On Thread Etiquette:
I'm not going to weigh in on the logic of either side's arguments, but I will ask that everyone read over what they write and really consider if the words they used are polite and won't be inflammatory intentionally or not. You cant account for people's tolerances perfectly but at least try to say your piece without saying things that can be easily construed as overly dismissive of the other side of the argument, thank you.
[X] Plan A Wonder For The Age and Double Drakk Rearing
Snorri and Karstah - [X] A Wonderful Endeavor: 3 Karstah AP, 5 Snorri AP (Wear Skarren, BA, and Zharrgal.) ✓
-- [X] Petition the Hold: 45 Kraka Drakk Favor - [X] Odd Wyrm's Blood Pt. 2: 1 Research AP
- [X] Understand the Master Rune of Disguise 0 AP
- [X] Understand the Master Rune of Stabilization 0 AP
Retainers
-[X] Training Regime Pt.1: 1 Retainer AP
-[X] Drakk Rearing: 2 Retainer AP
Orders
-[X] Order: T4 Ancient Magma Wyrm Heart
-[X] Order 2: T4 Ancient Greedy Troll Heart 15 Kraka Grom Favor
[X] [Letters:] Knowledge about the Elven side of the campaign [Extensive]
[X] [Social:] Snerra [X] [Social:] Karstah ✓ [X] [Patreon:] Valka
(Roll, Peerless Production: 98, 73, 19, 32, 34 DC 50)
(Cult of Grungni Retroactive Standing Bonus: 91, 70 DC 70)
━<><><>< 427 A.P. ><><><>━
The first thing you do is promptly provide enough compensation for everyone but the warriors defending Khazagar to get out and let you work in peace.
There is grumbling, there is skepticism, even a bit of annoyance, but even Dawi over five centuries old stay their tongues when they see the look in your eyes.
See IT in your eyes.
It has been nearly a century since you have properly crafted something.
The Runes you have taught, the few prosthetics you have created, they stopped you from going stir crazy, but they haven't tested you. Nothing since Skarrenbakraz has, but even that is something wholly different. Skarren was built for the purpose of replacing something precious to you, something meant to wear into battle so that another piece of infinitely greater personal value could be spared.
Your work here will be an act of purest creation, to make something that, if everything goes right, will itself allow others like you to create their own wonders.
Quite literally laying down the foundations of something greater these past five decades.
So nothing less than your absolute best can be offered, not that anything else was ever considered, not just for your own pride this time, but for the benefit of the future Runesmiths who would walk these corridors, use these rooms, learn within these walls.
You will make the ideal in your mind a reality.
So there is no more woolgathering, no more idly watching and faffing about as others put in the work for you. Now is the time that you contribute to your grand design, that you remind both Kraka Drakk and yourself that you are Snorri Gift Giver. So you send Karstah off to finish her own assigned duties, then don your complete panoply and move to the front door of the Central Keep. There, hidden under tarp covered scaffolding, you begin inscribing the Rune of Stone onto its surface, actually doing the chant you haven't verbally spoken in nearly a millennium in a moment of personal theatrics.
Because as much as you appreciate practicality, and fully well know that there are better, more effective Runes for this door, the message sent by your actions is sometimes just as important.
Just as a Runesmith's path began with the Rune of Stone, so too would it be the first thing they see once they walk past those gates.
Power Flows.
━<><><>< 428 A.P. ><><><>━
On the map of Khazagar you have labelled this place the Grozurbaz. A fanciful name for what is essentially a market square within the Central keep some would say.
You're going to make them eat those words.
There is a large, ornate avenue that runs through the length of the building, flanked not only by towering columns and decorations, but by the multiple floors of shops and railed balconies that make up the Grozurbaz. The path itself is paved with a mix of stone and gold, creating ornate geometric patterns and imagery that follow a symmetrical pattern from one end of the hall to the other. Above are five layers of arched footbridges which span the width of the hallway, connecting the walkways and shops on opposite sides together in the same way that the staircases and lifts you've installed allow for vertical movement. From the bottom of the footbridge railings hang the banners and shields which bear the Clan emblems and personal names of the workers and Stoneshapers who built this complex, forever immortalizing them.
Above it all, dangling from lengths of Gromril chain attached to the ceiling and where you currently toil away with Zharrgal and chisel in hand, are the seven massive chandeliers you had commissioned. Each one was made from the clearest crystal glass you could source, studded with the equivalent wealth of three masters in gemstones each, and then further improved with a Rune of Light and Rune of Refraction on the central crystal. Allowing the light each chandelier makes to reach far beyond the point where it would have diffused to the point of uselessness, bathing almost the entire hall in warmth of their collective glow.
Of course that isn't your only source of illumination.
Karstah created dozens upon dozens of Runes herself, painstakingly and perfectly repeated across the multitude of Quartz crystals that illuminate the parts of the Grozurbaz the chandeliers' light cannot reach. Every branching alley, covered floor and shop possess not only its own set of personal lights, but in the case of the latter internal heating and even running water through the use of mundane and Runically powered craftsmanship.
