Kraghammer

Kraghammer is an underground dwarven citadel that sits atop a mithral mine known as Greyspine Quarry.

Entry into the city by outsiders is forbidden unless they have some sort of political standing and the proper paperwork. The upper levels are filled with dwarves, who are wary of outsiders, but will warm to anyone who will spend coin in their town. The lower levels are home to many businessdwarves, such as smiths and miners. These areas are much less welcoming to foreigners due to dwarves not liking outsiders near areas of financial importance.

Demographics
As of 812 PD Kraghammer is a large city with a population of 43,550. Most of its citizens are dwarves (83%) but there is also a significant portion of gnomes (10%), with various other races making up the rest (7%).

The substantial gnomish population is largely the result of a refugee migration hundreds of years earlier; see the History section below.

Notable People
Kraghammer, like Emon, also has a city council. There are several major houses within Kraghammer that each control certain aspects of business within the city.

The Five Ruling Houses of Kraghammer
Five Great Houses rule the city and have since its founding. Every ten years they elect an Ironkeeper, to serve as a representative and to maintain their alliances.


 * House Bronzegrip: Maintains the Bronzegrip metalworks; foremost house for smithing and metalwork.
 * House Glorendar: Maintains the law and manages the Carvers.
 * House Greyspine: Controls the Keystone or Greyspine Quarry; head of the house is Gradim Greyspine, ironkeeper of Kraghammer.
 * House Thunderbrand: The foremost house in all things magic.
 * House Zuurthom: The foremost house for architecture and masonry. One of the five ruling houses of Kraghammer.

Others

 * The Carvers: The military class who protect the city from attack and uphold the law.
 * Balgus's House: Since Balgus controls the only brewery in Kraghammer.

City Description
Kraghammer is a three-tiered cylindrical metropolis carved into the stone of a mountain. The interior features extravagant masonry such as marble columns, archways, bridges, and buttresses, all of which is lit using a reddish-glowing stone. A large metal forge envelopes the center of the city. Stairs and chain elevator systems near the edges of town are used for transportation between the higher and lower sections of Kraghammer.

The lower section of Kraghammer, near the mines, is darker than the upper levels. This area consists of several large structures and a giant domed temple made of flawless bronze in the center with doorways on each side, as well as a very large foundry with giant metal piping that filters off most of the smoke.

Off to the side of this section is the Greyspine Quarry. The mine itself is made up of three deep holes that stretch down under the mountain. The expansion of the city shows in the mine design as well as the appearance that, once a section of the mine is hollowed out, the city slowly seems to expand downwards. Many mining buildings stretch around the center of the quarry. There are also a series of tunnels that go off to the sides of these main tunnels. Unbeknown to the dwarves of Kraghammer, one of these mining tunnels had broken into a cavern system that lead down into the Underdark.

Points of Interest

 * Greyspine Manor: Home of the Greyspines, massive structure that is heavily guarded by the Carvers.
 * Balgus Brewery: The only brewery in Kraghammer.

The Top Slab
The Top Slab, also called the Arch, is built on a massive ring that sends neighborhoods and tunnels deeper into the mountain around it. Here is where most residential life is rooted, with thousands of stone-built abodes dotting the walls. A fine layer of soot tends to coat much of this slab, due to imperfect ventila tion from the industrious center slab.
 * The Firebrook Inn: Inn where Lady Kima stayed.
 * The Iron Hearth Tavern: Large central tavern on the west side.
 * The Stone's Pillow: Brothel within Kraghammer.
 * The Value of Valor: Alchemist and arcane shop.

The Center Slab
The Center Slab, also referred to as the Heart, marks the widest and most varied rung on the journey through Kraghammer, and is stratified between the the residences of Kraghammer's dwarven elite and its wealthy merchant class. At the exact center of the slab-dwarves are very particular about geometrical symbolism-is the Pyrethrin, seat of the Iron Keeper. Radiating out from the Pyrethrone are the various fortress-manors of the dwarven noble houses, with several Carver barracks in easy reach. Just below, the outer rings of the Center Slab are occupied by most of the city's non-mining businesses, from smithies, breweries, and jewelers, to tailors, butchers, and even tinkerers like the gnome-run Crack sackle Union.


 * The Hunter's Club: well known as the chief provider for non-imported meats to the city, sending parties atop the mountain or in the nearby Torian Forest for wild game.
 *  Allhammer's Will: The extravagant marble temple stands on the center slab of the city. Enormous in size and impeccable in detail and architectural design, this hall calls artisans and crafters throughout the city for inspiration.
 * Thunderbrand Manor: Home of the Thunderbrands, large structure guarded by magical runes and Carvers.

The Bottom Slab
The Bottom Slab, or the Pit, is the industrious center of Kraghammer, boasting the most blast furnaces per square mile in all of Tal'Dorei, courtesy of the Bronze Metalworks and their competitors. A network of fungus-farming paths called the Glowgrove works its way around this level, passing through all sorts of caverns. The mushrooms are harvested by the Toppers, the dwarven agricultural league that got their name from the small topside farms they tend above the city.
 * Bronze Grip Metalworks 
 * The Keenstone Quarry: The mithril mine on the lower levels of the city, run by House Greyspine.

Background
Shortly after the Calamity, Kraghammer was founded by the survivors of Uthtor and led by Clan Jaggenstrike.

A short time after 412 PD, when hill giants wrecked the gnomish city of Wittebak, Kraghammer welcomed the refugees.

Later that century, when Warren Drassig rose to power in Emon, the new Kingdom of Drassig severed diplomatic ties with Syngorn and made new alliances with Kraghammer. Soon Kraghammer was on Drassig's side in the 32-year Scattered War.

During the Icelost Years, somewhere between 518 and ~538 PD, the Tal'Dorei Council convinced Syngorn and Kraghammer to join in an alliance against Errevon the Rimelord, and together their forces battled Errevon back through the rift to the Frostfell.

Around 800 PD, Gradim Greyspine was voted in as head of the council of Kraghammer.

Ten years later, while Lady Kima of Vord was on her year-long pilgrimage for her growth as a paladin, she had a dark vision of evil taking root beneath Kraghammer. As she was returning from the Tundra Wastes north of Kraghammer, she traveled through the city and hired mercenaries to help her delve into the Underdark, and during her time in Kraghammer she managed to anger Nostoc Greyspine, the owner of the Greyspine Quarry. She and her companions ran into the Quarry without the permission of the Carvers, as she needed to head that direction to find the source of the evil. In early Quen'pillar 810 PD, Allura Vysoren hired Vox Machina to search for her friend Kima beneath Kraghammer, leading directly to the on-stream events of Campaign One.