Brightaxe Hall

Brightaxe Hall was the seat of power of the ancient dwarven realm of Alatorin, as well as the empire of Shanatar.

Description
Essentially an open-ended cavern or plateau overlooking the Rift of Dhalnadar, the Wyrmskull Throne once stood here.

Nine statues, known as the None Scions of the Forge, were carved into the rift wall beneath the Hall. These depicted fully armored shield dwarves, and were believed to represent Taark Shanat and his eight sons.

Geography
Brightaxe Hall lay at the southern end of the Dhalnadar Span&mdash;the only bridge across the Rift of Dhalnadar, which stretched across the Underdark from below the Marching Mountains to the Calim Desert.

History
Around, or , Taark Shanat the Crusader led a westbound mass exodus from the dwarven realm of Bhaerynden. Around, the enormous migration eventually reached the Rift of Dhalnadar, where the dwarves were forced to wage war on the cloakers of Rringlor Noroth in the great conflict known as the Cloaker Wars. The dwarves eventually drove the cloakers back, while Taark Shanat and his eight sons personally killed four great blue wyrms that had claimed the Rift as their own domain. The dragons' lair, a large, open-ended cavern overlooking the Rift of Dhalnadar, was named Brightaxe Hall and became the seat of Taark Shanat's new kingdom, Alatorin. The Wyrmskull Throne was fashioned from the skulls of the slain dragons. Taark Shanat's eight sons each went on to found their own, separate kingdoms.

Alatorin was eventually conquered by the drow of Guallidurth in the First Spider War, which lasted from to. The Eight Kingdoms of the dwarves were consumed by the internecine conflict known as the Spawn Wars, and so did not come to Alatorin's aid. Once that conflict had been settled, the Eight Kingdoms banded together and reconquered Alatorin and Brightaxe Hall with it&mdash;this campaign was known as the Second Spider War, and lasted from to. The eight kings formed the great realm of Deep Shanatar, with Brightaxe Hall once again serving as the seat of power.

But it was not to last. Come the Third Spider War, from to, the drow of Guallidurth struck an alliance with the cloakers of Rringlor Noroth. The dwarves of Shanatar were driven away from Alatorin and Brightaxe Hall permanently, taking the Wyrmskull Throne with them. and the great dwarf-realm never recovered.

As of the, Brightaxe Hall had become a dragon's lair once more, having been claimed by the deep wyrm Dheubpurcwenpyl.

Rumors & Legends
When Brightaxe Hall was reconquered following the Second Spider War, the eight victorious dwarven kings all claimed the right to sit on the Wyrmskull Throne and rule Shanatar. According to legend, the matter was settled when the visor on one of the statues, believed to represent the ancient king of Ultoksamrin, fell off. The dwarf-kings took this as a sign from Moradin, and the king of Ultoksamrin ascended to the throne.

Around 1370 DR, it was rumored that the duergar Army of Steel was planning a crusade to reconquer Brightaxe Hall, the Wyrmskull Throne, and much of the eastern territories of ancient Shanatar.

Inhabitants

 * Dheubpurcwenpyl, a deep dragon who made her lair in the Hall circa 1370 DR.