Past the beauty and utility however, lay the steel and iron that will keep this place secure. Flame Spitters disguised as dragon shaped sconces, pillar facades rigged to collapse and crush all those beneath, hanging hemispherical balconies jutting out from the upper floor walkways that can serve as vantage points for Dwarf portable Bolt Hurlers and Quarrellers, while some of the banners hanging from the bridges bear hidden Runes of protection and morale that can all be activated at a moment's notice by the Hall's defenders. Even if these were to prove inadequate, the Dwarf in command of the Hall's defence could send the upper floors crashing down atop the enemy with a thought. All of it to ensure that every inch of this place will demand a great deal of blood to capture, let alone hold.
Then, at the very end of the path, sitting on a raised pavilion seven steps high is the imposing gateway into the rest of Khazagar.
Will guides it.
Flanked by the statues of two Runesmiths, one holding a pair of tongs and a worker's hammer, the other a Runestaff and one-handed Warhammer, the door is a seven meter tall monolith of stone and Gromril sheathed in a mixed veneer of dark Wutroth and silver Azrilwut. The woodworkers used both materials in conjunction with stone, steel and gold to depict the ancient and wizened countenance of Thungni gazing out at the world. Gimlet eyes, their pupils made of purest sapphire and embedded in a position so that any who stand before it feel as if the Ancestor Himself is staring down at them, judging the worth of any who come before it. Above His head, radiating light like a halo, the Rune of Thungni burns bright against the circular Gromril plate which it has been painstakingly carved upon.
An emblem on a necklace begins to glow, the pages of a book emit muffled light.
The message, you think, is clear enough.
━<><><>< 429 A.P. ><><><>━
Swing and chant, swing and chant.
Swi-
-stopping herself, Karstah quietly curses her almost-blunder. Had that gone through the Rune would have been ruined utterly. She should know better than that.
"You're tired Karstah," her Master states, seemingly coming out of nowhere before holstering his hammer to stare at her impassively, "Rest."
She moves to protest, but a squinting of his eyes silences her easily enough.
A teal light turns gold.
"Half an hour," she manages to force out despite the discomfort and instincts not too, "no more."
"Two hours," he counters, raising a brow.
"Forty-five minutes."
"One hour and forty five minutes."
"forty-five minutes," Karstah says.
"One hour and fifteen," he says, huffing in annoyance.
"One hour," Karstah argues.
Master Snorri grunts.
"One hour" he agrees, making Karstah slump in relief.
They both know he can order her to commit fully to the two, but trusts her enough to let himself be haggled down.
She appreciates it, even as she lets herself fall flat against the cool stone of the floor, and focuses her attention on the sounds filling the hall
Let song remind you.
Master Snorri was using Barak Azamar to overcome the natural limits of a normal Dwarf, but that alone cannot explain his blistering pace. He simply moves with a surety and purpose she cannot yet match, perhaps can never match. Even with the endless energy afforded by his armour her teacher still moves as if he is a miser giving up his coin. Every swing is perfect from what she can tell, no loss of control nor focus despite dozens, nai hundreds of repeated Runes he has done. Each chant smoothly transitions to the beginning of another, the constant rise and fall of his baritone as it echoes through the Karaz-Irkul, backed up by the ringing of Zharrgal and the hum of Runes has become her near constant companion these past two years.
The monotony has, in her opinion, its own simplistic beauty.
Constant.
Endless.
Enduring, just like the name of the Hall they stand in.
The emblem of the King shines to life.
Perhaps that was the exhaustion talking.
Karstah closes her eyes, the last thing she sees before falling into blissful slumber is the glint of Runic lights against the pitch black backdrop of the Grand Gallery's ceiling.
Master Snorri made great pains to ensure that even his "facsimile" of the night sky was accurate…
━<><><>< 430 A.P. ><><><>━
With the Grand Gallery completed, you and Karstah move onto the debate halls and auditoriums next, deciding to continue by working through Khazagar's various segments in a clockwise fashion.
You grunt loudly enough to be legible, then listen to it echo across the room before waiting for the signal.
"I heard nothing!" Karstah shouts, having to poke her head out past the wall that partly sectioned off the amphitheater she was in.
It took a year and half for you to finish the Karaz-Irkul, this, by comparison, was a breeze.
Not much to do in what is effectively a chamber full of amphitheaters, auditoriums and pulpits akin to the one in the House of Runelords and Grand Conclave. Runes to enhance the natural acoustics the Stoneshapers and Engineers painstakingly calculated out so that the yelling and arguing of several dozen Runesmiths did not clash or interrupt one another, Runes to silence outside noise and prevent secrets from being overheard for the numerous smaller, more private meeting areas scattered about, and Runes to hide away a few special chambers for when people wanted a bit of extra secrecy. Not much variety all told.
A well meaning Dwarf may argue that perhaps Runes that instilled a sense of calm would be prudent, or Runes that improve one's cognition, if such things existed.
But that defeated the point of this you think.
Let mind shape it.
The only thing that would decide the worth of a Runesmith's argument, you muse staring out across the empty floor of this amphitheater, would be their own words, logic and proof. Runes that enhanced or impacted that, no matter how minutely, would influence that result. Tempers would run hot, words would undoubtedly escalate into fists as debate descended into brawls and arguments and that was not so much accepted, but tolerated. While peace and stoic endurance were virtues to be lauded, there was a point where endurance became cowardice. To stand by your words, even to the point of physical confrontation, was a mark of bravery; to stand firm against opposition like a mountain withstands the relentless pounding of the elements. To keep between the two was a delicate balancing act, one that often resulted in slides into unyielding stubbornness more often than not, but It was to be expected, it was simply the way of your people.
