Mount Gunbad is the ancestral home of the dwarven people, and all dwarves from Fredike and Ralan-Gul call it home. Legend states that holy Moradin created the first dwarves  from the stones of the earth itself there on the mountain, in a forge that never cools, and commanded the dwarves to dig, to fill the earth and multiply. The mountain is part of a chain that runs north/south and splits the continent of Fredike in 2, and is the tallest peak on the continent. It is relatively close to the coast, being within 2 weeks travel.

For untold millennia the dwarves did just that, hollowing the mountain carefully to preserve the structure, learning a love and reverence of the bounty of the earth and growing in engineering and crafting skill generation after generation. Dwarves are known for an exploratory nature, and naturally over time many traveled the "Roof" as many dwarves call it, settling many lands and crossing the Narrow Sea.

The ruling house of the dwarves has changed relatively few times over recorded history, and most recently resided with the Grudgebeard line. The Grudgebeards dynasty has lasted for several generations, with the current heir being Prince Folgrum. Calamity has disrupted the natural flow of inheritance, as the powerful lich named Keltu'um set his sights on the mountain, and after a protracted siege finally broke the defenses of the mountain. The last survivors to escape the carnage tell of the lich corrupting King Belgard, turning him into his personal vessel and possessing the king.

In ages past a town was established near the mountain called Bracklewhyte, created to be a trading hub connecting Mount Gunbad to the economy of Fredike. Bracklewhyte is struggling to survive the loss of the income from the mountain, as well as the constant attacks from the undead hordes within. It is situated where the Leoding Tributary joins the Portmeda River.


An in depth description of Mt. Gunbad from Crown Prince Folgrum Grudgebeard

The ancestral home of the dwarfs, Mt. Gunbad is the biggest and most elaborate hold in all the world. It is in one of the biggest Mt. in the Dragon Spine mountain range. Its front gate is a giant stone door and only approach is a huge stone bridge. The bridge is so thick a column of 25 men wide could easy march on it. The entry way is adored with huge statutes of heroes past and old kings of the mountain. The hallway of heroes opens to a huge central chamber that holds a giant city as big as any manling capital. This area holds all manner of shops, homes, banks, craftsman areas, guild houses, and many other buildings. Proceeding further you will notice a hole with a ramp that spirals down and will see that the Mt. is layered and you begin in the trade district. One layer down is the military district, an area filled with training fields, armories and barracks. Two layers down will reveal the civic district. The main keep and political building are found here, also housing for the dwarf elite. The main hold is a massive structure in its self. A giant metal wall encloses it from all other building in the civic district. In is a large meeting hall that holds the great stone throne where the Grudgebeards rule the great mountain. The keep also is the personal residents of the high king and hold a secret vault loaded with large sums of treasure and artifacts held by the Grudgebeard line. The vault has anti mage properties and seems to cancel all magic out within it. The rest of the mountain is a giant mine shaft that goes down for miles.

The defense and secrets of the mountain

The mountain as only been laid siege to a hand full of times in its long, long life span but all times the attackers could never make it over the bridge. This is due to a marvel of dwarven engineering. When attack  trap doors open up all along the mountain face  revealing a multitude of dwarves artillery. There are broadside cannons 4x stronger then the biggest ships of Blackbeards fleet. Due to  this brilliant bulwark and the treachery of mountain warfare it was thought impossible to sack. But if the attacks did make it to the gate with a ram there where many secret doors that large forces of dwarfs could sally out from. It is no wonder with these defenses the dwarfs thought the mountain impregnable but were proven dead wrong when a enemy from below would be there demise.

The outside Kingdom around the mountain

Not much land is held by the dwarfs outside of there mountain  but they do lay claim to a large dwarven port settlement and a few farming towns at the southern base of the mountain. The latter is called Port Stone and once held a large dwarven fleet of ironclad ships but once the mountain fell many of the captains of these vessels left to find other holds to serve and many of the population of the port went with them. The port is on the brink of ruin, with not enough dwarves who remain to maintain the port and fend off the almost daily skirmishes with undead.



The mountain range is also near a wood elf community that also has there own undead issues coming from the great tundra to the north.