Starrengeld Hall
Description – “As you pass through the massive gilded gates into Starrengeld, you are met with cool and surprisingly clean smelling air. Torches line the walls on both sides of a 300 foot long tunnel into the mountain, spaced 20 feet apart. Once you reach the end of the tunnel, you find yourself inside a massive cavern, whose size can only be guessed by the faint lights you see climbing the opposite wall. You are standing on a small landing, only 100 feet long and 300 feet across, from the center of which a long bridge spans a gap to a platform the size of a small town. Starrengeld Proper.
To your right, there is a small inn. To arms jut out from above the door, and a sign hanging between them reads, “Lift’s End”. To your left, you see a small warehouse with half a dozen stalls outside of it, as well as a penned in area filled with grass for horses to graze in. Looking above you, the walls of the cavern go up at least another 200 feet and above Starrengeld, you see another, much smaller platform, bathed in light. As you glance over the half wall, you see channels filled with lava, heating many forges and foundries below. The sound of thousands of dwarves working finally meets your ears as you look into the cavern below.”
Overview – Starrengeld Hall is a largely underground city on the eastern side of Dunatis’ Ring. There is a small village, named Starren, at the base of the mountain which serves as an entry point to the city high above. A series of elevators will take goods and people in to and out of the Dwarven city above. The city of Starrengeld is made up of many tiers and layers within a great cavern and cave system within the mountain.
Social – Dwarven society in Starrengeld is driven by an interesting combination of birthright and achievement. The city itself is built upon multiple tiers within a massive cave, with those of higher status living on the top tier, and each tier below being a drop in status. The highest tier is
Though the dwarves do consider themselves above slavery, the lowest castes of the dwarves live lives not much better than an orcish slave, while some of the higher classes will live like a wealthy lord or even a king. There is a quite literal hierarchy to the dwarven society in Starrengeld. The higher classes of dwarves live higher in the mountain, with the lower classes living deeper and deeper into the mountain. The lowest classes may never even see the sun or the outside world. It is very hard for a dwarf to move up in their society and may even take a century or more for a dwarf to move up one level. In any given tier, miners are the lowest class, followed by the movers, and lastly the lift runners. The lift runners are the highest class in a tier by virtue of getting to travel between tier to bring ore from one to the next. Above the mining tiers, are the foundries, smelteries, and smithies.
Political – Dunatis is ruled by a crown, though it has been led by both males and females, who takes on the name Starren as part of their title. The king or queen has final word as law within the halls of Starrengeld, though they do tend to have advisors made up of masters from the guild clans.
Economical – Starrengeld Hall is a massive city built into the mountains of Dunatis’. Their economy thrives on the mining and processing of ores of all kinds. They are capable of processing ores ranging from common ores like copper and tin, to exotic ores like mithryl and moonsilver, as well as precisous ores like gold and silver. The mines of Starrengeld run so deep that the Dwarves are able to mine many of these ores on their own, which is proven to be a good source of precious gems to sell as well. They will also import in ore in exchange for a favorable exchange of smelted ingots. Starrengeld is also the home of many grandmaster smiths, older dwarves who have honed their skill for centuries.
Religious – For obvious reasons, most of the dwarves in Starrengeld worship Dunatis. The mountains they live in are part of a mountain range known as Dunatis’ Ring. As a people who live in the mountains for the most part, many of the Dwarves have associated themselves with Dunatis and worship him in thanks for their home. Goibhniu is also heavily worshiped in Starrengeld because Starrengeld is known for its smiths and its craftsmanship. They thank him for the tools and knowledge they have gained, as well as the time and dedication needed to become the master craftsmen that many of them have become.
Military – There is a small elite guard within Starrengeld itself, mostly put in place to handle the rare internal conflict, and to help fend off anything that may find its way into the city from the many passages and caverns through the mountain. Starrengeld is also one of the few places with a number of golems that are built and active within the city as watchers and defenders. Stone golems can be seen patrolling through the streets of the upper levels, prepared to defend the city from any sort of attack. Meanwhile, iron golems stand near the main entrance and the kings mansion as guards.
DISTRICTS
The Solarium – The Solarium is the highest point in Starrengeld. It is an area only accessible to Starrengeld’s nobles and their guests. It is a common place for guild leaders to have a discussion with merchants who may wish to do business with them. The Solarium is reached by taking a staircase that spirals around a spire more than 100 feet up from the courtyard of Starrengeld Hall. It is a fairly small platform, only 200 feet long and 50 feet across, but it opens up to a cliff on the face of Dunatis’ Ring that overlooks all of the Isylian plains. The rock of the cavern gives way to lush grass and the cliff is home to a handful of fruit trees that provide a tasty snack, as well as shade from the sun. The Solarium is maintained by a member of the royal servant staff and is seen as one of the higher positions within the servants ranks.
