Bakan’Grod

Created by Adam Tingley // Wreckerdwarf

An artist's rendition of Bakan'Grod by Alaxandra Edom

The dwarves are no stranger to defending what is rightly theirs. Fealty to their kin may as well be what runs through their veins. On a regular battlefield, they are a force to be feared but it’s suicide to threaten their homeland. Large scale wars throughout the aeons have washed up against dwarven settlements like a tide of blood. There are incredibly few large settlements even close to the surface of the world but out of the few that exist, Bakan’Grod is the most prominent. The main bulk of the settlement is expectedly underground but the main living area of the city is strictly off limits to surface dwellers. The region exposed to the surface is a very large hexagonal structure that crowns the city underneath it. The settlement itself looks as though it has been forced out of the earth around it. The dwarves here have utilised the area’s large naturally forming basalt columns to form a natural defensive barrier that surrounds much of the settlement. Primarily used for trade, Bakan’Grod has a main gatehouse that allows merchants and traders from all surface races to offer wares in exchange for all manner of crafts and raw materials. There is large representation from all the large trade guilds throughout the empire. Selling everything from raw ores and gemstones to banking services (After all, where would your hard-earned coin be safer than in the vaults in the deep earth). Theft has been made largely impossible here through the use of a number of mechanically rigged alarm systems that the dwarven vendors have access to. If two mechanical alarms are triggered within the same few seconds, there is a lockdown set in place at the main gatehouse and none are permitted to enter or leave until the dispute has been settled. Theft simply isn’t an option here, although some still attempt regardless. As Bakan’Grod is a well established centre of trade, it is required by dwarven law to be safe ground for anyone carrying the correct merchant's passes. These are not issued out lightly in dwarven culture but a heavy enough purse of coin seems to be the only barrier for some of the other races. As a result, many make use of the settlement’s amenities as a safe haven of refuge. Tales of Bakan’Grod’s ability to fend off any attacker that attempts to besiege it have been told time and time again. Not only are the walls lined with armed Dragoons but there are also tales that seem to say that the city roars to keep attackers at bay.