Editing Setting:Unified Setting/Secrets of Everoc (section)

==Dwarven Secrets==

===Koganusan===

Historians speak of a time when the Dwarven Lordships were united, lead by a mighty emperor dwelling in the greatest fortress ever crafted by dwarven hands. The legendary lost fortress of Koganusan (roughly translated as Boatmurdered in the common tongue).

Outsiders know little of this period of dwarven history. Tales speak of epic battles against a multitude of foes, an increasingly erratic line of emperors (notably Mad Emperor Sankis I) and a plague of madness sweeping across the land affecting dwarves and wildlife alike.

Mighty dwarven expeditions were sent to recover the city from whatever befell it. The role of these armies is unclear, being variously described as reinforcements, rescue missions and a mining term describing the deliberate collapse of an unstable shaft to save the rest of the mine. Perhaps the closest equivalents are lance or sterilize. The fate of these armies is maddeningly vague and in some cases they simply disappear and are never spoken of again.

Tales of Koganusan grew increasingly wilder as the years passed. Most of these are so grotesque they can only be propaganda, spread by the Dwarven Lordships to discredit the previous Imperial Era. The eventual fate of Koganusan  is recorded since the dwarves record everything. However that knowledge is locked away in the deepest of vaults, accessible to few dwarves and no outsiders. Suffice to say that the dwarves will neither speak of it or reveal the location of the fortress. This has not stopped adventurers from seeking it out, hoping to reclaim the treasures said to lay within. If any have found it, none have spoken of it.

The fall of Koganusan and the end of the Dwarven Imperium happened so long ago that only the elves have contemporary records. Interestingly enough all of those records are under a Black Seal, embossed with the sigils of "Demon Death Place" and can not be opened to anyone except under the decree of the Vanawil government.

===Nidhogr===
[[image:Nidhogr.png|thumb]]
There are many dangers found in the depths of a dwarven fortress. Cave-ins, explosive gas-pockets and the other dangers of working beneath a billion tons of pressing rock make a trip through the [[Londerfell#Heloraen_Vosilea_.28The_Water_Forest.29|Water Forest]] look pleasant in comparison.

All of those dangers pale into nothing compared with the threat of an unleashed Nidhogr.

Dwarven religion tells this tale of the Nidhogr: "The Sun Within, Wotan, was a benevolent god that carved the Dwarves out of rock, taught them metallurgy and a writing system. The dwarves prospered beneath Everoc, establishing many large strongholds and cities. They crafted wondrous items, and their wealth was greater than all the surface civilizations could muster. But then, Valpurg (thought by some to be the draconian Belial) approached Wotan and asked him for the knowledge of the deep. Wotan, being kind, obliged, but Valpurg used the secret arts to forge the Nidhogr and the Wyrms, great beasts that invaded the deep halls and almost destroyed the Dwarven civilization. It took the might of Wotan, aided by mighty champions, to halt their advance, and in the process Wotan lost much of his former power and retreated into a sealed hall where he now rests, awaiting the time of the final battle."

This much is known, the Nidhogr are creatures of incredible power and even greater savagery. Their origins are unknown, but due to common superstition are believed to be unleashed on any fortress that digs too deep. Some are found beneath the earth, others come out of the wilderness. Varied in shape they are united in their unquenchable thirst for blood, suffering and death. 

One saga that is sung of the Nidhogr is that of the great champion Meng Kolmonom in the fortress that now bears his name.

As the saga tells it, Kolmonom dug too deep and trembled in fear. Soon their fears were realized as a great wyrm dubbed Slöl Sluxlol appeared on the frontier. Slöl moved slowly to increase the dread its presence created, batting aside all forces sent against it. The defenses of the fortress were ripped apart like papier-mache and the dread beast roared in contempt as it entered the great hall.

But then arose a champion, Meng Kolmonom. Taunting the dread wyrm he and a few brave companions lured the creature deep into the foundations of the fortress.  Leading his men he fought the beast until the rest of the fort diverted an underground river into the caverns below. Even as the foundations of the great dwarven city were swept away by the flood, causing widespread devastation, Kolmonom and his band held back Slöl. Until finally in a great crash they were trapped beneath the onrushing black waters.

