Silver Kingdom
In times of distant eras past during the twilight years of the Ak'teshi Empire, when its freed Human, Halfling, Dwarf, and Kobold slaves battled against the grip of their former oppressors, a number of strongholds were built by liberated dwarven masons into the mountains of what would one day become Meyland. They served as the first forward bastions against the small, but powerful armies of giants and became invaluable fortifications that bore the brunt of the War of Broken Chains. The greatest, and oldest, of these strongholds was Duunhollow, built by the dwarven mortal hero, Duun over the course of 10 years.
Over the next few centuries following the end of the war, these ancient fortress holds became sprawling settlements, enabling the rest of their former slave-kin, the humans, halflings, and kobolds, to venture out into the world and claim the territories of the fallen Ak'teshi Empire.
These dwarven settlements were cradles that bore some of the dwarves' first breaths of civilization, and the lineages born from the greatest dwarven war heroes developed into the first clans. The most powerful of these clans condensed their strength around the longest-surviving dwarven holds of Karin Muur, Druvenholme, Farinholme, and Duunhollow.
While the holds fought amongst each other, Duunhollow bade its time and gathered its armies, and its King, Magnar Bronzeheart, looked upon the other clans with anger and disappointment; to squabble like common rats over food that was otherwise plentiful was an insult to the ancestors, the name of Duun, and what they fought for.
After a vision of Duun gifted him a silver crown, he confronted the other Kings and Queens, imploring them to cease fighting. He invoked the name of Duun, and how the ancestors would look upon them now in shame. Some respected his wisdom and joined his side, as they saw the crown bestowed upon him and knew its significance. Others refused and held on to their greed, but Magnar demanded they surrender and join a greater union of kingdoms for the betterment of dwarven-kind.
Clan Ashbight and Clan Freefeather refused him, and his armies clashed with theirs in a three-way war for dominance. Magnar was victorious, and while the dwarves of Clan Freefeather humbly accepted defeat and joined his side, the dwarves of Clan Ashbight became bitter and resentful, but joined Magnar nonetheless.
Under the decrees and wisdom of the ruling Bronzeheart lineage that dominated the Silver Age, each dwarven hold carved its own culture within the Silver Kingdom and solidified its own responsibilities over a domain, each becoming an invaluable part of a whole.
Farinholme, the home of Clan Freefeather, became renowned for its shaman-like reverence for the elements, conjuring storms from atop the northern peaks of Meyland. They became famed for their vicious eagle-rider division.
Druvenholme, while home to the bitter Clan Ashbight, found themselves prospering, uncovering a wealth of gemstones and minerals beneath their mountains and becoming famous for their jewelers and smiths.
Karin Muur turned into the military heartland of the Silver Kingdom; a great fortress that trained the best dwarven soldiers in the nation. Much of the Silver Kingdom's new Ironguard and elite royal Mountainguard regiments were trained here, and still patrol the holds as city guards.
Mountainholme was established, by decree, by a small guild of rural crafters and guildsmen during tense standoffs with the Karthan Commonwealth over its rapid expansion. It was fortified to prevent border disputes over Dragon's Mouth Bay, which the hold valued for its fishing waters, and to function as a bulwark against invasion forces from the east. It soon became particularly renowned for and proximity to Cliffspire, Kinston, and Elmshire, enabling vast amounts of trade for food. It became the breadbasket of the Silver Kingdom, home to many crafters, bakers, fisheries, artificers, and family businesses.
Duunhollow became the Silver Kingdom's capital and center of culture and religion. The Duunish faith spread from Duunhollow across Meyland, which was gradually adopted by the other holds. The worship of Duun and the dwarven ancestors was adopted as the state religion of the Silver Kingdom.
Nearly fifty years went by and bitterness brewed into hatred, which was fanned by the King of Druvenholme at the time, Nogduur Ashbight, a fiery and violent and revolutionary leader. The dwarves of Clan Ashbight banded together underneath him to initiate a siege upon the capital of Duunhollow after they had excavated a Mountainpass highway route that connected Druvenholme directly to the capital city.
Clad in golden armor fashioned and secretly cursed by his personal armorsmith, Bronne Farrikson, Nogduur stormed into Duunhollow's throne room with the full force of his army and personally beheaded King Anbuurn Bronzeheart II. As a warning to the rest of the clan holds, he put the former High King's head on a pike for all to see.
Nogduur's fifty-year reign was one of tyranny, death, and oppression, particularly to non-dwarven races, which only worsened when the armor's maddening curse took hold, and he disgraced his clan's name by slaying and devouring his own daughter, who was next in line for the throne, both as a way to preserve his own seat in power and to appease the voices rumored to torment him at night. This earned him the moniker of 'The Cannibal King' from his dissenters. While known to Bronne, nobody else is quite sure if it was a curse put on the tyrant king by another who thirsted for his throne, or if it was genuine madness that took him in his senior years.
