Dwarves
While
there are some Dwarves scattered across The Alliance, many of whom work
as
Smiths, armourers, or stone masons, there are many more are gathered
together in larger
Dwarven Communities. The largest of these is an series of
strongholds at Dersolbek, which was here well before men colonised the
plains below the mountains. There are
other significant communities in Falmar and Rediton.
Dersolbek has long been the home of three clans of dwarves who have
traded
successfully with each other for generations via an interconnecting
system of
caves and mines. Between
them they claim
a whole set of mines and caverns below the Harkness Mountains,
although there are rumours that there are some passages that connect
with other
cave systems …
Closest to the surface is Dovdal,
a major hill dwarf stronghold ruled by
their ‘king’, Morak, Master of Dovdal.
The Dwarves of Dovdal control two different mines, one
mine follows a
vein of Gold mixed with Silver, while the second mine follows a
lead/silver
vein. Their
stronghold controls the main
supplies of Lead, Silver and Gold within the stronghold. Because they control the
smelting and main
route out from the cavern systems, Dovdal has huge influence in gateway
and the
secondary strongholds. It
also has
almost complete control over the secondary entrance to the caverns at
Highgate. This
influence, along with
superior numbers, makes the Master of Dovdal the richest, and most
powerful,
Dwarf in the whole of the complex – and he represents the Dwarves of
Dersolbek
within The Alliance. Dovdal
also has a
mint turning out Gold and Silver pieces that bear the symbol of
Moradin’s
hammer as their mark.
Bolovhak is
further into the mountain and is a smaller Mountain Dwarf
stronghold. They
control a complex vein
of Iron ore, and their mine follows it via a number of different
tunnels. Then ore
here is very rich, with about 65% of
the ore being converted into iron.
Bolovhak smelts some of the iron ore itself, but most is
of the ore is
traded into Dovdal, where it is smelted into either Iron or Steel.
Fardarak is the smallest of
the strongholds and lies deep
below the other two, it is accessed via a winding spiral tunnel system. These Deep Dwarves of
Fardarak mine a vein
that contains Tin Ore, Tourmaline and Topaz.
The smallest of the three mines, it produces a lot less
than the others,
however, its gemstones sell for a good price within The Alliance. Fardarak does not have any
smelting
facilities at all, the ore is all transported to Dovdal for processing,
and
indeed this process has only been introduced since the Humans came and
settled
the plains outside and created a demand for the metal.
Clustered around the main entrance to the underground system is a
settlement
called Gateway. Originally
just an outpost to guard the entrance to the
mines it has turned into a thriving community in its own right. Many immigrant dwarves
from blacksmith, weapon
smith or armourer families have set themselves up in business here to
take
advantage of the good quality metals coming out of the mines. They are supported by a
Gnome community, who want easy access to the metals and gems,
and a Halfling community that act
as traders and farmers supplying the strongholds below.
Gateway is a hive of activity and is,
perhaps, seen as the manufacturing centre for the whole of The
Alliance, (with
Dwarf smiths & armourers along with Gnome alchemists &
jewellers, and
Halfling brokers)
Rediton boasts another
full sized Dwarven community, that was formed
from a number of different immigrant families.
It is the most diverse Dwarven stronghold in The Alliance. This dwarven community is
an integral part of
the Town of Rediton,
and while the Dwarves control the mines, smelting works and quarry work
other
groups control the rest of the economy.
The Rediton dwarves control a small copper mine and a
quarry. The mine
also produces a few malachite and
azurite (although no turquoise has been found there to date) while the
quarry produces
a nicely mottled marble. Some
of the
copper is turned into Copper Pieces (by a gnome mint) which bear the
symbol of
Rediton
Three different Dwarven communities are found in the State of Falmar,
again all formed from immigrant
families of one cast or another. None
are
independent strongholds, but
operate as
part of the local community.
In Falmar City
a community of dwarves operates the Iron Mine for the
Duke, they also have a smelting works that converts the Ore
into iron and can produce steel
(although not as good as the steel from Dersolbek).
The Smelting works here also imports copper from
Hapsburg and re-smelts it with imported tin to make bronze on a
semi-commercial
scale. Finally,
they run the Falmar
mint, making copper pieces bearing the crest of the Duke of Falmar.
A smaller community works in the mines at Hapsburg, mining
Copper and
semi-precious stones as well as smelting the copper ore to make copper
ingots. The
smelters also make a small
quantity of bronze for local use.
In Yatton an even smaller
group of dwarves work a quarry that produces
black marble for export.
The rest of the Dwarves in The Alliance are scattered around the towns
and
villages working as blacksmiths, stones masons etc.
One exception is the ‘Dwarven
Quarter’
in the capital City of Gonma
(need to check the name) which attracts high quality Craft-dwarves,
Envoys from
the various Dwarven communities and Dwarven Traders.