Thoradin is a dwarven nation located south of Taman Busuk, southwest of Kern, west of Khur, and north of Blöde. The leader of the nation is called the High Thane of Thoradin. Thoradin was destroyed by an earthquake in 2009 PC and rebuilt nearly a thousand years later, only to be destroyed again in the Cataclysm. The nation became known as Zhakar until it was restored and rebuilt in the Age of Mortals.
Before the Cataclysm, the Suncradles were on Thoradin's western border, with the Ogre Peaks to the south. Nearby rivers included the Bone River, Silvanesti River, Solamnian River, Thoradin River, and the Whiteflow River. White Bear Pass was to Thoradin's south. Both Stone Pillar Pass and the Sand Waste were north of Thoradin.
The Cataclysm significantly changed the landscape around Thoradin. Its nearby geographical features are now the Stonecrusher River that leads to the Newsea in the west, Mount Horn, the Khalkist Mountains, and Ghost Range.
Age of Dreams[]
In ancient times, this region was home to the small dwarven kingdom of Thorin. This kingdom was made up of the legendary Calnar, one of the most ancient dwarven clans. For years, the kingdom peacefully coexisted with neighboring realms and extensive trade took place. In a great betrayal, some of their human trading partners attacked Thorin in an attempt to capture and sack the subterranean city. This attack ended in failure, and the city of Thorin closed its gates to the outside world. This act effectively ended Thorin as a kingdom. Ashamed that he was not able to better protect his people, the great dwarven chieftain Colin Stonetooth led his clan westward in 2150 PC to found a new home and a new greater kingdom. Those that chose to follow him became known as the Hylar dwarves.
Upon leaving Thorin, the Hylar called the devastated city Thoradin to remember their former home and to mark it as a place they left behind. Those Calnar who stayed in Thorin continued to live secluded and isolated beneath the sealed mountain. Unfortunately, their fate was sealed. Over the next hundred years or so, the Calnar were all mysteriously killed. Some dwarven legends attest this to the Black Flame, a living embodiment of evil. It was said that this dark force traveled through the subterranean halls killing all in its path. Their ultimate fate was a mystery, because in 2009 PC a great earthquake destroyed the abandoned keep and any access to the city. The entire side of the mountain literally collapsed into the valley below. Without any visible landmarks, none could find the city and thus Thoradin soon became forgotten to most surface dwellers. After the founding of Thorbardin, dwarven traders came back to reestablish ties with their brethren, however they too were unable to locate the city. In time, they gave up and returned home. For the next thousand years, the city of Thoradin would remain empty and forgotten by the outside world, waiting for the day when it would be reborn into a new glory.
Age of Might[]
Following the Third Dragon War in 1000 PC, many dwarves in Thorbardin to the west began to suffer from post-war boredom. A great sense of urgency seemed to cross Thorbardin with many dwarves seeking new and prosperous ventures. This feeling was not unique to the dwarves. After rebuilding their war-torn lands, many nations set out to reestablish contact and trade with one another. Unaffected by the recent war, eastern Istar waited with open arms to open new ties with western nations and to establish trading. It was around this time that the former warhero Horn Dunbar spoke up within the dwarven courts and declared a need for an expedition to establish a trading center that would create a path through the Khalkist Mountains and thus into Istar.
Opening with this point, Dunbar brought up the legend of the lost city of Thoradin. He stated that if this city was found and reopened, that it would serve as the trading post they needed. Many refused to believe its existence and thought Dunbar a fool. Regardless, the Thanes of Thorbardin granted Dunbar in his request to lead a grand expedition to locate the former home of Thoradin and to reopen it.
In 998 PC, a traveling band of about 3000 set out from Thorbardin. This band comprised of Hylar, Daewar, Daergar, Theiwar, and straggling Aghar and Klar who joined the group along the way. After making a temporary settlement on the foothills of the Khalkist Mountains, the dwarves began their search for the legendary lost city. For many months their searches proved unrewarding. Then after several seasons, the dwarves discovered an ancient Keystone at the bottom of a valley under the shadow of a massive mountain. This stone was clearly cut by dwarven labor and all knew that the city must have been nearby. Searching the mountain above the valley, the dwarves finally located the ancient halls of Thoradin. Before claiming their ancestral home, the dwarves had to chase out a clan of ogres that had taken up residence. With the ogres successfully removed, the dwarves celebrated and moved into the long lost city.
