The Gora Delve
The Gora Delve is a dwarfish settlement in the mountains to the south of Caldonacia, and it lies to the north of the The Riviga Kiziph Delve.
The Delve was founded around the year 300, and was opened at first into an existing but previously unused natural cave system, and some twenty years later was extended into an old (non-dwarfish) complex that the dwarves discovered during their digging.
Some time around the year 400 the delve was attacked by an army of ogres and orcs. Dwarfish reinforcements came from Riviga, and together they subdued the invaders.
By the year 500 the Gora dwarves were trading heavily with the human kingdoms in the south. They traded fuels and metalworking skills for food, especially meat and grain. This trade helped the humans to adopt the dwarfish Kathron Coins standard for money.
In 522 the orcs and ogres resumed their attack on the Gora delve, but the stronger delve was an even tougher opponent this time around. The attacks lasted less than a week, the dwarves put to use a huge pile of weapons they had prepared for delivery to the southern kingdoms, and the fight lasted less than a week. Over the next ten years regular patrols were sent out into the mountains, making sure no trace of any orc or ogre existed.
In 607 a new section of The Gora Delve opened out unexpectedly into The Underdark, and this caused some major problems for the Gora Delve. At first they believed the new territory to be some pre-disaster delve, but this changed when they encountered Duergar and Svirfneblin in the tunnels. The Duergar mounted an invasion into the Gora delve through this place. Emergency help arrived from the Riviga Kiziph Delve, and a heavy force from The Kathron Delve arrived a month later. The counter invasion produced some bitter fighting, but eventually the dwarves from the surface fought back the Duergar, and newly captured territory was sealed off from the Underdark. This brought an end to the fighting.