A decade after the establishment of Balnorhak, another clan from Holgereth arrived on the far northern end of the range and sank shafts beneath the towering peak of Abharclamh. In that place, guided by a vision from Berronar, they carved the vast hidden hall of Gilmorack (-201 CY). Gilmorack rivaled any other hall of the Crystalmist clans both in splendor and wealth, but it never knew peace.

The goblin-kind who dwelt in the dens and deep holes beneath the northern peaks made fierce war against the newcomers, stormed their fortresses, and raided their supplies. The orcish shamans believed that the mountains had been bequeathed to them as their inheritance from the One-Eyed god Gruumsh, who had received it as his allotment after being tricked out of his rightful share of Oerth. The orcs considered the arrival of the dwarves to be a test from Gruumsh, one that could be passed only by expelling the interlopers. They came in waves, swarming up from the deep places. The halls beneath the mountain rang with the shouts of battle, the clash of arms, and the screams of orcish voices. Many are the songs still chanted among the mountain dwarves to recall the valorous and heroic deeds of those underground battles. In those days, the undermountain king of Gilmorack made a solemn covenant with the undermountain king of Balnorhak, and the latter sealed the covenant with a princely gift. He presented to the northern king a mighty hammer with which to smite their foes. Enchantments were laid upon the hammer such that when it left a warrior’s hand to strike their enemies, it returned on its own accord to the warrior’s grasping hand. Many heroic tales are told of the first undermountain king of Gilmorack and his marvelous hammer. Alas that the hammer has been lost, and none know what hand grasps it now.

During the reign of the first undermountain king of Gilmorack, a bitterly cold winter brought heavy snows to Mount Abharclamh, burying the roads beneath an avalanche and isolating the kingdom so none might pass. There had never been a winter like it neither before nor since. Hungry orcs raided the granaries, burning what stores they could not carry away. The isolated dwarves of Gilmorack faced the grim prospect of starvation. The only path to survival led through the lower caverns and out to the lowlands where they might replenish their stores. Under threat of extermination, the first undermountain king led a company of one hundred heroes to break the blockade, bludgeon through the lower tunnels, and escape into the lowlands (now possessed by the Archclericy of Veluna). But that great feat of heroism was not yet half the battle. For upon their return, the undermountain king and his men carried upon their stooped backs great sacks of grain, each dwarf bearing more than would have been reasonable to expect of a donkey. Even thus encumbered, the dwarves fought their way back up through lower caverns until they came again to their hidden kingdom. This great deed is still sung of in the chants of Gilmorack.

Kelly, Thomas. “Dwur Kingdoms of the Lortmils – History, Development, and Locations of Dwarven Strongholds.” Oerth Journal #33, Summer 2020

Veluna
Lortmil Mountains