Can you talk about the geographical significance of Kaladim being situated north of Butcherblock?
Vhalen: What adventurers know of the Butcherblock Mountains is actually only the crag-cradled fields of that mountainous region. The region is dominated by the majestic peaks, insurmountable monuments of nature. Kaladim is located in the heart of that titanic mountain range. Such a location provides a temperate climate and natural defenses for the kingdom of the dwarves.
Who are the races that lived in Kaladim, and why did they choose Kaladim?
Vhalen: As noted above, the dwarven kingdom calls Kaladim home. Such a place is ideal to these industrious people. Kaladim's location inside the heart of Butcherblock Mountains provides many things, not just natural defenses. The mountains the dwarves decided to build their capital city contained vast caverns and a natural subterranean river. Most important was the mineral composition of the mountains. The mines of Kaladim were extensive and proved a vast array of rare minerals whose values were found not only in bank vaults but in the many facets of dwarven industry.
Other than the direct benefits of the mountains there was the location of the well defended harbor of Butcherblock Mountains. This harbor provided safe shipping operations to keep the dwarves master of world trade. It is rumored that there was once a dwarfmade waterway that ran a direct line from the harbor to a now forgotten mine that was connected to the vast mine network of Kaladim. Unfortunately, an ancient earthquake is said to have destroyed this mine and the harbor tunnel.
Can you tell us about how Kaladim survived the Shattering, and who are the past and present dwellers?
Vhalen: Kaladim survived the astronomical upheaval of the Age of Cataclysms thank in most to the minerals of the mines. The composition of the mountain range has helped create a stronghold that can defy the powers that caused most other subterranean realms to collapse.
It is rumored that the strength of the Butcherblock Mountains extends deep underground, deeper than the vast mines of Kaladim. There is said to be a section of the Underfoot that exists below Kaladim, an under-continent called Stormhold. This is not the ruins of the defunct Knights of Thunder of Old Antonica. This is a realm of below, a place filled with denizens never known by the common Norrathian. Is this the realm that the Serilian Horde hails from, the new occupants of Kaladim? It very well could be.
