Uldun'Dio

Description: Dwarven for "Dio's Hammer", Uldun'Dio is a blacksmithing school founded in 312 A.R. by master blacksmith Durbag K'rgal. The oldest living Dwarf, Durbag created a process for smelting high-grade steel even before the Battle of the Apocalypse. The town that he settled in was destroyed during the Seeker Wars, and he wandered for a time afterwards. When he settled again Durbag founded Uldun'Dio and took on his first three apprentices. The school grew with his reputation and some of his apprentices stayed to teach. Eventually, as he grew to trust those who stayed, he began to teach select people his secret to steelcraft.

Over the years the school has grown, but the number of who Durbag's secret has remained small. Only four living people, all Dwarves and top instructors at Uldun'Dio, besides Durbag know this process. Students and instructors have come and gone, and the school's reputation grew. The armor and weapons produced at the school by the more experienced students are quite expensive and highly sought-after in the Dwarven Empire. Durbag himself has stopped selling his crafts with the exception of custom orders placed by some of the highest officials in the Dwarven Empire, including Errak'Dio himself.

Blacksmiths trained by the school have spread to every continent, though outside of Deisach only customers of those smiths or those with an appreciation of the craft are likely to know much about Uldun'Dio. The school recieves most of its raw materials from the Dwarven Empire, though occasionally some order may require special materials that will most likely be obtained from Keldrian traders. Durbag outright refuses to buy ore from the Silver Hammers, which has some mining sites on Deisach. He dislikes their "recent" (by Dwarven reckoning) intrusion onto Deisach to mine ore and has a very low opinion of both the organization and its products, and has even gone so far as to use one of his own axes to sunder a chestplate made with Silver Hammers' Crucible steel as a demonstration for potential customers.

The school itself has grown to become a campus outside of Arra'Tul. The original building is a long, one-story stone structure where all of the forges are housed. Not far from this is a two-story wooden building, the first story housing students while the second story houses instructors. Across a well-kept lawn are five simple cottages where Headmaster K'rgal and the four senior instructors live. To the side of the lawn that faces away from Arra'tul is a large wooden lodge with a kitchen, which serves as both a dining and meeting hall. Currently there are 28 students and 6 junior instructors that live on the campus along with Durbag and the senior instructors.