Bur Boldor

Bur Boldor 

• Mirkarkden (FALLEN)

  • [~4000] – Mixed Class – Visitors, Non-dwarves, Military families, Farmers, Shepherds, Hunters, Loggers

  • Before one enters the city of Bur Boldor proper, they come across the trade town of Mirkarakden. The town sprawls over the rocky hills that rise to the central peak and entranceway into Bur Boldor. The town is close enough to the city that it is often considered a district of Bur Boldor itself. Many non-dwarven immigrants to the city prefer to live in Mirkarakden, where they don’t spend all their time surrounded by stone and encased inside the mountain. Mirkarakden is a natural trade hub for visitors, where foreign traders can trade their wares with the many fine-crafts that come from within the mountain. Mirkarakden also houses much of the Bur Boldor military as the first line of defense for the city.

    • Notable Buildings:

      • The Emerald Inn: 4 floors, bottom is a bar. Top three are rooms. Innkeeper is a human woman named Gretchen in her mid 40s who took over the inn after her late-husband died, named David. She’s never had children, barren. 

• Entrance-Hall [Vazrrik] (The King’s Face)

  • [~400] – Military Stronghold and Important Checkpoint

  • The entrance-way into the city holds a large garrison of the Bur Boldor military, ever vigilant for external threats. There are built-in watchtowers, barracks, and armories built into the entrance façade. The stone entrance maintains the original stone ducts and chasms in the rock face that create the singing sound of blowing wind. Additional resonate chambers also amplify the sound, such that all who enter into the city hear the song of the stone. The grand face of the mountain is known as “The Unknown King to Come”. As one enters the city, the Bur Boldor guards keep a close eye on all who enter. There are often close inspections of merchandise to ensure no one brings any threats into the city. (Rumors persist that the runes will glow if someone has ill-will towards the city. The runes are also said to be powerful magical protections against dragons.)

The Mirrorden District // The Grand Halls 

• [~4,000] –  Middle to Upper Class – Merchants, Travelers, & Craftsdwarves

• Upon entering the grand entranceway of the city, a visitor enters the Mirrorden (Grand Halls) district of the city. New visitors are often shocked at the immense size and height of the halls of Mirrorden. Wide stone avenues stretch along cardinal directions, forming a perfect grid. The avenues are five stories high with numerous walkways, bridges, and stairs connecting the upper layers across the avenues. There are bright magical lights along the buildings and at the octagon-shaped intersections of the avenues there are bright octagon windows on the ceilings. It is said that there is a clever network of mirrors that brings natural light down into the mountain.

• The Mirrorden district is the center of trade and craftswork for the city. Raw goods are imported into the district, and out goes numerous fine crafts. There are numerous ale-houses, inns, and guild-houses on every block. In addition, there are plenty of stores and workshops of finely-crafted items.

• The Marrorden district serves as the central point of the city. In the center of the district is the Tagvelalf Ekrund [Deep-And-Sky Stairway], sometimes just referred to as the Ekrund, that connects Marrorden to the other districts of the city.

High Sky Halls [Gormalfden]

• [~250] – Upper Class – Mountain-King Palace, Nobles, Grand Treasury, the Rock Gardens

• This district serves as a celebration of dwarven culture with some of the most attractive architecture in the city. The district is not nearly as large or as tall as Mirrorden, but features many intricate buildings controlled by the richest and most powerful of Bur Boldor. The entire district is shaped like a large octagon.  

  • The northern wall is the Grand Temple of the Moradin

  • The seven main clans of Bur Boldor have their clan houses build into one of the walls. Each clan is represented by one of gods of the dwarven pantheon:

    • Abbathor (south wall, death and greed)

    • Berronar Truesilver

    • Clanggedin Silverbeard

    • Dugmaren Brightmantle

    • Dumathoin

    • Muamman Duathal

    • Vergadain 

• Each clan house features elaborate dwarven architecture on the front façade with a large number of rooms and chambers beyond.Between the clan houses stand many tall columns with carvings of various ancestral heroes and clan leaders. There are also numerous fountains, pools, and rock gardens, showing off the best crystals and gems found in the mines. There are always plenty of guards around, so few would consider trying to steal any of these artifacts.

• Above the Grand Temple of Moradin a giant stained glass window composed of gems and colored glass sparkles on the ceiling, surrounded by magical lights. This is a composed of reinforced, thickened glass, and is a real window through the top of the mountain. It shimmers with reinforced magic. 

