The Sundered-Sister's Revenge
Date of Construction: 510-515 AH (Post-Sun-Queen Anya)
The Rune-Gate was not born from simple defensive necessity, but from a specific, searing humiliation. During the Betrayal of the Sun-Queen (488 AH), the Frost-Fang Clans' treacherous seizure of the lower geothermal vents of the Glimmering Spire exposed a fatal flaw in the Commonwealth's northern frontier: a reliance on natural, indefensible passes.
Jarl Brynn Stone-Hand, granddaughter of the commander who had failed to anticipate that betrayal, swore a mighty oath. The Commonwealth would never again be caught vulnerable from the north. They would not just build a wall; they would build a statement. The Gate would be her personal rebuttal to the Sun-Queen's fate—a testament not to fragile alliances and beauty, but to permanent, immovable strength.
The Gate's construction was an act of national catharsis. For five years, the entire might of the Stone-Shield Commonwealth was focused on the project.
The Stone: Quarried from the heart of Mount Harrow, each block was inscribed with a single rune of warding before being set. It is said the masons worked in shifts so the chiseling never stopped, the sound a constant, grim drumbeat of determination.
The Runes: The master rune-smiths, led by the legendary Dvalin Forge-Rune, did not merely carve protective sigils. They wove a "Narrative Ward" into the gate's very substance. The runes tell the story of the Sun-Queen's betrayal and the Frost-Fang's treachery, not as history, but as a warning and a curse. Any Frost-Fang giant who approaches feels a psychic weight of that history—a subtle, demoralizing aura of remembered shame and defeat.
The Design: The overlapping gates, murder holes, and fortified gatehouses were designed with the specific tactics of the Frost-Fang in mind. The angles of fire prevent berserker rushes, and the gatehouses are positioned to trap and dismantle the "hammer and anvil" tactics the Clans favor.
The Rune-Gate is the physical embodiment of the post-Anya Commonwealth philosophy.
The "Sundered-Sister": Its popular name among the Commonwealth's people. It represents the severed alliance with the Sun-Splinter Throne—a relationship now replaced by cold, hard stone and mistrust.
The Unyielding Answer: Where Anya used diplomacy and intrigue, the Gate responds with sheer, uncompromising mass. It declares that the Commonwealth's safety will no longer be entrusted to the whims of others.
A Shield for the Small: Uniquely, the gate's internal passages include specially designed, heated mustering halls and defensive positions for Lítillfólk crossbow regiments. It symbolizes the Commonwealth's revised compact: total loyalty in exchange for absolute, engineered protection.
For over 350 years, the Rune-Gate has never been breached. It has turned the northern border from a vulnerable frontier into an impassable fact. Its runes still pulse with a faint, stubborn light, a perpetual vigil. To the Frost-Fang, it is a hated symbol of stifling order. To the Commonwealth, it is the nation's stern, unblinking face to the world—a reminder that while crowns may topple and alliances shatter, stone and rune endure. It is the ultimate lesson learned from the Sun-Queen's tragedy: trust no one but the mountain, and the gate you build with your own hands.