3011 Hadramkath

Of Hadramkath

And the Scholarly pursuits for the lost city.

Over the years since the arrival of Olsen the humble in to Muttugr-Fell there have been many attempts to discover the location of Hadramkath. However it is commonly understood that the first appearance of the word within the Dwarven Chronicles of Muttugr-Fell takes place in the court of ‘High Lord Bruenor Bloodfist Steward of Muttugr-Fell and Bane of the Abyss’ upon the arrival of Olsen the Humble.

This fact has led many to conclude that upon his arrival and having spent nearly thirty years on the surface that Olsen the Humble was indeed ‘Surface’ or ‘Sun Mad’ and the existence of Hadramkath is nothing more than a figment of his Sun induced madness. However sufferers of Surface madness always recover from their affliction, realizing the difference between the truths and falsehoods spoken whilst under the effects of the madness. In the case of Olsen the Humble and later Olsen Anvilbeard he had never once retracted his original statement regarding the reality of Hadramkath. Olsen Anvilbeard himself upon his death bed did however admit the following.

‘I was little more than a barn myself when Hadramkath fell, that period was a chaotic one and I had little knowledge then and to this day as to its location. Truth be told I do not even know if Hadramkath was ever referred to by any other title.’

This statement did however spark further interest within the Guild of Scholarly Arts as Olsen himself has alluded to the fact that Hadramkath may not have been the true name of the settlement.

Some years later Librarians within the School of Guilded Knowledge made an astounding discovery. When pawing over texts accredited to the Order of the Wayfarer within the Guild at Arms the librarians found a passage within an account by Lord Ragnar ‘High Shield’ Master Of the Way, who whilst abroad upon the surface came upon a Dwarven Scouting party from the Northern Realm and among them he noted with interest were a group of Humans. When he enquired as to why the Northern Dwarves were so far south they replied ‘Hadramath’, not understanding the dialect he presumed they were referring to a location he went about his Wayfaring.

The point of great interest here is in the pronunciation, Hagrunmattr in the dialect of the Northern Dwarves is pronounced Hadramath. This word in itself does sound as if it is the name of a location and scholars for some months thought this to be the case, however, Dean Ulthor ‘The Wise’ of the Guild of Scholarly Arts made a further discovery whilst translating a series of Dwarven Sagas from the Northern Realm. Understanding that the Dwarves from this realm speak far faster than those of the South he looked once more at the word Hagrunmattr and discovered something of key importance, Hagrummattr is not one word but three.

Hagr-Run-Mattr

and the three words do not refer to a location, rather they mean ‘Very Secret Affair’ thus discovering that Hagrunmattr (Hadramath) when spoken to Lord Ragnar ‘High Shield’ did not refer to the scouting parties destination but that they were on a secret mission.

Further clues to the authenticity of Olsen’s claim can be found in Olsen the Humbles explanation of the fall of Hadramkath; for he stated that it was overrun by Orcish forces under the command of Kalakh the Blood Drinker. Historical texts written by the Northern Dwarves indicate that at the time of the sacking of Hadramkath

‘a great Orc horde descending upon the Northern Realm, spoiling many a dwarven affair in the southern lands of their realm, and costing the lives of many brave Dwarven warriors’

They also speak of the great Orc general who commanded the Horde on their raids to the south as being

‘Great of stature and warped of mind, taking unto drinking the blood of his captives at battles end’

They go on to name the Great Orc Hero, ‘Klathun’ or ‘Klath’.

Here we see that at the time of Olsen’s exile from his home there was indeed an Orcish Horde under the command of a General whose name could easily be mistaken for Kalakh by one so young as Olsen at the time. The same general was renowned for drinking the blood of his enemy’s and during his command he did spoil many a Dwarven ‘Affair’ south of the Northern Dwarven realm. It is also possible that Olsen’s memory of the events had by the time of his arrival in Muttugr-Fell been corrupted and he was not remembering the name of his home but rather the secrecy of it.

However this is somewhat of a tenuous link as at the time of this great Orcish general many other fell beasts and Wyrms did descend on those southern realms of the Northern Dwarves and it is possible that the memory of this Orc General is corrupted and rather than being the cause of Hadramkaths’ fall he is just the one aspect of those troubled times that has stuck in the mind of Olsen Anvilbeard.

It is generally considered amongst modern day scholars that Olsen the Humble did indeed come from the North having been exiled from his home by one fell event or another, and that the ‘Very Secret Affair’ does in fact refer to a settlement or mine.

The discovery of this information and the subsequent scholarly research proving that to a degree Olsen’s original calms were accurate came unfortunately after Dvadi Anvilbeard had departed Muttugr-Fell, a much lamented fact within the Anvilbeard Clan, fore even though Dvadi had been named ‘Clans bane’ there was great hope within the Clan that he would discover their original home and thus allow Clan Anvilbeard to gain great glory in its retaking.