The Malachite Fortress is an ancient dwarven fortress buried sixty meters beneath Caldero, below the gnomish complex and connected to Isadrun. The children who disappeared from Caldero were found there, being auctioned.
| Type | Place (underground fortress) |
| Depth | 60 m below Caldero |
| Rightful owner | An ancient dwarf, cut off from it for 200 years |
| Spanish entry | La Fortaleza de Malaquita |
Access
Above it stands the Gelbesloch Locksmithy, a surface business; a half-open secret door at its level leads down.
- The lift: a lever-operated lift runs the sixty meters to the bottom. It leads to a corridor with a torch trap; those who know the trick can jam the torches and pass freely.
- The shaft: a magical shaft throws whoever falls in down “a slide of black viscosity” to the bottom, with no control of the descent. Jaromir fell this way.
History
Its owner, an ancient dwarf, has been separated from it for two hundred years (“the owner of the Malachite Fortress, who has been losing it for 200 years”). Its present occupants are unknown and not dwarves: “the place was taken; they did not see a single dwarf.” The auction of the children of Caldero took place at the bottom. The fortress is recorded as an important place, possibly a site of power, and as under the dominion of Zenit Splintershed, in an unstated capacity.
Open questions
- Its rooms, walls, light and condition are not recorded; only the route in is known.
- Who occupies it, and how the owner lost it.
- Whether the slide shaft is original dwarven work, an occupants’ addition or something else, and where exactly it ends.
- The physical route to Isadrun (Jzadirune).
- Whether the children’s auction was a regular use or a single episode.
- Whether Maraquita and Marguilas are distortions of Malachite or other places; one phrase, “the fortress of Maraquita, which is the clintership”, may echo Splintershed.