Dorn's Deep

Dorn's Deep was a dwarven stronghold located in a solitary peak in the Spine of the World near the region of Icewind Dale.

Interior
Within the depths of this fortress was a statue of an elf and a dwarf sitting on a double throne.

Great Forge
Within its upper depths was a small circular temple dedicated to the dwarven god Moradin, known as the Great Forge. Its walls were lined almost entirely in Dethek script. In its center was a large stone statue of the god, holding a pot that continuously poured molten magma into a large furnace. Hidden within a secret compartment of this furnace was a unique battleaxe known as the  celebrant's blade.

On either side of the statue a staircase wrapped around it, leading to a raised platform that encircled the room. In the center of this platform were three archways, with large statues of dwarves embedded into the walls above them, that led into the fortress's crypt.

Tiers of the Dead
The crypt of this fortress was referred to by the inhabitants of Dorn's Deep as the "Tiers of the Dead." Here they were buried in stone sarcophagi. Throughout the crypt was a variety of stone statues, made to resemble dwarven warriors. In the center of this room was a mausoleum, the "Hall of Heroes," dedicated to the greatest among them.

Those entombed in the Hall of Heroes each had their own individual crypt within it. Outside of these stood a stone statue of the entombed that bore a plaque. At the end of the Hall of Heroes was a large set of doors, guarded by four bronze constructs. These doors opened to a hewn stone passageway, leading to the adjacent Wyrm's Tooth glacier.

Wyrm's Tooth Glacier
Wyrm's Tooth glacier had been heavily carved and sculpted out by the dwarves of Dorn's Deep into a massive, open-air temple complex dedicated to the dwarven god Dugmaren Brightmantle.

This temple complex featured a large museum with a circular skylight. Inside of it were of a variety of aquatic life housed in glass displays, both above ground and embedded into its floor. Some of the aquatic wildlife on display included jellyfish, giant squids, sharks, turtles, and a whale. A small statue with a plaque stood in front of the large floor display of a whale, portraying the structure's chief architect Alkonos the Visionary.

Both these aquatic exhibits and the temple's interior were kept warm by means of complex dwarven machinery. The glass on the exhibits was kept clean through means of an enchantment. Following the fall of Dorn's civilization, both this enchantment and the machinery degraded, leading to all of the aquatic exhibits freezing solid and much of their glass to darken with grime.

The basement level of this temple was a large library filled with hundreds of books and scrolls housed in wooden bookcases. This area could be entered from above by a staircase or from a decagonal-shaped entryway. The exterior of this entryway featured three staircases and overlooked the glacier's large chasm.

A statue of Dugmaren was displayed on either side of this entryway, with one holding a book and the other holding a workman's hammer. Each statue had a plaque that proclaimed it to be a depiction of the god, but with the titles "the Scholar" and "the Tinkerer" respectively. In the center of this entryway, between two doors that opened into the library, was a gate to a path leading out of the glacier and to the nearby mountain peaks.

Lower Depths
The Lower Depths of Dorn's Deep, known as "Durdel Anatha" by its dwarven inhabitants, was where the major forging and mining operations were carried out. The entrance closest to Wyrm’s Tooth glacier was a large stone gate. On their side of this entrance was a giant, painted statue of an armored Dwarf wielding a pickaxe. To the west of this were massive vats for forging and smelting metal. Running along the southern section of this cavern was a track of minecart rails, leading from those forging vats and into a southeastern entrance to the mines. These tracks would continue further east until reaching the Great Forge.

Around the cavern that entrance opened to was a variety of structures built into the underground stone and around rivers of molten lava, over which stood bridges of stone. One central bridge was notably covered in Dethek script and featured two statues of male lions. In the northeastern section of this cavern was a blue-painted stone gate that led into the Artisan's District. A bit south of this was a large three-story tall palace where the rulers of Dorn's Deep resided. In the southeastern section of the cavern was a tower, with Dethek script running along both its interior and exterior walls, with a spiral ramp inside. It was surrounded by a mote of lava and a ring of walls that were likewise lined with Dethek script.