The Runes on the tablet first sputter then roar to life.
Which was why you called this place the Ror-khaz after all.
Heh.
And admittedly why you also have a small medical facility stuffed with Runes that sped along recovery and enhanced calmness put in here as well.
If some Dwarf decided to declare a Grudge over what was said that was their own damn business.
The Conclaves always ended up with a few formal demands for wergild or official apology and they only happened once a century, but Runesmiths got into spats as often as anyone else really. Hopefully common sense would prevail here of course. You could counsel, grumble, and mutter all you wished, but the only person that decided when a Grudge was needed, and when it was fulfilled, was the Dwarf in question.
And that would never change.
The light from the Warrior's emblem pulses like a heart.
━<><><>< 431 A.P. ><><><>━
It was about time that you put the knowledge you traded with Ogra for to work.
The Grungnaz-Khaz is the place where you and anyone willing to share their secrets will impart their knowledge to those students they find worthy. Several dozen vaults of varying sizes were connected to a cross shaped central gallery, each one filled with forging spaces that were arrayed in such a way that a Master at the center of the room can observe, and if need be correct, those he is teaching with ease. Every forge was inscribed with the Rune of Vigorous Furnace, each fuel container the Rune of Stacking, each room the Rune of Smelting, Siphoning and Climate.
It is perhaps one of the most important places for you to get right, and consequently the first thing you did was prepare to begin inscribing the Master Rune of Thungni's Brilliance onto a disc of Adamant you've embedded high up in a place of prominence on the far wall opposite of the entrance.
Aesthetically pleasing location, and its effect would encompass the entire floor and then some. A win-win really.
You wished for nothing more than to include the Master Rune of Smednir's Bounty somewhere with, if not equal, then at least respectful position as well, to have it reach as far as its brother, but that wasn't to be.
The ink on the notes glows.
Instead you had to settle on having a small section directly connected to the Grozurbaz where the melting and purification of Gromril and other ores could be done by either Runesmiths or, if scheduling permitted, anyone else really.
It felt a tad disrespectful to have the Master Rune of Smednir's Bounty inscribed there of all places, almost hidden away, but waste not want not.
So long as the work was done, so long as the work was good. You could abide it.
Well that and, in an act of consolation, you decided to put five of your improved Chainforgers placed there as well, set in a semi-circle around a statue of the Ancestor at his forge, crafting links with nothing more than a hammer in hand.
The emblem of the Shaper hums, then springs to life.
But such thoughts and musings are unimportant at this moment.
Forcing these thoughts from the forefront of your mind once more, you once more turn the full bore of your attention on the coming forging in front of you, the chant Ogra taught begins spilling from your lips in a steady stream of archaic Khazalid as you raise Zharrgal skyward.
Sing the song of creation.
Letting everything fall away, you find yourself falling into the rhythm of the hammer blows, the "tink" from carving into Adamant melding with sonorous words of your voice and the roar of the forge fires..
━<><><>< 432 A.P. ><><><>━
After the labour of the Grungnaz-khaz, the next place proves to be little different. Which is understandable as you and Karstah go to work on the library where your lore, and the contributions of other Runesmiths in the future hopefully, is to be kept.
This place had to be secure for anyone, you especially, to feel… not happy, but okay with putting even non-Rune related secrets within its confines.
You've tasked Karstah with placing Runes on the first three levels of the Library, the records hall, and the numerous shelving units, while you work on the laborious task of properly securing the final seven layers of the library from intrusion. Only the first seven of the ten security levels would be known to the public, the final three layers are only revealed on a need to know basis as they contain copies of your most precious knowledge. Mostly this comprises knowledge from the Elven texts, the properties of Adamant, and the Dragon Essence. As of now, only you and Karstah are aware of these levels, and possibly Master Yorri given his ability to snoop about, but given time you're sure you'll find other people who can be trusted with such knowledge. Some would balk that your fellow Runelords, your other Apprentices, not even Snerra were given automatic access. More than likely they'll manage it eventually, but quite literally this represents an appreciable amount of your more groundbreaking research, so you're understandably cagey.
Which is also why you're inscribing these chambers with the Rune of Dum-Denial; given their location within the Kron-Thindrongol they should appear otherwise uninteresting from snooping magical eyes. You doubt any of this knowledge is actually of interest to them, none of it is Runecraft after all, and it's the exploratory research of a Dwarf into concepts that magically attuned races have immediate access to after all.
But it's the principle of the thing.
The Warden's emblem slowly wakes from inertness.
A secret shared is one thing, a secret stolen is cause for a reckoning.
Besides, your insights may actually inspire them, if they ever get their mitts on it.
Which they wont.
This place, this vault, is as secure, if not more, than a royal Tomb.
A flame is lit in a fuel-less lamp.
The amount of defenses and wards you've stuffed here are immense, and few other places in Khazagar, nai, Kraka Drakk, are so heavily shielded. Constant guard rotations, Runes of Warning, Runes of Alert, and even several keystones bearing the Rune of Elemental Waking hidden in alcoves and in the hands of the guards, so that they can rapidly increase the amount of defenders and eyes in place if the need arises.
You wipe your nose out of habit, sniffing approvingly at the completed Rune.
You've gotten into the Rhythm of things by this point, the chanting and swinging from bringing dozens, hundreds of Runes intro creation almost start to meld into each other.
