Two hundred years ago, the greatest dwarven city in the world detonated without warning. For three days, eye-witnesses watched in horror as Dammerhall burned with black flame. All six of the great bridges that connected the mountain stronghold to the outside collapsed. The great gates were shut. No one escaped.
Not a single survivor emerged from the doomed city. Ever since that fateful day, the dwarves have tried to retake Dammerhall time and time again with no success. Most expeditions failed to find entry. A few perhaps managed and have never been seen again. Thefate of Dammerhall remains a mystery.
What is no mystery is that for the last two hundred years, dwarven fortune has been in steep decline. With their capital destroyed the dwarven city-states fell to squabbling over who was the true heir of the high king. A dozen lesser dwarven kings declared their right to
rule. The dwarven nation was split. So fractured, they became easy prey for enemies. Half of the surviving city-states would be destroyed within a century of the fall. Some were overrun by orcs. One was destroyed by a dragon. And most disgracefully, a few were destroyed by other dwarves in brutal civil war.
The surviving city-states turned in desperation to the kingdoms of men. These lesser dwarven rulers signed treaties of mutual defense and, in all but name, were annexed by the human realms. The kings of men were glad to have them. Dwarven craftsmanship, battle prowess and tenacity were legendary.
Over the last century the human kingdoms have overrun the dwarves, not through might of arms, but through numbers. These days, men and dwarves live alongside one another. The dwarven city-states are all but gone. The dwarven tongue is rarely spoken. Dwarves are often regarded as another kind of man.
There may come a time in the very near future, where dwarves simply cease to exist as a separate people and are completely integrated into human society. Perhaps this is for the best. Perhaps dwarven glory is a thing best relegated to the past. Perhaps the future of the dwarven people is alongside the tribes of men.
There are a tiny handful of dwarves who cry nay!
They see this integration as yet another defeat. There must be a new dwarven high king! But how can there be? The secret of forging true mithral has been forgotten. The regalia of the high king is lost. Dammerhall is destroyed. There is only one answer.
Dammerhall must be reclaimed!
Another dwarven expedition has formed. They are not trying to enter the city from above. Instead, they have heard rumors of a seventh way into the city – a secret way. Dammerhall did not just trade with the surface. It also traded with the realms below. Find the dark road into Dammerhall and the dwarves may yet reclaim what has been lost. They may yet find a worthy high king who can reunite the scattered dwarven people and build a new kingdom.
The old Dammerhall is lost. The kingdom the dwarves build will be a new sort of realm. For the dwarves to succeed, they must build a kingdom below. Only then can they retake the lost capital and become
once more a strong and independent people.
The PCs are this last hope. If they fail, another expedition is unlikely. Upon this quest, the fate of all dwarves turns. The campaign begins with the PCs having discovered a cave that leads into the underworld.
It is miles away from Dammerhall, but it is the only known entrance. Nothing is known of the underworld save rumors and hear-say. The PCs are truly venturing into a mysterious new realm.
