Uhl Rennal
Clan Koth’s capital city in the western Stoneheart Mountains can be found inside of the tunnels and caves boring into a nearly-sheer terraced cliffside overlooking a mountain valley from a staggering vantage point of 11,750 feet above sea level. The clan’s members use a bank of magical elevators at the mountain’s base to slowly ascend to their virtually impregnable mountain stronghold. As an added measure of defense, the elevators are attuned only to transport dwarves to the complex’s six entrances. These portals bore into the mountain and lead to Uhl Rennal’s residential blocks, its religious center (the Temple of Crugas, the city’s divine patron), and the city’s focal point, the Academy of Arcane Arts and Sciences. This grand structure houses a vast repository of rare, mystical works, fabled magical weapons, and state-of-the-art technological wonders. Despite the mountain dwarves’ profound xenophobia, the citadel’s dwarven arcane practitioners often work in tandem with gnomish artificers to create these astounding objects. The dwarves’ trove of magical wonders naturally piques the interests of thieves and adventurers alike. Therefore, Uhl Rennal’s wizards safeguard their items with potent wards and defenses that reportedly include a sophisticated, mechanical draconic construct.
Grand Magister Arnuld Koth exerts ultimate authority over all events in Uhl Rennal and Clan Koth in general from the Hall of Mages. From his seat atop the Arcane Dais, the masterful wizard and his five-member Veiled Council oversee the city’s daily operations as well as help direct magical research. In a unique twist, the Veiled Council members always use magical disguises to conceal their true identities. Each individual serves a 10-year term after being selected in a secret, random lottery. Anyone aspiring to be a member of the Veiled Council must use a specific spell that only wizards of extraordinary ability can cast to enter the drawing.
Uhl Rennal attracts prospective students and scholars from the clan’s outlying villages and towns scattered across the western Stoneheart Mountains. Promising youngsters who display an affinity for magic must demonstrate their magical prowess before the Veiled Council. Those who pass the test enter into the academy, while those who fail must wait five years to try again. Although the system has been in place for centuries, a vocal minority insists that some human and elf moles walk among them as dwarves and gnomes. Fortunately for Clan Koth, real intrusions are exceedingly rare. The last occurred in 3487 I.R., when two rakshasa wizards fooled the city’s defenses and stole an experimental prototype of an electromagnetic gyroscope. Although the object’s purpose remains top secret, popular consensus believes the presumably magical item could theoretically alter the fabric of time and space in a localized area. Despite a frantic search for the culprits and the object, their fates remain a mystery.
The grand magister rightly fears the ramifications that could be unleashed if someone were to improperly use the magical device. Worse yet, he knows what terrors lie in the ruins deep beneath his city. Long ago, before recorded history, a Doomspire stood where Uhl Rennal now stands. From atop this towering fortress of burning skulls and calcified human remains, Osenkej the Witch King spread his baleful influence across the land. For 2,700 years, the Doomspire cast its vile shadow upon its people until an alliance of benevolent deities joined forces and destroyed the Doomspire within the city of Krezzel Dul. The dwarven deity Crugas entrusted the Koth Clan with the crucial task of safeguarding the razed city. In exchange for their service, the god also imparted the secrets of arcane magic to the clan, which they use to this very day.
Settlement
Uhl Rennal, City of
Type
City
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