Once part of the mighty Dwarven Empire, Tornor 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 one of the smallest nations, both in landmass and in population. Its continued existence is due, in all likelihood, to the willingness of the plains dwarves to accept other species into their society.
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. 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.
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 erupted and lingered on, Tornor found itself in a unique and quite uncomfortable situation. Sandwiched between both other warring nations, it had to send troops to both borders, stretching their resources thin. Suddenly, as Dirnor lines began to push closer, the commander of Dinir realized that it wasn't going to be long before the city became of strategic value. The commander, Perinil, called out to his faithful subjects. Dwarves, humans, and elves alike built up walls and battlements, preparations to defend the city.
The battle finally came in the last few months of the war. Dirnor troops marched up to the city, sacked the fields surrounding the fortress, and settled in for a siege. Thankfully, Perinil had been wise, and stockpiled months of food supplies inside the city walls. The siege was still in effect when word came that the war had ended. Though Perinil fought the order when it came, the treaty drawn up in the wake of the conflict ordered that Dinir become the new boundary line between the two nations. A hasty reconstruction job was performed to add a wall down the center of the city, and there it has stood until this day.
Inist
One of the few cities in Tornor that was actually built following the war, Inist owes its existence to the junction of three major roads through the area. Though discrimination was never advocated in Tornor, it certainly wasn't forbidden, and became much more prevalent in the years following the war (due primarily to the new human country of Donisil jockeying for the humans in Tornor).
A group of elves and humans living in Notgo found themselves at the receiving end of this new prejudice. After their masters had been killed in the war, they were reduced to wandering the underworld of the metropolis, just trying to stay alive. After several years of struggling, a large group of them managed to escape the city and make their way into the countryside. After a time, they found the crossroads, started a small farm, and began selling produce to the passing travelers. In time, this grew into the small, but affluent city that happens to be one of the richest in Tornor.
Intrist
The site of the final battle on the eastern front of the war, this is where the humans finally struck a peace with the dwarves of Tornor and Dirnor. A former dwarven fortress high in the mountains, it was one of the most well-defended locations in the entire country, and had been a source of contention for much of the war. Taninor managed to take it early on, but lost it after its soldiers stationed there became too ill to fight. It was subsequently reclaimed by Tornor, and served as the primary battleground for that front of the war.
At the end of that conflict, the second-in-command of the human rebellion, Bartholomew, led a group of slaves through a series of dwarven tunnels underneath the fortress. Occupied by plains dwarves, the tunnels simply weren't properly guarded, and the fortress was soon overrun. However, rather than simply slaughtering everyone, Bartholomew brokered a truce between the humans and the dwarves. The commander of Intrist, Tuskiric, knew that Taninor wasn't going to survive much longer if it had to continue fighting on so many fronts. In a bold move, he agreed to the truce, and sent messengers back to the capital to inform the leadership of the move. While they weren't happy with the decision, it was recognized that it was probably an intelligent one, as it both freed up Tornor's resources and allowed the humans to fight Taninor in a larger capacity.
Irknoudi
The border city between Tornor and Istinis, this location has never seen much conflict, though it has seen some of the greatest tension of the country. Originally constructed by the settlers of Istinis, Irknoudi was where the humans drew the line. Dwarven patrols, after marching across so much uncontested land, reached the city rising above the forest. The governor of the city, a dark elf named Deferis, told the dwarves that they were welcome to camp outside the city, and enter as needed for trading purposes. However, taking the city would result in retaliatory force from Istinis.
The dwarves happily set up camp, and, as Tornor and Dirnor settled their boundary lines, the dwarves built up a sister city. The two fused together, and life continued. At least, until the war started.
Deferis was well aware that the dwarves intended on invading Istinis at some point anyway, and requested backup from the main Istinis force. Troops arrived mere weeks after war flags started flying, setting up nearby. The dwarves, fearing a strike, did the same. Soon, war parties sat on both sides of the city, readying for an attack at any time.
