Dwarves of the Icewall

D&D 3e (3.0/3.5) Rules

by Dragon Zombie X

During the last few days of the Dwarfgate wars, when hill dwarves and mountain dwarves waged war amongst each other one dwarf worked his forge in the bowels of Thorbardin. Baldurik was visited in a dream by the god Reorx. He was to forge a weapon, a weapon of power and beauty. One which would unite the hill dwarves and mountain dwarves as one. He worked day and night sleeping fitfully for only a few hours, then he would work his forge again. When he was done their on his table lay the most beautiful battle axe he had ever seen. His work complete he wrapped it in a fine cloth and locked it away.

For the first time in over a week he slept peacefully. When he woke the next day something was different. He looked around his shop but could not discover anything out of the ordinary. Then he saw the chest in which he had locked away the battle. The lock was missing! He quickly ran to the chest and threw it open. The axe was gone! Frantically he began searching around for the weapon. But he could not find it. Just as he was losing hope of ever seeing it again his shop began to glow a bright white, temporarily blinding him. When the light dimmed their stood a muscular dwarf holding the axe in his right hand. Baldurik could not move. He just stood their in awe. The dwarf walked over to a workbench and carefully placed the axe upon it. He looked at Baldurik and smiled. The room was once again filled with light. When is stopped the dwarf was gone. Moving carefully Baldurik headed over to the axe. It was different yet the same. Along the handle were runes of magic.

Hoping this would unite the dwarves he brought his axe to all of his closest friends. A few of them agreed that the ongoing battle should have never happened. From their he showed the axe to other dwarves who also agreed with him. When he had mustered one hundred men strong he headed down to the battlefield axe in hand. But one of the tunnels collapsed. He and his men were stuck in a cavern in which there was no escape. After two days of trying to dig their way out the dwarves gave up. With no food or water they would die shortly. Then something amazing happened. Baldurik was about to give up himself when he noticed something glowing on his axe. A new rune had appeared! Not knowing quite what it meant he hopped to his feet and headed towards a wall. Without even thinking he chose a small section, and slammed the axe into it. A huge chunk of the wall fell. Again and again he bashed the wall tearing it apart piece by piece. After a few hours he finally tunneled his way to freedom. The dwarves gave a great cheer, they quickly exited and headed towards the battlefield.

They were to late. Hill dwarves and Mountain dwarves lay dead everywhere. Baldurik after seeing this knew he could never stay in Thorbardin. A few of his men went back but most stayed with him, they would find themselves a new home. They moved across the battlefield helping survivors and comforting the dying. By the time they left the battle field he had added another fifty dwarves to his followers. On their way across Ansalon Baldurik and a handful of dwarves would stop in towns and dwarven settlements and try to gather more men. Showing the axe which was blessed by Reorx to all who would follow him. After a few months time he had gathered an following of over five hundred dwarves! Hill and Mountain alike. Now that he had the men he needed they would need to find a suitable place to build a homeland. While drinking at a tavern he heard stories of a placed called the Icewall. He learned as much as he could about it. It was inhabited but as far as he could tell no dwarven settlements had been established. A perfect place to start fresh. He went into a town with ten other dwarves and they purchased a fleet of ships. Baldurik hired humans to sail the ships.

After a long journey they set foot on the place that would become their new homeland. They met a group of barbarians, luckily a few of them understood the dwarves. The dwarves would pose no threat, they were just looking for a place to start over. A mountain of group of mountains, which they could make into a home. The barbarians new of such a place. They called them the 'Icefangs'. It was a group of mountain ranges covered with snow and ice. It was deep in a part of the Icewall that was uninhabited by anyone. A few barbarians showed them the way, Baldurik only took half of his forces to scout out the area.