For as paranoid as you've been in keeping the contents of these books from falling into the wrong hands, you're even more meticulous in ensuring the knowledge you write down will not waste away either. Security meant more than safeguarding against the unworthy. It also meant safeguarding against the inexorable march of time for as long as possible. The art of preservation was old hat for your people at least; non corrosive metal for pages as best practice, preservative coatings if you were desperate, periodic and systemic checks by the Runescribes for damage, and robust construction did a lot ensure things did not fall apart after a few decades of use. Those methods did even more when augmented by Runes of Climate to manage the ambient humidity and temperature, Runes of preservation on the covers to guard against the wear and tear that would come from the thousands of times a tome may be opened in its lifetime. By that point a lifetime measured in centuries wasn't unlikely, it was downright expected.
Building things to last was sensible really.
The work of eternity.
Anything worthwhile was built to last.
━<><><><==><><><>━
There are Brana gathering around the walls of Khazagar.
Not the traditional type that Grum was used to, but the Gold ones who's appreciation of all things Dwarfen made them just a bit more odd in his mind than the rest of their kin.
At first it had been a few, but now there were a good dozen or two of the bulky birds passively standing off to the side, gazing intently at the walls of Lord Klausson's creation.
Frankly Grum had his reservations, but they kept to themselves and didn't block foot traffic so no one really bothered to shoo them away, not that he thought that sort of thing would work.
The Aerie's pinnacle shimmers with two different lights.
Properly transfixed, he thinks to himself, like cousin Grimbald when he got the gold lust.
Huffing, Grum turns away from the sight to look back down at his ale.
"...they don't look alright to me is all." someone whispers off to the side, no doubt some beardling who couldn't tell quiet if it hit 'em in the face.
Someone's loud mouth was Grum's news he supposed, straining his ears.
"Well, I reckon I know what's happening," the Dwarf's drinking buddy muttered, "my cousin's in tight with them ya see, and when he asked his Brana friend what the hubbub was all about he gets a confused look back. Coupl'a days later his friend comes back and tells him that 'the Golden Ones are beholding the Ruby, Gold and Diamond.' So clearly they're attracted to all the gold and gems covering the place."
Wrought onto mortal plane.
"I'm a fan of Gold too you rockhead, but you don't see me doing what they're doing."
"Aye, but unless you got wings hidden under that shirt of yours I don't reckon you're a Brana are you? Maybe its just something they do. 'Sides, it is a sight to behold isn't it?"
Grum finds himself nodding along, as do several other eavesdroppers.
Even the outside of Khazagar is beautiful.
Banners hang from the battlements and on poles fluttering in the wind, several bearing the glow that only comes from a Runesmith's work, their warm light casting the gold and cool grey stone of the walls in a pleasing tint. The six towers each have a statue of an Ancestor God in front of them, Grungni and Valaya flanking the gatehouse, Grimnir to Grungni's left, Gazul to Valaya's right and both Smednir and Morgrim capping off the towers at the end, while Thungni, of course, stands in a place of pride in the center of the courtyard. Each one created with outstanding attention to detail and with the finest material to ever leave Kraka Drakk's doors.
Aye, what a sight.
━<><><>< 433 A.P. ><><><>━
This was the fiftieth dorm in the Tiwar-Khaz she had completed.
Runes glitter on almost every surface, it is perhaps ostentatious in the extreme, but as her teacher had mentioned before, any place that claimed to serve the needs of Runesmiths better use the tools of their trade. After all, this level of luxury wasn't too out of the realm of plausibility for the average Master Runesmith to live in. Running water, heated floor, expansive storage and cold storage for personal stores of ale. Even the mattress could be swapped out for a slab of stone if they were so inclined.
She didn't think those rumours were true, but Master Snorri had disabused her of that notion when she was barely a century old.
Don't think too hard about it lass, what folk do in the privacy of their bed is their business, aching back or no.
Karstah drinks deeply from her tankard, focusing on the relaxing chill of good ale to fight against the onslaught of fatigue she feels.
Master Snorri is on two-hundred-seventy-something rooms finished if he's kept up his pace, she calculates mentally.
It isn't a competition, at least not against her teacher, that she understands that well enough. Nevertheless, Karstah can't help but feel like she should be doing better than this.
It's a cancerous thought, a poison that will do her no good if she allows it to fester, and yet as much as she crushes it beneath the weight of experience and common sense a nugget of its foulness remains.
How can you compare with that? How can you ever match him? It whispers, louder than her teacher's chanting, louder than the ringing of his hammer, louder than the hum of the Runes.
In time, another voice murmurs.
The necklace burns with ethereal fire.
Karstah nods along subconsciously.
"In time," she repeats.
━<><><><==><><><>━
Compared to the grand purposes and ideas of the halls you've spent the past five years working on, this place is positively mundane.
Yet it is no less important.
If the Karaz-Irkul was the heart of Khazagar, then the Trogg-Khaz was its stomach.
The Runes on a basket hum a pleasant note.
And a Dwarf could have all the ideas in the world in their mind, but they can do none of it justice on an empty stomach.
