The Setting (accounted from the journals of the Bard Ravinn, circa 8th Cycle of Year 14358, Mathannan Reckoning)

To the northeast of our own lands, the lands of civilized folk as held by the Emperor Hugot Mathannan XVII (may his name live forever), lies the mysterious continent that has been known for centuries as The Iron Coast. Though the Dwarves who live there know it as Kzara-Blud, meaning "the Fatherland" in their own tongues, it was dubbed by the rest of the world as The Iron Coast for the simple reason that, throughout history, it has proven inpenetrable to outside invasion and incursion. Although some meager trade had been permitted through the tiny port town of Pferrou, any attempts at migration or settlement by outsiders were quickly and efficiently squashed. Indeed, any army that had ever landed on those coasts with the intention of conquest made it no further than halfway across the lands of the Bison People before being intercepted by thrice their numbers in Dwarven armies marching down out of the Spyreforge Mountains. With every attempt (and they have been few), invaders had been routed by the Kzaran Dwarves, driven back across the Sea of Targus from whence they came, fleeing for their lives. Thus, an entire unexplored continent, tantalizingly rich with resources, lay within sight yet out of reach of the rest of the world for as long as anyone could remember.

Abruptly, this all changed in the Year 14308, at the bequest of the Kzarans themselves. Word reached Emperor Mathannan XVI (may his name live forever) that Kzara-Votti Hraf, Kzaran King of the Dwarves, had opened the southern third of their continent to limited settlement by Empirical citizenry subject to Kzaran terms. Although puzzled, the Emperor jumped at the opportunity. Three years later, after numerous pacts and treaties had been written and rewritten and finally agreed upon, shiploads of migrants from the Empire arrived at The Iron Coast to settle and live unresisted for the first time in history.

As these pilgrims became more comfortable in their new land, declared the Kingom of Brynth in the name of the Emperor Mathannen XVII (may his name live forever) it soon became apparent why the Dwarven King had seen fit to finally open his lands to the Empire. As we all know, since the Dawning of Time, the Dwarves and Goblins have waged their eternal blood-wars on each other, and in this land things were no different. To the west of the Spyreforge Mountain Range lies the vast Drahk Wood, thousands of square acres of dark, mountainous forest-land populated by hordes of Goblin tribes, so numerous they spill out unceasingly, threatening to overrun the Dwarves' mountain fortresses and mines. For as long as they could remember the Dwarves warred with these Goblin tribes, only occasionally assisted by the nomadic Bison People and the Palanthine Elves of the Tallon Forest on the Tallon Peninsula, and have in large part been quite happy to do so. Dark times, however, have befallen the Kzaran Dwarves. Inexplicably, over the last few centuries the Dwarven population of the Spyreforge Mountains has been falling at a dramatic rate. The toll of the Goblin Wars combined with a new threat of an evil Derro race cropping up in the western half of the mountain range began to greatly concern old Kzara-Hraf. Eventually he realized that even if the Goblins and Derro didn't overrun them, their lands were ripe for outside invasion and it was only a matter of time before the rest of the world realized this. And so he arrived at an idea: he would allow the Humans of the Mathannan Empire to settle the southern third of the continent under close supervision while the his Dwarven armies were still strong enough to oversee it. Knowing how Humans thrive in the worst of conditions, he expected the Goblins would be distracted by their presence, leaving the Dwarves free to deal with the Derro menace.

Thus today, a half-century later, the tiny port village of Pferrou has exploded into a major trade metropolis, a haven for every fugitive outlaw, opportunistic merchant, and would-be adventurer the Empire has to offer. Newly recruited Mathannan troops arrive weekly to march to the frontlines of the ongoing wars between Goblins and Men along the Kingdom's western borders. Villages expand ever outward, and a great palisade has been erected to the west between the Spyreforge Mountains and the coastline, keeping the Goblins confined to the Drahk Wood. Garrison towns along the infant Kingdom of Brynth thrive with inns and taverns, brothels and gambling houses. Contact is kept between the Palanthian Elves and the Bison People, and some trade has been established with the nomadic Desert People in the eastern desert. And, of course, the Dwarves are ever-present in Pferrou, having their own quarter and even an embassy, where a council resides and keeps a vigilant eye on behalf of King Hraf, no doubt a little taken aback at the unexpected rate we Human are overrunning their lands.