After repairing the ancient delvings, the dwarves once again gave the city its former name of Thorin, however they kept the name Thoradin for the surrounding realm that was soon to become a great kingdom. Within a year, the dwarves began to send out emissaries and ambassadors to the neighboring realms. Thoradin's main purpose was to establish trade with Istar and other eastern realms while Thorbardin was to continue to trade with the westernmost nations. It did not take long before travelers from throughout the east flocked towards the new dwarven realm eager for trade goods.
Thoradin's population grew at an incredible rate. Dwarves arrived from all over in huge numbers to help populate and expand the realm. In time, the dwarven population outgrew the city of Thorin. The new cities of Menekhtat, Talak-Siln, Thaxtharken, Thordarax, Thorollck, and the city of Zhakar were soon built to accommodate the ever-growing population and give each of the clans their own cities where they could thrive in their own cultures. Thoradin's surface realm also expanded during this time. Small towns sprang up along the newly opened trade roads of Stone Pillar Pass and White Bear Pass.
In the coming centuries, Thoradin was forced to deal with two separate ogre wars. The ogres still felt the mountain realm belonged to them and they made war on the dwarves. In both wars, the ogres cut trading routes by intercepting caravans and did everything they could to generally make the dwarves' lives miserable. The ogres were suppressed each time with the combined efforts of the dwarven clans, the Solamnic Knights, and financial assistance from Istar. The brutes were crushed in the final Ogre War and kept to themselves until a few years before the Cataclysm.
For the next several hundred years, Thoradin prospered as a major trading realm. Serving as a midway point between all the great nations, the roads of Thoradin were the only true routes through the impassible Khalkist Mountains. After finally being released from Thorbardin as a colony, Thoradin soon rivaled its former parent nation in power and wealth.
With the coming of the Kingpriests of Istar, Thoradin's days of glory started to dim. As the Kingpriests started declaring more and more edicts upon the realms of Krynn, the dwarves found their relations quickly deteriorating with the now massive eastern Empire. In 118 PC, the Kingpriest Vasari II declared the Proclamation of Manifest Virtue with one of the edicts being aimed squarely at the dwarves. The Kingpriest outlawed the worship of Reorx, the dwarves' chief deity. Outraged, the dwarves sealed their realm and turned back with force any human incursion from Istar. This act essentially split the continent in two, due to the nearly impassable Khalkist Mountains. The Kingpriest in his arrogance demanded usage of the dwarven roads through the mountains and war was soon at hand. Sending four legions into Thoradin, the Kingpriest tried to force the dwarves into submission. The dwarves, obviously more knowledgeable of the mountain terrain, crushed the Istarian forces and sent the survivors fleeing back to Istar. It would be another hundred years before Istar would attempt another such incursion.
During the last hundred years before the Cataclysm, Thoradin became cut off from the rest of the world. Since Istar was deemed the moral center of the world, most other nations were not able to continue trade relations with Thoradin due to fear of angering that great empire. Many dwarves isolated themselves at this time as though knowing their nation was soon to come to an end.
Seven years before the Cataclysm, Istar made its final attempt to force the dwarves into submission. Kingpriest Beldinas Pilofiro sent eight legions into Thoradin to take control of the old trading roads and to secure the realm for human occupation. Unlike before, the dwarves opted not to fight the eastern empire. Maybe sensing that their time in the world had come to an end, the dwarves decided to retreat from the surface. The dwarves held the Istarian legions off long enough for the surface inhabitants to evacuate from their towns and villages into the underground cities. Then in one final act, the dwarves released massive rock avalanches onto the great mountain passes that Istar so desperately wanted.
After the dwarves abandoned the surface, the Kingpriest sent in several expeditions to clear and reopen the mountain passes. This proved impossible because after the dwarves retreated, the ogres quickly took control of their ancient ancestral lands. Due to the Proclamation of Manifest Virtue, the ogres were already a hunted species. Filled with hatred towards the Kingpriest, the ogres massacred any Istarian who even attempted to enter the mountain realm. In time, the mountains became so dangerous that the Kingpriest abandoned all hope of ever reopening the roads.