While the material cost of Khazagar was staggering in its enormity, the Trogg-Khaz was likely to be the largest running expense you would have for the rest of your life. Enough food to feed hundreds of Dawi a day with good, hearty meals, even subsidized by having some of the more expensive items cost gold, it was only possible because you were a Runelord, and because your brother knew a lot of merchants. The main dining hall was a massive hexagonal room with hearths, stairs and branching paths lining its walls. The center was dedicated to long rows of feasting tables and a roaring fire pit which radiated a consistent, pleasant temperature. Like the Grungnaz-Khaz everything was illuminated in warm light and the air hot, but unlike the Maker's hall the smell was a great deal more pleasant and the environment a great deal more relaxing. Dozens of dining rooms for private occasions connected to it like the branches of a tree, while in the far back where the Kitchens were situated was an impressively large room kept below freezing by Runes of Cold and five centimeters of Glacial Granite lining the walls.
Here and in the Tiwar-Khaz was where the touch of Valaya was at its most omnipresent. Her visage and her Rune were never far from one's sight, and you'd be hard pressed to see just one of either wherever you looked. The only things that were more plentiful was the number of Hearthstones you used in everything and the amount of silverware you bought.
━<><><>< 434 A.P. ><><><>━
For seven years you and your heir have toiled.
Hundreds of Runes, carved onto all manner of things, enhancing, improving the work of your people.
Legend and myth
Thousands of verses, chanted with solemnity and continuously.
Thousands of swings, rising and falling, shaping an forging.
The light begins leaking from the container.
But it is done.
You bring the hammer down a final time, the final Rune in the final room, on the final item, completed on the seventy-seventh day of the seventh year. A Rune of Stone, carved on a stele depicting a map of Khazagar at the heart at the edge of the chasm in the center of the Karaz-Irkul, just in front of the entrance to the Grozurbaz.
A ritual, even one so crudely made and unintended, is still a ritual.The work of the Smith.
Khazagar is, at last, complete.
━<><><>< Khazalid Trivia ><><><>━
Grozurbaz - Big Market
Groz - Big/ the number 144
Grungnaz-Khaz - Maker's Hall/ "Making Hall"/Smith's Hall/ "Smithing Hall"
Karaz-Irkul - Grand Gallery/ "Big Stone Pillared Vault"
Kazaki-Khaz - Warrior's Hall
Khazagar- The Halls of Everlearning/Hall of The Endless Gift
Kron-Thindrongol - Tome Vault/ "Secret Vault in which Books are hidden"
Ror-Khaz - play on words of Rorkaz, informal shouting contest, and Khaz, Hall. hence, "Argue Hall"
Thrindrongol - Secret vault in which ale or treasure is hidden
Trogg-Khaz - Feast Hall
━<><><>< Gain ><><><>━
Snorri:
- New Rune Understood! Master Rune of Stabilization.
-- +2 progress to The Happening of Things, new totals: [Cost: (8 -2) =6 actions]
-- Talent for Talismans [6/15] > [8/15]
- New Rune Understood! Master Rune of Disguise.
-- +3 Progress to Wardstones, new totals: [Cost: (5 -5) =0 actions]
-- Mind for Constructs [3/15] > [4/15]
-- ??? [1/???] > [2/???]
- Wardstones complete!
-- The surviving Runesmiths and Apprentices of Karag Dum made do with what they had, creating, but not completing, a powerful if cumbersome means of denying the probing vision of their traitorous kindred. You have finished what they started.
-- New Rune unlocked! Rune of Dum-Denial
- Odd Wyrm's Blood Pt. 2 complete!
-- Maybe your mind is simply biased by your "essence" theory, but you're fairly sure that the Prismatic Dragon's Blood is actually a confirmation that the idea isn't that far fetched. Its relative universality as a reagent has always confounded, but the idea that it's the very idea of a Dragon distilled… Well it answers as many questions as it answers. Now, if only you could make it without having to use something that's far more precious, and definitively find out why it cannot substitute the reagents for certain Runes that use dragon parts.
-- Prismatic Dragon's Blood > Dragon Essence?
--- Your Windsight eye cannot yet discern what makes this specifically a Dragon's essence and not some wind-infused blood, but thats something that can be worked with.
-- +4 Progress to Akazit Pt. 2, new totals: [Cost: (14 -7) =7 actions]
-- Master of the Odd [7/15] > [9/15]
- A Wonderful Endeavour complete! Khazagar Options Unlocked!
-- MythicalWonder of Note, Khazagar: The Halls of Everlearning/Hall of The Endless Gift: A sprawling complex designed by the mind of Snorri Gift Giver and brought into the fullness of its potential with the vision of the North's eldest Runelord, decades of labour from the greatest artisans of Kraka Drakk, and the former's preposterous wealth. Defended by a curtain wall thirty meters tall and five meters thick, where six large towers rise up from the battlements like the prongs of a crown, the outdoor portion of the building is a multi story hall that serves as both fortress and marketplace, topped by a final seventh tower above an appropriately grandiose front door. Inside lies the Grozurbaz, and the entrance to Khazagar proper, a visitor wishing to go deeper inside must walk through a long vaulted chamber lined on either side by shops, balconies and the towering pillars that support the metric tons of metal, stone and wood the building is composed of. The entire length of the hall is lit by a set of seven massive chandeliers made from crystal and rare gems that, alongside an innumerable number of quartz and gold Rune lamps, bathe the area in a warm inviting light.
