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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 675513" data-attributes="member: 8530">The Fort Drundarr KingdomHistory of the Kingdom of Fort DrundarrFort Drundarr began as a walled dwarven city located 45 miles to the southwest of Highforge and 70 miles south and slightly east of Fort Burin.   The city remains the Kingdom’s capital and largest city, with a population of 6,000, and is located in the southeastern corner of the Kingdom.  From here the Kingdom’s border stretches for 70 miles west and slightly south, and to the northwest from both of these points for approximately 120 to 150 miles.   The overall Kingdom now hosts a population of 85,000, which are comprised of approximately 58% dwarves, 23% halflings, 18% humans, and 1% other races.   King Thaladin, the first ruler of the Kingdom of Fort Drundarr, was faced with the same economic hardship as his Fort Burin counterpart after the King of Highforge granted each of the fortress cities their independence.   Unfortunately for Thaladin, the neighboring mountains were devoid of precious metals to mine and the only forests and fertile soils were east of the city and owned by the Highforge King.   As Fort Drundarr was also near the remaining bands of giants, reducing the size of the military was not a viable option.  King Thaladin decided that the best defense was a good offense, and saw the invasion and conquest of the giant lands as the solution to his economic woes.   The Kings of the other two dwarven cities made it clear that they wanted no part of these new giant wars, which suited King Thaladin fine, as he had no desire to share the rewards of conquest.   Further friction between the other Kings arose when many of the best fighters from the armies of the other two cities were recruited to join the Army of Fort Drundarr, as that was were the opportunities for battle existed.  When the leaders of both cities protested that their most formidable warriors were being stolen, King Thaladin’s response was “Go to Hell.”  In retaliation, both Highforge and Fort Burin cut off all ties to Fort Drundarr and forbade any commerce with it.  Highforge also posted troops on its own western border, to prevent Fort Drundarr from having access to the forests and farmlands.  For the next two millennia there was very little contact between Fort Drundarr and these neighboring dwarven lands. The great conquests that Thaladin sought began slowly with little reward, as the giants within fifty miles west of the city had very little wealth to speak of, nor were these rocky lands plentiful with anything of value.  Cut off from there dwarven neighbors, the Kingdom had very little support and few opportunities to trade, and fell deep into poverty.   The leaders and clergy of Fort Drundarr blamed their economic hardship on their wealthy dwarven neighbors, and this growing resentment prevented any attempts at reconciliation from occurring.  For the next two generations of dwarves the soldiers often went without any pay, and the city itself barely struggled to survive.  It wasn’t until the army finally reached the territory of Grey Dragon Lake, 70 miles west and slightly south, that the city’s fortunes began to change.  Grey Dragon Lake had been the site of an epic dwarven battle 1,500 years earlier.  That battle was the talk of legends, and Hartharr, the great-grandnephew of King Drundarr, had led the dwarven army.   Hartharr was mortally wounded in the final battle, and it was then that the famous Axe of Drundarr had been lost.    During the millennia following the war the fertile valley surrounding the lake was settled by the Bayberry Clan of halflings.   When the giant armies moved in the halflings were forced to flee.   Almost 500 years later these halflings remained refugees, struggling to stay alive in the mountainous regions a short distance to the south. An alliance was formed between the Bayberry Clan and the Fort Drundarr Army, with the goal being to recapture the valley and lake.   Each dwarven battalion was assigned a group of halflings to act as scouts, gathering detailed information about the enemy.  The halflings also acted as couriers between the military regiments, for they had domesticated the Stardoo, a local animal that resembles a cross between a mountain goat and antelope.  These creatures were ideal as mounts for the halflings, and could travel quickly over rough terrain.   With the addition of increased reconnaissance and communications the Army was able to mount several major offensives against the giants.   The Axe of Drundarr was found on the body of a giant leader during one of the first battles, and from that point on victory followed.  The halfling clan and many dwarves then resettled into the valley, declaring the valley and lake to be the southwestern border of the Kingdom of Fort Drundarr.   Today the thriving City of Grey Dragon Lake remains the second largest community in the Fort Drundarr Kingdom.  Also to this day, halfling scouts and couriers also remain a key part of every Fort Drundarr military unit. During the next millennia the Kingdom’s boundaries expanded further to the northwest, capturing from the giants several mountains that proved to be rich with precious metals.    Approximately 2,000 years ago the giants had been totally eradicated from the mountains, and the Fort Drundarr Army was beginning to come in conflict with lands claimed by distant human settlements.  The King of Fort Drundarr declared that the Kingdom was large enough, and established a series of 28 well-defensible fortresses in the northern and western lands.  While many of these forts were established in territory claimed by both Fort Drundarr and human rulers, none of the humans dared to challenge these claims.  The humans saw no point in going up against a proven dwarven army, especially given the dwarves declaration that they would expand no further from the point of this newly established border.   In the time since then most of these well-guarded border forts have grown into prosperous towns or small cities, with established trade routes to the human communities to the north and west.  Shortly thereafter, diplomatic relations were established between the Kingdoms of Highforge and Fort Burin.  In an elaborate ceremony of “Reunification”, Drundarr’s Axe was presented as a gift to the Highforge King.  Since then, the three dwarven Kingdoms have remained on friendly terms, and are strong trading partners with each other.</blockquote>

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