Vash Hamokar
Vash Hamokar is an ancient Tevashi city which split from Tzim Tevash at the time of Alavar Scriptorum's reforms, though unlike the clans which would become the Dvergar they did not abandon their holdings near the surface to flee to Duncarak. Vash Hamokar achieved its independence through a combination of military might and being relatively distant from the Tevashi heartlands, and maintained that independence all the way through the rise and fall of the Empire of Kataris through a policy of extreme isolationism and complete militarization. Adhering to the caste system and religious practices of the ancient Tevashi, the Hamokari were culturally much closer to the Dvergar than to their surface cousins, and were indeed considered to be Dvergar by many of their contemporaries.
It was only after the fall of Kataris and Tzim Tevash that Vash Hamokar opened its gates to allow dwarven refugees from the fallen kingdom to seek refuge within their walls, and began to undergo a kind of cultural drift; what emerged was a blending of the ancient traditions and the reformist. The castes, slave institutions, and systems of corvee labour were gradually replaced by something closer resembling the guild-republics of Tzim Tevash, albeit ruled over by a semi-hereditary military aristocracy; meanwhile gradual religious reforms occurred until worship of the Gods Below and the teachings of the Monarchs of Ash coexisted with surprisingly little tension - alongside with a number of syncretic movements which merged both traditions.
During the Alderni rule of West Kataris, the independence of Vash Hamokar was initially guaranteed by treaties with Aldernord due to the city's assistance in securing the border with Mandragore, and with the orcs of Zar Tagar. This evolve into a formalised alliance between the two nations, and eventually into the accession of the city into the Sovereignty of Aldernord as an Allodial Duchy in 954 AK, creating the Allodial House Ballamisu van Hamokar. A number of the prominent families of the city were later elevated to the low nobility; the most prominent of these is clan Basiru, which gained prominence as House Urbasiru-Votellian.
During the First War of Savuran Independence, Vash Hamokar fought on the Alderni side, and was subject to a protracted siege lasting from the winter of 1331 AK until the Zallenkirk Accord of 1342; the city never fell, but was formally ceded to Savuran control under the terms of the Accords despite the objections of its inhabitants. Though the hostilities have now ended, quite what the future may hold for Vash Hamokar remains uncertain.
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