Mount Stonedelving

Location   Mount Stonedelving is located approximately a day’s march north of Twizrel Forest , on the road from The Kingdom of Jakta to the Northern lands. The mountain itself is a towering long-extinct volcano.     History   Mount Stonedelving has been a dwarven stronghold for at least 4000 years. For much of that time, it has been an isolated bastion against incursions of orcish and human barbarians.   During the time of Elas, the dwarves of Mount Stonedelving were considered peers of the great human states due to their relative technical advancement and military prowess, and the King of Mount Stonedelving was accorded the title of Wanax rather than Gwasileus, despite the relatively small geographical spread of his lands.   Mount Stonedelving has, in more recent centuries, often been the first line of defence against invaders sweeping southwards, and has generally been a steadfast ally of Jakta, although there have been a few times where the two states have come to blows. In 681, the mountain was overrun by northern barbarians, with many of the population fleeing to Kamara. It was only the efforts of Jakta which drove the barbarians out.     Terrain   The Kingdom consists entirely of the mountain itself. The very lowest slopes are used by dwarven goat-herds, but much of the Kingdom is invisible to outside eyes. Over the millennia, the mountain has been extensively worked, both in terms of mining and in the construction of great underground halls, galleries, and living spaces. Those who have seen it describe it as majestic, beautiful, and in places somewhat claustrophobic. Most of the upper works are clearly defensive in nature, and it only the deeper levels where truly spacious halls have been excavated.     Climate   Internally, the mountain has a consistent climate year round, of course. Externally, the climate around the mountain is pleasant on the lower slopes in summer, but the upper reaches are snow-covered all through the year. In winter, the climate is extremely harsh, with blizzards and storms frequently requiring the dwarves to clear snow drifts from the entrances to their realm.     Ecology   Mount Stonedelving, although standing alone, has typical Alpine ecology; grassy meadows on the lower slopes, evergreen forests at mid latitudes, fading to shrubs, lichens and mosses before the higher reaches become desolate snow-covered wastelands.   Within the mountain, most of the structures are artificial, but the dwarves maintain extensive farms of mushrooms, fungi and other subterranean plants which can exist without natural light. In some of the upper halls, hidden shafts combined with arrays of magnifiers and mirrors enable surface plants to be grown. Whilst these are at first glance ornamental pot-plants, all are in fact productive in one way or another, with medicinal herbs, spices and small fruit trees being grown in some numbers.     Economy   Most of Mount Stonedelving’s exports are the traditional dwarven staples of minerals, arms, armour, other finished metal wares and jewellery. A small scale but much sought-after export is “Chrumensaft”, a highly potent mushroom liqueur with mild hallucinogenic properties.   Mount Stonedelving also has one other key way to earn hard cash; the hire of disciplined mercenaries. The dwarven mercenaries of Mount Stonedelving are generally contracted at a state level, and are valued as royal guard regiments and incorruptible police units. They have a reputation for loyalty to their employers, and of discipline and good behaviour that is far superior to most other mercenary forces.   The imports of Mount Stonedelving are mainly composed of food, drink, textiles and other “soft” luxury items, the kind of thing the dwarves cannot produce for themselves. There is also a thriving trade in imported unfinished materials, which are then combined with gemstones to produce works of great beauty for re-sale.   A further source of revenue is the levying of tolls on passing merchant caravans and travellers, which has been growing over the last few years with the increasing level of trade between Jakta, The Kingdom of Narheim and Magoran . The tolls are enforced as travellers approach the mountain, generally at a distance of some 20 miles, by strong dwarven patrols. The amount of the toll is very much based on “what the market will bear” but is generally around 5-10 silver per person or wagon plus 1 silver per animal.   Dealings with passing merchants are handled by a series of factotums with the rather grandiose title of “Conveyor to those Under the Sun from those Under the Mountain”. Foreigners are only very rarely allowed inside the mountain, but nor are they allowed to build permanent dwellings on or near it. There is a large walled caravanserai on the southern foothills which keeps visitors safe. It is owned and staffed by the dwarves, who make a tidy profit from it.     Social Structure   The core of dwarven society is the family, usually quite extended, and with dwarven lifespans often being 100-150 years, it is not unusual to find six or seven generations all living together in a single home-tunnel.   The dwarves of Mount Stonedelving are quite egalitarian in their domestic lives. Although they convey a patriarchal image to the outside world, in fact it is usually the womenfolk who rule the roost at home. All dwarves are expected to work to bring wealth into the household, and to support each other when required to do so.   Above the family in the social order is the clan, effectively an extended family of dwarves considered to be related to each other. The division is pretty arbitrary, as just about every dwarf is related to every other one, and most of them can recite their full lineages (with offshoots and sub-branches) going back at least a thousand years.     Political Structure   Mount Stonedelving is a kingdom. Although the succession is notionally patrilineal and to the eldest son, when a king dies, who succeeds is debated by all the citizenry in a series of family meetings which then send delegates to clan meetings which then in turn send delegates up to an Althing-Kronenmoot. Only they can confirm the succession, and in about a third of cases, they decline the expected successor and select an alternative they feel better qualified. It is a tribute to the cohesion of their society that such a decision has never been strongly disputed. Although the king always has the title of King, there is in fact no constitutional bar to women wearing the crown. About a third of rulers have been women. Bearded as they are, few outsiders have realised this.     Religion   The dwarves of Mount Stonedelving have chapels to both Moradin, and to all of the Northern Gods. The latter, of course, are portrayed in their statuary, images and scriptures in dwarven form. But if you ask any outsider who has dealings with the dwarves, they will tell you there is one religion far more important to them than any god, and that is the desire to acquire as much gold as possible. The avarice of the dwarves is legendary, and foreigners sometimes half-jokingly refer to their clerics as “Priests of Or”.     Foreign Policy   Mount Stonedelving has a foreign policy closely tied to their desire to maintain their trading routes and position as a key hub within the Northern world. In practical terms, this means that they maintain strong relations with their stronger southern neighbour Jakta.   They also have close contacts with their cousins in Kamara and the The Niandi Mountains s, to the point where all three dwarven nations can be considered to have a shared culture and foreign policy.   Relations with the elves of Twizrel Forest were traditionally quite strained, but in the last century or so, efforts have been made to build bridges, as each is a vital trade corridor for the other.     Armed Forces   All adult dwarves (both male and female) are considered to be warriors for their nation, and all are organised into homogenously equipped regiments. No matter what their trade, it is expected that from childhood each dwarf will train with their regiment for at least three days every month.   The whole army will normally only be called out if the mountain is attacked in force. In the meantime, there is a Royal Guard Regiment 1000-strong who provide close security to the Royal Family. Each Dwarven Guild also maintains a small constabulary; these are well-armed and trained, and co-ordinate together to provide an effective permanently embodied military force of 1500-2000. In addition, there is a permanently active corps of engineers, who mix civil engineering work with militarily useful defensive work as they work endlessly to improve Mount Stonedelving’s impressive defences and defensive armament.