• Ceremony “The Call for the King” 

  • As the fires dim and the noise in the High Sky Hall district quiets, the ceremony begins and the voice of a single canteror echoes echoes across a hushed crowd. The language is not dwarven, but an ancient elvish dialect. From the edges of the octagon shaped district, seven preistesses process towards the center altar withing the High Sky Halls of Bur Boldor. Vergadain, Berronar, Clangeddon, Dugmaren, Dumathoin, Muamman– six of the lesser gods represented by with their priestesses dripping in gold and diamonds with an luminescent train from their robes that trails behind them. The seventh priestess, soaked in ebony and deep grays– Abbathor, the last of the lesser gods. The seven converge and occupy seven sides of the octagonal altar. The northernmost, and final edge, vacant. From further north, the high priest, the Hierophant, the Overseer emerges from the Grand Temple of Moradin– the first of the dwarven gods. The priest bellows in dwarven: 

    • Noz heartth Nar soulth Yoth da Thrummaz rumol tul coze ruk. 

    • Which Gullogk will know means: Our hearts and souls cry out for the King who was promised to us. 

  • The crowd begins to recite this over and over, and what starts as a chant gives way to lament. A fire erupts in the center of the altar, and tumultuous billow of smoke rises into the air. From within, like lightning withing a storm cloud, streaks of gold and white and red flash and arc. The preistesses fall prostrate beneath. The cloud rises high into the carved out mountain and from within a radiant beam shines down on a vacant throne that has appeared in the altar. The high priest genuflexs from his position far removed, the crowd follows, and he returns to his place within the Grand Temple. 

Under Halls [Morden]

• [~8,000] – Middle to Lower Class – Common-folk neighborhoods

• The Morden [Under Halls] district sits directly below Mirrorden. The halls of Morden are not nearly as tall, only two to three stories, nor nearly as wide. The district is otherwise laid our similarly, with very straight and organized streets along cardinal directions. The streets, corridors, and bridges of Morden are usually bustling with the everyday dwarves of the city. Most residents in this district live in multi-room apartments and spend much of their day working. There are plenty of simple ale-houses and neighborhood eateries. However, few in this district can afford imported foods, and thus one is unlikely to find more than mushrooms, eggs, and lizard meat in their dining experience.

Deepcliff Halls [Tagvosden]

• [~6,000] – Lower Class to Destitute– Poor neighborhoods, Nefarious cults, Black markets

• The district of Tagvosden [Deepcliff Halls] is below Morden. Unlike the above districts, Tagvosden is an unplanned district, it grew organically. The halls of Tagvosden used to be old mines from the early days of the city. Over time, the curved tunnels of the mines were expanded and the walls somewhat smoothed. Various apartments and dwellings were then dug out of the sides. The result is a sprawling district of curved tunnels and dark alleys, often filled with the sound of dripping water and overcrowded with the poor and mentally unhinged. It is where the poorest of dwarven families often reside, along with criminal elements and secretive cults.

Magmaforge Halls [Kodkodden]

• [~1500] – Middle to Lower Class– Metalwork forges, Smelters

• The dwarves who live deep below Deepcliff Halls//Tagvosden are some of the most honored dwarves. Dwarves with any talent or skill in metalwork find themselves seeking work in these hallowed halls. This district is much smaller than the others, supplying housing for only a limited number of dwarves. Some dwarves live in other districts and commute to working in the forges and smelteries, but the most honored dwarves are members of the Metalworks Guild. The most fantastic portions of this district house the Markodkod [Grand Magma-Forges] that the dwarves use to smelt and work metals.

Halls of the Dead and the Mines [Mornden]

• [~150] – Middle to Lower Class – Tombs, Temple, Ore Mines, the Deep Road

• Deepest into the mountain, and deep below the earth, one finds Mornden and the tombs of the dead. There is a vast collection of tombs and crypts where every dwarf of Bur Bolder has been interred for centuries. One can spend days exploring the network of tunnels, reading the names of all the dwarves that have passed.  There are few permanent residents in these halls, and most of them are devotees of Vergadain (death). There is a large temple to the dwarven god of death and time and its priests look after the crypts.

• Another main feature of this district is the entrance-way to the many ore mines. Most dwarves live in the upper halls and commute down to the mines each day to work. However, there are also some dwarves that live near the mines to ensure that the tunnels remain strong and open during the night, listening for shifting of the stone. The miners are typically of lower class, but have high honor for the work they provide to the city.

• The last feature of the bottom-most layer of Bur Boldor is the small military installation that guards the gate to the Deep Road. It is a long dark tunnel that connects Bur Boldor to other outposts and towns in the endless caverns and tunnels knowns as the Deep Underground.