--- Grozurbaz: Built into the Central Keep of Khazagar's outside portion, the Grozurbaz is a massive marketplace that fills half of the keep's interior with numerous shops and warehouses. Stocked by merchants with goods regular and esoteric, it is the most mundane of Khazagar's seven halls. Nevertheless, the physical shops that line the path to the inner door are minor miracles to the common Dwarf. Not only are they heated, ventilated, lit and cleaned by Runes, each shop is connected by tunnels and stairs to a personal storage space beneath the keep and to the rest of Khazagar. On the same level as these warehouses, an expansive open space is both filled and constantly busy ferrying goods between the outside world and the other parts of Khazagar through the use of an expansive service tunnel system.
--- Karaz-Irkul: The underground part of Khazagar is by far the lion's share of its total square footage; past the entry hall door lies the Karaz-Irkul, or Grand Gallery, a glamorous and astounding display of both mundane and Runic craftsmanship. Like the proverbial axle upon which the wheel of Khazagar spins, this central hall serves as the main thoroughfare for all the other halls, connecting the individual parts of both the southern "domestic" and northern "working" halves of the complex to each other. For that same reason, at each corner of the octagon are alternating sets of stairs inscribed with Strollaz Runes and Rune-powered lifting devices that can ferry three dozen Dawi up and down the many levels of Khazagar for public use. Each one of the branching halls that connects to each face of the octagon is a multi-tiered and specialized structure dedicated to meeting the needs of its residents. The roof of the Grand Gallery is a black hemisphere of Obsidian, further darkned through the use of Light manipulating Runes to create an utter void of blackness. Complementing this oddity, several crystal lights hang from the ceiling upon lengths of Gromril chain so thin as to be almost invisible, creating the image of a astronomically accurate night sky (as seen from the direction one is facing) on the roof's surface. The center of the Grand Gallery floor has an octagonal hole surrounded by a railing, and when one looks down they will see the other levels beneath as well as yet more crystal lights, also seen against an obsidian black field created from tiles of the volcanic glass that pave an octagon on the bottom-most floor.
--- Kazaki-Khaz:The southwestern hall isn't a singular structure, but rather an interconnected series of barracks, cafeterias, armories and store rooms that feed into a main arterial vaulted hallway that is used by the Huskarls and Winterhearth warriors that defend Khazagar. They are similarly connected to the outdoors and other parts of the complex by secret passages that allow for rapid movement to and from the Kazaki-Khaz. The stoic visage of Grimnir the Valiant, as well as his Rune are a common sight to those who walk these halls. The Great Armory at the center of everything stores the most potent of the innumerable pieces of Runecraft ready to be wielded in Khazagar and the Hold's defence. The most utilitarian in look and purpose, the doors connecting this realm of war to the Grand Gallery generally remain shut save for special occasions or times of emergency. While food is carted in from the Trogg-Khaz through service tunnels to the dining areas.
--- Trogg-Khaz: The southern feasting hall of Khazagar is the heart of the domestic half of the institution. A hexagonal chamber connected to the south face of the central octagon and to both the Tiwar-Khazal and Kazaki-Khaz, with several other hallways that branch off into several smaller, more private, dining rooms. At the far end of the hearth lined chamber is the kitchen where a group of Dwarf chefs and workers toil to feed the multitudes that walk, live, learn and work within the walls of Klausson's grand endeavour. Runes that enhance the sense of comfort and peace in this place are common, and understandably both the image and Rune of Valaya is prevalent throughout. Everburning stoves and ovens, Runic platters embedded with Hearthstones ensure that the food they receive will remain as hot as is practically possible, while barrels kept chilled in rooms lined with Glacial Granite and Runes of Cold can be delivered by huffing apprentices at a moments notice, ensuring that the ale and food flow with as little impact as possible.
--- Tiwar-Khaz: The southeastern hall, like the Kazaki-khaz, is actually multiple interconnected structures. Two separate "wings" of dormitories connected to a singular grand avenue that connects it to the rest of Khazagar. Multiple stories of dorms and small public spaces are stacked atop each other like a honeycomb, the floor of the upper levels have long open gaps along their middle, turning paths into balconies that let onlookers see the intricate and beautiful aesthetics of the ground floor's avenue walkways, public squares and decorations from above. The path that connects it to the Trogg-Khaz are flanked by statues of Valaya and waft in the scent of freshly cooked meals into the hall. A level below the dorms is a medical "room" well stocked with plenty of beds, herbal poultices and other healing tools for use by the Healers Guild and members of the Cult of Valaya. In here a massive Hearthstone, carved into a mural of Valaya the Healer, bears the Master Rune of Triage
--- [Master Rune of Triage (Ancient Troll's Heart)] Occupants in a room have their survival greatly prolonged; wounds do not fester, bleeding slows to a trickle, and the spread of poison is frozen while the vitality and willpower of the patients are improved.
--- Ror-khaz: The northwestern hall is a branching structure that terminates into doors which lead to small auditoriums or plazas where Dawi may discuss, argue or even brawl over the art of Runecraft. For particularly busy debates/arguments, the farthest end of the Hall houses seven especially large areas where large crowds may gather and witness debates between particularly brave or angry colleagues. There are no Runes that would enforce an altered state of mental acuity here, ensuring that the purest expression of a Dwarf's thoughts and knowledge reveal themselves, however there are numerous Runes that are meant to induce faster recovery, spots for rest and refreshment, and most tellingly another, smaller, infirmary run by the Cult of Valaya and Healers Guild capable of dealing with more types of injury than one would expect they would need to handle.
