In the latter part of the Age of Strife, the Three Rivers War between the dwarves of Cladash and the cyclopes of Markadon slowly petered out after many decades of conflict. The war had weakened both sides, although the dwarves, with their resources divided between Cladash and the Karthad colony, suffered more.
The Windlord Monument in Northern Cladash
In AS 776, King Irrock rode all the way north across the tundra to Krushok Meir and presented a peace treaty to the Grand Chieftain of the time, Lordessa the Bold. Impressed with the honor, bravery and tenacity of the dwarves, she accepted the treaty and even conceded the strip of disputed territory that had started the war in the first place. Irrock, whose main concern had been to end hostilities, went home with a modest area of reclaimed territory. While there is no doubt that dwarven battle prowess is spoken of with high regard in Markadon, it is suspected that growing conflict between North Larocia and Markadon in the west played a part in Lordessa's decision. Once the dwarven issue was settled, she could freely concentrate her forces on a single front.
The war with Markadon dealt with, King Irrock immediately turned his concerns toward rebuilding his nation. In the west, Galdon, steward of Karthad, directed his energies similarly. Aging and eager for retirement, the steward became inattentive and careless with the colony's management. He caused no true harm by most accounts, but Karthad's recovery was stunted due to his ineptitude. In the summer of AS 782, King Irrock appointed a new steward for Karthad, a respected and decorated war hero named Drahvin who also happened to be his royal nephew.
Drahvin had served in the Three Rivers War for almost four decades and was no statesman, although he was very loyal to the crown and possessed a talent for direct action. After the inattentiveness of Galdon's closing years in office, Karthad was sorely in need of change. Drahvin settled in the city of Thurghold within a few short weeks of the announcement and began organizing a plan to help rebuild the dwarven territory.
His first act was to slowly decommission a portion of Karthad's standing military and establish these former soldiers as a public works team. Lines of communication, trade routes and storage facilities that had gone ignored during the final years of Galdon's tenure were reestablished. Military resources became industrial resources as new mines were opened and the manufacture of weapons was replaced with trade goods. Drahvin also encouraged some limited exploration into the southern jungle and along the shorelines in an effort to possibly expand the colony.
In AS 794, individuals in the southern tunnels began contracting an unidentified wasting disease. The Gray Murk was named for the distinct grayish complexion that marks infected individuals in the early stages of the sickness and began turning up in an increasing number of cases. The disease proved difficult to deal with, but Drahvin took measures to quarantine carriers and kept infection rates to a manageable level. Exploration into the south ceased and more resources were turned toward infrastructure. In twelve years, Drahvin had nearly repaired the damage of decades of war for Karthad.
Two years later, King Irrock passed on and his son, Prince Athak, was crowned king. Though young, he stepped into the role with eager dedication which was fortunate because a series of lean seasons over the last few years had taxed the already-bare royal coffers and Cladash now teetered on the edge of famine. He immediately sent word to step up production of exports to the east from Karthad. |
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Unfortunately,
Drahvin
had only a bare minimum of resources to spare. The Gray Murk had surged to epidemic proportions in recent years, crippling Karthad's workforce and occupying a large proportion of the colony's healers who were doing their best to contain and cure the plague. Faced with his own failing resources, he was hard-pressed just to supply for his own people, let alone support Cladash, too.
King Athak, still new to his throne, repeated his demand, unwilling to settle for the trickle of revenue that Drahvin had supplied him. Cladash's need was desperate enough to rely on possibly disease-ridden export from the west. His main concern had to be with the dwarven motherland. If necessary, he was prepared to sacrifice some or all of Karthad to preserve it. He signed a royal decree stating that the needs of Cladash had to be met first before any supplies were to be distributed to Karthad.
The new king's obstinance infuriated Drahvin , who had been steward of Karthad since Athak was a mere child. Without proper supplies, the people of Karthad would only become more vulnerable to the Gray Murk plague. He sent a personal missive to the king, begging him to reconsider. He knew well the difficulties involved with assuming leadership over a large territory and hoped to convince his young cousin to reconsider.
Athak replied, stating that he was sworn to serve Cladash above all and, as steward of its only colony, so was Drahvin . If he did not comply, Athak would send in his army and take the resources he needed by force. The old soldier could not deny the king's point. As Karthad was a colony of Cladash, its land and everything in it belonged to King Athak. The people of Cladash were in great need and he was duty-bound to obey his king. But, in helping the citizens of Cladash, he would bring great suffering and death to his own people. Drahvin thought long and hard on his predicament. None of his advisors, nor any of his council, could offer much advice and he was running out of time.
The day after the King's reply arrived, Drahvin's young son, Havren, fell ill and began showing early symptoms of the Gray Murk. Drahvin took one look at his suffering child and made his decision. On the 16 th day of Winter, AS 796, Drahvin , Steward of Karthad, declared his colony a nation unto itself, no longer beholden to the kingdom of Cladash . Thus began the Western Underwar and Karthad's battle for freedom.
The Heart of the World, where Cladashite kings are crowned
The conflict flared as King Athak ordered his troops to capture and execute all traitors. The tunnels of Karthad became a war zone between the dwarven nations. Casualties reached terrible proportions on both sides as disease and famine took their toll indiscriminately. For nineteen years, the Underwar raged, gradually degenerating from direct conflict into a never-ending series of bloody guerilla-style raids from both sides. The Karthadian dwarves, led by Drahvin himself, eventually pushed the Cladashite dwarves out of their territory and Athak was forced to accept Karthad's independence. On the 38 th day of Summer, AS 815, an official declaration was signed which recognized Karthad as a self-governing nation and crowned Drahvin as King of the West.
History refers to this as the Great Divide, when entire family lines were split along the borders of these two nations. Relations between the two countries have been cool, at best. When the Pact of Merriton was signed on the 41 st day of Spring, AR 5, neither king attended. Such was their enmity that they had to select an elder priest of the Earthfather who held great respect on both sides to represent the dwarven people at the summit. One can only hope the recent alliance might bring the two closer to their common roots once again.
- Kitterwen, Chief Historian at Ignilly University |
