a nearly impossible situation. To the credit of the high elves, a potentially disastrous situation was rapidly averted by the elves simply offering a peace treaty. In exchange for not attacking the city, they would allow the dwarves to build onto the structures currently in place. At the time, the dwarves had not yet begun construction on above-ground cities, which led to a series of misunderstandings about what construction was and wasn’t allowed, which parts of the current city that the dwarves could tunnel under, and more. This was quickly alleviated once the dwarves were allowed to begin above-ground construction, and led to the fortress of today.
Donson
The first of the border cities between Dirnor and Istinis, Donson is a perfect representation of the spirit of Istinis that lives to this day. Upon withdrawing from the lands now occupied by Dirnor and Tornor, Hesdor Plight (king of Istinis) sent a legion of troops to the settlement of Donson. There, he instructed his head general, a dark elf named Thesiron, to handle the situation.
In response, Theserion drew a line down the middle of the settlement and erected a small fence, stretching a mile long. He then planted a flag of Istinis on the southern side, a flag of Taninor on the northern side, and formed up his troops. When the Dirnor army arrived, they simply stationed a garrison of troops to help build the settlement up, and sent the rest of their troops onward. This was the closest that Dirnor came to conflict with Istinis during their time as a country.
Intorist
Intorist holds the distinction as one of the few cities founded during the war, rather than before or after. Gorific, a leader of several legions of troops, was known for being a bit flighty of mind, only keeping his position because he was quite brilliant. When the dwarves invaded, he was given the task of sweeping through the land and crushing any resistance that they came across.
Of course, there was almost no resistance, and his troops made it all the way to the mountains of Delsinar before turning around and coming back. On their way, the stopped at nearly every farmstead and settlement they found, making checks to ensure loyalty. The soldiers didn’t care because it kept them out of harm’s way, and Gorific felt that he was doing his job.
This slow pace ultimately led to their being out of contact when the war finally did break out. In fact, nearly two months had already passed before anyone in the company learned of the civil war. Instantly, they were ordered to the front lines. However, before they could get there (once again, Gorific kept getting distracted), they were informed that Dirnor was now at war with Tornor.
This caused a bit of dissension among the ranks. Gorific, while often-distracted, was quite a pleasant man to be around, and had gathered many more dwarves into his army as he traveled. Prior to the schism between Dirnor and Tornor, many Tornor dwarves had sought out his army simply for the company. This clearly left Gorific with a strange predicament. His orders stated to slay the Tornor dwarves, but he had grown quite fond of their company. Instead, he forged a letter to General Dirnor about tracking rogue Tornor spies that had infiltrated and then escaped from his command. Dirnor ordered him to ensure that they caused no harm to the country. In keeping with those orders, Gorific ordered his men to stop and put up camp. The unit reached the nearby settlement of Intorist, and there they stayed for the remainder of the war.
Surprisingly, Gorific was able to keep his troops hidden for nearly two years while the war drug on (though falsified reports and careful messengers), and was only discovered in the waning months of the conflict. He was subsequently executed for his treason, his body allowed to rot and be eaten by birds, the greatest disgrace possible for a dwarf. At least, that’s the report that his second-in-command sent back to the capitol...
Isogodriir
Often labeled as the greatest city in Dirnor, Isogodriir is certainly a beauty to behold. Prior to the dwarven invasion of Istinis, the location had been mapped out as a potential new border city between Elsinor and Istinis. Construction was just beginning when the dwarves invaded. Seeking to avoid a conflict, the elves instructed the architects to begin planning for a dwarven addition to the city. They did so quickly, and surprised the invading dwarves with plans for a glorious structure.
The dwarves took the plans for the city back to General Dirnor. By the time it reached him (a length of several months), the decision had been made to allow dwarves to live above-ground. The message of approval was taken back to Isogodriir with joy, where construction began immediately.
To this day, Isogodriir stands as a pillar of both societies. Several elven museums stand there, along with hundreds of statues of great elven heroes throughout history. The dwarven side, while not quite as well-maintained, is still one of the most decorative cities in Dirnor.
Noudin
The second city founded between Dirnor and Istinis, this one shares a similar story with Donson. As the humans withdrew from the land, they placed a small garrison of troops in Noudin, declaring their hold over it. Unlike Donson, though, Noudin was already quite a great city, a powerful center of trade in the nearby areas. The dwarves saw that, and rather wanted it for themselves. Not wanting to provoke a war between the two nations, though, they simply made camp outside the city walls and sat back to wait.
