Black Steel Hills

Is the main dwarven kingdom in Elucidien. Smaller settlements and mountain homes exist near the backbone in Elucidien, but all are shadowed by Black Steel Hills. It began in the early second age as a smaller mountain tribe under King Gordred Fellhammer. During its early expansion and mining excursions the hills and mountains where the dwarves had settled were rich with Durum, a black iron like substance that could be smelted to make the hardest steel of known existence. Once processed, melted and tempered the steel is impossible to break without the help of dragonfire. There was only one problem, Durum ore can only be melted at extreme temperatures, and the easiest way to do so is with dragonfire or similar. The dwarves quickly expanded and claimed the mountains and settled in the all the neighbouring mountains containing the metal. They learned techniques and the skills required to work Durum and Black Steel Hills is the only place that produces this precious metal. Due to their sudden riches Gordred decided to step away from the throne putting together a council of dwarves skilled in the arts of craftmanship and trade. This turned out to be a wise move as the new trade policies, immigration policies and trade embargos turned Black Steel Hills into a superpower in the early years. The city expanded quickly and now the city stands as a beacon of trade and production.

Demographics

Black Steel Hills consists mostly of Dwarves and Gnomes with the seldom Goliath and human settler seeking to improve their crafts. Gnomes and Dwarves make natural allies as their skills align quite well with each other. The Gnomes natural ability for jewelry and tinkering along with the dwarven ability to quickly extract resources and impressive crafting leads most dwarven cities to ahve a fair amount of gnome families within.

Government

Black Steel Hills used to be a monarchy under the rule of Gordred Fellhammer, but during uts early expansion he stepped down and implemented a new power structure to maximize growth and trade power. The new system consists of delegates from all clans and families that live or have their place of business within Black Steel Hills. The number of delegates from each family depend on the size of the family with larger families having more delegates. The delegates are chosen through internal clan or family discourse. The delegates spend most of their time voting and passing new policies to better Black Steel Hills trading capital within O'l Andem. As of now there are 263 delegates.

Industry & Trade

Black Steel Hills produce a staggering amount of goods that are traded to the outside world. Durum and Ironwood are its main export along with Firelight, a crimson and orange gemstone that are used as both a magical ingreedient and as jewelry. Some gnome families within the city are artificers and tinkerers combining the two crafts to make incredible tools and sought after inventions like wheelchairs and prostethics.

Architecture

The mountain halls of the Black Steel Hills are grand in stature and well kept, continually inspected and fixed. Large fixtures of gem-like chandeliers hover in the air above shining light into the tunnels and chasms. Grand archways of intricate ornamentation with gemstones and fine chiseled stonework bear the wight of the naturally formed roof. Grand statues of past tradesmen, prominent figures of political stature and warriors alike stand alongside the main pathways often used as both art and as practical bearing beams. In the middle of the main hall in the largest moutnain is a large monument to Gordred Fellhammer holding his war pickaxe. Inside the monument is a large hall where the delegates used to gather, however the space grew to small when more delegates joined the council, so now it has become more of a tourist attraction.

Type

Large city

Population

387000