Age of Despair[]
The Cataclysm marked the end of Thoradin as a nation. The nation was literally eroded from the face of Ansalon and, like many other nations, simply ceased to exist. Earthquakes and lava flows obliterated six of the subterranean cities. A massive magma plume erupted directly below the capital of Thorin, sending lava flowing throughout its levels and caverns. The top of the mountain burst and Mount Thorin became a volcano. The only city that survived was the Theiwar city of Zhakar, which was the deepest delved city of the former nation. Despite its survival, Zhakar was in utter ruin. From the ruins of this city, the new nation of Zhakar would be born, but this nation would be a twisted shadow of the great nation that Thoradin once was.
Age of Mortals[]
In 413 AC, the evil dwarven nation of Zhakar fell to the dwarven clans of Thorbardin. From this conquered nation, the new kingdom of Thoradin was formed. This new nation was said to be the second coming of ancient Thoradin. In reality, like Zhakar before it, this new nation of Thoradin was a dark shadow of the ancient Thoradin.
The new nation came about after war threatened the nation of Thorbardin. With Beryllinthranox's expansion into Thorbardin, the Thanes opted to seal the mountain and protect the underground realm. Not wanting to hide beneath the mountains, the crazed prophet Severus Stonehand challenged the Thanes and was exiled. He believed they should return to the days when the dwarves were a formidable force. With this in mind, Severus set out to form a new kingdom. Seeking to build his great nation, Severus opted to return to ancient Thoradin and rebuild out of the ruins of that former nation. However, these ruins were not uninhabited. After the Cataclysm, the dark dwarven nation of Zhakar had arisen out of the ashes of former Thoradin. Severus and his fanatical followers traveled to the Khalkist Mountains where they overthrew the Zhakar forces and took control of the realm. After dispatching the King of Zhakar, Severus was able to heal the population of a mold plague that had afflicted them for decades. With this act, he gained their undying loyalty. Seeking to return the nation to its former glory, King Severus changed the name of the realm from Zhakar back to Thoradin. He immediately put his subjects to work repairing the nation and its delvings.
King Severus also sought recognition. He wanted the other kingdoms in the surrounding realms to recognize the reborn nation of Thoradin as a power. He set up trade and military treaties with the Knights of Takhisis so as to further strengthen the realm. These treaties were mainly set up because King Severus feared that the ogre nation of Blöde to the south might one day make war upon his nation. He knew that he would need allies until the day when Thoradin could be strong enough to stand on its own feet. In return for the Dark Knights' help, the nation of Thoradin would supply them with weapons and dwarven goods.
In current times, this alliance has not worked out well for Thoradin. As King Severus feared, the ogres of Blöde invaded the northern lands of Neraka and Thoradin. The ogres have successfully taken all of the surrounding lands up to the city of Neraka. King Severus attempted to form a new alliance with the ogres after the invasion, but they have dismissed his requests. Currently, the nation of Thoradin consists of only the realm beneath the mountains thus leaving the surface to the ogres. King Severus is in the process of trying to open up relations with Sanction to the west in hopes that he will be able to better protect the territory they still maintain. The results of his efforts remains to be seen.
Pre-Cataclysm Cities[]
- Thorin (City) - Capital
- Goldlingers
- Ironhead (City)
- Menekhtat
- Merchant (City)
- Pillarton
- Saas Grund
- Suncradle
- Talak-Siln
- Thaxtharken
- Thordarax
- Thorin Keep
- Thorollck
- White Bear
- Zhakar (City)
Post-Revival Cities[]
- Zhakar (City) - Capital
Pre-Cataclysm Geography[]
- Bone River
- Ogre Peaks
- Sand Waste
- Silvanesti River
- Solamnian River
- Stone Pillar Pass
- Suncradles
- Thoradin River
- Valley of Zhakar
- White Bear Pass
- Whiteflow River
See also[]
References[]
- Dragonlance Campaign Setting, p. 180-182
- Dwarven Kingdoms of Krynn, "A World in Stone"
- Player's Guide to the Dragonlance Campaign, p. 47