The White Flame Beneath the Mountain

Beneath the roots of the Grey Mountains, far to the north of Erebor, the dwarves delved deep. They sought new veins of mithril, of gold and gemstones after the restoration of the Lonely Mountain, But their picks struck something older than stone, something that should never have been disturbed.

For ages uncounted, Rham had slumbered, buried in ruin since the War of Wrath, where the Valar's host had broken Morgoth's armies. He had fled into cracks of the world, burying his burning spirit beneath rock and molten veins of the earth. In the long silence, his fire dimmed, his body hardened into black stone.

And then, in the Third Age, in their delving, the dwarves woke him from his slumber.