Ku-Dova

Known as the Dwarven Paradise, Ku-Dova was founded by the wandering dwarves of the Iron Hill Tribes. Fleeing their homes, they discovered their prophesied promise land, and quickly set out to make it all they had dreamed about. Quickly transforming a indistinguishable portion of mountain into one of the most wondrous places in all of The Reach. It is an almost legendary city, and people are willing to travel for months to visit it. It has become a cultural hub within Wren, and is even rumored to have supplied almost every piece of iron that is used within The Gunnison Planes.

Demographics

The citizens of Ku-Dova are overwhelming made up of dwarves. After propagating for thousands of years within the city, it has become the cradle of the dwarven population within Wren. Their are a fair among of humans that have been able to move into Ku-Dova, as well as various other races. The inner walls of Ku-Dova are welcome to anyone who is able to afford the funds to live there. 
Outside of the sacred walls of Ku-Dova, hundreds and thousands of people live who work within the city walls but are not able to afford to live within the city itself. This demographic features very few dwarves, and is compromised of equal amount of every race that can be found within the Gunnision Plains.

Government

The Ku-Dova Conclave are the authority within the sacred walls of their holy city. It is made up of the Five Iron Tribes that originally built the city. The conclave contains three elders from each of the dwarven tribes. Together they legislate lays for the city, as well as appoint judges to oversee the following of these laws.
There are 3 rules that are directly told to new visitors of the city:

There is no un-permitted violence allowed within Ku-Dova, as well as brandishing of weapons. Breaking this can lead to exile or execution.

Robbing any possessions of the five tribes can result in exile or execution.

Any blasphemous or insulting language towards the Morndinsamman can result in exile or execution.

Any other laws can lead to punishment, and if anyone has any further interests in what is and is not legal they can request information from a Shield Bearer.

Infrastructure

The city is currently broken into three distinct parts. Entering into the city you must first pass through The Plains, which is home to the servant class of people who reside in Ku-Dova. This is where the majority of the people, especially non-dwarves, live. Once you pass through the massive stone gates that lead into Ku-Dova you have properly entered into the Dwarven paradise. The large chamber you enter into is a series of neighborhoods that have been carved into the mountain creating what is now called “The Hollows”. One more massive metal set of doors keeps the deepest and most sacred part of Ku-Dova separate even from the Hollows. This inner part is what many dwarves call Dur Ku-Dova, this is where the five original Iron Hill Tribes now rule from.
The Plains;
The Plains is home to a vast array of people, but almost all of them do not have anything to their name. Living in homes that have been loaned to them by the Ku-Dova Conclave, the people who live here are the servant class of Ku-Dova. People in The Plains often occupy the lowest rung of the social hierarchy, and being outside of Ku-Dova, the Conclave does little to protect the people who live out here from the dangers of the mountain as well as criminal organizations that have made their way into The Plains. There is a small area close to the mountain called “The Market Stall” in which most of the trading goes on for items that people in The Plains need such as food, clothes, and other needed items. Outside of that, there are a handful of Churches, Temples, and other places of worship that are dotted throughout the area for people to pray at. The buildings here are all quite uniform. Made out of timber cut from forest nearby, there is almost no stone sued in their construction. The streets are tightly packed, as Dwarven Landlord’s hire craftsman to build blocks of houses at a time that are all crammed together, and then rent them out to people looking for work in Ku-Dova.
The Hollows;
The Hollows is a collection of numerous neighborhoods that have been carved out into the mountain. The way neighborhoods are created is the dwarven miners will go through and flatten an entire area in which neighborhoods and other buildings and districts are built on top of. There are too many small neighborhoods to count within the city, but there are six large hallows that have some of the more unique part of Ku-Dova within them. First is The Hippodrome, in which gladiatorial style games as well as numerous kinds of live performances take place for the viewing pleasure of the citizens of Ku-Dova. There is also the entrance to The Great Mines of Ku-Dova, which lead down into the vast tunnel system that has been formed by the Ku-Dova Conclave. There are also a number of schools for dwarven and other specially selected outsiders to learn ancient dwarven crafts such as stone carving, jewel cutting, and most coveted of all is secretive dwarven smithing techniques. The forges within the hollows are powered by the super-natural heat produced by the deep lava flow below the city. Violet Plaza is where the majority of all trade happens within the hallows. Here some of the finer crafted items can be found as well as numerous specialty shops that any major metropolis would have. Finally the hollows is home to the embassies of most of the major kingdoms and nations of The Reach. There are embassies from the Grand Republic of Durham, The Vastran Kingdom, Draconia, Old Salt, as well as The Sentinels of the Gunnison Planes and The Mages of Stargrada.
Dur Ku-Dova;
The inner most part of the city is the most difficult one to access within the city. In this part of the city, the five original Iron Hills Tribes made their home. All of the building in this party of the city have been carved out of the stone of the mountain, with vast caverns in this area it is seen as a sign of the great crafting ability of the dwarves to create such a monument to their power. The first major buildings is Ku-Dova Conclave, in which The Five Tribes meets, and decides on how it will rule over the city. Then there is the Citadel, this building is devoted to the Dwarven Pantheon and a place in which the next rulers of Ku-Dova are educated and trained. Finally the last notable area are the Opulent Markets, this is where some of the finest goods in all of Wren are sold, and people from all across The Reach travel here to exchange goods.