“As you climb the steps from Starrengeld Hall, you look up, seeing how the curve around the spire to a platform above. You can see light flooding into the top of the cavern above, sunlight. As you near the top of the 100 foot tall climb, you hear the sounds of the world outside of the mountain, the sounds of birds and bugs. A gentle breeze flows in from an opening carved into the side of the mountain. You stand at the tallest point in all of Starrengeld, on a 50 foot wide platform that extends 200 feet out to the face of Dunatis. Fruit trees provide a bit of shade and something to have as a delicious snack. A stream running down the mountain flows into a pool for drinking. A long table an a few benches make this a beautiful place to conduct meetings, or just to relax.”
The Upper City – Below The Solarium, level with the main entrance to Starrengeld, lies The Upper City. The main platform of this tier of Starrengeld is home to the upper class. Master Craftsmen, noble families, and those lucky enough to land themselves a place in the craftsmen’s guilds all make their home on this level. Most of the dwellings are multi story apartments. These apartments were created centuries ago as a place to allow the apprentices to live after it became clear that allowing everyone to have their own house built was going to over-crowd the level. Now, to be able to have a personal house within The Upper City, one must attain the rank of master in their craft of choice. The houses created by masters are some of the most beautifully designed houses ever to be seen, their only rivals being some of the dwellings crafted by elves who have lived hundreds of years.
Since apartments are provided for the apprentices, and the masters are able to create their own living spaces, the space within the guild houses is devoted to tools and materials of the trade, as well as a dedicated place to work. There are also a few inns for travelers, as well as a handful of bars and pub houses as entertainment for the denizens of the city. So long as they are not too close to the edge of the platform, the sounds of the work happening below are dulled into a low din.
Starrengeld Hall – A small section of The Guilds tier is home to Starrengeld Hall, which is essentially the castle for Starrengeld. Starrengeld Hall is isn’t a castle in the sense that humans build castles, it is an exceptionally large manor villa. Inside of the walls of the compound there are homes for the servants, a main hall and throne room for meetings and parties with the king and his family, as well as wings for some of the royal crafters and the extended royal family.
The Outer City – The outer city is considered everything off of the platform of The Upper City, but still level with the upper tier. The Outer City is largely comprised of labor workers
Forges and Foundries – Beneath the upper platform of Starrengeld, the work that allows the whole society to flourish happens. A couple hundred feet below The Guilds tier, lie The Forges and The Foundries. This tier is crisscrossed with lava channels, these channels run above the streets of the tier like an aqueduct. There are also traditional aqueducts running along this tier. Ore that has been processed from below is lifted and carted up from the lower tiers, is divided up into its various types and sent to various forges. Some forges are designed for cast ingots for used in other crafts, while others are designed for casting various tools and items that can be sped up through casting instead of hammering out on an anvil. This tier is home to a couple thousand dwarves that work nearly around the clock. Dwarves are constantly moving along with their various jobs, sorting ore into their different types, carting them into small storage locations, carting the correct ore to the forge that needs it the most, actually running the forges, moving tools and ingots after they have been finished, and running the various channels of the lava and water aqueducts.
The dwarves on this level do not have things all bad however. They work in shifts, and they are not worked in such a way that there is only off time to sleep. The dwarves of The Forges and The Foundries have leisure time and family, and boy do these dwarves like to party. Many of the dwarves practice some level of brewing of their own down here. There are a bunch of bars that are almost constantly filled to the brim with people. While every bar will have some brews of its own, the dwarves that run these bars are more than happy to throw a barrel from one of their mates onto the racks and serve it up, usually for a small cut of their own coin.
The Mines – At the bottom of Starrengeld lie The Mines. The initial level of The Mines makes up the bottom of the cavern that Starrengeld is built in. On it’s surface, it is a very full city with hundreds, and maybe even thousands of buildings. Near the lifts, there are warehouses and processing plants. These are where the rock that is mined is separated from the ore, and then stored while it waits for one of the lifts to return. Beyond these, there is a sea of houses. Most of the dwarves that work as miners live a life only slightly above the quality of slaves. They work to make enough money to feed themselves, and their families. They are paid for the work that they do, so they can work more to try and save more. If they save up enough, it is possible for them to buy their way into a higher tier. Along the walls, and even in some places of the floor of the cavern at this level, there are numerous tunnels that lead off in search of rock and valuable ore. The tunnels go for miles in every direction, many even cross through other tunnels. It is possible for someone to get lost in here and have no hope of finding your way out again.
History
Kaldegrim - First King
Alternative Name(s)
Starrengeld
Type
Large city
Population
~10,000
Location under
Included Locations
Owner/Ruler
Characters in Location
