Kharn Falduhr
Wait a sec! I've been trekking up and down a glacier every year for fifteen years, and you've had a nice warm underground tunnel that would get me within a day's march of home all this time!?
Kharn Falduhr is an ancient dwarven city in the north of the Asurian Peninsula. Having endured centuries as a protectorate of the Asurian Empire and a long period of isolation since, the Dwarves of Kharn Falduhr regard the outside world with a degree of wariness. They are, however, happy to sell tools, weapons, armour and other metalworking products in trade for a variety of foodstuffs and, of course, gold. However, they generally do not sell their two most prestigious products to non dwarves: the valuable mythril dug up from the mines deep below the city, and the highly intoxicating Mal'cuimhne, which is poisonous to most other species.
Mountain Life
The city of Kharn Falduhr is subterranean, built into the heart of Kharn Falihr, known to humans as Starfall Mountain, far up in the central mountains of the Asurian Peninsula. The surface route to the city is frought with danger, especially to those unfamiliar with mountains. Well into the alpine, the air is thin and freezing cold, and the trail winds up the face of a glacier, dodging crevasses and walls of ice before plunging directly into the cliff face. Many an ambitious trader has dared to make the attempt; few reach the city alive.
Those who do are greeted with the magnificent sight of a thriving dwarven city and the warm hospitality of the dwarves. People hardy enough to make the journey are automatically granted a degree of respect. The dwarves well know how difficult a journey it is, and maintain secret ways for their own use when venturing forth into the lowlands.
The upper reaches of the city are largely residential, kept warm by the fires of the forges below. Up here, people eat and sleep, brewers and distillers make mead, beer, Mald and Mal'cuimhne. Here too are the tunnels leading to the surface meadows and orchards, where dwarves grow spices and fruits (including the poisonous dreamberry used in Mal'cuimhne), as well as down to the fungal caverns where the dwarves graze sheep and goats. And, of course, this is also where taverns, meeting halls, and other gathering places are built.
The Forges
Down below, off limits to any non-dwarves except those who have proven themselves to be the truest of friends, lies the heart of the city, the mighty forges. Here the dwarves smelt ore brought up from the mines beneath the city, refining bronze, steel, silver, gold and mythril for use in their projects.
It is this last metal that is the cause for the secrecy: Dwarves value mythril above all other metals. It is a white metal that outshines silver and gold alike, while being both stronger and lighter than steel. Other species also value the metal greatly, so the dwarves are careful to avoid letting anyone know which handful of their settlements actually produce the raw material, limiting its sale to dwarven traders traveling between dwarven kingdoms, excepting only those few surface dwellers who earn the right to see the forge at the heart of the city.
The Lowroad
The other main feature of this level is the Lowroad a well maintained road that connects Kharn Falduhr to dwarven cities to the north and south, as well as to side passages that emerge into hidden parts of the lowlands, which dwarves use to facilitate their own visits to the surface. It is only on this road that mythril or Mal'cuimhne leave the city of Kharn Falduhr - the mythril to preserve the secret of the mythril mines below, and the Mal'cuimhne to minimize the risk of poisoning unsuspecting surface dwellers.
This subterranean road network connects Dwarven cities together, allowing them to pool their resources and specialize their production. For example, the Dwarves of Kharn Falduhr grow no grain, importing it from a kingdom to the south with better access to suitable agricultural land. The route is lined with metal tracks, allowing traders to simply drive their metal-wheeled carts north and south on the road, considerably improving the logistics of terrestrial travel.
History
Kharn Falduhr was founded over six thousand years ago, well before the rise of the Asurian Empire. At first it was little more than a northern outpost of the Dwarven kingdoms to the south, but this soon changed with the discovery of mythril a rare and precious metal, lighter and stronger than steel. It grew in prosperity, eventually coming to be recognized as one of the kingdoms in its own right.
As the Asurian Empire grew in power to the south, the Dwarves of Kharn Falduhr were among those to seek peace as an Asurian protectorate, offering tribute in the form of fine tools, treasures of the mountain, and Dwarven warriors to fight in the Asurian legions. This allowed them to preserve a degree of independence, as well as maintaining the secret of where and how mythril is mined and refined.
During the fall of the empire, all of the Dwarven protectorates sealed their borders to protect themselves from the sudden rise of the kingdom of the dead that followed. At first this meant cutting off all access to the surface and relying entirely on subterranean trade routes, but this extreme only lasted for a couple of decades during the height of the undead infestation. Afterwards, the now freed Dwarven kingdoms reclaimed their surface territories, but sealed off the high passes into their realms until the scourge was completely gone. Kharn Falduhr was among the last to emerge from this isolation, opening the passes about 400 years ago.
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