Hammerknell Fortress (Rift Lore)
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The Hammers Do Not Sound
Once the shining bastion of Dwarven civilization, today Hammerknell is a symbol of madness and ruin. No one knows what horrors compelled the Dwarves to flee and seal the gates behind them. When asked, they assume shamed expressions and busy themselves with their labors. Now, with Hammeknell’s ramparts breached, the Ascended are in a race against the forces of Water and Death to expose the secrets deep within the Delve and save Telara.
The Ascended have done all they can to gather knowledge about Hammerknell, in hopes of preparing themselves for the trials ahead. They have learned much, but knowledge may be useless against the horror under the mountain.
The Dead Halls
Given the horrid nightmares that plague many Dwarves—visions of the tormented fallen—and what little the refugees have let slip about what happened in Hammerknell, it is clear the undead rule the abandoned city. Whether ghosts of lost Dwarves or rotting slaves of Regulos, the dead linger in silent halls where mead-songs once rang out, their fetid presence befouling the great treasures of Bahralt’s beloved people.
Information is readily available from the time when Hammerknell was a thriving underground city, so the Ascended know something of its layout. Some, but not all, as Hammerknell has since been divided into three wings, with many roads and passages redirected.
The Halls of Remembrance, named for housing both the Dwarven library and crypt, where the Dwarves would spark their minds with the wisdom of the ages and stir their souls by honoring their ancestors, now stands as an abattoir, its walls thirsty for the blood of innocents foolhardy enough to enter.
In the Halls of Shaping, the Dwarves did what they were made to do, working wonders of craft and magic, developing arcane techniques of runecrafting that some say led to Hammerknell’s doom. What did the artisans use to create their unmatched wonders? It is here the Ascended will uncover the horrid truths behind the miracles of Hammerknell and what lies buried in the deeps of the Dwarves’ quarry.
The deafening silence reaches everywhere in Hammerknell, from the homes of the common people to the chambers of royalty. Some of the aristocracy even met with tragedy. King Molinar and his heir, Prince Dolin never emerged from the Delve. Their people hope that they lie at rest in the Royal Wing where once they ruled. They hope in vain.
Water and Stone
Hammerknell is besieged both within and without by undead, yet the Abyssal also seek to control the Delve. What could Tidelord Jornaru—one of Akylios’s most loyal and powerful servants—seek in a Death-haunted maze? If Jornaru’s mad quest is to free Akylios, the Dragon of Water, from his prison deep beneath the earth, oblivion could drown every corner of Telara. If that happens can even the Ascended stand in his way? [1]
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