Baltur

This dwarven Magocracy, ruled by a conclave known as the Tharbun, was the preeminent realm of the Era of Renewal before the Collapse - which they caused - destroyed it. It spanned all lands from the Kasar Mountains in the west to the Mator's Spikes Mountains in the east and ran north to Fir Lanear. Nowadays we find the Haklur Desert, the Godfall, and a few other countries there.

The mages of Baltur raised magic to a level never seen before or since, powerful enough to make buildings fly. The capital of Banad-Gathol was a sight to behold.

They also became marvels at architecture and construction. Magic allowed the dwarves to locate rare substances and use those in alchemical processes to create unique building materials. The formulas to create these was jealously guarded and many were lost.

Shathûr Magic

The Magus (arch-wizards) developed a magic stronger than anything seen these days, powerful enough to destroy mountains and transport entire armies. After the cataclysm of their own making, it turned out to now be impossible to use this types of magic. However, many Shathûr spells still in effect continued working when magic returned, though often erratically. The few artifacts created through this magic reportedly still function as well. These days an organization called Tipatshimun is trying to return to magic of this power and greater.

Zahar-Bund

These stone statues, some five meters tall, others smaller, were carved from something called Kurhiz-stone, all remaining records lack information on where this material was found or possibly created. The statues were imbued with some kind of limited intelligence, though, again, the records are more than vague on the how. They were used as guardians and placed outside of all cities. They could cast powerful combat spells and were also able to send messages. One source claims all Zahar-Bunds were connected in some way and could share anything they saw and heard, though this seems fanciful.

[See Godfall Caverns and Statuesque.]

Exploration & Resource Extraction

In their quest for rare materials the dwarves of Baltur traveled the entire world and mapped it extensively, most maps these days are still based on theirs. When a rare metal or mineral was found, the dwarves often built a redoubt called a Gardyl. From here they then mined the resource and magically transported it back to their cities. Some Gardyls grew to be full cities though most were purely for resource extraction.

[See Udvjor Gardyl and One Shot - Era of Renewal.]

Items

Kirrumi Transfer Box

These boxes, shaped like a dodecahedron, are made from a brass-like metal that can no longer be created, and inscribed with sigils on all sides. Most are around 30 cm in diameter but other sizes do exist. A box only opens to the person attuned to it and has a property to teleport anything inside to a preset location. If the box is tampered with in any way it also triggers the teleport.

A number of centuries after first being made a huge scandal erupted when it came to light that the sole creator, Uvash Kirrumi, had built in a backdoor into all of them; by manipulating certain circular sigils on the outside anyone could open them, if they could work out the sequence.

Sigils of Baltur

These amulets were part of the training regimen for all mages; novices were awarded them if they showed promise and apprentices had to show their skill by creating them. So many were made across the centuries that they are still being found today.

[See: First Sigil of Baltur, Second Sigil of Baltur, Third Sigil of Baltur.]

Notable People

Kalervo Ubran

Preeminent Magus, creator of many spells, and one of the few detractors of the ritual that caused the Collapse. As he was in Banad-Gathol on that fateful day, he none-the-less died as all the others.

Pinja Galgruc

Magus, put her servant Aatu Kasgret into a soul coin. The coin was later found by Izzy in/under the Haklur Desert.

Strom Votuth

One of the most senior Magus at the end of the era, known for both his arrogance and almost unparalleled spell research. It is estimated at least ten percent of spells still used today were created by him.