Stonehead Quarter

The Northern Wastes contain some of the richest untapped resource veins in Elanora. They are untapped for good reason. Expeditions north from Jence are risky to the point of suicidal due to the excessively large local wildlife, the near convergence of the Astral Plane with the Prime Material, and the pitfalls of the many ancient ruins that lie on and just beneath the mountainsides. Locals have learned to restrict their mining activities to quick snatch-and-grabs on the richer and more well-known mining nodes.

The exception to all of this is the Stoneshaft clan, a clan of shield dwarves affectionately known in Jence as the 'Stoneheads'. Stoneshaft Hold lies far west of here, but the clan also maintains a large presence here in Jence in what has come to be known as Stonehead Quarter. Unlike most of the city the Stoneshaft's abodes extend underground even more than they do across the surface, creating a true multi-level subterrainian society, the closest thing to a dwarven fortress stronghold most non-dwarf mortals will ever see.

As this is not the central clan hold, non-Stoneshaft dwarves and other smallfolk, even hill dwarves and duergar, are granted leave to settle here. Halflings are tolerated (so long as they stick to the surface), and gnomes, kobolds and goblins are permitted in the upper levels as long as they disperse into the wider dwarven society and avoid forming their own districts. The result is the equivalent of an underground pirate paradise where smallfolk of any history or dubious family lineage can find work and shelter here with few questions asked. While the work is surely perilous, it is also very lucrative.

Stoneshaft miners work by immedietely digging fortified bunkers deep into a mineral deposit from where they will mine the deposits from the inside out. So long as they are not unlucky enough to draw the attention of a worm too large to handle, the tactic allows them to drop a large amount of precious materials onto the surface or around their bunker, most of which will hopefully still be there when the dwarves decide to retreat to the city. Jence's history began when several of these deposits were mined out from under a growing human settlement, and many of the original bunkers the dwarves built are still here. Digging through or under The Jence Wall to move materials underground is strictly forbidden due to how it would comprimise the city defences, but there is a small gate connecting to an underway that leads most of the way west to Stoneshaft Hold that the dwarves haven't officially notified the town guard of.