Verkal Dromak was a dwarf hold in the Jade Mines known as the Citadel of Dreamers, the home of esoteric dreams, fantastical magic and occult rituals. The Malachite Dwarves were known for their odd practices with dreams, believing many to be signs that predicted the future. Dreamers, who were powerful mages that used their power to peer beyond the conscious world were a peculiarity to the other dwarves as they slept for very long periods of time and caused a myriad of effects in the hold. The most famous effect of these dreams was after the hold had fallen in 2286 BA, as the invading goblins killed the dreamers still in deep slumber which unleashed the Dream of Vengeance, which cursed the invaders for over three thousand years.
Culture and Customs[]
Verkal Dromak was home to quite a few practitioners of the arcane arts, many of them strangely proficient in Divination as opposed to the traditional Rune Magic of most dwarves. These mages kept to themselves, using their powers for their own esoteric ends or bizarre whimsies. A select few served the Hold and used their magical dreams to peer into the minds of enemies and dissidents.
Due to the Malachite Dwarves being naturally gifted in magic compared to the rest of their kin, it was commonplace for them to see spells and parlour tricks around Verkal Dromak. But as visitors from other holds would arrive, they were amazed by them, as rune magic was not used for such frivolous activities. This gave the Malachite Dwarves an idea to send magic shows to their neighbours in the Eastern Serpentspine, to show others the impressive conjurations of Verkal Dromak. Many would spend their gold and make deals to bring back these travelling shows. Yet as people got tired of seeing the same tricks, more dangerous and difficult magic was needed to calm the masses, leading to unfortunate accidents, such as a particularly famous incident where some volunteer participants were replaced by Bnunins.
A diplomat from Grôzumdihr once wrote that attempting to speak civilly with a Malachite Dwarf is like trying to shake hands with an orc. The Malachite Dwarves believed that the dwarven language was not expressive enough to describe many feelings, leading to them dreaming up new words for the most specific feelings and thoughts such as the innate primal need to avoid paying taxes. It is said that they also took inspiration for their new vocabulary from the many eldritch beings they saw in their dreams, leading to many conflicting sources being brought up for the correct pronunciation of the seemingly fantasised words.
Many kings of Verkal Dromak had introduced odd acts and laws such as Flondi the Fisher who established the Royal Cave Marine Corps of Verkal Dromak in 6428 BA, claiming to have dreamed that a kraken rested dormant beneath the Hold in a massive subterranean lake. No such lake had been found, but the Fisher King's faithful still maintained the Cave Marines as an elite force, ready to respond to any alleged citizen sightings of the kraken’s glowing eyes appearing in the dark caves. The Malachite Dwarves were known for their love of sleep, and in 6237 BA, Storin the Sane decreed that all citizens of Verkal Dromak were entitled to two half-hour naps per workday. Viewed as preposterous across the strictest holds, they laughed that nothing would ever be done in Verkal Dromak, but to their surprise productivity rose by a noticeable margin. Some Malachite Dwarves claimed that they were able to finish calculations and even physical crafts in their dreams, much to the disbelief and chagrin of diplomats who did not appreciate the naps occurring in the midst of negotiations.
Centuries of communing with forces beyond the veil have given rise to an abundance of eccentric practices among the occultists of Verkal Dromak. As bewildering as these rituals were, they have proven surprisingly effective in communing with ancient dwarven spirits and even echoes which were summoned from the Western Serpentspine after the invasion of the orcs. These ghosts ranged from evil spirits spewing curses and insults to those that woke them to the saddest stories of lone defenders repelling their invaders, but all of their multitude of stories were recorded in sacred tomes kept by the hold. The occultists would often commune with Echoes of recently fallen holds, and would perform rituals to curse and disturb their invaders, to pay for the horrors they had committed.
History[]
Isolation and Fall[]
Siege of Verkal Dromak[]
With the fall of Grônstunad in 2419 BA, the Malachite Dwarves were left to fend for themselves. While there had been on-and-off attacks against Verkal Dromak, a collection of goblin clans set up a large-scale siege of the hold in 2301 BA, and started consistently launching probing attacks against the walls. It being a comparatively smaller and less defensible hold, the situation seemed dire as they were isolated from their allies far in the Tree of Stone.
Dromak Exodus[]
In desperation, King Thrun IX of Verkal Dromak made a deal with the ogres of the Demon Hills, giving them a very large amount of gold, supplies and books from the vaults of the hold in return for safe passage through their lands in 2290 BA. The majority of the inhabitants of the hold evacuated, but a large number remained behind, unwilling to leave their home behind and headed towards Verkal Ozovar. They knew they had no real chance of beating the goblins back, so instead, they started planning their revenge.
Fall of Verkal Dromak and Unleashing of the Dream[]
With most of the defenders gone, Verkal Dromak fell within four years in 2286 BA. Most of the defenders fought to the death, and those that did not were enslaved by their goblin conquerors. A large number, however, were still dreaming, and did not wake. As they couldn’t take them as slaves, the goblins simply killed them and as they did, the Dream of Vengeance was released upon them.
The Jade Rivalry[]
With Verkal Dromak taken, and the hobgoblins disunited, the goblins of the Jade Mines found themselves in a position of relative power. It did not last long however, as in their minds, the dream of the Malachite dwarves had taken hold. They started seeing things that were not there, all designed to turn them against one another. Fights broke out constantly over imagined insults or thefts, friendships and families were torn apart for unclear reasons, and a general air of mistrust hung over the entire hold. Eventually, this divide crystallised the goblins into two sides, which would over time become two clans: Wild Eye and Blackstep. Blackstep would eventually win this conflict, forcing Wild Eye out of the hold and starting a rivalry that would last for many centuries.