Dwarven Empire

The dwarves once developed a vast, great empire spread across the underground networks of twelve cities which spanned the northern reaches of Eidos and housed a population outnumbering both the humans and the elves together. However their world was all but destroyed during a centuries-old war fought so long ago, that it became taboo to speak of it. The dwarves are now a race in decline. Now, there are only three remaining dwarven cities out of the twelve great kingdoms adjoining the dwarven empire. Hekler, the capital of the empire, is the largest, greatest and proudest of the three. Gradmout and Dustdrir being the others. All the settlements were once linked by a grand network of underground tunnels called the Deep Roads. During the war however, the dwarves were forced to close the entrances to the Deep Roads, abandoning them to what-ever hellish things they fought in an effort to save themselves. The entrances still exist to this day, but they are all are sealed by thick steel doors which are hundreds of feet high. These subterranean highways were works of unparalleled artisan achievement, with centuries of planning and engineering behind them. At the height of the dwarven empire, the Deep Roads were busy with constant travelers and merchants, not only from the underground kingdoms, but from the surface too. If an old elf were to see them now they would be shocked at what resides within. The only tunnels that remained open are the two connecting the remenants of the empire. The single-mindedness of the dwarves is credited for the race's survival. Their ability to dedicate their efforts to a cause has helped them survive in conditions that no other race would have been able and gave rise to a level of technology that far surpasses anything else in Eidos.

Structure

The remenants are an awe–inspiring sight still, great cities of stone standing within vast caverns, poised over seas of molten lava. There the forges ring loudest, and the finest smiths create works that are the envy of all races. Hekler, Gradmout and Dustdrir are very similar in design to one another and for a stranger it can be rather hard to tell the differences between the three.
The dwarven social hierarchy is ruled by complex, interrelated, and rigid castes. These castes are all appointed a part of the city, the higher you are, the more prestigious the caste.
Monarchy is the dwarven standard of government, but heredity tends to be a weak factor in determining who sits on the throne when the time comes for a new ruler. While a king may propose his heir to the throne, the next ruler is ultimately determined in the Assembly (the central legislative political body of the dwarven kingdoms) by a vote of its members.

The casteless, commonly known as "dusters" after their ghettos of Dust Town, are the lowest of dwarven society; outcasts in their own city, unable to take up work among the higher castes, nor fight to protect the city, dwarves rejected by the stone itself. Dwarves who are exiled or born on the surface are also officially casteless - but with an increase in the number of higher-caste dwarves choosing to live on the surface, it is becoming difficult for some surface dwarves to be considered permanent exiles.
The average dwarf never sees the surface, and often will have superstitious beliefs concerning surface-life (such as falling into the sky, or the sun falling to the ground).
Above the casteless are servants, artisans, miners, smiths, merchants, warriors and nobles. Among the nobles, are a group of dwarves who participate in the Assembly on behalf of their house. While it is possible for some dwarves to better their family's station by performing great deeds and/or siring children with higher-caste dwarves, these remain rare and difficult circumstances. Lower-caste dwarves who rise in caste are generally considered "upjumped" by the highest castes. In dwarven society, children inherit the caste of their same-sex parent; should a son be born, he would inherit his father's caste, or his father's lack of caste, should that be the case. It is also known that slavery once existed in the times of the ancient dwarven empire between rival dwarf clans as well as with the other denizens of Kourath.

Assets

Dwaves seldom use coinage amongst themselves, opting for a barter system instead as they place far greater value on raw materials they can shape or on already crafted goods. As such, there is no central currency that the dwarven cities use and most dwarves will mint their own coinage, from the plentiful gold or silver veins of their mines, when dealing with outsider trade. It has been mentioned that most of the wealth of the dwarves comes from selling processed petricite to the Breakers of Eidos. Their skill as artisans allowing them to shape the prized material into armor or amulets at a way higher success rate. The Chantry holds a monopoly on this trade with the dwarves (in order to maintain control over Spell-breakers and mages), but there remains a flourishing black market of the substance, dominated on the dwarven end by the underworld situated in the various Dust Towns.
Meat, or rather, the lack of sustainable ways of farming it has pushed the dwarves residing in the undergound to consider it a true commodity and to value it as much as the precious ores they mine. This has driven many farmers of The North to take the arduous journey to the Frostbites in order to sell of their livestock, be it cattle, sheep, pigs or chickens for as much as the animal's weight in gold. Fish seems to be the one exception to this rule, as the vast lakes under the mountains provide the sole source of reliable protein to the empire, as long as they are harvested in moderation.
The hunting of underdark creatures is practiced alonside it, supplementing both the need for meat and that of exotic ingredients like venom, blood or chitin.
Many dwarves then keep dried meat as an asset, storing it in in exclusive vaults or alongside gold ingots and glittering gems.

Technological Level

By the Frozen Age it was clear that the Dwarves had a strong grasp on steam power as it was present in a number of mining machinery and in heating their homes. They had also began experimenting, with mixed-success, with gunpowder based substances and basic flintlock weaponry.