Edis the Grim
Edis the Grim was a Copper Dwarf adventurer and the founder of Bad-Furqorin, the premier city of the Skyreach Steppes. Forced from his homeland by the political maneuvers of his enemies, he led a mixed force of mercenaries and rebellious soldiers out of the mountains and onto the steppes.
To fully comprehend what happened next requires an understanding of the steppes themselves; its soil is mostly poor, able to sustain the thin saltgrass endemic to the region, but not much else. This all changes once one reaches the hinterlands of Bad-Furqorin, which is home to the finest farmland in the entire steppe - it is a virtual paradise in the middle of nowhere, a heavenly valley that connects the steppes to the mountains.
In the fractured age after the Great Collapse, the tribes of the steppes warred among themselves. The region's two predominant forces—the Goblins and the Selkausians—had just concluded a devastating thirteen-year conflict and were in no condition to resist the Dwarven force descending from the mountain passes. Before either people could recover, Edis's followers began raising the fortifications and walls that would become the heart of Bad-Furqorin.
Bad-Furqorin expanded for centuries and reached its height in 819 LC, followed by a long, managed decline. The heirs of Edis—by then worshiped as a god by his people—struggled to hold their territory against resurgent Goblin and Selkausian hordes. Their small city-state endured largely because Bad-Furqorin sits upon an extraordinary cinnabar deposit. By controlling the mineral's sale, its rulers turned the mountain beneath their walls into the treasury that sustained those walls.
The account of Edis is brief and survives as one of the stories Zorgolis says remain untold in Tales from the Zanic Age. His legacy nevertheless defines Bad-Furqorin: the founder became a god, the refuge became a fortress, and control of a single rich valley became a continuing contest between the mountain city and the peoples of the steppes. At the 1000 LC start, his heirs survive as the Kingdom of Edis, also known as Qoes.
See also: Kingdom of Edis, Copper Dwarves, Anempanso, Great Collapse, and Timeline.