The Dwarven Abbey

Carved into the heart of the Iron-Grip Mountains, the Dwarven Abbey is not a place of quiet contemplation, but one of fervent creation and knowledge. Its vast, echoing halls are lined with shelves containing not books, but meticulously cataloged stone tablets and metal scrolls, detailing millennia of history, engineering, and geology. The Abbey was founded after The Schism of Stone and Sky, a cataclysmic event that sundered the ancient dwarven alliance. Its purpose is to preserve the true crafts and histories, away from the political machinations of the great clans. At its center, atop a massive pedestal, rests The Sunstone of Aethelgard, a celestial artifact that hums with a soft, warm light, bathing the Grand Archives in perpetual dawn. The Abbey is governed by the Keepers of the Cog, a council of master artisans who guard its secrets, including the location of The Silent Forges. Within the Abbey's deepest vaults, one might find Elder Borin's Chronicles, which speak of a pact made with the Glimmering Caverns' mysterious inhabitants. Access to these vaults is said to require The Runescribed Key, an item lost to time. Recently, tremors have shaken the Abbey's foundations, and scouts report increased activity from the Shadow-Goblins in the lower tunnels, a threat the isolationist Order of the Azure Hand has long ignored, focusing instead on deciphering prophecies concerning The Last Anvil.