Dwarven Kingdom

Kingdom of the Great Furnaces

The Dwarven Kingdom is a subterranean country, cities, and towns just below the surface of the Timbers of the Furnace. The Dwarven Kingdom has a few small towns on the surface but the vast majority of the population lives in mines, caverns, and cities that are intricately designed. To step into a Dwarven town is to forget you are underground, and their grand halls are like a never-ending castle with architecture that would be impossible to find anywhere else in the world. These lands are ruled by the royal family, the Thunderbeard Clan. The current sovereign is King Maximus Thunderbeard III renowned for his sharp mind and his love of intricate crafts. The Dwarven Kingdom is a center of great knowledge, craftsmanship, trade, and wealth. Few are turned away, it takes much to garner the ire of the Dwarves and even more to become a true friend but once it is attained it is all but impossible to lose.
The Dwarf King is a descendent of the first Dwarf King, known to be fashioned by the hands of Crommel himself. Many of the nobles and stations in the Kingdom are maintained by families that span back to the very beginning of the Dwarven race. They keep careful history, as their history often involves more than dates and names but also blueprints, language structures, mathematics, Metallurgy, and all manners of science. The King is known to be intense, dedicated to the furthering of knowledge and wealth, to that end he has been perceived as having little use for those that do not contribute. This extends favorably to those that are skilled or prove their worth, as seen in Dwarven Law that he upholds to this day concerning how to 'become a Dwarf' which is a legal process that is hand signed by the King granting the status of citizenship to one that is deemed worthy through merit alone.
The Dwarven Kingdom is a destination on one side of the Great Tunnel, many goods and services traverse along this route throughout the rest of the continent. When possible, they prefer their trade routes to use routes underground due to their mastery of cavern and tunnel fighting tactics. Travelers in this Kingdom typically encounter problems only when far from settlements as the Dwarves are relentless in their pursuits of dangerous creatures. Trade routes often make use of tunnels that skirt large cities, with dedicated guards that ensure an expedient passage towards the center of the Kingdom.
The most common species to see in this Kingdom are Dwarves, Silver Elves, Humans, Halflings, Ursakin, and Clay Giants though the latter find some areas challenging to navigate due to their stature. Visitors to the Kingdom are welcome, those that stay for extended lengths of time to exceed three months must visit the local governance to declare their business and receive a sponsorship. Failure to comply has led to short imprisonments, trials, and fines or short banishments as Dwarves take their sovereignty seriously as a point of pride. Citizens and those with standing contracts are not held to this standard, nor are those that have 'become a Dwarf' which is a coveted position for many outsiders and merchants that is seldom awarded.

Demographics & Territory

The population of the Dwarven Kingdom is less diverse than other areas in the world due to the nature of living and traveling underground through tunnels and caverns. Dwarves compose 80% of the population, Silver Elves represent 10% of the population at any time, and the remaining 10% is broken up between Halflings, Humans, and Ursakin. For the purpose of registration and reporting, Gem Dwarves are considered Dwarves with no distinction from their brothers that live closer to the surface. Much of the non-Dwarf population is considered transient, representing Scholars and merchants moving through the Kingdom or conducting work in the area. Dragons are a rare sight due to the constraints of the tunnels, but there are some that come up from the depths to exchange secrets and treasures with the Dwarves.
The Dwarven Kingdom is a series of cities, towns, and strongholds under the surface of the Northern Continent that occupy large artificial caverns that have been carved through the effort of

Quick Facts

Population Breakdown

Dwarves

80%

Silver Elves

10%

Other Races

10%

Other Information

Code of Laws

Dwarven Law

Military

Hammerfalls
Scriptwroughts
Stoneshapers

Common Flora

Black Cedar

Common Fauna

Mine Canaries
Golems
Spicedfur Bears

thousands of years, minds, and tools. The Kingdom is geographically underneath the Great Furnaces mountain range, these mountains receive their name from the incredible amount of Dwarven cities that specialize in forging near the surface. Because of its nature of being underground, the Kingdom extends to the eastern coast of the continent and touches the borders of its neighboring countries the Human Empire, the Cradle of Clay, and the Little Greenwood. The deceptive footprint of the Kingdom comes into play when the depth is considered, it is considered the largest Kingdom on the Northern Continent by far as it reaches deep underground.
There are various taxes throughout the Kingdom, mostly levied against mining and high-quality crafts sold throughout the Kingdom. Notably, the taxes are quite low for businesses within the Kingdom with higher rates coming into effect for goods and services that leave the Kingdom. Laws are often enforced by local town guards that receive formalized training from Sapphire City, the capital, and have varying levels of experience from the Royal Dwarven Military, often these Dwarves spend a year in training and serve time down in the lower reaches of the Kingdom seeing battle against monsters that assault Dwarven strongholds.

