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Tumunzim

At the very end of the Gold Road, past the trade cities of Freight Bridge and Whitebrush, through the rolling Providence Hills and between the jagged cliffs of the Dragon Peaks, sits a massive set of 50-ft tall granite doors. These doors, carved thousands of years ago by a forgotten clan of Jotun, guard the only passage into the dwarven city of Tumunzim.
In addition to being the single largest dwarven settlement known to the empire, Tumunzim also houses the only substantial gold mines in the known world. This single fact has earned the city a reputation as the richest city in the world, a fact that every dwarf will boast with pride.

Demographics

Only members of the Stormjaw clan of dwarves are permitted to reside within the city of Tumunzim, and non-dwarves are not even allowed to enter its gates.

Government

The government is a very strict hierarchy; every citizen is a ranking member of the Stormjaw clan and answers to one or more superiors. Even the ruling council, it is said, follows a circular and complex hierarchy wherein each council member is both superior and subordinate to the others.

Defences

As Tumunzim is carved from the very mountain itself, any would-be invaders would be forced to break through the massive stone doors that cap the only passage in or out of the city. The gates were built during the Purge, and have proven capable of withstanding the full might of a dozen Mochilian legions and half as many siege companies.

Industry & Trade

Tumunzim was built as an industrial city and has remained so for nearly a thousand years. The magma pits in the mountain's belly act as one giant furnace, allowing the smiths to create works of craftsmanship that rival the Jotun of old.
The Stormjaw clan are not just metalworkers, but also renowned artists that carve from wood, stone, and even gemstones. Stormjaw artwork is one of the most prestigious ways for the wealthy to flaunt their means to others, and more than one feud between noble families has been started over competing bids on a single jeweled necklace from Tumunzim.

Infrastructure

The heart of the city is rumored to rest directly above a massive pit of magma, which powers the entire city through a technology outsiders cannot begin to speculate on.

Assets

Truly the most famous (or infamous, depending on who is speaking) aspect of the city of Tuminzim is their virtual monopoly on gold. Nowhere else in the empire has a sustainable source of gold ore been found, meaning that trade from dwarven merchants is the only reliable source of gold coin in the empire. The economic leverage this allows the Stormjaw clan is most likely the only reason the empire has not yet attempted to annex the Dragon Peaks. Most dwarves will readily point out than any such conquest would be over before it started, as the dwarven citadels that populate the mountains are virtually impregnable.

Guilds and Factions

Clan Stormjaw is divided into several minor families, several of which function similarly to mercantile guilds, dominating a specific industry or market. For those who craft goods like arms or artwork, the family of origin can be identified by a very complex coat of arms embossed or carved somewhere on the item. Rumor has it that some of these families take pride in placing their insignia somewhere so completely hidden that it requires a professional appraiser to locate.

History

While the gates of Tumunzim were raised many thousands of years ago, most of the city itself is much newer, though still several centuries old. The Stormjaw clan were displaced from their original homeland during the Ascension Wars, and upon happening across an ancient Jotun citadel, deciding to establish their new home within. The discovery of the gold veins was a fortunate accident which allowed the Stormjaw clan to rise to a major economic and military power in the span of just a few decades.

Architecture

The upper levels of Tumunzim can still be recognized for the giant-sized fortress that it is; entire neighborhoods built in a single room, staircases large enough for each step to hold an entire house, and ventilation ducts that have been converted into freight elevators for the blacksmiths' forges below. Over the decades the dwarven engineers have dug down into the depths of the mountain, and today Tumunzim is nearly twice as large as the original fortress.

Natural Resources

In addition to the nigh-inexhaustible veins of gold ore that run under the city, Tumunzim is one of only two known sources of adamantine ore.
Type
Large city
Population
50'000 Stormjaw dwarves [unconfirmed due to restricted access]
Location under
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