Shadow's Instadrabbles by daughterofshadows

And still, we remain

Prompt: Designing a dream city is easy; rebuilding a living one takes imagination. - Jane Jacobs (belated contribution to the Restoration & Rebuilding Session)

What happened to the dwarven settlements in Belegost and Nogrod after the War of Wrath?

We know most of them left for Moria, but what about those that stayed behind?

Rated: General

Long had the dwarves feared the loss of their home, but in the end, it was not the enemy who took it from them.

The flood that drowned Beleriand had made large parts of the city uninhabitable, filling the lower levels and mines with water.

For weeks the ground shook.

But even those horrors ended one day. And only the question remained: What now?

Most left, moving East in the hopes of finding a better life.

But there were those who stayed.

And to them fell the task of rebuilding.

Perhaps their new settlement could not rival the glory of Khazad-dum, or Erebor. Perhaps it was but a pale shadow of Belegost and Nogrod.

But when Khazad-dum fell to Durin’s Bane, and Erebor to the dragon, it remained.

Stubborn, steadfast and stable.