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What do we think is the current state of the ancient Dwarven capital city?

Braden Campbell wrote:What do we think is the current state of the ancient Dwarven capital city?

I'd say 'embattled' or a combination of the 2nd through the 4th options. My take is that Korin Gilead is gigantic and largely depopulated by dwarves. It's reasonable that some small pockets of dwarves either remain/survived or have attempted to reclaim portions of it, but the precedent of surviving dwarf populations in other parts of the world suggests that you won't find dwarf communities much larger than, say, Northolme in the Eastern Territories.

The elf-dwarf war information in Bletherad suggests to me that Korin Gilead had millions of dwarves living in it at the height of its power. Even if you had multiple Northolme-sized settlements, they'd take up only a small fraction of the total space, and since they don't use magic, much of the city would likely be effectively uninhabitable or unsupportable to them, as you'd need magic to feed them, fuel their fires, and such in a large underground city. Thus, dwarf communities would likely remain relatively close to the surface where they can sustain themselves without magic.

Down deep, Korin Gilead would effectively be a city of creatures that thrive in deep places. It would also probably include areas of magical research, armories, weapon production facilities, and possibly captive demons that would either be deliberately collapsed or sealed off. Dwarf communities around Korin Gilead may be descended from caretakers dedicated to burying the sins of the Dwarf Kingdom's past; these communities may still play a role in ensuring that the secrets buried below stay inaccessible.

tl;dr:
Mostly, I see Korin Gilead as being much like Moria from LoTR: a gigantic 3D city that's mostly empty/abandoned, with some bad, bad stuff deep down. There's plenty of potential for both adventure and large-scale conflict there.

Hotrod wrote:Mostly, I see Korin Gilead as being much like Moria from LoTR: a gigantic 3D city that's mostly empty/abandoned, with some bad, bad stuff deep down. There's plenty of potential for both adventure and large-scale conflict there.

That's my view. I kind of view the dwarves as a diaspora people... their traditional homes are gone, and so they live in smaller communities, with a dream of homeland.

Well, choice 4 makes the most sense. If it's doing just fine that would mean there is this civilization of Dwarves that has all the ancient knowledge of the Time of 1,000 Magics and they're just sitting quietly doing nothing. Plus, I'd think there would be a lot of treasure seekers trying to find it and loot it. It seems word would get out if they found a fully thriving city, or never returned.

Embattled is possible, assuming the Dwarven denizens somehow forgot all of their magic and lost all of their rune weapons. But that would be a place that was abandoned by the original inhabitants and later occupied by another generation of Dwarves.

#3 is essentially the same as #2 just without Troglodytes and Kobolds on the attack.

#5 is just sort of boring, unless you want to have the PCs use it as some sort of base.

#4 has the most options for adventuring. It can be a somewhat realistic dungeon crawl where the dungeon is large enough that a melee isn't necessarily heard by other denizens because they're so far from each other.

-Vek
"At least it wasn't Baalgored."

Korin Gilead is a paradise where troglodytes and dwarves roam free and let their natural instaincts lead them where they may. With dwarves hi hoing through crystal caves and troglodytes tending herds of mushrooms and everybody loves everybody.


and what happens in korin gilead stays in korin gilead!

Veknironth wrote:Well, choice 4 makes the most sense. If it's doing just fine that would mean there is this civilization of Dwarves that has all the ancient knowledge of the Time of 1,000 Magics and they're just sitting quietly doing nothing. Plus, I'd think there would be a lot of treasure seekers trying to find it and loot it. It seems word would get out if they found a fully thriving city, or never returned.

Embattled is possible, assuming the Dwarven denizens somehow forgot all of their magic and lost all of their rune weapons. But that would be a place that was abandoned by the original inhabitants and later occupied by another generation of Dwarves.

#3 is essentially the same as #2 just without Troglodytes and Kobolds on the attack.

#5 is just sort of boring, unless you want to have the PCs use it as some sort of base.

#4 has the most options for adventuring. It can be a somewhat realistic dungeon crawl where the dungeon is large enough that a melee isn't necessarily heard by other denizens because they're so far from each other.

-Vek
"At least it wasn't Baalgored."

Who's to say it wasn't? That would still fit under option 4.

I see it as number 5. Completely abandoned due to the large number of traps (mechanical and magic) and the swarms of ghosts and undead from when the city fell. Lots of treasure waiting for the brave or foolhardy to try and recover.

I see it as 4 and 5, with the dwarves basically being the cork in the bottle of evil that will spill out into the world if/when they fail, and the only reason the dwarves don't move is, well, the fact they are dwarves, and no runty greenskin is going to make them move.

In my current campaign, it has been overrun by ogres ocs and goblins. I am using it as the ogre stronghold from Book 2 and the base from which the Ogre Invasion has started.