Editing The Grudge Of Drong (section)

===The Battle of Krag Byrn===
Drong, fed up with the games up until now, summoned every force at his command; the rebellious Miners, kinsmen, and every Elf-hating Dwarf he could find. He promised his parched people ale that would never stop flowing, all the riches that could be plundered from the city and the hold, and the cleansing of their race.

Eldroth meanwhile had maintained spies in every population around Tor Eldroth and knew the movements of his enemies. He called the nobles of Tor Eldroth for a vote; war, or retreat?
Eldroth himself claimed the fall of the queen would mean Elves would be forced from the Old World by Dwarf tyrants. Anarion, representative of the merchants, claimed that if Krag Bryn lost access to the Peaks then trade would dry up to the point that Drong may as well have taken it. Fendar pointed to the skirmishes elsewhere as bigoted Dwarfs sought the death of Elves for little to no reason, claiming a victory for the queen would grant them a powerful ally in the Dwarf culture. Finally Ardath spoke, claiming the queen was a Dwarf and thus as much a bigot as the rest of them and that by destroying Thrund's kin the Elves would teach them respect. With unanimous approval, a call was sent to Ulthuan for troops.

They had barely arrived when Drong's army began it's march. Positioning themselves in the pass between Krag Byrn and Tol Eldroth with a waterfall to one side and cliffs on the other, he planned to march to the sea and destroy every last stone and hair of Elvish taint, then turn around and finish off the bitch queen once and for all.

Helgar marched out with the remaining loyal forces, mostly bodyguards, and watched the battle unfold.

Both sides opened with warmachines and ranged support, Bolt Thrower exchanging fire with Cannon and Archer with Quarreler and Thunderer until all ammunition was depleted and all artillery destroyed or damaged.
Most Dwarf ranged forces were destroyed, and the large column of Elf Spearmen were devastated by Dwarf Flame Cannonfire.
The Elf cavalry consisting mostly of Dragon Princes lead by Eldroth, Ardath, and Lithan of Tiranoc who had lead the Ulthuan reinforcements charged directly into battle with the Dwarf assault force of Hammerers and Miners lead by Drong and Grung. Eldroth dueled Drong and dealt mortal wounds to each other. Ardath took command and fought Krudd, then engaged the dying Drong. Lithan killed Grung and decimated the remaining Hammerers with repeated charges.

Helgar, watching the battle, chose this moment to wade into the fight.
 
Against the Elves.

That's right, she sided with the guy who had been a thorn in her side and those of her kinsmen for the history of her kingdom against her constant allies, whom she'd actually called to the battle.

Why do this? [[Fail|Because she couldn't stand the idea of Elves beating Dwarves. Even if it resulted in her head on a pike and her kingdom in flames. No, seriously.]]

Drong was succeeded by Krudd (fitting name) who called an immediate retreat. Helgar's bodyguards held off the Elves and were slaughtered to the last while she fled back to Krag Bryn. Ardath succeeded Eldroth as leader of the city, and summoned further reinforcements to lay siege to the two holds. Krudd and Helgar both appealed for aid from the rest of the Dwarfs, although none answered the call for various reasons (nobody wanted to aid the beardless woman, some still had trade agreements with Elves, others had Grudges against one clan or the other, etc).

When the War of the Beard began, Tor Eldroth and both Krags were destroyed.
The event contributed to the start of the war, with Elves seeing the Dwarfs as greedy, bigoted savages and the Dwarfs seeing Elves as filthy ponces that were a blight on creation.

[[Derp]]