Katha Dun

The split between the Katha Dun and the Hammerdeep is very literal. There once was an underground highway that connect the entire mountain range, uniting all of the dwarves on the continent together. Some great event destroyed this at a critical juncture, causing a complete collapse of the cave system in that area. Though there has been some debate as to when it has occurred, a larger discussion has centralled around how.   The larger narrative has been the event caused by The Sundering, during the tail end of the Fey Crisis. This would align well with the traditonal thought that it happened in the Lost Age, or just at the beginning of the First Age. However, recent narratives have suggested that it was more recent than this, and not caused by The Sundering. This also makes a degree of sense in it's own right, as none of the other parts of the Hammerdeep Highway had been affected. It has instead been suggested that the collapse was deliberate sabotage to cut the communities off. At first, it was a few fringes of scholars in the Hammerdeep accusing their northeastern cousins, while they have in turn suggested that the Hammerdeep comitted sabotage in order to shut themselves off from the world, as has been their desire since the Fey Crisis.   Regardless of how or when the break happened, the separation caused these Dwarves to shift their identity. Although their ancestry tied back to the Hammerdeep, they now had to forge a new sense of self, just as they had to understand themselves in this altered world. Using the Hammerdeep words for "new home", they began to refer to their home as Katha Dun, which started a wider recognition in the region for Dwarves no longer a part of the Hammerdeep. As they no longer were a part of that hold, they were no longer strictly bound by their old rules.   In so doing, the structure of the Katha Dun flattened, and opened dramatically. They would not have a King; that was the way of the Hammerdeep. They would hold a council, with representatives from each of the holds chosen by the citizens, who would govern together for the greater good. Even more alarming to their cousins than embracing representative government, was embracing their neighbors. T'sara had become a fiercesome and dangerous place, with the holds underground one of the few safe places. If any person were willing to work the mines and be a part of this society, they were welcome as citizens of the New Home, becoming a permanent part of the Katha Dun, and would in turn be able to shape it as the Katha Dun shaped them.

Katha Dun is a surprisingly diverse mation for a Dwarven mountain nation. It had always accepted foreigners, though the influx has been much larger since the Triumverate War. Orcs, Goblins, and Drow have taken residence here, where their eyes function well in the dark.   This decision has been seen the most controversial by their cousins in Hammerdeep, with some calling it heresy. The mountains were given to them by Hjanda, for Dwarven hands to break and Dwareven families to live in, making it unfathomable to allow others into the land.   The Drow contingent was clearly the most difficult to integrate, and show that the Katha Dun still had their own prejudices to work out.

Katha Dun lays claim to 495 square miles of land, just shy of a fifth of the land claimed by Hammerdeep. This still makes it in the middling range of nations by size. Their mountains, named the Blood Ridge Mountains by the Orcs to the west, are shorter and more narrow, which by most dwarven standards would be seen as a diminisment, actually serves as a benefit. This allows the mountains to actually be navigable, providing greater opportunities for cultures on either side to interact with one another, and Katha Dun to be the gatekeepers.

Because the Blood Ridge Mountains are smaller and more easily navigable, it also makes them more susceptible to attack. Unlike the deep hold of Hjan, Katha Dun's capital city could be reached. This requires their defenses to be stronger and their military to be more stringently trained, not just relying on the tactic of ardent defense through strong shields and artillery. The paths between the mountains must be patrolled and protected as well. It has also meant, at times, that Katha Dun soldiers be trained to go on the offensive, meeting the enemy where they are.

With their society as a whole being more racially integrated, this has also caused some minor changes in how they train and fight. The shield wall tactic has to be adjusted when the variances in height are much larger when Humans and Orcs, and even Goblins are included.

The Katha Dun are not welcome to sit idly by as spectators in the world, but see themselves as open participants in it, and so have a more direct ties with their neighbors, for better or for worse.   Though they still respect their cousins in Hammerdeep, that respect is starting to fade, especially as they see the King turn a blind eye to what his countries weapons are doing in the world in exchange for wealth and power. Making their dissatisfaction publicly known isn't helping the situation, nor has the influx of refugees.   They are sympathetic to the plight of the Tribes of Krag'ash, who are facing an extermination at the hands of The Intransican Empire. The Orcs seeking a new life are welcome here, knowing that the Immortal Emperor, for all of his supposed godly brilliance and power, would never dare try to fight dwarves in their own homes.

The Voshrandia Dominion, on the other hand, would dare, and have dared. They've sought glory and wealth in equal measure by pressing into the mountains, to further cut off the Katha Dun from themselves, and control one of the major roadways into central Tillanong. They've been stopped, but autocrats are rare pacified for long. The Katha Dun will continue to apply diplomacy so long as they can, while they prepare for an eventual return to war.