Ovdal-az-Ân was a dwarf hold in the Tree of Stone known as the Hold of One, the home of the most devout Dwarven Pantheon worshippers, the keepers of Vûrodrmonir and raisers of hold hogs. The Granite Dwarves were known for deep study and worship of the gods of the Dwarven Pantheon, building both the Hul-az-Dagrin and the Argrâstun Cathedral. Their devoutness eventually led them to isolate themselves by sealing their hold with runecarved granite from the rest of the holds of the East Serpentspine, believing that the heresy and dangers within the Tree of Stone were too extreme to be ignored. Their isolation was however broken by the Chaingrasper Clan, leading to the fall of the hold in 1439.
Culture and Customs[]
In 2203 BA, the legendary Queen Odna II, both Queen of Ovdal-az-Ân and High Priestess of Halanna, ordered the sealing of Ovdal-az-Ân. This measure was not made lightly, but the heresy and dangers within the Tree of Stone were deemed extreme enough to require such a drastic measure. A month-long period of solemn reflection was taken, during which time the hold’s Runeworkers sealed the gate with specially runecarved granite blocks and Queen Odna used Vûrodrmonir to weave a complex spell over the gates. It was decreed that the gates would only open again after 5,000 years had passed, and the heretical world was once again safe for true believers. Thus did the Granite dwarves seal themselves off from the world, becoming as much a part of mother Halanna as the mountains themselves.
Vûrodrmonir is a revered ancient artefact from Ovdal-az-Ân said to be a fragment of Joztralanna herself, the Goddess of the Moon and origin of magic, leftover from the creation of Dwarvenkind. Vûrodrmonir was the possession of the High Priest of Halanna, their symbol of power, office, and reverence. Its most notable use was to partially create and maintain the illusory spell on the gate of the hold.
Hold Hogs are a type of Serpentspine creature, a distinctive breed of swine that was a staple meat of ancient Aul-Dwarov, and something Ovdal-az-Ân was famed for before the Fall. After their declaration of independence from the Jade Empire, many farmers in the hold sought to alleviate manpower and supply shortages by breeding larger and stockier hogs, more fit for hauling and pulling wagons. When an outbreak of Rothéflu decimated the hold’s population of Rothé, It only further cemented Ovdal-az-Ân’s reputation as a hold of swine by the rest of the Tree of Stone.
Notable Locations[]
Ovdal-az-Ân was known in ancient Aul-Dwarov as the hold where faith and piety was cultivated, where thousands a year were educated in the ways of Gods. The most famed of these halls of education was the Hul-az-Dagrin, the Hall of Dagrin. Here the greatest minds were sent to learn theology, writing, and the best ways to exalt their gods of choice. Standards were strict, each body, mind, and soul carefully and exactingly measured. Flaws would not be tolerated, and if they could not be hammered out upon the anvil of penance, those who bore them would be cast aside.
In the heart of Ovdal-az-Ân sits a cavern of immense size, and at its heart an elegantly sculpted dagger of stone hangs from the ceiling. This is Argrâstun Cathedral, the centre of the cult of Halanna during the height of Aul-Dwarov. The stalactite which Argrâstun Cathedral is made from has been hollowed out into a massive temple complex dedicated to Halanna, and is the seat of power from which the monarch ruled. Surrounded by dozens of other hanging temples to other gods, built from lesser stalagmites or stalactites that radiate around from it, the great cavern of az-Ân was a breathtaking site, with no part as wonderous or well adorned as Argrâstun.
History[]
Under the Jade Empire[]
Pilgrimage of Halanna[]
In Ovdal Kanzad, faith in the old Dwarven Pantheon had been slowly fading, as the gods appeared to have been entirely unable to stop the fall of Aul-Dwarov. Instead, many of the Amber Dwarves took up the Ancestor Worship faith like many of the western holds they were in contact with. This was widely disliked by the followers of the pantheon, and would result in the bolstering of the cult of Halanna, which was the strongest voice denouncing this “godlessness”. The cultists warned that all this was just a test, and that apostates would not see the restoration of Aul-Dwarov leading to the king of Ovdal Kanzad publicly renouncing his faith in the gods in 3859 BA. This led to the cult of Halanna and many of those who still held onto the gods to leave in protest, deciding to move to Ovdal-az-Ân, where the cult of Halanna had a strong presence. When they arrived, they were welcomed in, strengthening the cult there even further within the hold.
The First Goblintide[]
Under the command of Grimka the Despoiler, a powerful goblin wizard, the goblins of the Tree of Stone united in 2497 BA, and began large-scale assaults on all transport between the holds. While none of the holds were attacked head-on, they were all de facto under siege, as they could barely reach any of the other holds. As it became apparent that the Tree of Stone holds were unable to regain control over the Dwarovrod by themselves, a massive army led by general Dourban Brightbrow was rallied in Grônstunad to regain control over the Tree of Stone in 2474 BA.
As the jade army entered the Tree of Stone, Grimka sent emissaries to the hobgoblin clans in the Jade Mines and on the surface, proposing a united front against the dwarves in 2472 BA. In return, they promised the Hobgoblins would receive Grônstunad, the grandest hold of the east, as their prize.