Guilds and Factions

Sentinels of the Gunnison Plaines - The Sentinels have a small embassy in the city, and are permitted to openly operate within the city. They are not allowed to enforce any laws, but they often work alongside

History

Four centuries ago, the Iron Hill Tribes who lived on the northern portion of The Colossus lost a war with the Anorian Empire. While some of the clans opted to flee south over the mountain and join in with the Durham Conclave, some members from these ten clans decided to journey far north from their homes. It was an old dwarven folk tale that there would be a mountain far north of their home that would provide for them all that they needed. There would be forges that never ran cold and veins of ore that never ran dry. Hoping that this paradise was true, a smaller group of the ten clans packed up and began the long trek north. Avoiding Anorian lands, they had to first travel east, and then north through Jarrenvale and Edengaard. This was a long journey, and many who first set out on it did not reach their paradise on the material plane, but for those who perished on this journey, there would be a greater reward for them than anything The Reach could offer. After almost five hundred years of travel, “The Ten Tribes” made it to the Blood Peak Mountains. Seeing lava flowing freely from the peaks of large volcanoes, they knew that they had found their new home. Immediately they began to mine into the mountain, to created protected homes inside of what they would now call Ku-Dova. Soon into their construction, they realized they had stumbled onto a intricate system of caves within the mountain that lead to the center of volcanic columns that would provide the basis for some of the best forges within The Reach. These same cave systems also lead into the Under Dark and exposed this newly forming civilization to some of the worst horrors that the mountains had to offer. Refusing to be dissuaded, the Ten Clans began to hire some of the more finely trained warriors of the mountain to assist them in clearing the caves, and as a reward they traded the vast amounts of metals they were able to extract from the ground around Ku-Dova. Once properly secured, the Ten Tribes of Ku-Dova were now able to seclude themselves inside of the mountains, having protected routes to their forges, as well as the beginning of vast systems of strip mining the Blood Peaks for any precious metals and other valuables that it had. For centuries, they would send out trade caravans with small amounts of metals in order to secure food for the clans inside the mountain, not wanting to give away to The Reach the vast amounts of wealth they were stock piling. After generations of living isolated lives within Ku-Dova, the Ten Tribes decided to change the way that their society had operated. Hearing rumors that a kingdom was being formed west of them, the did not want to end up in a situation like that had with the Anorian Empire so they set out to make themselves a staple of trade within the Gunnison Plains. They began guarding trade routes to and from Ku-Dova and encouraged people from across The Reach to travel to their city where they could find opportunity for work and trade. This change of attitude for the city would mark a turning point in the history of the emerging city state. Being almost impossible to attack from the outside it would spend the next century going from a mythic dwarven city renown for it’s secrecy to a landmark of The Reach and a city in which thousands of people would travel to, just to marvel at the majesty.

Tourism

The Hippodrome 
The dwarves of Ku-Dova have not found themselves in regular combat for thousands of years after their conquest of the Under Dark in the area underneath their city. This has created a high demand for a form of blood sport within the city itself. Created almost two thousands years ago, The Hippodrome is a massive stadium that was carved out in the hallows for vast gladiatorial games to take place. This stadium is able to seat over one hundred thousand people within it, not including the flying barges that fly above the battle field for people to observe the action from.
The stadium itself is a one of the most opulent creations of mortals that exists within The Reach. Every inch of the stadium was carved from the mountain itself, and there is not a spot in the stadium that has not been sculpted by dwarven hands. Inlays of gold and silver can be found throughout the stadium to accentuate the fine crafts work, and precious gems can be found within artworks that have been carved into massive walls. It is rumored that their is more gold within the Hippodrome than exists in the entirety The Gunnison Plains. 
The field of battle is a sight to behold within the Hippodrome. There are many stadiums that can be found throughout The Reach, but none that have such a revolutionary field in which the games can take place on. It has been designed in such a way, that almost any environment can be created within it. Battles across hillsides, or mountains are common, as well as the creation of fortifications to be fought from. On special occasions the field is flooded for naval combat, as well as island hoping battle royals.
One aspects that has brought even more attention to the Hippodrome, is that even though the combat is vicious, and blood is spilled on a regular basis, combatants rarely die. The Ku-Dova Conclave did not want mighty warriors fearing that they could loose their life inside of the arena, and so they ensured that healers would be at the ready to ferry away any fighter who died during a game and ensure a full recovery from their wounds. 
All of these factors have turned The Hippodrome into one of the most visited locations in all of The Reach. Warriors from every corner of both continents travel to make a name from themselves fighting there. Even more so, people travel far and wide to get to see some of the most brutal bllod sports that contain none of the guilt of seeing people mauled to death.

Founding Date

2787 AD

Alternative Name(s)

Dwarven Paradise

Type

Metropolis

Population

2.2 million

Location under

Wren

Owning Organization

Ku-Dova Conclave