Dwarfen City States
The Dwarfen City States are in theory not separate states, but actually just part of the Dwarfen Kingdom. To stick to this view though would be ignoring the reality created out of the tragic history that the eastern part of the kingdom suffered.
Each Dhor - old Dwarfen word for 'gate' - is the home to one of the clans and ruled by a family. The head of each of these families has the title of viceroy as representative of the Dwarfen King. The ruling families go back to a time the king appointed them and their clans to each of the settlements.
The Dwarfen King himself ruled from the first Dhor also known as 'Dhor Goldhall'. Fueled by the rich gold mines he supported the dwarfen expansions to the west. The new settlements proved to be successes finding good mining grounds and offered protection from the titans of the old age.
By the time the elves defeated the titans the gold mines of Dhor Goldhall had run dry and the royal clan Druegar started mining deeper and deeper to find riches. At the same time an unknown danger befell the easter most Dhor. The dwarfs there disappeared and no one knew what happened. Their dhor became known just as 'the Lost Dhor'.
The kingdom attemped to connect all dhors through subterranean pathways. Their work though was only partially successful. While they build tunnels that connected a wide network of vast caves the newly accessed world proved to be far more treacherous and dangerous than they expected. After a century of attempts to tame the pathways the kingdom only managed to secure the shorter stretches between the western dhors and also the connection between the two remaining eastern ones, but the two parts of the kingdom only connected on the surface through the Elven Empire.
When Rofinguldaal's army attacked the eastern part of the kingdom the Duegar king lead his people into the caverns of the Underdark after defeat became inevitable. Unable to help the western dhors hoped at first for their king to return, but as centuries passed they grew accustomed to the new order although out of respect maintained the titles of viceroy and a deep running connection between the city states.
With each passing century the dhors grow more independent and even their alliance is suffering cracks. This became apparent as the Hegemony of Fire conquered Dhor Adamant and Dhor Karghard shouldered most of the burden to stop the humans from reaching further north.
As time passed only four of the original eight dhors remained in dwarfen hands. But not even those four are save. While only dhor Karghard is still threatened by humans on the surface, the other dhors are more focused on the Underdark. More recent expeditions uncovered still not understood dangers. Surviving members of the expeditions ramble about dwarfs or elves living underground that hunted them and of even stranger threats. So the dhors switched their attention to fortifying their settlements and the pathways connecting them against the unknown theats from below.
While other dhors were conqured a small clan actually ended up settling on a vulcanic island with a sleeping vulcano. Dhor Jorglim isn't considered a part of the traditional Dwarfen Kingdom, but they adpoted the title of viceroy for their leader and are willing to join the kingdom should it raise again.
Each Dhor - old Dwarfen word for 'gate' - is the home to one of the clans and ruled by a family. The head of each of these families has the title of viceroy as representative of the Dwarfen King. The ruling families go back to a time the king appointed them and their clans to each of the settlements.
The Dwarfen King himself ruled from the first Dhor also known as 'Dhor Goldhall'. Fueled by the rich gold mines he supported the dwarfen expansions to the west. The new settlements proved to be successes finding good mining grounds and offered protection from the titans of the old age.
By the time the elves defeated the titans the gold mines of Dhor Goldhall had run dry and the royal clan Druegar started mining deeper and deeper to find riches. At the same time an unknown danger befell the easter most Dhor. The dwarfs there disappeared and no one knew what happened. Their dhor became known just as 'the Lost Dhor'.
The kingdom attemped to connect all dhors through subterranean pathways. Their work though was only partially successful. While they build tunnels that connected a wide network of vast caves the newly accessed world proved to be far more treacherous and dangerous than they expected. After a century of attempts to tame the pathways the kingdom only managed to secure the shorter stretches between the western dhors and also the connection between the two remaining eastern ones, but the two parts of the kingdom only connected on the surface through the Elven Empire.
When Rofinguldaal's army attacked the eastern part of the kingdom the Duegar king lead his people into the caverns of the Underdark after defeat became inevitable. Unable to help the western dhors hoped at first for their king to return, but as centuries passed they grew accustomed to the new order although out of respect maintained the titles of viceroy and a deep running connection between the city states.
With each passing century the dhors grow more independent and even their alliance is suffering cracks. This became apparent as the Hegemony of Fire conquered Dhor Adamant and Dhor Karghard shouldered most of the burden to stop the humans from reaching further north.
As time passed only four of the original eight dhors remained in dwarfen hands. But not even those four are save. While only dhor Karghard is still threatened by humans on the surface, the other dhors are more focused on the Underdark. More recent expeditions uncovered still not understood dangers. Surviving members of the expeditions ramble about dwarfs or elves living underground that hunted them and of even stranger threats. So the dhors switched their attention to fortifying their settlements and the pathways connecting them against the unknown theats from below.
While other dhors were conqured a small clan actually ended up settling on a vulcanic island with a sleeping vulcano. Dhor Jorglim isn't considered a part of the traditional Dwarfen Kingdom, but they adpoted the title of viceroy for their leader and are willing to join the kingdom should it raise again.
Type
Geopolitical, City-state
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