Dwarf Kingdom defends its realm

Following the defeat and overthrow of the despotic realm of Aquila in 240PC the Dwarf Kingdom had enjoyed thirty years of peace, but peace on Palurin never lasts long. War returned to the Dwarfs in 272PC when a mercenary army of Ogres attempted to force its way across the Valdemara mountains following one of their regular campaigns in Arnar. Why the Ogres chose to trespass in the Dwarf Realm is unknown, but their way through the mountain passes was barred by the lords of Karak-A-Varr. The ensuing battle was inconclusive, but the dwarfs would not yield, and the Ogres were forced to turn back northward, leading to their clash with the High Elves in 273PC. For a time relations with Cuitlaxaochitzin were strained, and ambassadors recalled, but eventually the two empires sunk their differences, albeit with another grudge written in the great book of Karak-A-Varr.

Four years later the Dwarf Kingdom faced another threat. After his defeat to the Dominion in 268PC, Tragean, lord of Hovedstaden was looking for a way to reastablish his renown by returning the Kaalroen Empire to the force it once was, and the only way he knew how was through war. Tragean searched for an easy victory, and the Dwarf Kingdom, having been peaceful for so many years seemed to be the ideal candidate. The Dwarfs had grown fat and indolent following their thirty years of peaceful prosperity he reasoned, and their stubborn defence against the ogres proved nothing. A campaign against the dwarfs would yield much treasure and glory, and blood sacrifices to the Gods of chaos.

Tragean however had reckoned without the character of the dwarf race. As the Kaalroen army entered the bounds of the Kingdom they were immediately spotted and harried mercilessly by small dwarf scouting forces, before facing the full might of the dwarf throng near the banks of the Tiban river. The battle of the ford was a bloody affair with no quarter given, and although the dwarfs were unable to defeat the warriors of Hovedstaden, the Kaalroen Empire was similarly unable to penetrate into the hinterland of the Dwarf Realm. Tragean's army returned to Hovedstaden empty handed, the campaign cancelled, and the dwarfs celebrated in their halls. The Dwarf Kingdom was still a force to be reckoned with.