The Graypeak Mountains

[greywolf]

Lost ruins, fallen civilizations, roving bands of orc and stone giants all make the Graypeak Mountains a place of adventure and dread. The center of the fallen Dwarven realm of Ammarindar, the Graypeaks shout out to those that would hear the call.

Most recently the call has been heard by a clan of shield dwarves from the north. Rumors say some twenty years ago a wanderer of clan Longhammer ventured deep into the mountains. After two months, he returned to Loudwater and spoke of long lost mines and ruins long forgotten. Within a 10 day he was gone, having left Loudwater to return to his clan.

Whatever he discovered, a year later a band of 100 shield dwarves returned and set out along the Delimbiyr River into the Great Vale of the Graypeaks. Clan Longhammer has now established a Dwarven Hall above the foothills of the Great Vale and are rumored to be mining a newly discovered adamantine deposit. Despite the odds they have managed to establish a well defended mountain redoubt that protects the newly built Longhammer Hall and the mines of the clan. With the Thunderblessing and the promise of a rich adamantine find, more and more of the stoutfolk are joining the clan and who knows, they may just succeed where so many others have failed.

[sandcastles]

Graypeak Mountains

This mountain range seperates the Fallen Lands from the Delimbiyr River valley beside the High Forest. The range is named for its ubiquitous gray-skinned stone giants, some of whom are smart enough not to attack all travelers on sight. The Graypeaks also offer bad weather, goblin keeps, numerous young dragons, and a large pack of worgs led by barghest chieftains allied with goblins.

FRCS; pg 169

[DM Leverage]

A history of the mountains

The lost kingdom of Ammarindar

Ammarindar, the southerly sister realm of Delzoun, once spanned the entire Graypeak range as well as the vast region under Delimbiyr Vale to the edge of the High Forest. The shield dwarves of this kingdom settled primarily in the central Graypeaks, but they also established a large mining colony in the mountains north of High Gap.

Ammarindar was a relatively minor realm compared to Delzoun or Shanatar, but what it lacked in influence and size, it more than made up in wealth. The dwarves of Ammarindar mined vast amounts of adamantine ore from beneath the Graypeaks and crafted the metal into legendary suits of armor that brought great prosperity to Ammarindar. Because the kingdom was not subject ot the devastating orc attacks that perpetually threatened the dwarf kingdoms in the north and south, it grew steadily in prosperity.

Ammarindar stood strong through the rise and fall of many neighboring kingdoms, including Netheril and Sharrven, only to fall at last before an onslaught of demons. Because the end came with little warning, dwarves fleeing the murderous hordes from Ascalhorn were forced to leave behind most of their belongings, including their precious gold and gems. Thus, caches of hastily buried treasure and dwarven heirlooms still lie scattered throughout the tunnels and halls beneath the Graypeaks.

The citizens of Ammarindar chose hallowed areas of tremendous size to house their communities so that they would have plenty of room for buildings and roads. Most of Ammarindar's structures are roughly spherical in shape, and each appears to flow from the surrounding stone. Protected from the outside elements and unoccupied until recently, the ruins of Ammarindar have survived more or less intact through the centuries. The gracefully arching tunnels and halls of the capital city and the surrounding clanholds reveal a great deal about how the dwarves of old Ammarindar lived.

Reaching the ruins of Ammarindar may prove challenging for surface dwellers. The stone giants in the Graypeaks have taken to throwing interlopers off the mountains into the valleys below, and goblins from Dekanter infest the southern sloes. The presence of the goblins draws blue dragons that lair on the mountaintops down lower in search of easy prey. Visitors who use the demon-dug tunnels underneath the mountains to reach Ammarindar risk encountering patrols of *fiends¹

¹ = slightly modified due to timeline.

Forgotten Realms - Lost empires of Faerun; pg 86