The lava in that cavern continued flowed into the mines of the Lower Depths, whose walls were lined with metal support beams. In the section of mines adjacent to that cavern there was a stone archway in the north that exited to a large garden. On either side of this archway was a stone statue of a dwarven warrior, holding a shield and battleaxe.

This garden was the main foyer of the Old Dorn's Palace. It had many stone walkways, roughly in a square shape, with eight walkways converging upon a central circle. In this circle stood a statue of the founder of Dorn's Deep, with painted robes and a staff in hand. Besides the mines, this garden connected to the Artisan's District.

History
During the 10 century DR, the ruler of Dorn's Deep forged a close alliance with the elves of the fortress known as the Hand of the Seldarine. Together they crafted some of the greatest enchanted armor, weaponry, and items of that age. They also fiercely fought together against the marauding goblin and orc clans of the North.

At some point the architect Alkonos petitioned the fortress's king for the construction of a temple to Dugmaren Brightmantle, which he was granted permission for. The dwarves working under him thought to simply bore a tunnel through the glacier adjacent to their fortress, then build a small temple on the other side of the mountain. But during the construction process Alkonos became obsessed with designing something far grander for his god and thus came to build its glacial temple complex.

Over time the goblins and orcs began to turn the tide of battle in their favor, using weaponry that the alliance had forged. It was a mystery to both sides how they came to obtain these weapons, but the leader of the Hand of the Seldarine became convinced that the dwarves of Dorn's Deep were responsible and would listen to nothing they had to say in their defense. Even the words of his daughter, Evayne, would not persuade him to reconcile with them.

Frustrated with her father after he lashed out at her in anger, Evayne went on to travel to Dorn's Deep by herself. She was met by the dwarves with apprehension and suspicion of malicious intent. They spent weeks arguing well into the evening, until in time they began to trust Evayne's words and a week later agreed to a treaty for the greater good of both races. Just as she was readying herself to leave a dwarven scout arrived and informed the people that the largest army of orcs he had ever seen were overrun.

With little time to prepare, it was not long before the orcs overran Dorn's Deep. The inhabitants were forced to retreat deeper and deeper, collapsing tunnels to cover their movements. After many valiant efforts, the dwarves and Evayne came to be slain by the orcs.

Present Age
At some point in the late-13 century DR, the devil Belhifet took up residence within the ruins of Dorn's Deep with ambitions of using it as a base of operations from which to build an army. Using the power of the recently discovered Crenshinibon he recruited a number of monstrous creatures and humanoids to his cause. He also recruited a number of individuals through use of either persuasion or mental domination, including the mad drow wizard Malavon Despana.

Motivated by his own plans, Malavon enslaved a number of deep gnomes and minotaurs to work in the fortress's mines and forges. For illogical reasons, he cut out either the eyes or tongue of many such slaves. In 1281 DR, Malavon instructed his enslaved deep gnomes to tear down the statue of Dorn in the Lower Depths garden and replace it with a statue of Marketh.

Inhabitants
By 1281 DR, the large cavern that connected the ruins of Dorn's Deep to the surface was infested with a large colony of blue myconids. By this time a large number of ettins had also begun to lair within the caverns' smaller caves.

Some time following the fall of Dorn's civilization a number of ice trolls, snow trolls, winter wolves, and yetis took up residence in its glacial temple complex. Together they were all led by a group of intelligent frost salamanders, who captured and enslaved many humanoid creatures. The trolls acted as their guards, making sure that no slaves tried to escape. Both the salamanders and trolls were allied with a nearby tribe of frost giants that had also taken up residence in the area and were harboring Kontik, a priest of Auril.

Some time following the fall of its civilization, the magmatic lower depths of Dorn's Deep became home to a number of fire giants, salamanders, and umber hulks. Nearly all of these creatures, as well as the ones within Wyrm's Tooth glacier, were under the command of the devil Belhifet and his drow commanders.

In addition a number of fungi, such as myconids and shriekers, infested the garden and greenhouse of the Lower Depths due to experiments being conducted by Malavon.

Appearances

 * Video Games
 * Icewind Dale • Icewind Dale II