Founding of Sprigstein

The city of Sprigstein was founded over thirty five hundred years ago, and the story of its founding, as such, has become shrouded in an aura of legend. The founding occurred during the end of the Henge Era. This event marked the duration of time in which a group of Dwarf settlers entered the existing cave system and began mining for resources and carving the inner part of the mountain into what would eventually become one of the largest underground settlements in Craedock. The story of the initial clearing of the cave system has evolved tales of divine intervention, espionage, and of the heroic capabilities of Sprigstein's first King, Thrardotir Amberblade, and first Queen, Amaeka, centering around their liberation of a group of dwarves indentured by the Obelisk Empire and his slaying of the Empire's allied Dragon who guarded the mountain, a Dracolich necromancer named Virivai.

Summary

During the late Henge Era, the Obelisk Empire had forcibly dominated all of Entrophion, Poslool, and Acronia, as well as parts of Unitia. Almost all but a few powerful cities were vassalized, or those who refused to pay tribute were enslaved. All slaves were translocated and distributed throughout the empire, intentionally so that they could not speak well amongst themselves or with locals to plan revolts or to seek aid. One such group was one that included Thrardotir, who like all Dwarven slaves had had his beard shaved and his family name expunged. He was a hill dwarf, and as a priest of Rixa in his village prior to enslavement he had never mined before. Regardless, he was sent with a thousand other dwarves from around the empire and forced to mine the mountain range on Harkenlock. At the time he was just 200 years old. While mining, he did his best to improve the morale of the other slaves, singing, chanting, praying, or offering aid to others as much as he could. He had even developed some capacities for magical healing, and many thought him to be a cleric, but in any case he helped those injured in mining accidents as best as he could whilst the guards often turned a blind eye or went so far as to leave critically injured slaves to die. One day, a tunnel collapsed with several workers still in it. The guards ordered the others to leave them, and rallied everyone to the encampment early. Thrardotir could not rest that night, knowing the others were trapped in the mines. He planned to escape the encampment. He slipped past the patrolmen easily enough, and made his way out, blessing Rixa for his fortune during the escapade. He arrived at the mine late after midnight, knowing he had only a few hours before sunrise, and began digging. Many storytellers here say that the priest sought the aid of Rixa himself, and that he blessed Thrardotir with a spell to shape the stone in front of him. By whatever means, he bore through the sunken tunnel, and revealed the other slaves. They surprised him when they captured Thrardotir and bound him with rope, interrogating him as to why he had come for them. Once he convinced them that he had come to rescue them, they unbound him, and explained themselves. They were conspirators, planning an escape and a revolt, and had sunk the mine intentionally so that they may plan in secret. It was during this conversation that he realized that all the other dwarves spoke his home language clearly, which seemed impossible given the variety amongst them. Here, their leader interjected. A hairless dwarf approached him baring an intricate array of tattoos. She was a psion, named Amaeka, and had been telepathically translating the conversation. She explained their real plan. She read the mind of an imperial officer and discovered that the empire's defenses in the region relied heavily on one thing: a Dracolich that they kept in a cave system at the base of Mt. Aarmaden, a volcano also found on Harkenlock and the continent's highest peak. They would first dig a series of tunnels to the other mines, through which other slaves could escape. They then intended to travel there and slay the Dracolich, and fortify the cave with materials from raided imperial supply lines. With the Dracolich dead, the empire should be too busy thinking of how to refortify their entire continent to not worry too much about the small group of slaves gone missing. The group spent the next 50 years digging tunnels, stealthily raiding imperials for supplies and living off the neighboring forests. Often their routes were discovered and had to be sealed and abandoned, setting them back by months at a time. Still, the narrow, winding passageways could be built much faster than entire mining networks. They specifically avoided places the stone savvy dwarves suspected to hold metals, so that imperial miners would have no interest in those locations, and favored looser rock to dig more quickly. Occasionally they'd find runaways and recruit them, increasing their dig time substantially. Finally one day, they believed they were ready to tackle the largest challenge: Virivai the Necromancer, the Imperial Dracolich. During this time, Thrardotir had continued his prayers and devotion to Rixa, and had substantially increased his ability to channel the grandangel's magic through him. Amaeka chose him to lead the assault while she stayed behind to lead the slave revolt. Thrardotir, as a divine channeler, was best suited to fight Virivai's undead forces, and he took only a small handful of fighters with him. Their plan was to sneak into the dragon's lair, encountering as few undead as possible, and tackle the Dracolich head on. Here is where Thrardotir Amberblade would gain is honor name. In the final years leading up to the ambush, he received a vision from Rixa. Rixa would bless a single tree that lied upon a mountain's peak, so that the amber formed from its sap would be sacredly imbued with Syntropic Energy. Thrardotir was instructed to tap this tree, and let its sap fall into a mold. Once filled, it would harden into amber, and the dwarf would sharpen it into a sword. Most bards would attest that the rest of the legend is down to good storytelling. Many say that Thrardotir was the only survivor of the encounter with Virivai. Some say they slew the dragon without encountering a single zombie or ghoul, while others say they smited thousands. In any case, the plan was successful. With the dragon slain, the Obelisk Empire struggled to maintain their defenses around the continent, and whilst similar revolts sprung up around the empire at the end of an era, the dwarf settlement of Springstein quietly built up its defenses so that by the time the empire struck back against the rebels, they were ready. The first battle between the independent city of Sprigstein and the Obelisk Empire was the last. In it, Thrardotir and Amaeka fought, he on the frontlines, and she in secret ambushes against the empire's forces on the roads leading to the valley. After the battle, the people of the settlement declared Thrardotir their king, and, despite that they had never married, Amaeka their queen. Eventually, they did wed, and ruled over Sprigstein's infancy and until their death, but not before furnishing the most impenetrable defense system in the region and establishing Rixa as the city's patron deity.

In Art

An enormous tapestry depicting the battle between Thrardotir and Virivai was commissioned in Hekros and is displayed the Cathedral of the Scultptress. It was created as an act of diplomacy between the two cities during the Royal Era to improve relations after the fallout of a great war between the two.

Date of Setting

Late Henge Era, 3247 Pre-Modern Era

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