Gor'Turra¶
"Perhaps even Pravustiratel will think twice about entering the domain of an Archdemon." — Inwe's thought, fleeing toward the ruins (S031)
Contested
Named in the open question The siege of Gor'Turra in the Dragon Wars: the three histories of the earlier Ages give different dates for the war and different names for the dwarven kingdom whose fortress it was.
Gor'Turra is the great dwarven fortress of the Broken Strand, famous for never having fallen: it withstood the dragon-host of Pravustiratel in the Dragon Wars and a twenty-year siege by the Thyssal Empire in the Age of Magic. In the Fifth Age it is a ruin, "the great Hollow surrounding the ruins of Gor-Turra", the domain of an archdemon whose demons keep their mortiqueries in the dwarves' empty halls.
Also called: Gur'Turra, Gor-Turra.
The fortress¶
Gor'Turra was a fortress of the Great Dwarven Kingdom whose capital the histories variously name Kuhn'Darahl or Dunar'Emaza. It stands on "the fields of Gor'Turra", where "the Dwarves of Gor'Turra have erected a massive monument on a small rise", with catacombs beneath it holding the dead of the great battle. Inside, the fortress was a place of industry: the Hall of Artificers was one of "the many" wide halls of Gor'Turra, "filled with industrious dwarves crafting all manner of wondrous objects", with antechambers and workshops off a causeway, and secret doors worked by hidden pressure points. In the Age of Magic the gazetteers list it among the kingdoms of the Strand beside Faragond and Pevelor.
The Dragon Wars¶
In the Second Dragon War (851 to 922 MA in the newest history) the draconic campaign of Pravustiratel "stalled in Pevelor and Gor'Turra. At this point much of the focus of the war turned to the Underdark. Dwarven Holds which had up until this point been islands of strength across the otherwise subjugated territories began to be overwhelmed. Pravus's goal was to cut off and siege the fortress of Gor'Turra." Though the dragons took the dwarven capital and the largest cities of the kingdom, "they were still unable to take the fortress of Gor'Turra. Their defeat at Gor'Turra represented the turning point of the war." See the Second Dragon War.
The Battle for Gor'Turra itself, which the god-overview dates to 1078 MA, was "a 36 hour battle on the fields of Gor'Turra and in the skies above it" by "an army comprised of Elves, Men, Dwarves, Gnomes and Giants". Three Rakkari Primal Dragons were slain and two First Wizards died with their staves; "the badly wounded Pravustiratel became the last living Primal Dragon, and he fled to the Underdark to recouperate." Among the heroes it names are Lothos, who slew the Primal Jade Dragon Noxximaratel; Auressa, who "caused her staff to explode, sacrificing herself to mortally wound the Primal Cerulean Dragon Syssinatal"; the dwarven High King Khorun, killed by Pravus leading eagle riders "against a field of a hundred or more Dragons"; and the enchanter Nexagar, "credited with saving Lothos's life" (see the Minor Figures of the Earlier Ages).
Earlier accounts¶
The 2014 Compendium dates the Dragon Wars to 951 to 1092 MA, names the dwarven capital Dunar'Emaza and the kingdom Alz'Duen, and adds that the dragons "were able to isolate Gor'Turra for nearly 10 years" and that Pravustiratel "was eventually killed in the ruins of the Dwarven capitol Dunar'Emaza". The 2020 history has the dragons take Kuhn'Darahl, capital of Nev'Mazarol, and Pravustiratel killed much later in his lair there during the God Wars.
The Thyssal siege¶
After the War of the Moradrim the Kingdom of Thyssia forged the Thyssal Empire from the kingdoms of eastern Numenia. "However, the empire's westward expansion was halted at the fortress of Gor'Turra which they sieged for 20 years without success." The demonlord Orcus, "too powerful to be imprisoned in the weakened Abyss", was said in the same age to rule "a large kingdom of undead in the underdark north and east of Gur'Turra".
The ruins and the Hollow¶
By the Fifth Age Gor'Turra had fallen and become a Hollow. The ascendant Inwe, fleeing the red dragon Vixseranyol and Pravustiratel, judged that "your only chance ... is if you can reach the great Hollow surrounding the ruins of Gor-Turra before they catch you", for even a Primal Dragon might "think twice about entering the domain of an Archdemon". Within, the Hall of Artificers "is an empty and barren place, strewn with rock, dirt and bones", where "dozens of demons have mortiqueries"; the master of the place spoke into her mind: "It is not often an ascendant of Arya offers herself up as a willing sacrifice in my own domain." Vixseranyol's own lair lay "several hundred miles west of Gor'Turra" at Pro'Turra, "one of the twelve great fortresses of the dwarven kingdom of Kahun'Darahl".
The spirit of Pravustiratel, "torn asunder in a great ambush by the Dark Gods during the Fae Wars", is said to roam Gor'Turra: "Her spirit they could not contain and roams Gor'Turra."
Gap
No source says when or how Gor'Turra fell, who the archdemon of its Hollow is, or whether any dwarves survive there.