---Grungnaz-Khaz: The northernmost hall is another split space, one half created to serve the creative endeavours of the Runesmiths, and where Master Runesmiths may teach their lore to those they deem worthy while the other is built for the errant Smith. Despite the constant hum of temperature regulating Runes, the heat of hundreds of forges and many more fires lays heavy in the air, like a particularly thick blanket. While Runesmiths are required to bring their own personal tools and reagents themselves, the dozens of spacious halls, all rated to handle the negative feedback of improper Master Rune crafting, are filled with empty forges and supplied with material from the Grozurbaz ensure that they can create with a level of consistency that ensures their learning is not impeded by material limitations. A Master Runesmith can, in theory, comfortably teach dozens of others their lore should they so choose.
---- [Master Rune of Thungni's Brilliance] Runesmiths in a room or structure find their intuition and comprehension when striking Runes temporarily flaring, sometimes forgoing the need to use all but the most powerful and rare (T5) reagents.
---- [Master Rune of Smednir's Bounty] Refining metals in a room or structure becomes incredibly, sometimes supernaturally, efficient, leading to their average output increasing by a noticeable degree.
--- Kron-Thindrongol: The smallest part of Khazagar and yet its second most securely defended just behind the Gift Giver's private residence, the Kron-Thindrongol is Khazagar's library and hall of records. The total number of levels the library possesses is a mystery to all but Klausson and the Winterhearth Runescribes that maintain its collection, and the obsessive level of mundane and Runic protections in place help ensure that remains the case. To the public, only seven levels are known to exist with any level of certainty, each deeper within the other, and each more heavily guarded to boot. Despite the perfectly understandable level of paranoia and security, the first few levels of the library are, paradoxically, rather pleasant to stay in; possessing reading areas, desks and tables placed at set intervals and private rooms for individual research are scattered throughout. Hundreds of books about magical phenomena, reagents and other esoterica, and many times that number in proper record keeping are stored away within its numerous, and some say numberless, shelves.
--- The Runelord's Workshop: The eastern "hall" colloquially known as the Runelord's Haunt, Klausson's Workshop remains largely unchanged, with the only notable addition being the massive door having been put in place to block out the sound and give the Gift Giver some privacy from the rest of his creation. Unknown to the public, several secret tunnels have been installed that crisscross their way through the stone that allow the Runelord to reach almost any part of Khazagar entirely without notice. These paths are protected by Runes and mundane engineering to prevent intrusion from strangers and all converge on a single, well guarded, hallway before actually connecting to the Runelord's residence.
The entirety of Khazagar is protected by an innumerable number of straightforward and esoteric wards, each of the Halls can, in the event of possible capture or some other emergency, be sealed off from the rest of Khazagar. Even the Grand Gallery can theoretically be sealed off, slowing but not completely halting those within Khazagar from reaching anywhere else in the complex eventually. Alchemical flame spitters, bolt throwers, booby traps and crushing walls lie silent, but ready to be activated at a moment's notice, by the defenders, turning the beauty and splendour of a place ostensibly dedicated to learning to the terrible pursuit of battle. Save for Kraka Drakk and Aerie atop the mountain's summit, there is arguably no other place in the valley the Hold is situated in that is safer than Khazagar.
-- Touched by the Earth: When Barak Azamar physically remains within Khazagar, the range of the armour's energy aura is expanded to encompass the entirety of its grounds as is its ability to impart Deep Magic charging is also spread to any Rune made.
-- Touched by the Storm: When Snorri wears Skarrenbakraz and remains within Khazagar, the range of the cloak's storm can be expanded to encompass the entirety of Khazagar's grounds if it is within Snorri's line of sight
-- Echoes of the Anvil: Hysh, Aqshy and Chamon are drawn to this place, visible only to those with windsight.
-- Nexus of the Earth: As the result of both Barak Azamar and the innumerable Runes of Siphoning present dredging up so much Deep Magic, all Runes within Khazagar glow with a warm, soft golden light rather than their usual teal glow. While this effect is temporary for Runes made outside of Khazagar, any Rune created within will have this visual effect permanently.
-- Soul of the Earth: The metalwork present is some of the finest in the Karaz Ankor, metalwork created has improved quality.
-- Trollbane: Trolls fear this place, yet Greedy Trolls paradoxically wish to invade and destroy it.
-- Chaosbane: Hysh congregates around the physical structure, making it unpleasant for Beastmen to be near and outright painful for Daemons.
-- -6x Adamant, -1x Ancient Troll Heart, -2x Elder Wyrm's Brains, -1x Elder Magma Wyrm's Heart, -1x Elder Magma Wyrm's Blood, -1x Grimnirzan, -1x Oathgold, -1x Stone Troll's Blood
-- Mythical Deed, The Chainwright: revealed.
-- Peerless Production [9/?] > [27/24]
-- Soul of the Earth [4/18] > [0/?]
-- Productivity Like One Other [3/15] > [7/15]
- New Runes/ Combos Unlocked!
-- Rune of Dum-Denial (Banner): Rune will attempt to show area in range as if it were not there when scried. Multiple copies improve chance of success.
-- Rune of Dum-Denial (Structural): Rune will attempt to show inscribed structures and surrounding area as if they were not there when scried. Multiple copies improve chance of success.
