First Time Since At Least The First Blight, But Yes, Gundaar

Duran, His Sons, and His New Subjects Had Arrived In The Kingdom of Gundaar, Where They Found The Ancient Remains Of Gundaar and Dwarves From Kal'Sharok Present, Lead By The Paragon-Elect No Less. ''Paragon-Elect, I Am Prince Duran Aeducan, Second Son of King Endrin Aeducan, Elder Brother To King Bhelen Aeducan Of Orzanmmar. I am Warden-Commander of Orzanmmar and The Deep Roads, and My Brother Has Appointed Me King of This Kingdom.'' Says Duran and The Paragon-Elect Narrows His Eyes. ''Gundaar Is Closest To Kal'Sharok, Why Would We Allow This?'' Asks The Paragon-Elect. ''Because We'll Allow You Hormak, Which Is Closest To Orzanmmar. Think About This way, We Can't Attack You, without Drawing The Ire of Hormak. Likewise Hormak Can't Attack Orzanmmar, Without Drawing Gundaar's Ire. Besides I Have A Far More Valuable Gift should you Allow Us To Re-Settle Here.'' Says Duran. ''What Sort Of Gift?" Asks The Elect Carefully. "The Secret of War Golem Production." Says Duran As Duncan Steps Forward.

"This Is My Son, Duncan. He's Been Instructed By Me, To Teach Only Your Finest Smith's The Secret. My Brother Doesn't Want Him To Teach You How To Forge Control Rods, But I Have Instructed Him To Disregard The Wishes or My Brother.'' Says Duran. "Why? Why Go Against The Wishes of Your Brother, The King In Orzanmmar?'' Asks The Paragon-Elect. ''Do You Know How it Came To Be That My Father's Youngest Son Succeeded Him, and My Elder Brother and Myself Did Not? It was On The Eve of The Fifth Blight, Before The Battle of Ostagar. I was Orzanmmar's Latest Military Commander, and Bhelen Tried To Manipulate Me into Killing My Elder Brother. Trian, Pompous and Arrogant As He Was, Was No Kinslayer, His Pride As An Aeducan Wouldn't Let Him Stoop So Low. But I Underestimated Bhelen's Ambition, He Had Trian Killed and Pinned The Crime On Me. Later I Returned to Orzanmmar A Grey Warden, Learned My Father Had Died of Grief and The Assembly Had Dead-Locked In Rapid Succession Over His Successor. I Wanted To Kill Bhelen So Badly For The Wrong He'd Done Me, But When I Saw The Result of My Exile, I Swallowed That Hate, Not Out of Family Loyalty, But Out Of Determination. Determination To Make Orzanmmar Prosper, Bhelen was The Best Choice To Make This Work.'' Says Duran. ''So Why Tell Me? And What Does it Have To Do With Your Reasons for Ignoring His Wishes?'' Asks The Elect. ''Because, This Is What's Best For The Dwarva As A United People, Not A Divided People.'' Says Duran.

''My Brother Sent A List of Demands and Consolations On Offer If You Agree. But I Don't See The Point in Demanding Loyalty From Our Brothers and Sisters At Kal'Sharok. The Kal'Sharok We Betrayed Centuries Ago.'' Says Duran as He Burns Bhelen's Writ. ''So What Do You Want From Us, and What Do We Get In Return?'' Asks The Paragon-Elect. ''I Ask You Acknowledge and At The Very Least Respect Our Culture and Traditions, Such As The Orzanmmar Caste System, Our Paragons and Their Rights, and In Exchange We Will Show The Same. I Also Hope To invite You To Have An Official Embassy In Orzanmmar, Invite You To Station a Garrison At Bownammar Alongside The Legion Of The Dead From Orzanmmar. If You Do Not Agree, I Won't Argue The Point, Instead You Can Simply Say What Your Willing To Accept and What Your Not.'' Says Duran.

''We Can Agree to Acknowledge and Respect Your Culture and Traditions At The Very Least, But Will The Nobles of Orzanmmar Agree?'' Asks The Paragon-Elect. ''It Might Take A Couple Threats, Half-Dozen Negotiations, One Or Two Deaths and A Dozen Different Bribes, But Ultimately They'll Accept After We Twist Their Arms.'' Says Duran Frankly. ''But We Will Need to Consider Your Other Requests at Kal'Sharok. We Will Return When We Can.'' Says The Paragon-Elect. ''I Appreciate Your Willingness To Speak Paragon-Elect, But A Friendly Warning.......Bhelen Is A Good King, Controversial True, But He Has Made Orzanmmar Prosper, Whatever You Do, Don't Play Him For A Fool, He Can Repay The Slight A Hundred Times Worse.'' Says Duran.

