Nolfjaur
The Nolfjaur, or northern dwarves, are a mountain dwarven ethnic group residing primarily in the mountains which form the northern basin of Ærellion. Therefore, their population is concentrated in the Balöndör and Bakatyeong regions. Unlike the other dwarven religions, the traditional Nolfjaur practices revolve around honoring their ancestors instead of worshipping gods, as they believe that these ancestors can guide and teach them. This has played a major role in their society and architecture, with family masoleums being a prominent and highly prised construction, especially for the wealthy. This desire to remain close to one's ancestors discourages migration and has created a network of insular communities, isolated from the world around them. The common superstition that leaving one's ancestors will result in the end of one's bloodline ensures that even those who move away or spend years away from home such as soldiers or tradesmen always return. In extreme cases, this refuses to move communities has caused excessive inbreeding in cases where most of the population died of plagues, although not a common occurance. Due to this insularity, it can be difficult to describe the differences of the Nolfjaur as sub-cultures a with most ethnic groups. However, due to the large distances separating various groups, they may be separated into two groups.
Primarily concentrated in the Balöndör region, the Isvith are the more isolated and conservative of the two. Living, essentially, surrounded by centaurs and with a strong cohort of Trollish ravagers on the surface (pushed deeper into the mountains by centaurs), the Isvith once had control over more of the regions but most of their aboveground strongholds have long since fallen. Confident in their ability to remain self-sufficeint and unmotivated to reclaim the lands above, the Isvith have remained underground following this defeat. In the years since, they have largely fallen into apathy, with trade routes being few and far between, not to mention dangerous. Mainly comprised of autonomous Vorthups (essentially a cross between a town, tribe, and province) which have little to do with one another and are ruled over by a nominal Haretha Lord, their "states" only really deal with military matters when trolls get too bold and threaten a powerful Vorthups. Although such apathy has held for many years, the Isvith have slowly but surely begun to reform, with ambitious Haretha seeking to increase their influence aligning with reformist Vorthup Hothuri (chiefs) to chip away at the autonomous regions.
By far the most developed and influential group of Nolfjaur are the Sojogaur, who mainly live in the Bakatyeong region. As a less isolated and conservative society, they nonetheless maintain key traditions and have refrained from settling the southern lands in Bakatyeong and the neighboring Junyeong, in contrast to the Jade Dwarves that also live in this region. The Sojogaur have developed a friendship with Hematyeong Hobgoblins who settled the mountain pass into the south, and generally rely on them to provide a defense of the frontier, as the pass is certainly vulnerable to centaur raids. The advance of the Algyaldans did reduce this threat from centaurs, but the Sojogaur and Hematyeong are still tightly intermingled, with the Hematyeong using their connections both north and south to drive trade and improve the region's infrastructure. While more centralized than their northern cousins and possessing fixed monarchies, the Sojogaur still rely on the Vorthup system, which has in this case been extended to hobgoblins. This has made effective the dominance of their monarchies far less than they otherwise would be, a system some laud as the perfect balance but others deride for the bureacracy and limits it places on the power of the state.
Primarily concentrated in the Balöndör region, the Isvith are the more isolated and conservative of the two. Living, essentially, surrounded by centaurs and with a strong cohort of Trollish ravagers on the surface (pushed deeper into the mountains by centaurs), the Isvith once had control over more of the regions but most of their aboveground strongholds have long since fallen. Confident in their ability to remain self-sufficeint and unmotivated to reclaim the lands above, the Isvith have remained underground following this defeat. In the years since, they have largely fallen into apathy, with trade routes being few and far between, not to mention dangerous. Mainly comprised of autonomous Vorthups (essentially a cross between a town, tribe, and province) which have little to do with one another and are ruled over by a nominal Haretha Lord, their "states" only really deal with military matters when trolls get too bold and threaten a powerful Vorthups. Although such apathy has held for many years, the Isvith have slowly but surely begun to reform, with ambitious Haretha seeking to increase their influence aligning with reformist Vorthup Hothuri (chiefs) to chip away at the autonomous regions.
By far the most developed and influential group of Nolfjaur are the Sojogaur, who mainly live in the Bakatyeong region. As a less isolated and conservative society, they nonetheless maintain key traditions and have refrained from settling the southern lands in Bakatyeong and the neighboring Junyeong, in contrast to the Jade Dwarves that also live in this region. The Sojogaur have developed a friendship with Hematyeong Hobgoblins who settled the mountain pass into the south, and generally rely on them to provide a defense of the frontier, as the pass is certainly vulnerable to centaur raids. The advance of the Algyaldans did reduce this threat from centaurs, but the Sojogaur and Hematyeong are still tightly intermingled, with the Hematyeong using their connections both north and south to drive trade and improve the region's infrastructure. While more centralized than their northern cousins and possessing fixed monarchies, the Sojogaur still rely on the Vorthup system, which has in this case been extended to hobgoblins. This has made effective the dominance of their monarchies far less than they otherwise would be, a system some laud as the perfect balance but others deride for the bureacracy and limits it places on the power of the state.
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