Nogduur's oppressive reign sparked the The War for the Silver Crown; a bloody civil war between loyalists of the then Mountain-King Nogduur Ashbight and loyalists to Clan Bronzeheart. The loyalists to Clan Bronzeheart rose up and rebelled, successfully thwarting the Ashbight Clan and killing Nogduur on his throne. His followers were exiled from Duunhollow and the rest of the Silver Kingdom's territories.
The Ashbight Clan dug deeper into the earth to create their own kingdoms and holds, content to live in isolation away from what they say as a sick man's kingdom. The remnants of the Ashbight clan became the deep-dwarves.
The Mountainpass
The dwarves built the great Mountainpass; subterranean highways through the mountains, connecting their holds and fortresses to one another in a vast network of tunnels. These were used for the purposes of out-maneuvering the Ak'teshi, for surprise attacks against their forces, and to reinforce the armies of their former slave-kin. Today, there lies a multitude of smaller tunnels that branch out to a variety of different mines, forts, watchtowers, and strongholds throughout Meyland. The Mountainpass was pivotal to the success of the dwarves against the giants, who were often too large to enter them. Each of the finely constructed tunnels allowed the dwarves to bypass treacherous terrains that would've taken months to cross or years to carve from the bare rock. With these access points, the dwarven armies attacked the Ak'teshi from below. Since those times, the Mountainpass is mostly devoid of activity save for the occasional criminal gangs and tribes of Kobolds and green-skins that use the highways as a means of travel between dwarven holds. Due to its vast size, most of the Mountainpass has gone unmaintained and unkept, and many routes are considered unsafe for travel. Not only is the structural integrity of the tunnels ridden with rockfalls and cave-ins, but its length has been broken up by large chasms and pits created from natural geological activity. Monsters of all kinds lurk in even the most structurally sound sections, with populations of kobold and green-skin warbands also taking residence. In more recent years, dwarven expeditionary forces have managed to clear and repair a few of these tunnels to link holds together. Although dangerous, the dwarves have recently begun to use these tunnels once more, although they only do so in large numbers and fully armored.The Golden Age, and the Clan Wars
As their settlements expanded and they dug deeper into their mountain homes, the dwarven holds found gold, silver, iron, and mithril in unimaginable abundance. With these resources at their disposal, the dwarven holds entered a glorious golden age of prosperity. However, the natural greed of dwarves made them envious of the wealth of their brethren, and as mining operations clashed, the stubbornness of the war-like dwarven race resonated with the drums of clan warfare, which escalated into full-blown civil wars. The holds battled both above and below ground for territory and resources under the leadership of dwarven Kings and Queens.The Silver Age, and the Mountain King
With the holds of old Meyland united, Magnar Bronzeheart was crowned the first High King, or Mountain-King, and Bearer of the Silver Crown, an artifact forged in glistening silver, and runically inscribed by Duun's very own hands. From that day forward, all dwarven Kings and Queens pledged their allegiance and their loyalty to the High King under the single banner of the Silver Kingdom, named after the legendary Silver Crown. Under the Silver Kingdom, the united strength of dwarven-kind was unrivaled except only by that of the Tahosian Dynasty to the west.The Green-Skin Wars
In the wake of the The War of the Undying the dwarves were left vulnerable to the predations of marauding green-skins and ogres. The many invasions that followed began a disjointed series of battles that the dwarves call the The Green-Skin Wars. Enemies infiltrated through the unguarded Mountainpass and focused on the territories of the kingdom. They overwhelmed outposts with surprise attacks in untold numbers. Defensive walls had toppled and lower levels compromised by the undead throngs that had risen during the War of the Undying. Upon scenting weakness, green-skin armies hungry for plunder appeared like wolves at the door. Across the Silver Kingdom and even Meyland, columns of smoke rose high above snow-covered peaks, each marking the destruction of a small settlement or mine. Refugees attempted to cross through winding mountain passes, but; hunting packs of worg-riding green-skins were drawn to promise of bloodshed. Dwarves that attempted to traverse the remains of the Mountainpass found them, too, full of marauding goblins.Warlord Gargott
During these dark times, the green-skins set their sights upon the desecration of sacred burial tombs, holy temples to Duun and the ancestor gods, and the complete eradication of ancient clans all to impose the will of their own deific figure: the Goblin King. The legions of green-skins were commanded by one of the greatest hobgoblin warlords to have ever risen the ranks of the Goblin King's host: Warlord Gargott. Warlord Gargott saw to the felling of many strongholds across the Garand's Ridge Mountains. Under his command, the horde brought Dunmeril, Lakesvale, and Port Morkney to their knees, conquering most of southern Meyland As the Silver Kingdom attempted to reclaim its southern territories, Gargott's host used the Mountainpass to sneak behind dwarven enemy lines and conquer Mountainholme and Karin Muur for themselves, dealing a heavy blow to the dwarven military.The Siege of Mountainholme