Weeks later, as the fortress was repaired, the scene of the final battle was drained. No trace was found of Slöl.

There is a dwarven belief that the Nidhogr can never be killed. Instead they reincarnate, with all of their memories and antagonisms intact. That the Nidhogr will eventually become so cunning and powerful that they will destroy the entire dwarven race and then the world. It is something dwarves prefer not to discuss.

===Dread Beasts===

Everoc is home to a huge variety of wildlife, ranging from Beak Dogs (velociraptors, ridden by wild goblins) to Wolves. Many of them are well known outside the continent including carp, elephants, and rhesus macaque.

The ones on Everoc can be different. Different as in murderous, deadly and relentless.

While the stories are scoffed at by other races the dwarves know the truth. Normally placid wildlife can be imbued with a cruel, predatory intelligence. Mere animals become remorseless killing machines. You can see it in their eyes. Hardened warriors can be staggered by looking into the eyes of a giant carp when its eyes are filled with malicious hatred. Dwarven tales of ordinary wildlife behaving with hostile, seemingly intelligent intent are so widespread that overseas dwarves of stout character are known to panic at the sight of a harmless carp or elephant.

How and why these beasts become dread is something dwarves prefer not to discuss.

===Bongo Bongo===
[[image:BongoBongo.jpg|thumb|An image engraved in a fortress, fallen long ago]]
Roughly 800 years ago, the goblin homeland was destroyed. Legends of the time speak of a great battle in the heavens between the gods and invaders from a dark place, outside of reality. These legends are dismissed as primitive superstition by all but the goblins, who insist they made a great sacrifice to save the world and the elves who refuse to speak of that era.

But in the dustiest of ancient necrotexts, and in the darkest rumors of the dwarves there is a tale of a new god, stitched together from the corpses of the Outsiders and animated by the darkest of goblin necromancy.

Long ago in a time now forgotten, say some stories, the ancient necromancer lords searched too hard and deep for knowledge in the dark. They woke the nameless horrors that sleep beyond the world. Those beings came and the gods had war with them, a fight for the survival of the world and all its past, present and future, for the outer gods would devour time itself. Yet those ancient necromancers were the ones who finally drove the Outsiders back. They took the body of a fallen god, one of the Outsiders with his head and lower body crushed to naught and his hands sliced clean away. They woke his flesh again with the very power of their enemies. Thus risen was the Phantom Shadow Beast, Bongo Bongo, and deep below the earth he beat the rhythm that tied those ineffable horrors to time, forcing them to flee or else to age and die. 

It is said when the people of the earth venture deep, beyond the clang of anvils and the echo of words in their halls, to the deepest, darkest silence of the uttermost depths, they may hear the distant rhythm that echoes up from beneath the world. The beat of Bongo Bongo.

Yet another reason not to dig too deep. Yet another subject the dwarves prefer not to discuss.

===Madness===

Everyone knows that a dwarf is as solid as the rock they mine. Practical, level-headed, and blunt the dwarven character is so widely known they are frequent comic-foils in theater and puppet shows.

Except in Everoc, their homeland. Dwarves already live under conditions of unspeakable stress. Tight confines, back-breaking labor in confined, lightless conditions and the constant danger of cave-ins or explosive gas. That's nothing. The dwarves can handle that.

But in Everoc dwarves can crack. They drink more alcohol, they obsess over work more, they are gruffer and more abrasive. Moodiness, withdrawal, suicide and outbursts of berserk frenzy are constant plagues. In terrible cases these emotional disturbances can spiral out of control, and more than one fortress has fallen to insanity and murder spreading like wildfire. 

It is a subject the dwarves prefer not to discuss, saying only that the unfortunate individual or fortress lacked iron. Iron in this case is not a metaphor, but the actual chemical element with atomic number 26.