Duran and His Group Had Gone About Rebuilding The Damage Wrought On Gundaar During The First Blight. Their Smiths and Miners Had Focused On Basic Restoration and Renovations. Every New Work was Supervised and Protected By Six Warrior Caste Dwarves and Four War Golems In The Least. Duran Received Regular Reports By The Hour From His Blight Brothers Stationed On Gundaar's Perimeter. The Darkspawn Had Overrun The Lost Thaig From At Least The First Blight, and Duran Wanted An Advanced Notice While They Were Inspecting The Entire Upper Level Of Gundaar. Duran Had Commissioned A Number Of Additional Thaigs While Bhelen Was Celebrating Endrin's Birth Ten years Back. But That Was A Front, His True Goal was The Restoration Of The Lost Thaig's, A Mission Few Outside The Orzanmmar Council and The Shaperate Were Aware Of.

Currently Though, Duran Was Watching His Son's Supervise and Assist In Securing The Kingdom. The Eldest, Duncan, Was A Smith, After Duran Requested His Son Be Permitted To Become A Smith After He and Faren Put A Motion For Caste Change Forward, With Bhelen's Support. The Boy Studied Under The Supervision Of Master Smith and Paragon Branka, Learning How To Forge Mighty Dwarven War Golems, and The Control Rods As Well. But When Branka Chose To Defy Bhelen and Refuse To Continue Production, Duncan Chose To Lock The Madwoman In Her Study, Take The Anvil, and All Her Notes and Research Back To Orzanmmar. After Which Duncan Set Up Shop In Bownammar, Also Called The Dead Trenches. Casteless Were Given The Promise Of A Better Fate and A Better Life For Their Families If They Agreed To Become Golems, While Criminals Were Sentenced To Undergo As Well If They Refused To Join The Warden's Or Legion Of The Dead, Most Chose Becoming A Golem Though, Because The Survival Rate Was Far Higher. Next To Duncan, Was His Brothers, The Twins, Trian and Cailan, Twins Who Were As Inseparable As Lyrium and Templers, But Had Extremely Different Personalities and Preferences. Trian Favored Brute **** and Warrior Ways, While Cailan Fancied A Bow and Arrows, With An Eye For Strategic Planning and Infiltration and Sabotage. These Three Were His Boys, and Their Sisters Were Just As Different.

His Eldest Daughter Was Trilla, A Girl Who Was His Personal Steward, Often Managing Their Estates Daily Affairs, and Serving As House Duran's Deshyr, Being The Youngest At Age Twelve. After Trilla Came The Girl's Nera and Ashlarr. Nera Was As Skilled With Words As She Was With Knives, While Ashlarr Preferred To Avoid Combat Completely, Preferring Peaceful Negotiation Over A Violent Confrontation. He Loved Them All Equally, and Knew He Shouldn't Have Favorites But He'd Be Lying If He Said He Wasn't Proudest Of Cailan The Most Of All Of His Children. Cailan Was Trian's Elder Brother, Twins, But Born At Different Points Of Their Birth, and Unlike Duncan and Gorim, The Two Were Born By His Wife, Not His Concubines. Nerav Was Now Queen Of Gundaar, and Their House Gained Royalty Status In Addition To Paragon Status Born Of Duran's Naming As A Paragon. Duran Trained Cailan As Both A Reaver and A Templar, While Teaching Trian The Ways Of The Beserker and The Champion. Cailan Was His Favored Son, and As Such Received The Bulk Of His Attention, But Nothing So Overt As To Sow Resentment Amongst The Siblings.

Outside Of Duran's Noble Caste Wife Nerav Helmi He Had Eight Concubines, Two Casteless Noble Hunter's, Two Warrior Caste Dwarves, Two Smith Caste Dwarves, and Two Noble Caste Dwarves. Of The Seven, Only The Noble Hunters, Warrior Caste and Smith's Had Given Him Children. Lady Dace Had Yet To Birth Him A Child, Despite Her Marriage To His Cousin Piotin, Whom Duran Cuckolded By Regularly Sleeping With His Cousin's Wife. A Good Thing Probably, But Regardless It Mattered Not, All But One Child Born of His Concubine's Were Female, His Youngest Son, Gorim, Named For His Oldest and Most Trusted Friend, Who Became His Dwarven Second. The Young Gorim's Mother Was Born A Descendant Of House Ortan Through His Mother Orta, Whom Duran Had Proved Was Noble Caste Descended By Retrieving The Ortan Family Records Back During The Blight. Over The Years, The Two Began An Increasingly Sexually Active Affair, Which Resulted In Gorim's Birth. Gorim Was An Aeducan and A Duran In All But Name, He Was Born Gorim Ortan, Son Of Paragon Duran Aeducan and Lady Orta Ortan.

Duran Sat On The Reforged Throne Of Gundaar, Which Was Built Alongside Four Smaller Thrones, One To Sit Beside Him, Where His Wife Nerav Would Sit, and Three Before Them. Two For The First Born Princes, and One For The Eldest Princess. The Thrones Were Made Of A Silverite, Lazurite, and Stormheart Alloy, and Had Been Inlaid With Lyrium and Gold. The Princes Thrones Had Not Gold, But Silver, To Befit Their Princely Status. All That Was Left For Them To Do Was Sit On The Thrones, and Take Court.