The Kingdom of Korosk

At the far north of Bandoor, in the mountainous region of Korosk, the Dwarves of Timor make their home, building great cities into the vast caverns in the mountains, where they live, mine and forge.
Each dwarven city and region is ruled over by a Lord or Lady, but ultimately hold unwavering loyalty to King Volshek Korosk, who rules out of Koyevo, the capital city deep in the mountains.
The dwarves have held the land for thousands of years, and created one of the greatest civilisations in Timor.

Structure

Absolute rule comes from the King, although rule of each province of the realm is governed by Lords who are royally appointed. Regular envoys are sent to Koyevo to update the king on matters around the kingdom. These groups of envoys are called the 'Council of Lords', and they are led by Primarch Sheeva Barsevich. Notable members of this council are Artificer Trembix Altrousse and Elder Doderic Barrowes, the heads of the Gnomes and Halflings respectively. They often attend themselves as honoured guests, or send their own envoys.
Each lordship is variably diplomatic - some preferring to rule by council and some ruling absolutely - and the king tends to stay out of these matters. In Koyevo, differen't kings rule in their own ways. The currently incumbent, King Volshek, favours democracy and devolution of power to elected officials. This can change between kings however.

Assets

The Dwarves have amassed huge amounts of ore and precious gems from incessant mining of their vast mountains. They are specialists in the manufacture of arms and armour.

History

The Dwarves used to live as disparate tribes, living on the mountains rather than in them. Tribal chiefs started recieving visions of vast hordes of wealth in deep in the mountains, and they began to dig. As they established their mountain cities, they faced external threats, most namely from the orcs.
The oldest of enemies of the dwarves, has been the orcs. In small islands north of Korosk, and in the northernmost mountains themselves, orcs have established vast tribes and have not infrequently ranged south to raid the dwarven tribes. These attacks became more severe and frequent as mountain cities were being established, as they tried to steal these new homes out from under them.
The dwarves eventually managed to establish themselves in the mountains, and started to mine the vast hordes of wealth from underneath them. Many investigated the source of the visions which led them to the mountains, but no source was ever found.
As the civilisation began to establish themselves, the first to make contact were the elves of Alvas, who offered their friendship and alliance, as well as bringing gifts. They also offered high ranking wizards to help in the development of magical practice, which the dwarves were as yet not very well versed in. They graciously accepted the offer, and the two civilisations became close allies.
In the next few hundred years, the elves attempted to bring their policies of religious suppression to the dwarves, along with 'political assistance' in the form of high level advisors. With these actions, the relationship soured, although to this day they still consider each other as allies.
The dwarves had an extremely brief conflict with The Thraxan Empire while it was still rising across the continent of Bandoor. Bastor Thrax led an army north of the border into Korosk, despite being expressly told not to. He was a nephew of the Emperor, and was probably caught up in the power they were rapidly achieving. The halfling, Gnomish and Dwarven coalition responded immediately to their invasion, first warning them to turn around, then engaging them when they refused. The invasion was completely routed within a few days - resulting in a humiliated Bastor challenging King Volshek Korosk himself. The dwarven king promptly killed the young Bastor, effectively ending their invasion. When the Emperor learned of this, he led a group of high level Imperial and Elven officials to the capital of Koyevo to apologise. The King shrugged off the invasion as nothing more than a little fight, which was both a relief and deeply humiliating to the Emperor.
Through their history the Dwarves had three significant wars with roving orcish tribes, the greatest of which was only 15 years ago, the Invasion of Warchief Drebok. This was a huge invasion into the Dwarven lands from the orcs in the north, where several dwarven cities - and almost Koyevo itself - were taken by the warchief. The only thing which saved the city in the end was a revolt of the half-orcs and goblins who the warchief had taken as slaves, a revolt was led by King Gimbeltrex and Chief Urkol Gorthraz. Following this, there has been a close friendship between these two and King Volshek, with the latter gifting them the island of Ordash as thanks.
The lowlands of Korosk have also been home to the Halflings and Gnomes for as long as the dwarves have existed there. The relationship between the groups is strong, more of a kinship rather than an alliance. The dwarves provide the martial might of the region, whereas the halflings generally handle farming and the gnomes are heavily involved in engineering and mining efforts.

Demography and Population

The harsh environment discourages emmigration generally, although the Dwarves are generally very welcoming to anyone who braves the trip.
Given the two races early collaboration, elves are still not infrequent in the larger cities, particularly where there are magic schools involved.
Korosk is seen as a site of great importance in mastery of blacksmithing, so it attracts blacksmiths and forge workers of all races seeking to learn what they have to offer.

Military

Each dwarven tribe, including the tribe of King Volshek, have their own army and are responsible for maintaining and recruiting, each Lord can command them as they see fit. However, in times of war, the King can muster them together and combine them into a single, royal, army.

Religion

Dwarves worship Moradin, the god of the forge and dwarves. Most believe that the visions which drew the dwarves to move inside the mountains and find their destiny was the word of Moradin himself.
The head of the church, situated in Koyevo, is High Priest Morvar Modren.

Agriculture & Industry

Food is difficult to grow in the high inhospitable mountains of Korosk, so most of the agricultural duties falls to the Halflings, who provide food from the lowlands for their allies - the Gnomes and the Dwarves - who live higher.

The Children of Moradin

Founding Date

178 SC

Type

Geopolitical, Kingdom

Capital

Koyevo

Leader

King Volshek Korosk

Head of State

King Volshek Korosk

Head of Government

Primarch Sheeva Barsevich

Government System

Monarchy, Constitutional

Power Structure

Unitary state

Major Exports

By far the most common export of Korosk is dwarven smithing, which is popular the world over. Gnomish engineering is also reknowned, and provides significant income for the area - most of all from the Western Peninsula who use their machines in mining efforts.

Major Imports

The main Dwarven import is Bark and Sap, they are by far the largest consumers of the materials in Timor, using it to reinforce their arms and armour.
Most of this comes to them by sea, from either Noor, Perron or Gestan.
The ships always pass Goldack, which would make them a target for piracy, however King Gimbeltrex of Goldack has strictly prohibited any attacks on dwarven associated vessels, owing to his close friendship with King Volshek.

Legislative Body

The council of lords receives envoys from each lord in the region, who meet in the capital, Koyevo. Final decision making is with the King, although the Primarch, the leader of the council, is the authority on any decisions or discussions brought to the king.

Controlled Territories

• Koyevo

Neighboring Nations

• The Thraxan Empire