‘I say: Dwarves! I’ve seen ‘em pass through ‘ere. Folks say they went up the way of the old fort inside the mountain, they did. Whass their business – nobody knows. Maybe in cahoots wif the Elves there? Aye, armor black as night, eyes aglow with malice, I tell ya. Murka said so, ‘fore he died. Poisoned, the poor wretch. Told ‘im not to go to Dum bloody Garok, but he was starvin’. Or uh… might’ve been the spiders, you see. Maybe them Dwarves are in cahoots wif ‘em? Anyhoo, are ya eatin’ that?’

– Dirrus “Grins” Adiris, retired scrapper, at the Wraith’s Stash in Scrapheap

Strange rumors have been abound in the isolated region at the foot of the Mountains of Fire for some time now – they concern the ruins of once-mighty Dum Garok, and say that the place has recently seen new life settle in its cobwebbed halls. The fortified, mostly subterranean city high up in the mountainous ranges (the definition of a Dwarven “mountain hold”) has been abandoned and forsaken for over a millennium. Its glory is tarnished, its magnificent treasures have long been pilfered, and its darkened interior has become a haunt for terrifying beasts, abominable Undead, and worse.

If the gossip is to be believed, however, new people have moved in – multiple groups, even, though everyone agrees that neither is large enough to claim all of Dum Garok for itself. There’s talk of a handful of Dwarves, a ferocious tribe of Orcs, and even elusive Dark Elven warriors. Of these, the green-skinned savages are said to have been there decades ago already, but nobody seems to be able to verify these claims.

Legends say that Dum Garok was built on the site of an ancient Dwarven holy place, around caverns where one of their legendary Eddas was found. It would not have become a center of culture and industry the way it did had the settlers not discovered great ore veins below the subterranean halls, however. That, along with the mushroom fields they were able to cultivate in the well-irrigated caves at the root of the mountain, elevated the city to the grandest settlement of the region. The Calamity was kinder to Dum Garok than to most other Dwarven mountain holds, mostly due to its distance from the epicenter of volcanic and thaumaturgical destruction. Despite this, it was abandoned and thought cursed, never resettled by the fading Dwarves.

In the Fourth Age, it is the only Dwarven mountain hold one can feasibly visit. Could it be, perhaps, that not everything was taken from the ruined city, or that now it offers a new bounty?

In light of all this, it’s no wonder that scavengers, looters, and even a few travelers – like the vagrus of you, the player – have turned up in and around the ruins in the hopes of finding opportunities in the forsaken Mountains of Fire.

We certainly wouldn’t judge you if you wanted to explore the place, to see for yourself what it has to offer. Should you do so, however, mind the pale spiders. These giant arachnids have laid claim to Dum Garok long ago, and most would-be adventurers agree that they are, in fact, the true owners of the ancient mountain hold.

Tell us about your adventures in there, if you make it back. Until then, stay awesome, stay safe, and conquer the wasteland!

– The Lost Piglrims Team

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