WIP
The Siege of the Serpentreach notably starts in 5488 BA, with the roaming orc hordes that had destroyed the Western Dwarovar marching south to Hul-Jorkad and meeting up with the orc forces who had been ordered to blockade the Arg Tunad to the Serpentreach and the Vazok Tunad to the Segbandal of the Middle Dwarovar. This period would see the various sieges of the Serpentreach and the fall of its holds, though no progress would be made against the Segbandal for the over 5,000 year period.
The Breach[]
After 88 years of brutal warfare attempting to break into the Serpentreach, in 5000 BA the orcs managed to breach the mountains and seize control over the Argrod Junction. Even with the Junction taken, the orcs then found themselves facing the might of the tenuous alliance of the Serpentreach holds led by Arg-Ôrdstun with the exception of Gor Bûrad and as such made little progress for numerous years.
Branching off the Argod Junction, the orcs would suffer minor setbacks as they headed southeast towards and by the Basalt Dwarves but ultimately forced the dwarves to retreat back into their hold. The Gor Bûradic dwarves, defiant of Arg-Ôrdstunic rule, were alone and believed that they would do best that way. With the upper Argrod line undefended, the orcs began to sweep through the southeastern rails up to the very gates of Gor Bûrad. Beginning in 5284 BA, the siege of Gor Bûrad would result in countless skirmishes between the orcs and the dwarves who wielded far superior knowledge of their own volcano.
Even by 4839 BA, over a hundred years since breaching the Serpentreach, little progress had been made by the orcs in terms of western progress. This roaming horde, no longer directed by Ducaniel, proved to be less effective than prior against the well trained and disciplined dwarven armies. Still, with their superior numbers progress was still made.
Mercy of Lodhum[]
Closest to the Argrod Junction, Ovdal Lodhum was naturally the first to be reached by the orcs. Ruled by King Lorim the Warmheart who, although known for his immense love for his people and benevolent rule, recognized the threat that the orcs provided. Despite Ovdal Lodhum's subservience to Arg-Ôrdstun King Lorim made the choice to pull the Garnet Dwarves back from the front lines and into the hold, sealing the gates.
Unlike the other holds that found themselves starving and cut off from the world, when the siege began in 4624 BA Lodhum would find themselves relatively unbothered. Said to be "bound by love" more than heritage, there are no records of attempted harm between dwarf, that each dwarf shared food equally, and that some would even sacrifice their own shares for those in need. It is commonly agreed that this is what allowed the Garnet Dwarves to survive where other holds had failed. The orcs, engaged by the other dwarves of the Serpentreach, quickly gave up on their futile attempts on Lodhum's gates and instead continued a slow advance west.
The Labyrinth[]
After bypassing Ovdal Lodhum the orcish horde found their way to the Hold of verkal Skomdihr, yet were unable to actually reach the hold. Standing between them and the hold was Kekig's Labyrinth. Multitudes of orcs went into the labyrinth but no orc was able to breach past it, leaving Verkal Skomdihr safe. By 4611 BA the Flint Dwarves retreated back into the hold regardless and locked the gates as the orcs continued towards Arg-Ôrdstun.
The Diamond Queen[]
Without Ovdal Lodhum and Verkal Shomdihr, the alliance led by Arg-Ôrdstun found themselves at roughly half their original strength. The remaining holds of Arg-Ôrdstun, Orlghelovar, and Shazstundihr were forced to levy their populations for the war in turn, where even the nobles were forced to participate.
It would be in a defense of the Diamond Quarry, where many of Arg-Ôrdstun's fabled gems were mined, that King Borri Stormheart of Arg-Ôrdstun would fall and throw the Diamond Dwarves into a panic. Sigrid, his daughter, took upon the crown and immediately began implementing battle strategies rather than frontal assaults. Using the various twists and turns of the mines along with its sharp corners and narrow passageways to limit the orcish numbers, The Diamond Quarry, Greater Mines, and Lesser Mines became akin to a hunting grounds for the dwarves.
The shafts, trenches, winches, platforms, and all manners of transportation and geography allowed the Diamond dwarves to both effectively kill off groups of orcs and dissapear as quickly as they appeared. When the disorganized orcs would chase the dwarves down a shaft they would only be met with traps and their own deaths. Lacking any form of advanced logistics that they had prior, they continue to pour into the mines without the knowledge of the previous incursions.
Eventually, the drastically slowed orcs with their dwindled numbers and morale shattered gave up on entering Arg-Ôrdstun through the caves and instead returned to the Argrod line to continue their advance. Queen Sigrid Stormheart, remembered as the Diamond Queen, issued a final decree in 4538 BA to never leave the hold and to outlast the orcs.
Fall of the Rails[]
By 3800 BA, 1688 years after the orcs first breached the Serpentreach, the dwarf holds of Shazstundihr and Orlghelovar decided to return to their holds and shut their gates, much like the other holds of the region. Being surface holds they were able to scavenge, farm, and trade on the surface even with their entrances to the Serpentspine cut off, The rails of the Serpentreach then came fully under the control of the orcish hordes.
Bûrad's End[]
The siege of Gor Bûrad which had begun 1643 years earlier finally reached its conclusion in 3641 BA when the the volcano Ghelebûr Krakdhûm erupted and allowed lava to creep into the upper levels of Gor Bûrad. With the heat softening the great gate, the orcs finally managed to break it down. The Basalt Dwarves perished as a result but they are often remembered among dwarves as those that stood longer than all the other northern dwarves combined.