The year is 271 AC. 150 years the fortress had stood strong, the largest, most powerful hold of Western Ellador, and ancestral home of dwarves whose legacy would be forged by peculiar circumstance indeed.
Gifts of the earth, over shone by their deeper and older brothers, as Azag, first Lord of the Western Hold and first of the Onyxbeards, would discover. It revealed itself at twilight. A vein of deep black running across the caverns, deep beneath the hold. With strength to rival any common iron, and with a black deeper than the Ellador night sky, it's discovery would prove a landmark in the history of Nizelebar.
Metalitra. Rarest and most precious of any metal, its presence would bring about the coronation of Nizelebar and amount to a small prestige within Elladorian holds.. Assembling his finest warriors, Azag set out, 3 brothers and their retinue of soldiers accompanying him. In the pitch black of the caverns of Nizelebar, they would soon find they were not the only ones looking to the deep that night.
In a pitched battle against the chill of winter and an expeditionary Dakkar force, The Dwarves of Nizelebar would fight for their legacy. It would seem in that moment, fate favoured the Humorrin forces, slaying perhaps a dozen Dakkar and driving them back underground. The members of that expedition would oft be remembered by their kin, Azag's legacy secured by the rarest of steel, the 3 brothers remembered forevermore as the first Stormhearts.
The crown of Metalitra would be forged, crafted by a smith whose name has long been lost to history, a symbol of the splendour of Nizelebar and Azag's bloodline. A mighty axe displayed for all to see, cementing the westernmost fortress into the pages of history.
What happened next is largely lost to history, the great libraries of Nizelebar ground into dust. In hordes of thousands, the Dakkar re-emerged, in a mighty display of greed for the Onyxbeard's ancestral heirloom. 80 years they had waited since that fateful day, biding their time and multiplying, before launching an enveloping assault that would wipe over Nizelebar's defences like a wave, pillaging her legendary stores of gold and blacksteel. The Onyxbeard family's future had never been more endangered, alive in the form of a baby, barely a year old. In the years to follow, he would become known as Dvorin, last surviving member of the Onyxbeards.
Equipped with little more than a commoner's axe and a map of fallen holds throughout Aloria he would spent the next 20 years homeless, roaming from the northern wastes of New Ceardia, to the desert expanse of Farahdeen and the forests of western Fendarfell, eventually settling in the mountainous regions of Hadar. Constructing a mountain fortress much like Nizelebar, he would provide a haven for Dwarves without a Hold, leading with a descendant of the Stormhearts, if only temporary. In time, however, it would seem as if the Onyxbeard's luck in the Sky Steel would be paid for dearly with Humorrin life, with Dvorin's fortress too eventually falling after 13 years of rule, destroyed utterly by a foe as relentless as the Dakkar 35 years prior.
(https://forums.massivecraft.com/threads/belegost-lore-new-beginnings.63686/)
Yet somehow, the Onxbeard line would prove a hardy beast to slay, with Dvorin surviving the assault to rebuild the fortress to even greater heights then before. Allies from across Aloria converged to the mountain, Dwarf and otherwise, from fishermen and smiths of high esteem, to warriors respected and praised in their homeland. Plunged into the great war for the control of Hadar, these allies would prove invaluable, but deep in the heart of Dvorin and his Stormheart allies, a desire to reclaim their lost, priceless heirloom topples all.
Through their prowess in battle, and their abilities with craftsmanship, forging, and diplomacy, the men and women of Belegost have established themselves as a powerful force indeed; a people brought back from the brink time and time again.
Survivors, if ever there were.
For months Belegost led the charge for the throne of Hadar, deposing one Great House after another. Valorian, Wyvern…
Leaves on Autumn trees. Yet, the flower of Belegost persisted. Nobility within Regalia took notice, and Howlester levies assisted Belegost in their struggle for the continent. The holds and cities of Belegost spread east, west, south…
As did their enemies. In their strength, the men and women of Belegost had invited challenge, be it from a powerful sea-faring people, or fellow mountain dwellers, or even mighty Republics. Despite an ever-expanding list of enemies and rivals, times were good for the people of Belegost.
Times are different now. Dvorin is gone. The fields and meadows of the mountainous west, ever providing bounty and harvest for hungry mouths, had gone barren. Food stores failed, as did their armies in the tightening noose of warfare encircling the continent of Hadar. Representatives of each of the houses knew it, in their hushed meetings at candle light. The commoners knew it, though they'd never admit it to each other. Most of all, the Elders themselves knew it, reduced in numbers though they were.
It was time to leave. Preparations were made, ships chartered, belongings stowed. The last light of Belegost's Hadar stronghold- ever a refuge, a home, and a friend- went out for the last time.
(https://forums.massivecraft.com/threads/frontier.69171/)
Now, times are uncertain. A Stormheart, a Silvershield, and an Ailor lead a weakened people in a foreign land. Through the fortunate planning of Dothrak Stormheart, a young fortress lies on the Essalonian east, freshly built, yet resolute in the harsh landscape and people of Essalonia. A poor imitation of Belegost's original might, to be sure.
And yet…
Perhaps it has potential. Potential to reach higher to the stars than ever before. And alas, the old moniker persists.
Ride. For ruin.
And should they fail…
Well. Perhaps that's a story for another time.
Just work in progress lore for when Argost actually have enough members to be a Great House esketit
@Sephite @MazzerDK
