Shadows Of Arkmaz

Beneath the great mountain ranges of the north is the kingdom of the Snow Dwarves.

They live in a land of ice, snow and darkness.

Beneath the mountains, the subterranean cities are surrounded by subterranean tundra fields, where mammoths , woolly rhinos and winter-hogs are herded.

Vast networks of ice tunnels connect the cities.

Snow dwarves have always been an isolated community and during the Troll wars, the snow dwarves kept themselves to themselves. They were content to let the rest of the world deal with ‘the little problem knowing that the armies of the Troll Queen were not threat to them. For snow dwarves are the masters of Rune Magic, and their kingdom was protected by great wards of protection making an invasion by the forces of Arkmaz impossible.

It was only after the defeat of the troll queen, and the banishment of Arkmaz that they realised their mistake. The annual trade envoys of the hill dwarves did not resume after the war, so ranger messengers were sent to make contact with their cousins. Five rangers were sent to each of the great Hill Dwarf cites. None returned.

A search party were sent to look for the missing rangers, and one was found wandering the ice tunnels like  a lost child, ranting about destruction and terror. His faces was streaked with blood flowing from the empty eye sockets where he had scraped his eyes out with his own hands.

The great warrior Lord Gon-glain, formed a war band and marched the south to the realm of the Hill Dwarves on a campaign that changed the lives of the Snow Dwarves for-ever. They found the kingdom of the hill dwarves completely deserted, scorched and broken. Their cousins had been either completely wiped out or had fled they home. After days of travelling through the subterranean wasteland, they reached the great halls of ****, where the King of the Hill Dwarves sat alone on his iron throne.

As Gon-glain approached, **** convulsed and one word left his lips, “Arkmaz”. From every shadow and every corner of the great hall, twisted beings swarmed on the Snow Dwarves. The first demon battle began as the Snow dwarves fought their way out of the Hill Dwarf kingdom back to their ice tunnels. It was only due to their powerful rune magic that they were able to escape. Gon-glain however, was slain during the escape.

Gonglain’s Father, King of the Ice regions vowed revenge for his first son’s death and pledged to cleanse the ground from the evil that wiped out his cousins took his son.

The great army of the snow dwarves was mobilised and marched to the tunnels of the hill dwarves. They smashed through the forces of  deamons clearing the whole kingdom in under a year. But many of the evil creature fled deeper unto the earth.

Determined to keep his vow of vengeance, legions of Ward Rangers were formed, aided by the great Rune Masters their sole purpose is to hunt down the every last deamon, and to wipe their presence from the underbelly of the earth.