Civilians in Irknoudi quickly began to flee, trying to escape the coming bloodbath as soon as possible. In order to keep business functioning, both sides had to make it illegal to leave the city without proper credentials, a move that, while unpopular, probably saved the city from destruction. The war came and went, and neither side struck, but the constant threat took its toll on the city. The black market in this city remains one of the largest in Calsin, with dozens of major crime lords living out of here.
Notgo
The capital of Tornor, this city was founded immediately upon the dwarven arrival in the land. It sits on a small mountain peak, an outcropping of stone that rose nearly one hundred feet above the surrounding forest. As it was the only thing close to a mountain nearby, the dwarves quickly began trying to tunnel into it.
This proved disastrous almost immediately. Pockets of natural gas and oil made for dangerous work, and a nearby fault line caused cave-ins nearly every day. After nearly one thousand dwarves died digging out the city, Tornor himself called a cessation, and brought in slaves from across the country to begin constructing an above-ground city.
It was bold move, a brazen move, and certainly the first steps towards the war. As one of the only cities that managed to make it through the conflict without seeing an ounce of the war, it is certainly the most impressive and ornate city in Tornor, and one of the grandest in the continent of Calsin.
Rottoinou
Like Inist, Rottinou was founded following the conclusion of the war. In the distant past, long before the founding of the modern dwarven empire, the dwarves had built various fortresses across the country as they sought a home. Several archaeologists, trying to explore in the peace that followed the war, managed to find such a ruin, a massive underground fortress that would have been impressive even by the more advanced standards of the time.
The explorers knew that they had stumbled on something fantastic, and went back to report it. Unfortunately, Emperor Tornor also knew the value of such a find, a quickly ordered that a city be built over top of it as a cover-up. This was done in a matter of months, a rickety assortment of buildings only inhabited by civilians who were ordered there by the emperor. To say that it was off to a rough start was a bit of an understatement, and, sadly, it hasn't gotten much better over the years.
The ruins, being subsequently forgotten in the decades that followed, were rediscovered several hundred years later. This brought a new surge of life to the city, but it remains a shadow compared to the other cities of Tornor. The ruins now serve as a tourist attraction of sorts, with guided tours and luxury resorts deep in the mines.
Sonirtin
A second border city with Istinis, Sonirtin shares a very similar story with Irknoudi. When the humans of Istinis pulled back to allow the dwarves access to the country, they put their foot down at Sonirtin. Unlike Irknoudi, though, they refused to allow the dwarves to set up camp nearby, and threatened violence anytime they saw dwarven patrols coming too close to the city. Following the conclusion of the war, the governor reluctantly allowed Tornor to build a corresponding city on the opposite side of the wall.
Tovamrid
This city is one of the most fascinating of all the cities in Tornor. Built in the foothills of the mountains, when the elves began to pull back out of the area, the humans realized what was likely about to happen. While many fled for their lives, the ones who stayed began to build more structures for the coming dwarves. When the conquerors arrived, they found not only willing servants, but ready-made homes and fields for them to attend to.
Quite pleased, the dwarves quickly set up shop and prepared to begin digging. Here, the humans were once again quite helpful, as they were able to point out where would be good places to dig and where would be detrimental. Many dwarven lives were saved in the process, and it wasn't long before several of the more prominent humans were serving in the government of the community. Following the declaration that living above the ground was okay, many of the dwarves elected voluntarily to move into the open-air structures, as they had grown to enjoy their human neighbors.
During the war, while it never saw much conflict, there was a point where several human strike forces from Donisil attempted to make a strike against the city. Upon arriving and finding that the humans were treated with dignity, many of them simply asked for admission into the settlement. Though there was a bit of strife from this move, it went quite spectacularly, and a major battle was averted.
Vamnoudi
The final city founded in Tornor, Vamnoudi was built nearly five hundred years after the war. As Notgo continued to expand, many individuals found themselves enjoying the hustle and bustle of the city, but not necessarily wanting to live there. Several investors seized the opportunity, and hired construction workers to begin building the settlement about a day's ride from Notgo. The gambit worked spectacularly, allowing a smaller city to rise up in close proximity to the larger metropolis. Though today, it is inhabited by all kinds of people, it does tend to attract the wealthier Tornor dwarves who can afford the massive mansions built by those same investors.
