Hammer Peak

The Thanehold of Hammer Peak is the largest active dwarfhold in the Known World, and home to the Hammer Thane, the acknowledged lord of all dwarfkind. It is a massive hold, capable of housing far more people than it currently does. The Thanehold is divided into five separate complexes:

• The Halls of War: All entrances in and out of the Thanehold go through the Halls of War. To any visitor, it is clear that this is probably one of the best-defended places in the Known World, as visitors and inhabitants alike are required to pass through a gauntlet of watchful soldiers and impressive seige engines built into the very walls of the passages here. The Halls of War also hold the armories, barracks, mustering grounds and training facilities for the soldiers of the Thanehold.
• The Chamber of Echoes: The large central thoroughfare and parade grounds of the Thanehold, the Chamber of Echoes is so called because of the constant hustle and bustle the day through. The city's markets, shops and non-clan housing is located here, and the humans who live in the Thanehold all have their homes in this location. The ceilings in this place sit deep in shadow, rising quite high above the ground here, leaving ample room for buildings many stories in height. In one direction, the ground slopes slightly downward, beginning the great spiral passageway that leads down to the Hammerstrike Foundries, and in the other, it arcs slightly upward towards the Folkhold. The Chamber of Echoes also houses the temples of the Thanehold, from the Altar of the Most-High (Moradin's temple, which is actually imbedded in the walls high over the Chamber proper, with an open-air fane that looks down on the entire district), to the Sword-God's Hold (Kord's temple, set near the entryway to allow easy access to the Halls of War) and the Archive of the Elders (the lore repository of the clans, and the temple of Ioun).
• The Hammerstrike Foundries: The lowest portions of the Thanehold are called the Hammerstrike Foundries. Though human legends claim that these foundries run on the molten rock of the Deepearth, that is not the case. Instead, these wide, open areas hold massive facilities for engineering, smithing, foundry-work, forging and similar endeavors. The deepest parts of the Foundries are actually mines, from which the dwarves extract iron, silver and other useful materials, as well as the occasional diamond vein. Ancient but ingenious ventilation systems funnel all the harmful fumes and smoke out of the lower parts of the city, channeling them through vents that let out high in the mountains, but part of the city's defense system includes a mechanism that can be used to flood the Halls of War with the caustic, choking effluvia of the city's industrial bowels.
• The Folkhold: The Folkhold is the revered cultural center of the Thanehold, and the home of the dwarven clans. Each clan has by rights an impressive clanhold in the Folkhold, an exhaustive set of proper dwarven accomodations, with plenty of room for dozens of family members, massive nurseries, armories and treasure vaults. Of course, less than half of the clanholds are occupied, and none of them are filled to capacity. Still, the dwarven clans take a great deal of pride in keeping the exteriors of their clanholds in excellent order, with polished marble and metal fixtures, elaborate water fountains and fine statuary. The passageway that leads into the Folkhold continues spiraling upwards, leading to the Halls of the Hammer.
• The Halls of the Hammer: The Halls of the Hammer are the cultural and political heart of Hammer Peak. Home to the Hammerthane, they serve as simultaneous clanhold for the Hammerthane's clan and political center for the government of dwarven kind.