The Dwarves of Ice-Cloak

The life of a dwarven prospector is one of shame, loneliness, and a constant battle for survival. Striking it rich is the only way for Naen to keep his bones from bleaching in the sun without heritage or memory. When riches finally fall into his hands, he encounters a group of indentured servants fleeing from a vengeful master.

The Mountain of Ice-Cloak is beset by the ürsi scourge. Every spring they raid flocks and scour the valleys. Migration and trade have slowed to a trickle. Queen Jade was a warrior in her youth, but now a disease gnaws at her bones. As she weakens, the folk favor her eldest daughter to lead them. But prince Firehelm believes Ice-Cloak needs a warrior, not a healer. He wishes to strike back against the ürsi, discover their nest, and gain the folk's favor.

The Gate of Ice is the only way in or out of the mountain—at least that's supposed to be true. There's a second gate, a smuggler's gate dug in secret over decades by a Southcaver named Yale. The Southcaver dwarves might not be the most reputable in the mountain, but they have a certain tenacity and rebellious streak that Yale depends on. Topaz, a Southcaver smelter's daughter, decides to accept proposals of marriage. She doesn't anticipate getting mixed up with the existence of the Second Gate, much less the fate of the whole mountain.

Over nine hundred years have passed since song and hammerfall rang beneath the snows of Ice-Cloak. The remnants of the dwarves live in exile in the human kingdoms, eking out their survival as itinerant tinkers and farriers. The young dwarf-maid Tourmaline dreams of better things than mending pots for the humans. When horror strikes her caravan, she and a desperate band of dwarves escape into the wild north in pursuit of a fool's hope.