Volgen Declaration of Dwarven Rights

The first document of it's kind in the history of the Known World, the Volgen Declaration of Dwarven rights is a foundational text in the study of Associationism and one of the fundamental charters of the Volgier League. The Declaration has no single author, and is instead attributed to the Jünhausen volgmoot of 1250 AS, where the document was first read aloud to a wider audience by the lawspeaker.
It was written in clay, to reflect Volgier historical tradition, in which other sacred and ancient ways had been codified. The document lead to a drastic reorganisation of Volgen society and transformed relations between the former Kingdom and its neighbors, Dwarven sibling states, and codified the emerging political philosophy of Associationism.

Purpose

Material conditions for the Volgen peasantry and wage labourers had stagnated for hundreds of years, falling behind the quality of live in Indhara, Gorachenya, and even Cyrenica, with whom the Kingdom had been engaged in a long-running conflict for influence and control of the Nabari Plateau. It set out to unify the various grievances of the lower strata, establish universal rights for Dwarves, and provide a reference for future decisions. At it's core, it sought to prevent the re-accumulation of power by the Royal Diet, the leaders of Volgen clans, and landowners.

Document Structure

Clauses

The Declaration is broken into three sections, etched in High Volgen cuneiform across two clay tablets: The Preamble, the List of Grievances, and the Rights of Dwarves. The Preamble and List of Grievances are etched in one clay tablet, while the Rights of Dwarves in the other.

Caveats

The document, while not specifically discriminating between Dwarves and other mortals, was written by and intended for Dwarven peoples. Non-Dwarves who become League citizens are protected under the Declaration according to League practice, but the document itself exclusively refers to Dwarves' conditions and Dwarven rights.

Publication Status

To ensure accessibility and promote individual liberty, the document has been translated and copied multiple times. This has lead to its banning in several Aillean and Cyrene cities, and it has yet to have been fully translated into the other Dwarven languages. The development of modern Volgier Script was driven in part to make the document easier to reproduce and disseminate. It has most recently been translated into the Trade Common. The Volgen Scholar's Guild, an association of teachers, researchers, and academics, maintains the original tablets and commissions most translations and copies.

Legal status

The document has only official status in the Volgier League, where it is considered one of its fundamental charters, which are a series of legal texts that describe the League's legal basis and structure. The final act of the Royal Diet of Volgeberg before becoming the League's National Diet was to adopt the Declaration as the "fundamental clay" of Volgen society.
Rather than being a set of binding laws, they are instead a set of principles and values that serve different functions across the League. For those such as lawspeakers, priests, elders, and representatives serving a community or social role, its a set of tenets to follow when making decisions and solving disputes within their communities. For the Volgen and other League citizens, it is a cultural set of values to cherish and rally around.

Historical Details

Background

The rise of associationism in the Volgen peasantry and mining class, and the Royal Diet's delegation of various authorities to local councils and clan leadership. While the practices of the volgmoot and some of the folklore had survived, much of the historical and mythological perspective of the lower strata had been forgotten or distorted by the Hansreiks. Due to the actions of a heroic set of adventurers in the process of the revolution, lost tomes were found in the ruins of an ancient city destroyed in the Yulan-tai invasions that proved the defaced sections of the Volgeberg clay tablets contained history and mythology inconvienient for the despotic Volgier Kings. These, among other ancient artifacts, were then shared with the rebels.

Read the Document

Volgen Declaration of Dwarven Rights

The Preamble

For too long, the Volgier Kings have abrograted the truth of our Dwarven heritage, ruling like human despots or elven emperors. They have forgotten the truth of how it was the collective unity of the ancient Volgens that freed this land from the yoke of the Giant Families, that it was their strength in numbers that repelled the Yulan-tai. A falsehood has been perpetuated that it was the leadership of the few that founded Volgeberg. The peasantry and the wage labourer, with support of the priests of nature and the Royal Diet, hereby declare these universal rights for the Dwarven people.

Grievances

Since The War of Frozen Scales, Hansreik Kings have promised greater prosperity and wealth in exchange for fealty to their rule. While it is true that the Royal Treasury has never been fuller, this wealth has not been enjoyed evenly by the Volgen. Furthermore, our traditions and methods for managing our own affairs have been crushed, perverted, or weakened.
The Volgmoot, our time-honored and ancient tradition that dates to our earliest forebears, has been repressed by the King. Decisions are made without consultation or consideration for their impact on those that must carry them out or live by the rules.
The Royal Diet, in ancient times a venerable body of our eldest whose wisdom was called upon to guide the decisions of the Volgier Kings, has been abandoned by the Hansreik Dynasty, whose successive Kings have all deigned to believe they can rule in the best interests of all Volgen alone.

Rights of Dwarves

All Dwarves are endowed with inalienable rights that must never be infringed upon.

List of Rights

Individual Rights

• A Dwarf has a right to shelter, and cannot be forced from their home.
• A Dwarf has the right to food and water, and cannot be forced to starve or thirst by another.
• A Dwarf has a right to their own self-determination, and cannot be bound to another's will.

Common Rights

• All Dwarves are entitled to our ancestors' traditions of mutual aid, the volgmoot, and wisdom of our elders.
• All Dwarves are entitled to equal treatment by the law and those who keep it.
• All Dwarves are entitled to the benefits of the resources of the land, and none shall infringe upon the common use of farms or mines.

Close

Medium

Clay

Authoring Date

1250 AS

Ratification Date

1252 AS

Location

Jünhausen

Signatories (Organizations)

• Volgier League