Gandogar

Gandogar is one of the four Dwarven Cities, along with Mesubesh, Heatherhill and Camp Tandil. The city was founded by Mesu in the year 2E2730, 13 years after his creation. The city was founded above the Zwergforge, and was the first city inhabited by dwarves.

Historically, the city has been disconnected from contact with outside sources, owing to its hard-to-reach location. high in the Yellow Range. However, due to it being the home of the Zwergforge the city has become home to many who have made the long and arduous pilgrimage from Harrowan to The Pafferian Isle. The city itself is lorded over by a direct descendent of Mesu himself, the full family tree of which can be found here. By the beginning of the 4th Era, the city was controlled by Ranto III.

The City is situated inside the Gandogar Valley, and is accessed by travel through many miles worth of tunnels located inside the mouth of a gigantic statue of a dwarf. Opposite the statue of the dwarf is a statue of a dragonborn, which are modelled off of Galangard III and Norixius respectively. The statues were created between the years of 3E143 and 3E2231, though the exact dates are unknown. Famously, Gandogar is known as the 'Vestige Point', as it is generally considered to be the last place one would invade if one was to destroy the Dwarven Lands.

Down the tunnel from the city is a small town known only as Changeling Village. The name rather gives away which race lives down there, though interestingly they are not allowed to cross into the Dwarven Lands without permits, creating the uncomfortable situation of the changelings being trapped in the tunnel, only able to leave for trading missions.

Autonoe and Mesu
The City of Gandogar was founded in the year 2E2730 by Mesu, consistently called the founder father of dwarves. Common myth holds that Mesu travelled first to Harrowan, founded the cities of Mesubesh and Heatherhill, before travelling back to the land of his creation to found Gandogar at the site where he had first been created by the hands of Autonoe. However, many historians have noted the improbability of this being true as notes found on the body of Far Roughhue indicate that Autonoe first made Mesu in the year 2E2717. There is some disagreement over which city came first, with scholars in Mesubesh arguing that their city must have come first as it bears the name of the first dwarf, whilst scholars from Gandogar argue that their city must have been founded first as there is no way that 13 years was enough time for any dwarf, even the great Mesu, to travel all the way to Harrowan, found 2 cities, and then travel back to count Gandogar. Besides, due to Mesu having been forged in the Zwergforge it is only logical that he should have founded the nearest city first.

This argument would only become more heated in the year 3E4412 when a stone was uncovered in the ruins of a collapsed section of Gandogar that dated the creation of the city to 2E2855, lending credence to the argument made by scholars of Mesubesh. Scholars in Gandogar, meanwhile, claim that the stone is a fake as, though magic revealed that Mesu did touch the stone, there is no way to prove that this note was written by him. Meanwhile, Scholars from other countries and cities have chimed in on the issue, most notable the Elven scholars from the Diamond Tower in Zarnishia who argue that dwarves are stubborn creatures who cannot see that the argument is stupid, they're stupid and that neither of the cities shall ever reach the acclaim and beauty that Zarnishia holds.

Discovery of the Zwergforge
The Zwergforge was first uncovered roughly 200 years after it was first used in the creation of Mesu. The first dwarf's son Ganalgard was the first to uncover it. After years of hearing legends from his father about a forge used by Autonoe to create the first generation of dwarves, Ganalgard set out with his twin brother Galangard to find the forge. At the age of 50 the two of them took pilgrimage from their home on the banks of the River Mesu (later known as Mirah's Creek) to Gandogar in order to uncover the Zwergforge. It is important to note that Ganalgard did not believe his father's stories about magic forge, as he was an entirely logical dwarf and as such placed little stock in magic. He set out on the journey to prove that there could be no forge great enough to create an entire race. This he made clear to his brother, whom was a scholar and recorded his brother's doubts about the existence of the forge in a letter to his mistress in Heatherhill:"Today, my brother has expressed concerns about the truth that lies behind the words of my father. As always, he has told me in great length that at his forge he does not allow tales of Autonoe to escape the mouths of his apprentices. Though he praises out great creator in private, I fear that Autonoe shall strike my brother down in holy fury before our quest is done. Perhaps after our arduous quest is complete, my brother shall understand the truth. I pray to the Holy Smith that Ganalgard sees sense, and failing that I pray he sees the rock our father was hewn from. - Excerpt 'The collected letters of Galangard, translated into southern tongue by Janiel Jay'"As is clear, Ganalgard did not believe in the forge, but after three months of staying in Gandogar with his brother Ganalgard decided that he would brave travel through the tunnels. Crossing the bridge in the Mesu Valley, he travelled for many days through the labyrinth of tunnels that ran naturally through the mountains. On the 8th day of travel, Ganalgard found the forge and, it is said, dropped to his knees in tears for its beauty was so stunning that it burned his eyes.

