| Category | Depressions | ||
| Continent | Brucrumus | ||
| Region | Clans, Unaraggumak | ||
| Map |
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Uzdûm and Sûd are two vast mining pits situated in the southwestern region of Narbuzad. When dwarven prospectors from Phlehorn discovered this area, they encountered a labyrinth of canyon walls laced with veins of silver and mithril. In the Year 300, Phlehorn's diggers began mining the region. Over the course of more than a millennium, they transformed a series of canyons into two colossal and deeply excavated mining pits. These pits extend far into the Underdark, crossing into Brucrumus's Subterranean Tier 1 and culminating in Brucrumus's Subterranean Tier 2. The pits are named Uzdûm and Sûd, in honor of two dwarven heroes from the Demon Spawn War. These heroes were not typical warriors, but miners who fought demons with pickaxes and rocks. Their heroic efforts to defend the Covenant mines have made them legendary figures in dwarven history.
The pits are roughly four to five miles wide and nearly 6,000 feet deep. As the miners delved deeper into the Underdark, they encountered various friendly and hostile Underdark races, leading to both trade and bloodshed. Presently, Hjalmarbrodd, an offshoot empire of Phlehorn, supports the majority of mining efforts in these regions and even lays claim to parts of the pit to legally maintain military outposts. These strongholds serve to preserve order and counter threats from below. Some of the dangers that arise from the depths or affect deeper mining activities include the unchecked slaving and raiding operations of Dilkuglapgon. Even deeper, in Subterranean Tier 2, the area they excavate is unlawfully claimed by the Bru'khar empire. Hjalmarbrodd's highest court of law asserts that Bru'khar's claim to the dig site is invalid, since they had no tunnel to the area when the miners first accessed it. Bru'khar law, however, contends that the right of conquest grants them sovereignty over the region. As a result, the two empires have been in conflict for the past three centuries.
Uzdûm and Sûd are dotted with numerous bridges, lifts, cranes, and permanent structures. Some claim the mines contain near-endless veins of mithril and silver, as well as plentiful other gemstone veins. This is tied to a legend that says the veins are the entrails of an unimaginably long Primordial serpent composed of nothing but precious metals, gems, and entropic energy. The terrible beast was a living siege engine, sent by the primordial against Covenant fortifications in Khelan. In one of the many epic battles of the Creation War, the hero Naraz-Nâru, who would one day become patron god to many of the Clans dwarves, vanquished this metal and gemstone-encrusted primordial. Naraz-Nâru's blows caused the beast to burrow into the earth and descend, steadily losing body mass from wounds it could not heal fast enough. This "bleeding out" left trails of silver, mithril, and gemstones across the area.
The city of Gunbil derives a substantial portion of its income from the abundant supply of mithril and silver extracted from this region.