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. 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.
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 erupted and lingered on, Tornor found itself in a unique and quite uncomfortable situation. Sandwiched between both other warring nations, it had to send troops to both borders, stretching their resources thin. Suddenly, as Dirnor lines began to push closer, the commander of Dinir realized that it wasn't going to be long before the city became of strategic value. The commander, Perinil, called out to his faithful subjects. Dwarves, humans, and elves alike built up walls and battlements, preparations to defend the city.
The battle finally came in the last few months of the war. Dirnor troops marched up to the city, sacked the fields surrounding the fortress, and settled in for a siege. Thankfully, Perinil had been wise, and stockpiled months of food supplies inside the city walls. The siege was still in effect when word came that the war had ended. Though Perinil fought the order when it came, the treaty drawn up in the wake of the conflict ordered that Dinir become the new boundary line between the two nations. A hasty reconstruction job was performed to add a wall down the center of the city, and there it has stood until this day.
Inist
One of the few cities in Tornor that was actually built following the war, Inist owes its existence to the junction of three major roads through the area. Though discrimination was never advocated in Tornor, it certainly wasn't forbidden, and became much more prevalent in the years following the war (due primarily to the new human country of Donisil jockeying for the humans in Tornor).
A group of elves and humans living in Notgo found themselves at the receiving end of this new prejudice. After their masters had been killed in the war, they were reduced to wandering the underworld of the metropolis, just trying to stay alive. After several years of struggling, a large group of them managed to escape the city and make their way into the countryside. After a time, they found the crossroads, started a small farm, and began selling produce to the passing travelers. In time, this grew into the small, but affluent city that happens to be one of the richest in Tornor.
Intrist
The site of the final battle on the eastern front of the war, this is where the humans finally struck a peace with the dwarves of Tornor and Dirnor. A former dwarven fortress high in the mountains, it was one of the most well-defended locations in the entire country, and had been a source of contention for much of the war. Taninor managed to take it early on, but lost it after its soldiers stationed there became too ill to fight. It was subsequently reclaimed by Tornor, and served as the primary battleground for that front of the war.
At the end of that conflict, the second-in-command of the human rebellion, Bartholomew, led a group of slaves through a series of dwarven tunnels underneath the fortress. Occupied by plains dwarves, the tunnels simply weren't properly guarded, and the fortress was soon overrun. However, rather than simply slaughtering everyone, Bartholomew brokered a truce between the humans and the dwarves. The commander of Intrist, Tuskiric, knew that Taninor wasn't going to survive much longer if it had to continue fighting on so many fronts. In a bold move, he agreed to the truce, and sent messengers back to the capital to inform the leadership of the move. While they weren't happy with the decision, it was recognized that it was probably an intelligent one, as it both freed up Tornor's resources and allowed the humans to fight Taninor in a larger capacity.
Irknoudi
The border city between Tornor and Istinis, this location has never seen much conflict, though it has seen some of the greatest tension of the country. Originally constructed by the settlers of Istinis, Irknoudi was where the humans drew the line. Dwarven patrols, after marching across so much uncontested land, reached the city rising above the forest. The governor of the city, a dark elf named Deferis, told the dwarves that they were welcome to camp outside the city, and enter as needed for trading purposes. However, taking the city would result in retaliatory force from Istinis.
The dwarves happily set up camp, and, as Tornor and Dirnor settled their boundary lines, the dwarves built up a sister city. The two fused together, and life continued. At least, until the war started.
Deferis was well aware that the dwarves intended on invading Istinis at some point anyway, and requested backup from the main Istinis force. Troops arrived mere weeks after war flags started flying, setting up nearby. The dwarves, fearing a strike, did the same. Soon, war parties sat on both sides of the city, readying for an attack at any time.
Civilians in Irknoudi quickly began to flee, trying to escape the coming bloodbath as soon as possible. In order to keep business functioning, both sides had to make it illegal to leave the city without proper credentials, a move that, while unpopular, probably saved the city from destruction. The war came and went, and neither side struck, but the constant threat took its toll on the city. The black market in this city remains one of the largest in Calsin, with dozens of major crime lords living out of here.