Upon returning to the city, Ganalgard called a great assembly and declared his intention to remain in the city as Lord Protector. His first wish that was to be fulfilled was that a great excavation should go underway, in which all dwarves of the city that had the skill would be put to work making the tunnel safe for travellers so all dwarves would be able to safely reach the forge. Considering the first generation of dwarves had been made only 200 years prior to this deceleration, the city at that time consisted of roughly 50 people, many of whom were children. Nonetheless, there was much rejoicing that night.

Ganalgard II and Tana
Upon his deathbed, Ganagard called his two children to his side. Ganalgard II and his son Ganalgard III were the first to arrive to the Lord Protector's bedside. As such, these two were the only ones to be in the room when he passed, for all the attendees had been forced out of the room. Under Ganalgard's rule, the city had grown prosperous as theirs was the only point of respite for travellers on the Isle who intended to travel through the mountains. Upon leaving his father's chamber, Ganalgard II told the awaiting crowds that his father had left three instructions for his only son. The first was that Ganalgard II was to take over as Lord Protector of Gandogar immediately. The second was that Ganalgard II's only sister, Tana, was to be banished from the Isle and forced to return to Harrowan. The third was that Ganalgard III would take over from his father, and that the role of Lord Protector would always be a hereditary post.

Whilst the people of the city had no problem with the first and third instructions, there was much uproar about the banishment of Tana. Tana was well liked about the city and had aided her father's project throughout her entire life, whilst her brother had spent his youth partying and ignoring the needs of the people. It was decided, a year after he banishment, that those who wanted her to return were going against the rule of the Lord Protector and should be banished alongside her.

In 2E3534 Ganalgard II held a referendum, asking all citizens of Gandogar to vote on whether they believed that Tana should be allowed to return to the city. Using the results of this referendum, Ganalgard II could now identify all supporters of his sister and declared that anyone who voted to have Tana return was to be banished and declared an enemy of the state. The dwarves sought refuge with Galangard, now incredibly elderly and quite mad, who was living in the foothills of the mountain. They declared Galangard's grandson Korgo their new leader and declared that they owned the Zwergforge. To combat the strategic position that Gandogar held on the Isle, Korgo's dwarves created a new pathway around the mountains that led directly to Far-En, far safer than the route through the mountains. Korgo also declared this new city should be named after his now deceased uncle and so the city became known as Camp Tandil.

The two cities would have bitter arguments for generations about which group truly owned the Zwergforge. These arguments were laid to rest nearly 8 millennia later by Queen Rikke of Mesubesh, a direct descendant of Tana. She decided that the forge should be considered 'The Common Heritage of all Dwarves', in much the same way that both Mount Mesu and Loch Mesubesh were considered after the great war.

Rankrisar's Attack
In the year 3E1611, a thousand years after Leda had attacked the mainland and dragons swept across the countryside there, the first dragon reached the Pafferian Isle. Rankrisar the Shimmering, as he was called, had an easy time using his stupendous might to overthrow the human kingdom of Pafferiat, and made way to cross into the west via the mountains. Due to the forge having been lit by the hold dragonfire of Leda, Rankrisar sought to wait out the winter in the Zwergforge before continuing his journey west into the Mistwatch Forest. From the forge, he was able to command his forces on the eastern side of the Isle whilst still having safety in his hibernation, protected by the Dwarven mountain.

Rankrisar stayed in the mountains for many years as he found that, despite all his power, he could not attack the forest. Many other dragons come to the Isle to try to invade, but the elven forces had allied themselves with hordes of Hegemene's fiercest beasts, and even the toughest of dragons were no match for the power of nature. Upon returning from a battle in the year 3E2214, Rankrisar was so dazed from the fight that he entered the wrong tunnel and found himself in Gandogar. The dwarves did not take kindly to this.

Having called a truce with the dragon centuries prior, Gandogar had been unscathed by the dragon's rule over the rest of the Isle. In this time, the dwarves had been hatching a plan in secret. They had taken one of Oberon's Artefacts and put it to good use. The armlet work by Lady Rosa, the Lord Protector at the time, gave her a cunning wit and the ability to comprehend the vast swathes of knowledge pouring into her mind about troop movements. As a skilled sorceress on her own without the armlet, Rosa was able to both manoeuvre her troops with fine accuracy and use her own magic to combat the dragon. After a year of fighting with Rankrisar, the beast fell. A clear warning was given to the dragons of the world: Dwarves protect the Pafferian Isle. Good Luck.

Dacades later, the dwarves of Gandogar and the elves of the Mistwatch Forest had cleared the Isle of dragons almost entirely, though some still hid deep in the reaches of the Yellow Range. Though none of them dared to include themselves in the vast draconic battles of Harrowan, the dragons knew that to try again to take the Pafferian Isle was suicide.