blue green waters of the high lakes.
The landscape of the Kharolis Mountains, inhospitable in the extreme, was the home of a populous kingdom and thriving culture that dwelled there quite comfortably, since its members rarely saw the landscape above them.
They were the dwarves of Thorbardin.
Thorbardin was a powerful dwarven stronghold, con taining seven teeming cities and an extensive network of roads and subterranean farming warrens. The whole of
Thorbardin covered an area more than twenty miles long and fourteen miles wide.
Toiling in their vast underground domain, the dwarves paid little attention to occurrences on the surface world.
They had enough space and enough intrigue in their subter ranean lairs to last them many centuries.
At the heart of Thorbardin lay the Urkhan Sea. Not a sea at all, it was actually an underground lake some five miles long. Cable-drawn boats crisscrossed the lake in an intricate network, linking most of the cities of the dwarven realm. In the center of the sea was the most amazing city of all: the
Life Tree of the Hylar. Twenty-eight levels of dwarven city were carved within a huge stalactite that hung from the ca vern roof to dip below the surface of the sea.
Thorbardin drew its food supply from three great war rens. These massive caverns devoted to sunless agriculture were capable of producing huge crops of fungus and mold based food. Each warren was shared by several cities, but individual food plots were jealously guarded.
Despite its size, Thorbardin was historically connected to the surface world by only two gates, at the north and south boundaries of the kingdom. The Northgate had been de stroyed by the Cataclysm. The dwarves had withdrawn, into their underground domain, sealed the Southgate against every form of attack they could imagine, and turned their backs on the world.
Although considered one kingdom by outsiders, the mountain dwarves of Thorbardin actually consisted of no less than four identifiable clans, or nations: the Hylar, the
Theiwar, Daewar, and the Daergar. Each of these was ruled by a thane, and each had its own interests, goals, even racial tendencies.
Thorbardin's schisms were aggravated by the absence of one true monarch to rule the kingdom as a whole. Accord ing to ancient legend, Thorbardin would become truly united only when one thane obtained the Hammer of
Kharas. That ancient artifact, named for the greatest of dwarven heroes, had been missing for centuries. Untold ef fort, treasure, and lives had been expended, fruitlessly, in attempts to locate it.
Without the hammer to unite them, the nations of the dwarven kingdom struggled against each other. Spies were sent to observe the activities of rival thanes. Treasure stores were jealously watched, because riches — particularly steel and gems — were a traditional measure of dwarven status.
The Hylar, the eldest of the mountain dwarf races, were the traditional masters of Thorbardin. Their might had been severely taxed by the Dwarfgate Wars, however, allowing other nations to gain increased prominence. Most notable among these was the Theiwar clan, made up of derro dwarves and controlled by their magic-using savants.
The derro, paler complected and of slightly larger stature than their Hylar cousins, lived in the northern portion of
Thorbardin. They practiced dark magic and were regarded with superstitious awe by other dwarves. They had a well earned reputation for treachery, betrayal, and sorcerous manipulation. Other mountain dwarves regarded them with fear and extreme distrust.
It was the derro Theiwar who had excavated a new, secret exit from northern Thorbardin, allowing them to send their wagons of weapons to the sea without the knowledge of the other clans. Wealth was power, and the Theiwar intended to be very powerful, indeed.
The great throne room gave an impression of unlimited space, like a wide clearing beneath a silent, nighttime sky.
Tall columns stood around the periphery of the chamber, rising into the darkness like massive tree trunks. Low torches flickered in a hundred locations, cloaking the cham ber in a warm, yellow light.
The vast chamber, nevertheless, lay more than a thou sand feet below the surface of Krynn. Great halls, shielded by massive steel-and-gold doors, led from the throne room to all parts of Theiwar City. A hundred dwarves stood alert at the various doors, clad in gleaming plate mail and armed with axes or crossbows.
Now one of these doors swung slowly open, and a hunch backed dwarf entered the chamber. His long, bronze colored robe rustled along the floor behind him. He hastened toward the center of the room.
There, Thane Realgar rested quite comfortably in the massive throne, his boots extended and crossed before him.
The ruler was an old dwarf, with white streaking his yellow beard and long, loose-flowing hair. He had ruled the Theiwar clan for many decades. Most of the routine matters of the clan were handled by his chief adviser, so that Realgar could devote his own energies to the search for the Hammer of Kharas. He regarded any business not relating to that hammer as bothersome.
Realgar's personal bodyguards stood to either side of him: a pair of hideous gargoyles poised like watching statues. They perched, absolutely motionless except for their eyes, which followed the hunchbacked derro as he advanced. The gargoyles' skin was a rough-hewn gray, in distinguishable from stone. Their leathery wings, of the same color, spread like menacing, clawed hands behind the throne. Their faces were vaguely human, accented with sharp fangs, tiny, wicked eyes, and a pair of twisted horns growing from their foreheads.
The hunchback reached the throne, and the gargoyles suddenly hissed. They flapped their wings once and sprang forward to stand to the left and right of the thane. Extending clawed fingers before them and noiselessly working their jaws, they stood in mute warning as the hunchbacked dwarf bowed obsequiously.
'Ah, Pitrick, it is good of you to return to my city,' said the thane of the Theiwar.
'How did you fare at the council of thanes?' inquired the adviser.
'Bah!' The thane clapped his fist into his palm. 'It was one Hylar treachery after another! They seek to entangle the Daewar in an alliance, and always to cut us out!' Realgar leaned forward then, a conspiratorial smile upon his lips.
He lowered his voice. 'But, my dear adviser, I think they are beginning to fear us!' The leader of the Theiwar placed a stubby finger to his bearded lips. 'Now, tell me how things fared in my short absence?'
'You will be pleased,' Pitrick offered eagerly. 'Production has nearly doubled and promises to further improve. So it is, too, with the number of wagons running. We have very nearly reached the desired levels of transport.'
'Splendid.' The thane turned his attention to a scroll in his lap, signaling Pitrick's dismissal.
The adviser coughed slightly. 'There is one other matter,
Excellency.' The thane looked up in surprise and gestured for him to continue.
Pitrick shifted uncomfortably, nagged by the pain in his crippled foot. 'It seems that one of our drivers was slain in Hillhome. The murderer, a hill dwarf, escaped.' Pitrick took a breath. 'We have reason to believe that this dwarf broke into the wagons and discovered the nature of our ship ments.'
'When did this happen?' The thane's voice was quiet, al most bored.
'Several days ago. I received word from one of the driv ers not two hours past.'
Gold chains clinked slightly, their heavy links sliding as the thane leaned forward. Realgar's sacklike robe of deep blue ponderously swathed the throne around him. Indeed, whenever he chose to walk he required several attendants to carry the massive train.
'Solve the problem quickly,' said the thane, his voice still lazy and bored. 'You have opened the route for us, and it is your responsibility to keep it both open, and secret.'
'Of course, Excellency,' Pitrick bowed deeply, using the gesture to hide the smile that creased his thin lips. By the time he straightened, his expression was again a featureless mask. 'I shall see to the task at once. I have but one favor to ask of Your-Greatness.'
'And what is that?' Realgar asked absently.
'We must strengthen the guard at the tunnel,' explained
