Accounts of the Fall of Rhanmar

Written by Salen

These thin, dusty tomes have been preserved by divine magic. The books aren't complete, as some pages are missing and many others are ruined by blood or blade. What is readable is in ancient dwarven and seems to be the personal journals of Gavish Talonrider , Thane of Rhanmar. They tell the accounts of The First War and what happened when the dwarves retreated to the safety of their mountain Nation of Nagar

History

Rhanmar was one of the first cities that the dwarves built in The Black Mountains . It was the western most city in that range and the first to bear the brunt of the First War when the dwarves retreated and pulled their tunnels down behind them. That was all that was known of that time until these books were found ten years ago by a research excavation team. The rest of the dwarven nation all assumed that the lost city of Rhanmar was a casualty in the main war, never knowing what horror happened right next to them, or how close it all came to wiping them all out. When these documents were released to the public, they inspired the dwarves and Gravish's name became synonymous with determination in battle.

What we know now

The big shock with these books is that the accounts end up above in The Black Mountains , supposedly fighting both a dragon and ambushing the remaining elves coming after them. However, these books were found deep in the ruins of the fallen city in the hands of a one armed, dwarven skeleton. At first thought to be an unknown soldier in the dwarven army, after the books were gone over, it was determined that the skeleton belonged to Gravish himself! It is surmised that he alone survived both the dragon and the ambush, possibly coming back to his city to die alone. The fact that there were elven bones found around his body seems to say that he died fighting at least.

Purpose

The purpose of these books was clearly documenting the Thane's accounts and recording what had happened. The way they begin it is clear that he thought they would live to see the end of this conflict, so it is assumed that this was made for bragging rights, a way to show his King that he was responsible for the victory. What happened however is a tragedy and has gone down in dwarven history as both their greatest loss, and their greatest defense in all of time.

Read the Document

Accounts of the Fall of Rhanmar

81 SR, year of Battle. Book I

"The bottom tunnels of the Western hold have been lost. We were caught off guard by the stupid elves that had to have snuck in behind us with magic. The battalions have been dispatched and those tunnels should be cleared soon"

Many pages on day to day fortifications and some personal information about his sons joining the military. It seems that less than a month has passed when it continues

"It was a trap. Damn foul elves had a couple score of magus waiting with them and now the entire Western hold has fallen; But their ruse has been discovered and we won't fall for that again. Our fallen WILL be avenged! Their numbers are impossible to count because of their stealth but we have over 10,000 dwarves ready to march. This war will be finished quick, then we can rebuild."

Lists of the dead, Rites of remembrance, and a lot of pages torn out..............

"As the year ends I am loathe to admit that I have underestimated these elves. Some force drives them beyond their normal magics and though we have reclaimed the Western hold, we cannot drive them from the lower tunnels. Now word has come from the Eastern hold that their tunnels have been lost as well. I feel this war may well last awhile, but we still have the numbers, Dava be praised."

The rest of this book is lost, presumably by a fire due to the charring on the inner binding.

83 SR, year of Loss. Book III

"Since the collapse of the entire Western tunnels we have them on the run. Cut off and alone, the elves trapped in the lost Eastern tunnels have been losing ground. The 7,000 dwarves that are left should be more than enough to reclaim the Eastern tunnels."

More pages on strategy and tactics, along with how they plan to drop the Eastern hold bridges. Rumors of an Archmagus, and why this all happened. 2 months until there is a new entry.

"I have failed our people. Over 1,000 dwarves perished when we dropped the entire Eastern tunnels into the lava, and 500 more when the Archmagus attacked as we fled back to the main hold. That white demon will have to be dealt with soon, for even though there is no room to really fly, he still soars through the caverns with ease."

It cuts off here, smeared with blood and more pages are slashed as if by swords.

"The Archmagus has finally spoken to us. He goaded us from the other side of our barricades. Barricades that his elves cannot break through without heavy losses, even with their magic. He says he came to make sure we were wiped out for good, that retreat wasn't enough. The main hold's lowest tunnel is lost, but we sealed it off, with yet more loss of life. The elves seem to have no end, but the main hold is very defensible. Here we shall hold!"

The book ends with more hopeful words and lists of the dead and some of their deeds against this ceaseless enemy.

99 SR Last Year of Holding. Book V

"The Archmagus has finally fallen! It took years of planning and we lost over 100 dwarves as they dropped the entire fourth level on top of him, but he is no more. The elves have lost their leader, even though they flood our tunnels faster than we can clear them, their numbers seem to be thinning at last. Sadly though we are only 1,000 strong now, and my own sons have fallen in battle against this tide of twisted magic. I am loathe to admit that this once proud city may yet fall. Our last resort is to send messengers to Xan'var that we are collapsing the main tunnels to the rest of Nagar. We will keep the enemy here and hold back this evil."

Lists of more dead and their deeds, plans of escape, and other contingency plans to collapse certain tunnels

"We have been betrayed! The mesengers have all been slaughtered. The elves were just feigning retreat all these months. They have magic that can disguise themselves to look like us. They knew our plans and have now taken the upper floor and throne room. My pride in this mighty city and our race has been my folly. There are now only 400 of us left and we flee for the last eastern tunnel that we haven't collapsed. We will have to claw and hack our way out to the abandoned tunnels."

More blood and missing pages, it seems like only weeks have passed, but it is not marked.

"Damn Dava to the Deep Hells! I write this as we pass out of the last tunnel and into our only outpost. Only 200 of us remain, and we are fighting the entire way. The loss of my arm is nothing compared to the betrayal of my God. For over a decade, we fought for our home and in the end we were decimated. We left the war and tried to bury ourselves in the strength of the mountains, yet the war followed us here."

Blood and smudges, and one missing page.

"We heard screeching over the mountains as we exited the upper tunnels seeing the sun for the first time in years...it can't be. They can't control dragons can they? It has to be a coincidence. We won't be able to run fast enough. If this dragon sees us it will come for us, so we flee north to the lava streams and better ground. The elves are coming as well and we have laid an ambush for them. We will fight to the last dwarf rather then let this enemy through to the rest of the nation."

So ends the accounts of Gravish Talonrider and the dwarves of Rhanmar.

Close

Type

Journal, Personal

Medium

Paper

Location

Nation of Nagar