Notgo
The capital of Tornor, this city was founded immediately upon the dwarven arrival in the land. It sits on a small mountain peak, an outcropping of stone that rose nearly one hundred feet above the surrounding forest. As it was the only thing close to a mountain nearby, the dwarves quickly began trying to tunnel into it.
This proved disastrous almost immediately. Pockets of natural gas and oil made for dangerous work, and a nearby fault line caused cave-ins nearly every day. After nearly one thousand dwarves died digging out the city, Tornor himself called a cessation, and brought in slaves from across the country to begin constructing an above-ground city.
It was bold move, a brazen move, and certainly the first steps towards the war. As one of the only cities that managed to make it through the conflict without seeing an ounce of the war, it is certainly the most impressive and ornate city in Tornor, and one of the grandest in the continent of Calsin.
Rottoinou
Like Inist, Rottinou was founded following the conclusion of the war. In the distant past, long before the founding of the modern dwarven empire, the dwarves had built various fortresses across the country as they sought a home. Several archaeologists, trying to explore in the peace that followed the war, managed to find such a ruin, a massive underground fortress that would have been impressive even by the more advanced standards of the time.
The explorers knew that they had stumbled on something fantastic, and went back to report it. Unfortunately, Emperor Tornor also knew the value of such a find, a quickly ordered that a city be built over top of it as a cover-up. This was done in a matter of months, a rickety assortment of buildings only inhabited by civilians who were ordered there by the emperor. To say that it was off to a rough start was a bit of an understatement, and, sadly, it hasn't gotten much better over the years.
The ruins, being subsequently forgotten in the decades that followed, were rediscovered several hundred years later. This brought a new surge of life to the city, but it remains a shadow compared to the other cities of Tornor. The ruins now serve as a tourist attraction of sorts, with guided tours and luxury resorts deep in the mines.
Sonirtin
A second border city with Istinis, Sonirtin shares a very similar story with Irknoudi. When the humans of Istinis pulled back to allow the dwarves access to the country, they put their foot down at Sonirtin. Unlike Irknoudi, though, they refused to allow the dwarves to set up camp nearby, and threatened violence anytime they saw dwarven patrols coming too close to the city. Following the conclusion of the war, the governor reluctantly allowed Tornor to build a corresponding city on the opposite side of the wall.
Tovamrid
This city is one of the most fascinating of all the cities in Tornor. Built in the foothills of the mountains, when the elves began to pull back out of the area, the humans realized what was likely about to happen. While many fled for their lives, the ones who stayed began to build more structures for the coming dwarves. When the conquerors arrived, they found not only willing servants, but ready-made homes and fields for them to attend to.
Quite pleased, the dwarves quickly set up shop and prepared to begin digging. Here, the humans were once again quite helpful, as they were able to point out where would be good places to dig and where would be detrimental. Many dwarven lives were saved in the process, and it wasn't long before several of the more prominent humans were serving in the government of the community. Following the declaration that living above the ground was okay, many of the dwarves elected voluntarily to move into the open-air structures, as they had grown to enjoy their human neighbors.
During the war, while it never saw much conflict, there was a point where several human strike forces from Donisil attempted to make a strike against the city. Upon arriving and finding that the humans were treated with dignity, many of them simply asked for admission into the settlement. Though there was a bit of strife from this move, it went quite spectacularly, and a major battle was averted.
Vamnoudi
The final city founded in Tornor, Vamnoudi was built nearly five hundred years after the war. As Notgo continued to expand, many individuals found themselves enjoying the hustle and bustle of the city, but not necessarily wanting to live there. Several investors seized the opportunity, and hired construction workers to begin building the settlement about a day's ride from Notgo. The gambit worked spectacularly, allowing a smaller city to rise up in close proximity to the larger metropolis. Though today, it is inhabited by all kinds of people, it does tend to attract the wealthier Tornor dwarves who can afford the massive mansions built by those same investors.
