Quest for Sky

From PathfinderWiki
Taargick, High King of the Dwarves.

The Quest for Sky was the ancient dwarven migration to the surface of Golarion from their original homes in the Darklands realm of Nar-Voth. Their god Torag had given them a prophecy: when the ground shook beneath their feet, they must press upward to the surface. They took the massive tremors caused by the fall of the Starstone in -5293 AR (also known as Earthfall) as this sign and began their journey upwards1 in -5287 AR,2 finally emerging there in -4987 AR.3

A slow start

The 300-year Quest for Sky was fraught with danger and betrayal. Aside from attacks by the inhabitants of the Darklands, most notably the orcs, the dwarves suffered many setbacks from internal squabbling and infighting. The dwarves fractured, and for two decades they fought one another as well as their Darklands foes. They were finally united by General Taargick through a mix of diplomacy, wisdom, and violent coercion in -5133 AR.4 Once crowned as king, he led the Ever-Advancing legion towards their goal.[citation needed]

Hryngars

A number of dwarves refused to leave their Darklands home, ignoring the prophesy entirely. Over time, these dwarves altered culturally and physically, eventually becoming the modern hryngars.56

War against the orcs

Although the dwarves believed that their advance was destroying their ancient enemies, the orcs, they were mistaken. Ahead of them, the orcs were retreating in the face of the dwarven advance towards the surface themselves.7 They reached the surface before the dwarves, pouring out of tunnels in -5102 AR8 and displacing cave-dwelling Kellids into what would later be known as Numeria in -5051 AR.9

Completion of the quest

Upon the completion of the Quest for Sky in -4987 AR, the dwarves established massive city-fortresses known as Sky Citadels in places where they had reached the surface,10 and many of those edifices contain murals and engravings detailing the events of the Quest for Sky.[citation needed]

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.

  1. James Jacobs & Greg A. Vaughan. Nar-Voth” in Into the Darklands, 19. Paizo Inc., 2008
  2. Paizo Inc., et al. “Chapter 1: Introduction” in Highhelm, 12. Paizo Inc., 2023
  3. James Jacobs, et al. The Inner Sea World Guide, 67. Paizo Inc., 2011
  4. David Eitelbach, et al. Dwarves of Golarion” in Dwarves of Golarion, 8. Paizo Inc., 2009
  5. David Eitelbach, et al. Dwarves of Golarion” in Dwarves of Golarion, 7. Paizo Inc., 2009
  6. Paizo referred to hryngars as duergar until the publication of Highhelm and the Sky King's Tomb Pathfinder Adventure Path.
  7. Michael Kortes. “What Lies in Dust” in What Lies in Dust, 7. Paizo Inc., 2009
  8. Tyler Beck, et al. Belkzen Gazetteer” in Belkzen, Hold of the Orc Hordes, 5. Paizo Inc., 2015
  9. Jim Groves, et al. “Gazetteer” in Numeria, Land of Fallen Stars, 4. Paizo Inc., 2014
  10. James Jacobs & Greg A. Vaughan. “Exploring the Darklands” in Into the Darklands, 8. Paizo Inc., 2008