Know Your Enemy
The Iron Conclave
A militarized alliance of Duergar and Orc War-Clans, united under a single, merciless doctrine. This is not a raiding force — this is an occupation.
Supreme Commander
High Forgemaster Tharûm Blackmantle
Duergar Warlord / Artificer / Warlock
Tharûm Blackmantle rose from the brutal politics of the Underdark, where survival depended not on strength, but on calculation. His clan was abandoned by its allies during a territorial collapse, teaching him a lesson he never forgot: morality is irrelevant without leverage.
From that moment on, Tharûm devoted himself not to conquest, but to inevitability—learning siegecraft, logistics, and the economics of war until domination became a matter of planning rather than chance.
Amn was chosen not out of hatred, but efficiency. Its wealth, guilds, and trade networks make it the perfect engine for continental conquest. Through enslaved elementals, bound fiends, and shadow-forged engines, Tharûm wages war as an industry, believing resistance only prolongs suffering.
He does not seek glory or loyalty—only stability enforced by overwhelming advantage.
Keeper of the Cathedral
The Warmagus
Conclave Archmage / Strategic Commander
Before the Iron Conclave arrived, the Warmagus was one of Athkatla's most beloved arcane scholars—a specialist in communication magic, not war magic. Their life's work was the belief that most conflicts stem from ignorance, and that if information flowed freely between people, violence could be prevented before it began. They taught. They built relay networks for merchants and diplomats. They wanted to connect the world.
When Tharûm's forces surrounded Athkatla, the Warmagus stayed. They believed their skills—their gift for finding common ground—could broker a negotiated surrender. Reduced casualties. A transition instead of a massacre.
Tharûm listened. Then he showed them the alternative: a detailed operational plan for what would happen if the city resisted. Street by street. Quarter by quarter. He didn't threaten. He simply presented the mathematics.
The Warmagus negotiated Athkatla's surrender. The city did not burn. Its people are alive. And that is the chain around their neck.
Every cooperation that followed was justified the same way: if I stop, thousands die. Every relay tuned, every signal broadcast, every coordination order was done in service of that original calculation. The skills they built to bring people together are the same skills that make the Iron Conclave function.
The forbidden contingency—fracturing their consciousness into multiple autonomous arcane aspects—was not only a military calculation. It was dissociation. The weight of what they had become was too much for a single mind to hold. By shattering themselves into fragments, no single piece has to look at the whole picture.
They still remember what they were building. They just can't find the way back.
Faction
The Blackmantle Duergar
Architects of the War Machine
Elite duergar clans bound directly to Tharûm Blackmantle by oath, contract, or pact. They serve as engineers, logisticians, overseers, and commanders.
They view war as an industrial process to be optimized, not a struggle to be glorified. Waste is considered failure. They enslave conquered populations for labor, not cruelty.
They believe surface realms are decadent, inefficient, and unworthy of autonomy. They speak openly of Amn as a "resource basin," not a kingdom.
Duergar Tactics
- ⚙️ Siege engines powered by enslaved fire elementals
- ⚙️ Shadow-forged weapons and armor
- ⚙️ Rigid formations and overlapping fields of fire
Common Roles
Faction
The Orc War-Clans
The Hammer Behind the Anvil
A coalition of orc clans shattered by years of internecine warfare, united under Tharûm through conquest, coercion, and promised plunder.
They serve as shock troops, vanguard forces, and occupation enforcers. Given freedom to fight as they wish—so long as objectives are met.
Conditioned to believe that service to the Conclave leads to endless war and spoils. Many are unaware they are considered expendable by duergar leadership.
Orc Tactics
- ⚔️ Brutal frontal assaults
- ⚔️ Boarding actions and beach charges
- ⚔️ Overwhelming numbers and relentless pressure
Common Roles
The Balance of Power
Duergar Bonds
Bound by contracts, doctrine, and ideology. They serve because the system profits them.
Orc Bonds
Bound by fear, momentum, and reward. They serve because they know nothing else.
Neither faction trusts the other—but both fear Tharûm's reprisal. The Cathedral exists primarily to ensure orc aggression is properly directed, duergar command is never isolated, and neither side can rebel without being crushed by the other.
"The clans fight because they must. The forges burn because they profit.
I rule because the system functions."
— Tharûm Blackmantle
Ready to Face Them?
Now that you know your enemy, choose your theater and join the fight to break the Iron Conclave's grip.