Kal'Hirol

Fact Sheet
Name: Kal'Hirol

Location within Thedas: Beneath Amaranthine, in Ferelden.

Population (approx.): 9,000 dwarves

Form of governance: A council made up of the heads of the nobles houses. The head of house Hemli is the Speaker and reports directly to King Bhelen.

Alliances: Diplomatic and trade agreements with Denerim, the city of Amaranthine, Gwaren and Redcliffe. Trade and informal agreements with Ostagar. Open to negotiations with other nearby cities.

Timeline
Pre-9:37DA


 * 190 TE - Paragon Hirol is born.


 * 220 TE - In the wake of the Imperiums destruction of Arlathan Hirol is amongst those smiths tasked with improving the dwarven kingdom's defences.


 * 230 TE - Hirol is made Paragon for many of his achievements as both warrior and smith. Noble house Hirol is formed and Kal'Hirol is built. The Paragon is given free reign to teach and invent as he wished.


 * 243 TE - Paragon Hirol makes significant improvements to the power and resilience of Golems. His research is maintained in the Shaperate, with copies sent to Kal-Sharok and Orzammar.


 * 800-820 TE - Tragedy befalls Kal'Hirol as the surrounding Deep Roads are overrun by darkspawn. The city is eventually lost and the survivors flee to Orzammar.

''1306 years pass. . . ''


 * 9:31DA - A dwarven expedition leaves Orzammar to reclaim Kal'Hirol. Within months the Deep Roads between the two cities, those surrounding Kal'Hirol and Kal'Hirol itself are re-taken with the aide of the Grey Wardens.


 * 9:33DA - Much of the city has been re-discovered and all corruption cleared. Smithing work resumes immediately and the Shaperate is open once more.


 * 9:35DA - Diplomatic agreements are written up between Kal'Hirol, Amaranthine and Denerim. Trade soon follows.

Post-9:37DA


 * 9:38 - A thaig is discovered below Brescillian forest. It is soon sectioned off by order of King Bhelen.


 * 9:41 - Deep Roads connecting Kal'Hirol to Gwaren are made steady again by heavy work and reconstruction. They are called the Southern Roads.


 * 9:42 - Deep Roads connecting the Southern Roads to an entrance to the surface near Ostagar are cleared out and restructured. A fort is discovered at the entrance, and is soon re-established.


 * 9:43 - Bhelen agrees to an agreement with the elves of Ostagar regarding trade.


 * 9:45 - The informal alliance between the dwarves of Kal'Hirol and the Grey Wardens is broken.

After the Blight . ..
The dwarven city of Kal'Hirol stands strong once more. Within hours of his coronation the king of Orzammar, Bhelen Aeducan, ordered the creation of a host which would seek out the former glorious city and reclaim it. Three years later and House Helmi lead the charge and headed up a force that soon decimated what darkspawn remained.

Roads were reclaimed between Orzammar and the former home of the greatest smiths of the land, and so many other dwarves left Orzammar for Kal'Hirol, amongst them House Kader. Great losses were suffered mostly at the hands of darkspawn but it was worth it as the city was secured fully by the year 9:34 and the dwarves wasted no time in re-establishing what was once one of many fulcrums of the dwarven empire. The Deep Roads between Kal'Hirol and Orzammar became more and more secure and connections to the surface in Amaranthine, near Redcliffe and even as far as Gwaren.

Old things learned anew . ..
Trade came immediately as groups of dwarves began to re-learn smith techniques that were once thought lost forever. A new Shaperate was created, the city already designed for such a thing from days long gone, and underneath the cobwebs and dust many tomes were discovered within which is written some of the old smith techniques amongst other things. History rediscovered and now well preserved; the dwarves immediately began to record everything they found and everything they did to awaken Kal’Hirol from it’s deep slumber.

Trade was organised with the humans above ground immediately, King Bhelen having created an alliance of sorts with Alistair. Amaranthine and Denerim were immediately boosted by the new trade agreements, the latter especially, whilst the dwarves sought to reach out to the many and varying denizens of every major city within easy reach. However the dwarves traded with the Wardens the most, as an uneasy agreement was made whereby the ancient order was given free reign throughout the Deep Roads and Kal’Hirol in return for aiding the fighting with the darkspawn. Soon enough this wore thin, however, as the darkspawn were roundly defeated and the city made safe only for the dwarves to realise that when the Grey Wardens were not fighting darkspawn they were prone to interfering in the business of nations and rulers. The head of house Helmi, chosen to be leader of Kal’Hirol in the early years brought the Wardens together with the city’s leaders for negotiations but they soon broke down and the relationship between the two factions was left hanging by a thread. It has been this way ever since, with the Wardens no longer having free passage throughout Kal’Hirol and the trade they brought to the dwarves reduced to next-to-nothing.

Continued progress . ..
Soon the dwarves would continue to prosper, Wardens or no, as they began to dig deeper and farther underground to discover more roads which lead south. A lost Thaig was discovered, beneath the Brescillian forest and it soon become clear to the explorers that this was no ordinary Thaig as known even by the Shaperate – spanning half the area of the forest above ground there is much flat land that is bordered by pockets of buildings. Roads lead from these buildings to the centre of the area where there stands a city of sorts, the heart of the Thaig. It was soon discovered that this was once a massive breeding and training ground for Brontos and upon that revelation King Bhelen ordered the area to be sectioned off so that further investigating could take place. Such investigations and excavations still take place in and around the Thaig to this day but the main road that passes through the area is still used to connect Kal’Hirol to southern Ferelden.

Yet more time passed and Kal’Hirol grew strong. The routes with Orzammar, Amaranthine, Denerim and now Gwaren grew strong, trade flourished and so the city returns to at least some shade of it’s former glory year by year. The most surprising discovery for the dwarves, however, was the recoverable Deep Roads that lead from near Gwaren to near Ostagar, now home of the elves. Trade soon came by way of this, trade which could only come from elves as it is the home of the Dalish; both sides of the agreement gained much and to this day grow ever closer.

Jewels, blades, magical items. . . they can all be created and modified by the smiths of Kal’Hirol. Discoveries in the Shaperate have also lead to the return of mass Lyrium storage and so the Mage-Templar war brought only further riches and power to Kal’Hirol. It stands strong and ready, the first step in King Bhelen’s attempts to regain the dwarven empire.