They searched many of the 'Icefangs' for a suitable place make their home. After months of searching they found searched the caverns of a huge mountain. They had found it a place to make their home. Baldurik sent half of the men he had taken with him to gather the rest of the dwarves making their temporary home in the barbarian lands. That left him with one hundred and twenty five left. They began cleaning out and planning how they would reshape the inside of the mountain. While checking out a new cavern Baldurik found a huge underground hot spring. Right under the mountain. This was a good sign he thought. But then he heard a scream from one of his men. He ran towards the direction of the scream into an unsearched cavern their before him stood something he had not expected to ever see. A giant white Dragon. Three dwarves lay dead. Five more injured. He yelled for his men to rally, fighting off the dragonfear he felt. This dragon had obviously made his home in the 'Icefangs'. They fought the dragon for a long time. Half of him men lay dead. Then he remembered the axe. He removed his axe and prayed to Reorx for guidance. He charged straight at the dragon and yelled. Mustering all of his strength he swung it at the dragons tail then he moved again. The dragon spun around but he was faster. He jumped onto it's back and climbed up it's back and onto his head. The dragon tried to get him off but he was being attacked by dwarves from every direction. Baldurik swung down hard into the dragons skull. He heard a loud crack as it connected with it's skull. He held on and yanked the axe free falling backward of the dragon and getting himself knocked unconscious.

He awoke a few ours later. The dragon lay on the ground, not moving. He looked around. His men were tending to the injured. He walked over to the dragon and looked at it. It was still alive! It was drawing in breath barely. It has lost a lot of blood, the axe had cracked it skull and possible hit the brain. Sensing it would die soon he left it alone. He was walking back to pick up his axe when he heard a crack. The floor. they were on ice!. The floor began to splinter from the weight of the dragon. Baldurik and the dwarves quickly ran to a safe spot and watched as the floor gave away and the dragon sunk into the spring.

Life went on for the dwarves. On there fifth year living in the Icewall Baldurik had twin sons. He trained them and taught them how to survive in the Icewall, as well as telling him of the history of the Dwarves of Thorbardin and the Hill dwarves.

Another fifty years passed and the dwarves were getting along fine. They had adopted a new name for themselves. They would now be called the dwarves of Icewall! Baldurik was relaxing in the hot springs one day when the water under him began to turn. He jumped out quickly and reached for his battle axe. As soon as his hands closed around it something burst from the water below. A dragon. Another white dragon. No, not another. It had a huge scar on the top of it's head. It was the one he had fought years ago. It had somehow survived. He looked at his axe. It was glowing again. Like on the day he had tunneled his way out of Thorbardin. Another rune had appeared. Once again he instinctively knew what to do. He held the axe in one hand and drew it back then threw and released. The axe flew threw the air and connected with the side of it's face drawing a deep gash. The axe continued around the back of the dragon and back to the open hand of Baldurik. The dragon whipped it's tail before Baldurik could move. Hitting him in the rips and sending him soaring into a wall. By now other dwarves were here, they could not move they just stood their in horror. Baldurik was trying to get up but the dragon opened it's mouth and closed it's jaws down on the un-armored body of Baldurik. Yet Baldurik managed to hang onto the axe. He was once again thrown into a wall. The dragon came at him again. He used what little strength he had left and threw the axe again. This time it connected with the bridge of the nose. Driving itself in, killing the dragon, and shattering in the process. Baldurik lay dying on the floor. Lying in a pool of blood he crawled himself towards the shattered weapon. He called one of his men over and whispered something into his ear. The man nodded solemnly. He headed over and gathered the pieces of the axe, he had to rip one piece out of the dragons head. Four pieces. He handed them to the dying Baldurik. Baldurik held the blade close and breathed his last.

Baldurik was buried in a connecting mountain. They used the scales of the dragon to create a coffin for him. The man who he had uttered his last words to took twenty men and sailed back to Ansalon with two pieces of the axe. They hid one piece in a cavern deep inside Thorbardin, setting traps and leaving a warning. They placed another in a small shrine below the hills outside of Thorbardin. Another was hidden with one of the 'Icefangs'. And the Handle, the only part to remain fully intact was placed in a place of honor in the great hall of the new dwarven stronghold in the Icewall. Baldurik had asked that this be done. The pieces would stay in their resting place until one worthy could pass the tests and gather them together. Then the axe could be reforged. It would only be reforged successfully if the person was worthy to wield it. And only a dwarf could wield or reforge it.

The dwarves of the Icewall were created for DRAGONLANCE campaigns by Dragon Zombie X. But with some modifications can be used for any campaign you choose.

This item has been published here with permission from the author(s) and may not be reproduced without permission. This is a fan submission and its contents are completely unofficial. Some characters, places, likenesses and other names may be copyright Wizards of the Coast.