The green-skins emerged out of the deepest mine works, appearing suddenly in the very center of the dwarven cities. The green-skins rampaged through the strategic strongholds There was little in the way of organized resistance to stop the tide, but the dwarves fought tooth, beard, and nail to hold back the tide. One by one, even these defended tunnels were taken. Hoping to save the women and children, King Ulfgar Firebelly, of the Silverheim Clan, gave the order to abandon Mountainholme. To allow time for the refugees to escape, King Ulfgar himself led a hopeless counter-attack, holding the foe at bay. He ordered the secret tunnels to be collapsed behind the last of the retreating dwarves, sealing himself and his bodyguard in with the foeThe Siege of Karin Muur
With no warning, one week after the fall of Mountainholme the green-skins attacked Karin Muur from below and ogres assailed the outer defenses. Trapped between these two merciless foes, the dwarves had little chance. Despite mounting a tenacious defense as the military capital of the Silver Kingdom, within a year of the initial onslaught, Karin Muur had fallen. Most of its populace died in the bitter underground warfare.The Siege of Duunhollow
Gargott's quest to sunder all visages of Duun throughout Meyland and replace them with shrines to the Goblin King had largely been a success, but Duunhollow, the holiest city to all dwarven people, remained the bastion it had always been. Never had the great citadel fallen to giant-kin during the War of Broken Chains, and the dwarves were determined not to let it fall now. Ogre tribes laid siege on all sides while from numberless tunnels below came Gargott's hordes. Fighting valiantly, the dwarven defenders were driven back into their halls before they advanced and cast many foes down into the citadel's rivers of lava used to fuel the ancient Duunheart Forge. Duun's Wrath: Greenbane Weaponry. To their surprise, their bodies invigorated the forge with renewed power, and the forge was quickly put to use. In desperation, the dwarves rapidly and industriously forged weapons of runic power bent on the destruction of the green-skins. These weapons seared goblin and hobgoblin flesh upon contact, and in a staggering turn of the tide, the dwarves fought back the green-skins and the ogres using their newly forged greens-bane weaponry, driving them from the capital. Gargott's hordes collapsed under fear and infighting at the dwarves' new armaments and many legions, banners, and tribes fled for the forests of Meyland. It took ten years to reclaim the territories once lost to the green-skins, and took decades more to rebuild the Silver Kingdom's shattered holds and cities. The Green-Skin Wars sparked the legendary blood feud between green-skins and dwarves, which has lasted for centuries ever since.Nogduur Ashbight and the War for the Silver Crown
As the Silver Kingdom recovered from the Green-Skin War, The Ashbight Clan felt resentment not just because of their long-held grudge against the Bronzeheart Clan, but because of what they saw as abandonment by the wider Kingdom in their time of need. Bitterness still clung to their hearts, and hoarded the most valuable gems discovered beneath Druvenholme to themselves to rebuild their hold, yet the rest of the Kingdom demanded they tithe their fair share for the betterment of the whole so that other holds might rebuild. The Ashbight Clan believed in not only the superiority of the dwarven race to all others but the superiority of their own clan. They looked on with disgust at the Silver Kingdom as it consorted and traded with what they saw as lesser races, and yet the Silver Kingdom dare ask them to pay their tithe so such treasures might fall into the hands of such unworthy creatures? 'Degeneracy', they said, and refused outright. The Silver Kingdom, they saw, was too busy trading with lesser races to help them in their time of need.Unification of Meyland
Since the Silver Kingdom's dominance over Meyland, many halfling and human city-states that have developed in the centuries since the end of the War of Broken Chains have sought independence from the kingdom. While some of these ideals were fought for through long, tiresome battles of attrition, most were fought diplomatically. Today, rather than securing dominance by top-down dictates and risking the specter of war against a united front of the Morkney Council, the Township of Cliffspire, the Township of Ansmorth, and the Kinston Council, the Silver Kingdom maintains power over Meyland by granting a certain amount of freedom to the holds as vassal states. While they are free to pursue their own goals, all have pledged allegiance to the Kingdom. Most of these smaller powers also recognize the military might of the Silver Kingdom, and have, over time, preferred to cooperate for mutual benefit rather than risk war.Malinis, Bride of the Frozen Ruin
The most recent major conflict to grip Meyland and the Silver Kingdom took place five decades ago. The sudden incursion of a gargantuan White Dragon gripped the country in a wave of fear as she imposed her tyranny on the northern reaches of the nation. Malinis' vast armies of frost kobolds brought Meyland nearly to its knees, and were it not for the resoluteness of Duunhollow, Meyland was likely to have fallen. After a long, grueling five years of war against Malinis' forces, Duunhollow lead the charge to liberate Druvenholme, which she had taken as its lair. The Hunter's Keep slew the beast in her lair, ending her reign of terror.
Type
Geopolitical, Kingdom
Capital
Alternative Names
The United Dwarven Holds, The Dwarven Kingdom
Training Level
Elite
Veterancy Level
Decorated/Honored
Leader
Leader Title
Government System
Monarchy, Constitutional
Power Structure
Feudal state
Economic System
Market economy
Currency
Like most places in the world, the Silver Kingdom uses the standard gold standard currency. Copper coins are hexagonal, silver coins are heptagonal, gold coins are octagonal, and platinum coins are nonagonal. Dwarf-minted coins depict ram heads, dwarven helmets, or the Silver Crown itself.
Official State Religion
Parent Organization
Location
Official Languages
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Comments