Karstah:
- +7 Progress to Chillhammer, new totals: [Cost: (12 -10) = 2 actions]
-- ???[3/???]
Retainers:
- +1 Progress to Training Regime Pt. 1, new totals: [Cost: (4 -2) =2 actions]
- +2 Progress to Drakk Rearing, new totals: [Progress: 7/?? actions] "Lord,
Drakks have reached standard acceptable behaviour milestones, comparable to a beardling on Kumenouht…
…all display lengthening and hardening of spines at a faster pace than increasing rate of growth…
… efforts to understand why there was a temporary slump in growth have been tabled until new evidence is found…
Grimgal
- length 11m
- … displays odd manner of speech, references to self in plural persist and are accepted upon recommendation of the heir…
- enjoys banner, has taken to carrying one crafted by heir upon leaving her lair…
Zharrok
- length 9.5m
- … Personality is otherwise unchanged, temperament issues are fleeting and infrequent after learning several anger management exercises…
-... Pyromania has continued to develop as this one continues to explore possible productive outlets. Charcoal experiments are current topic of interest as of writing…
Izgrom
- length 9.5m
- Displays greatest understanding of Dwarf norms and social expectations, paradoxically the sausage is the one most willing to break said expectations. Concerns minimal, I've met worse…
- No known interests, unsure if he doesn't care or is too busy causing a ruckus to figure it out.
Favour and Standing:
- -45 Favour with Kraka Drakk, new totals: Favours 105
- -15 Favour with Kraka Grom, new totals: Favours 230
Trait(s) Gained/Upgraded:
- Snorri
-- ??? [1/???] > [2/??]
-- Master of the Odd [7/15] > [9/15]
-- Mind for Constructs [3/15] > [4/15]
-- Talent for Talismans [6/15] > [8/15]
-- Peerless Production [9/?] > [27/24]
-- Peerless Production [27/24] > Peerless Production [3/?]: Every 2 request actions add 1 extra progress. If 3 request actions, instead add 3 extra progress. Every request action has a 60% chance to proc extra progress.
-- Soul of the Earth [4/18] > [0/?] Every 2 research actions used for [Metal] Runes, and all geological material add 1 extra progress. If 3 research actions, instead add 2 extra progress. Every research action has a 40% chance to proc extra progress. Metalworking greatly improved.
- Karstah
-- ???[3/???]
-- Productivity Like One Other [3/15] > [7/15]
━<><><><==><><><>━
AN: I did it. Now I rest, will update the informational sheets tomorrow. Hope you enjoy and don't forget to C&C. :^)
Well a wonder... that is something. Also really neat to see Kastrah work with us and her attitude and insights. Her path looks bright, also did anyone note our two traits before the change as I am curious what bits got upgraded
Well a wonder... that is something. Also really neat to see Kastrah work with us and her attitude and insights. Her path looks bright, also did anyone note our two traits before the change as I am curious what bits got upgraded
Yeah I noticed on a reload the parts of the wonder had colors on the name when at first it was just text color, also thanks for bolding the changes/additions on our traits, always nice for new players as well when reading to see how things changed
Edit- so 10% improvement on the proc chance for peerles, i think the proc on soul is completely new
Also chainforger is now out and into the world as something we did
I believe so, Gazul's lamp started burning even when it had no fuel, Valaya's basket started glowing... Also, only one hidden text, at the very end. Here...
Holy Shit! What a chapter! So much has happened we did another Mythical deed let alone all the progress we made in various traits! As always Soulcake you without a doubt make the best dwarf quest there is on this site! And one thing is for sure I can not wait for you to out do even this! Now for comments and ho boy is it a lot!
And this right here is proof that the Ancestors wherever they are are watching and possibly approving of what is happening! Further reinforced by the fact every Ancestor reacted to this in some way!
It isn't a competition, at least not against her teacher, that she understands that well enough. Nevertheless, Karstah can't help but feel like she should be doing better than this.
I can already hear the future of dwarves seeing all the runes everywhere and later at dinner asking the elders how long it took how many tunesmiths to create all these runes and get told it took only two less than eight years to do all of them
edit oh wait that's wrong karstah was working on trying the place for years beforehand
Smednir sent Snorri a 'receipt for services rendered in an old family dispute' upon him creating Gromril chain, or finishing the first version of the Gromril Chainforger.
Way back at the start of the Quest, Morgrim was the one to design and help carve out the Brana's Aerie, and Snorri was the one to Rune it to completion.
Hundreds of Runes, carved onto all manner of things, enhancing, improving the work of your people.
Legend and myth
Thousands of verses, chanted with solemnity and continuously.
Thousands of swings, rising and falling, shaping an forging.
The light begins leaking from the container.
But it is done.
You bring the hammer down a final time, the final Rune in the final room, on the final item, completed on the seventy-seventh day of the seventh year. A Rune of Stone, carved on a stele depicting a map of Khazagar at the heart at the edge of the chasm in the center of the Karaz Irkul, just in front of the entrance to the Grozurbaz.
A ritual, even one so crudely made and unintended, is still a ritual.
-- Touched by the Storm: When Snorri wears Skarrenbakraz and remains within Khazagar, the range of the cloak's storm can be expanded to encompass the entirety of Khazagar's grounds, or manifest anywhere within Snorri's line of sight.
Wearing Skarrenbakraz when making something does indeed have an effect just like with Barak Azamar! Very nice!