As it happened, they didn’t have long to wait. Dirnor himself gave the command not to invade, and to be welcomed into their city if at all possible. Dwarven settlers were sent to the city, where, after a number of trade negotiations, they were eventually welcomed into the walls. Many more years passed before the technical boundaries were established, setting in place the current structure.
Nountor
The capital of Dirnor, Nountor is undoubtedly the most beautiful natural location in the entire country. Search parties were sent far and wide to determine the best location for building the new capital city, which brought back a wide variety of results. The greatest, though, came from an explorer named Fironit, who discovered a massive natural cave system in the forests of the land. Though the entrance was small, a mere ten feet across, traveling inside revealed hundreds of miles of twisting, winding pathways and enormous caverns. The dwarves settled the land immediately, filling the caves with homes and businesses.
Of course, it wasn’t long after this that they realized that the ground here was rather unstable. Several cavern collapses killed thousands of dwarves, and though Nountor was the last underground city outside of Taninor, it eventually moved topside as it was determined to simply be too unsafe to live. The close proximity of a large lake, though, allowed for a brilliant view even above ground, eventually leading to the modern-day city that completely encompasses the five-mile-wide body of water. The original caverns are still in use, but only for research purposes and classified Dirnor dealings.
Rotdifi
The second border city between Dirnor and Delsinar, this mountain fortress was founded shortly after the war had concluded. Having exhausted most of its resources fighting the battle, Dirnor was in desperate need of further trade and income.
Though neither Elsinor or Istinis had taken a stance in the war, and certainly had nothing to fear from Dirnor in its depleted state, neither nation was stupid, either. Following the Taninor attempt to poison the Inland Ocean and the birth of the aqahartis, Elsinor and Istinis very nearly closed off trade entirely. Delsinar, on the other hand, was impressed with the dwarven capacity for destruction. Within months after the attempt to poison the massive body of water, Delsinar sent slaves into the mountains to begin work on the new city. By the time envoys from Dirnor arrived, many of the roads and foundations had already been built. This, more than anything else, is what prevented the fledging nation from simply collapsing in debt as they tried to recover from the devastation.
Toinson
Of all the cities in Dirnor, Toinson saw more conflict than perhaps any of the others. Prior to the dwarven invasion, it had been a mid-sized post in Istinis, a location for soldiers to stop by on their way to and from the Scorched Lands. When the dwarves invaded, it was chosen as the prime location for a border city between the two new dwarven states.
This is also where the alliance between those two states ended. Dirnor knew that if Tornor was forced to fight a two-front war, they would likely collapse. Dirnor rather wanted the opportunity to seize the entire new land for himself, and prepared an ambush.
It wasn’t unusual for troops from Dirnor to move through Toinson on their way into Tornor and the front lines. Thousands of troops went through prior to the schism, so when two legions of Dirnor soldiers marched into the gates, it was hardly of concern. At least, until those troops slaughtered every single Tornor soldier in the city and took it for themselves.
Tornor reacted instantly, alerted to the threat through messengers and enchantments. They sent an equal number of troops back to the city, and were able to re-take it through a series of tunnels that had been constructed prior to the betrayal just in case of an emergency.
Dirnor then besieged the city, blew up the tunnels, and dug counter-tunnels of their own to prevent Tornor soldiers from simply tunneling out. The official status of the city changed hands several more times before Tornor was forced to withdraw its troops in order to help quell the humans rebelling in Donisil. Since then, it has stayed in the hands of Dornor.
Tordiir
One of the few cities founded after the war, Tordiir shares a story with many of the smaller settlements from Tornor. As the ashes settled and life began again, while other cultures and species were certainly allowed within the country, they weren’t exactly welcomed with open arms.
Nountor was the largest culprit of this, by far. As the capital, the dwarves who lived there thought themselves far superior to the other infidels that dared live among their ranks. Though there were exceptions to this, other species in Nountor certainly felt discriminated against, and eventually, a number of them set out to do something about that sad fact. Several hundred merchants simply packed up their wares and left town one summer night. Having prepared the move for months, workers down in Tordiir were already prepared, and had even begun building small homes. The merchants arrived, settled down, and life began as normal.
The next morning, as the exodus was discovered, several hundred troops were sent out after the caravan. It was believed that they were making a run for Istinis, which would have labeled them as mass traitors. However, upon simply finding them less than a hundred miles away, it was determined that no wrongdoing had been committed, and they were allowed to live in peace. Interestingly enough, this move caused the economy of Nountor to temporarily collapse, until dwarves took up those merchant positions, which lead to a greater acceptance of other species across the nation.
