The 7 Dwarf Realms: Khazad-dûm
The greatest kingdom of the Dwarves was a place of the greatest wonders and the worst nightmares. A place blessed and then cursed.
The Seven Mansions of the Dwarves were a set of city-kingdoms founded by the Seven Dwarven Clans, direct descendants of the Seven Fathers.
The Seven Fathers were created by Äule, one of the Valar, behind Eru-Ilúvatar’s back. However, having no power to give life, Äule consulted Ilúvatar, who, upon discovering the work of the Vala, told him that they could not awaken until the Sons of Ilúvatar (Elves and Men) did.
Sorrowful but happy not to see his work destroyed, Äule hid them in the depths of the various mountain ranges of Arda.
One of the Seven Fathers and the most important, Durin, awoke during the Age of Trees with his companion on Mount Gundabad. It was located north of the Misty Mountains, an endless mountain range separating the regions of Eriador and Rhovanion.
There the clan of the Longbeards was founded, who dwelt in Gundabad until one of his journeys south through the Misty Mountains, Durin discovered the valley of Azanulbizar and fell in love. His interpretation of some signs convinced him that this region should be the new home of his people.
And so it was that years later, Durin returned with all his people and began to dig in the caves of Azanulbizar. Numerous bridges, hidden tunnels, or corridors connected the rooms. Little by little, they opened galleries, passages, and countless mines.
Little by little, a city was created, which ended up being the largest ever built by the Dwarves. They called it Khazad-dûm (Dwarf Mine).
It was a tremendously prosperous kingdom in which incredible weapons were forged, excavations were carried out non-stop, ancient chronicles were written, and in general, all the dwarven arts were improved, in some cases even surpassing the elven ones.
For many centuries the kingdom of Khazad-dûm lived in peace, oblivious and distant to everything that happened in Beleriand. It maintained constant contact with the dwarven realms of Nogrod and Belegost, thanks to which it was aware of everything that happened with Morgoth and his fight against the Noldor and Sindar.
Thus it came to pass that the significant events of the First Age in Beleriand were distant stories for the Longbeards of Khazad-dûm; in the dwarven kingdom, they continued to practice and improve their arts.
Sometime in that First Age, however, the kingdom had its first contact with the Edain (Men) who were heading west from Hildórien.
At the same time, Khazad-dûm likely had contacts with the Silvan Elves (those who separated from the Teleri host during the Great Journey), not always cordial and with too much unnecessary tension. Indeed the news that arrived about the conflicts between Dwarves and Elves in Beleriand helped to it.
Centuries passed, and the War of Cholera broke out, after which Beleriand sank under the sea. Many Dwarves from Nogrod and Belegost took refuge in Khazad-dûm, which grew even more in size and grandeur.
With the arrival of the Second Age, the power of the History of Arda definitively reached Khazad-dûm, which could no longer avoid being involved in the significant events of Middle-earth.
One discovery boosted the economy and preponderance of the dwarven smithy in both Eriador and Rhovanion: Mithril.
It was discovered in the depths of the mountain range where the city was located. It was a soft and malleable-looking mineral used to forge incredibly light, robust, and absurdly durable armor. Alloys with other metals allowed the possibilities of use in creating all kinds of objects almost infinite.
That miraculous discovery was joined by another factor that multiplied the value of the resource at Khazad-dûm.
After the catastrophe of Beleriand, the surviving Noldor and Sindar settled in Eriador. First, they did it in Lindon, on the western coasts, but centuries later, a group separated and traveled to the east to found the kingdom of Eregion, very close to the Misty Mountains.
Relations with Khazad-dûm did not take long, and the elves were fascinated by Mithril, with which they believed they could forge jewels that had not been seen since the disappeared Silmarils. They then developed countless works of goldsmithing, weapons, and armor, although in smaller quantities.
A strong bond of friendship was forged between Elves and Dwarves, who forgot past grievances and faced a splendorous present in the hope that the future would be just as radiant and beneficial.
However, the evil that Morgoth breathed into Middle-earth thousands of years ago would never disappear, so sooner or later, the peace would be shattered by the most terrible events.
This happened in Khazad-dûm when Sauron tricked Celebrimbor, the greatest of the smiths among the Elves during the Second Age (although he was the grandson of Fëanor) to forge the Rings of Power, a task in which the smiths of the Dwarven kingdom collaborated.
When Sauron tried to seize the Rings and dominate the Elves, he attacked Eregion and obliterated it. The gates of Khazad-dûm were closed to prevent Sauron’s armies and remained so for centuries. The entire region west of the Misty Mountains was abandoned and lost.
In the last gesture in remembrance of the friendship between Eregion and Khazad-dûm, King Durin IV sent a great regiment to fight alongside the army of Gil-Galad and Elendil in the War of the Last Alliance against Sauron.
With the Dark Lord apparently defeated, sure normality returned to Khazad-dûm, which despite not having such a fluid trade as it had with the elves of Eregion, continued to export the precious Mithril. Their demand required them to dig deeper and deeper into the mountain caverns.
So deep did they dig that a horrible event brought about the decline of the entire kingdom.
The greed of the Dwarves drove them down and down the caves and on and on, digging without rest until they awoke a Balrog of the Ancient Days and servant of Morgoth himself. Hidden after fleeing the War of Wrath, he lay in eternal rest until the miners of Khazad-dûm brought him out of his catatonic state.
The Balrog ravaged the dwarven kingdom, driving out the Longbeards Clan altogether. From then on, the place was baptized as Moria (Dark Well), and the dwarves took refuge in the Grey Mountains north of Rhovanion.
Several times the descendants of the inhabitants of Moria tried to recover the kingdom under the mountain, but all the attempts were resounding failures. Years passed, and Moria was infested with orcs by order of a Sauron who had returned after millennia of disappearance.
During the War of the Ring, the Fellowship crossed the mines of Moria in secret, but the orcs discovered them. Finally, the wizard Gandalf fought against the Balrog, whom he managed to eradicate after a brutal fight that lasted several days.
At last, Moria was free of the Balrog. After the defeat of Sauron, the orcs were dispersed throughout the entire range of the Misty Mountains, no longer concentrated in the kingdom and with no one to direct their wills.
The Dwarves knew that it was only a matter of time before they could regain Khazad-dûm, and a prophecy began circulating among their people that King Durin VII. Yet to be born, he would succeed in regaining during the Fourth Age, the greatest Dwarven kingdom that had ever existed and ever existed.