The Jade army successfully destroyed several goblin encampments in the vicinity of Hul-az-Krakazol in 2471 BA, enabling the hold to be supplied through the Dwarovrod from the Jade Mines again. King Grongnir I of Hul-az-Krakazol offered troops and supplies to the army as they prepared to move further into the Tree of Stone. In turn, Grimka ordered a full siege of Ovdal-az-Ân in order to delay the dwarves as much as possible, and sent word to the hobgoblin and goblin tribes of the jade mines.
Chaos in the Jade Mines[]
As the jade army reached Ovdal-az-Ân and started to dismantle the fortifications of the besieging goblins, the hobgoblin armies from Rahen launched an assault on Grônstunad from the south in 2470 BA. The alarm was raised, and messages were sent to the other holds in the Jade mines and to the expeditionary force in the Tree of Stone.
With the attack from the south commencing, the goblins and hobgoblins of the Jade Mines also initiated their attacks, and shut off the access routes from the east and west towards Grônstunad in 2469 BA. The Jade Mines were in virtually the same situation as the Tree of Stone now, with all access between holds nearly impossible.
Relief of Ovdal-az-Ân[]
The jade army broke the siege of Ovdal-az-Ân, routing the goblin forces in 2468 BA, with the jade army requesting supplies and access past the hold in order to relieve Grôzumdihr as well, but king Snorri V refused. He was insulted by the Jade armies, as he had not requested them, and their presence implied they were unable to deal with a simple infestation of goblins around their hold. After nearly two months of attempting diplomacy with Snorri, the jade army returned to Hul-az-Krakazol. Unsure what to do next, they sent word back to Grônstunad asking for instructions.
Independence and Isolation[]
Granite Independence and Betrayal[]
With the Tunad towards the Jade Mines thoroughly under the control of the hobgoblins, the holds of the Tree of Stone focused mostly on reclaiming control over the Dwarovrod apart from the area around Ovdal Kanzad. King Snorri V of Ovdal-az-Ân decreed that the Jade Empire no longer held sway over the Tree of Stone, and declared itself independent in 2449 BA.
Grôzumdihr and Hul-az-Krakazol however started organising a large expedition over the surface to relieve Grônstunad in 2445 BA. They intended to attack the surface settlements of the Hobgoblins, in order to cut off supplies from the besieging forces. As they were sent out, however, Snorri accused them of plotting to put them back under the heel of the Jade Empire. As the Amethyst-Peridot expedition was fighting the hobgoblins in northeastern Rahen, Snorri arrived at the gates of Hul-az-Krakazol with an army, and began a siege. Enraged by the betrayal, the Amethyst-Peridot expedition returned to Hul-az-Krakazol, and attacked the besieging forces. In a bloody battle in 2443 BA, the Granite Dwarves were defeated, and Snorri V was killed. His body, on the orders of the furious queen Ogdis I of Hul-az-Krakazol, was thrown into a pit, and an extension of the Hul-az-Krakazol sewers would eventually be built to direct the waste of the Amethyst Dwarves into what would become known as Snorri’s Dung Pit.
The Last Expedition[]
The Dwarves knew that a lot of survivors were still stuck in Vûrdriz-Ândriz and that, with Grônstunad fallen, it was only a matter of time before its defences failed. Under the command of king Nori II of Grôzumdihr, a coalition was again formed between Verkal Ozovar, Hul-az-Krakazol, and Grôzumdihr in 2396 BA. He also reached out to Ovdal Kanzad and Ovdal-az-Ân, arguing that the Jade Empire is gone with the death of the High King and the fall of Grônstunad, and that this was only about saving Dwarvenkind from further doom. Ovdal-az-Ân, however, had sealed their gates shut, and the envoys were only met with crossbow bolts.
Ovdal-az-Ân sealed[]
The gates of Ovdal-az-Ân had not been opened for a long while by 2203 BA, and queen Odna II decreed that they never again would be. The rune mages of Ovdal-az-Ân were commissioned to craft an illusory wall over the gate using Vûrodrmonir, and the inside of the gate was bricked up. Ovdal-az-Ân would persist alone, queen Odna stated, and would only open its gates again in five millennia, to see if the world would again be worthy of the presence of the Granite Dwarves.
The Siege of Ovdal-az-Ân[]
The entrance to Ovdal-az-Ân, carefully concealed and sealed off from the outside, was found by chance during a slave hunt of a Chaingrasper warband in 1435. Eager for a vast supply of dwarven slaves, they immediately organised an assault onto the hold. The first level of the hold was caught off guard and lost almost immediately, causing the Granite dwarves to collapse several of the staircases in order to defend the lower parts of the hold. Although many of the dwarves would fight to the death, many were enslaved, and the movement of large numbers of slaves only attracted more goblins to the siege.
The Fall of Ovdal-az-Ân[]
Four years into the siege, the dwarves’ defences were broken, and the lower levels of Ovdal-az-Ân were breached in 1439. A lot of dwarves died fighting, even more were enslaved and dragged off to the Command, with a very small number surviving, lurking in the deepest corners of the hold, doing their very best to survive for as long as they can.