Insignia of the Dwarven Kingdom

Insignia of the Dwarven Kingdom by Crest via Armoria, created by RiverFang

The symbol of the Dwarven Kingdom is the Golden Anvil. In religious texts, it is said that Crommel conversed with the first Dwarves and instructed them in the ways of working the furnace and understanding the world in a logical light for only a short time. He left them with ambition and tools, the most notable of which was the Golden Anvil. This item is of great significance from a religious and practical standpoint as it is said to be one piece of a puzzle that will allow the combination of all the mystic metals in Isekai to create a perfect, divine material though only the royal family knows its secrets. This insignia is prominent on government structure, weapons, armor, and royal mandates. The Golden Anvil has been associated with quality, pride, and the Thunderbeard family since its creation. It is always displayed by using actual Gold, even when appearing on clothing, tapestries, or manuscripts.

Military

The military in the Dwarven Kingdom is filled with a mixture of conscripts and volunteers. Dwarves that reach the age of 50 are expected to be engrossed in a field of work, research, or a trade. If they are not, then they are solicited for enrollment into the Royal Dwarven Military so that they can gain relevant skills to further the Kingdom and prevent a class of Dwarves from forming that lack any ability to contribute to society. The Royal Dwarven Military is defined by three major branches or corps, each is presided over by a ranking General that oversees the training of specialized Soldiers.
These three corps are the Hammerfalls, the Scriptwroughts, and the Stoneshapers. Each one produces a specialized Soldier that can be utilized during wartime or as security for the Kingdom. The Hammerfalls are specialized in conventional warfare using a variety of weaponry and expertly trained in all manners of metalworking, they receive formal training at the Golden Anvil. The Scriptwroughts are Scholars trained in magic but also with skills in history, linguistics, and preservation of texts with instruction received at the Dwarven magic academy, the First Furnace. The Stoneshapers are Combat Engineers that specialize in cavern destruction, tunnel making, construction, and mathematics that are taught at the School of Mines.

Foreign Relations

The Dwarven Kingdom has diplomatic ties due to its position as a strong trade and education hub in the world. Most of their ties are found on the Northern Continent, above and below ground. The main relations that the Kingdom has are those surrounding the Great Tunnel and denizens of Isekai that live lower in the depth of Káto. Their relations have been forged by trade, knowledge, and expertise. Seldom are strong relations established but they are always enduring and span several lifetimes.
The Dwarven Kingdom is the largest entity that uses the Great Tunnel for travel and trade, they see it as a highway from the east side of the continent to the west side that is more direct and skips most of the trouble of traveling overland. While the most convenient entrances that exist are the large cavern mouths near the Timbers of the Furnace and the Elven Forest, west of the Spine of Kallex, there are a number of smaller paths that make travel to the Great Plains, the eastern section of the Elven Forest and even the Fairy King's Wood feasible for medium-sized trade caravans.
The Dwarven Kingdom keeps representatives in the surrounding countries that are heavily integrated with trade guilds including the Human Empire, Elven Kingdom, Fairy King's Wood, Cradle of Clay, Coastland, the Kingdom of Gems, and a collection of prominent Silver Elf city-states across the Northern Continent that have interest in their trade. Connections abroad or across the ocean are smaller; despite reaching the eastern coast, there are few Dwarf settlements developed above ground that take advantage of the situation. The Dwarven Kingdom has only recently begun to expand its trade to the Southern Continent through the use of Coastland's well-established naval trade routes. Notably Fire & Gold, Inc. has

made a large push for Dwarven craftsmanship abroad as high-quality items. The newest growing relationship abroad is with the enormous city-state on the island of Ullindar, the Fearsome Maw, where all manner of Dragonkin have collaborated to form a powerful country. There is interest in expanding relations further south but the logistical challenges present a great financial commitment that has yet to be undertaken.
The Dwarven Kingdom also has a respected seat on the High Council of the Arcane, the First Furnace is one of the founding magic academies of the council. Their competency in magic is quite diverse, including alchemy and metallurgy. The study of magic is considered a commonplace academic pursuit not unlike any other trade among the Dwarves which has allowed them to create a society that has the highest literacy of magical practices as a whole much the same as the Human Empire has a high saturation of knowledge for the use of firearms and the Elven Kingdom has a high saturation of knowledge concerning nature as a whole.

Government Bodies

There are four levels of government in the Dwarven Kingdom, they are tiered from lowest to highest.

The Townships

Individual towns have mayors that are elected by the people and receive recognition from the larger guilds that permeate the Kingdom. This level of government is responsible for the general upkeep of the area, collection of taxes, organization of the local guard, and a variety of life support functions. Mayors have the ability to set officers to handle various functions in the town and employ assets to protect their citizens from monsters or bandits. A mayor has the ability to convene court, preside as an officer of Dwarven Law (or appoint others to do so on his behalf), and even levy banishment as a punishment against dangerous criminals. The banishment levied by a Mayor can only apply to the town which he presides over but he does have the ability to solicit a response of law and order from the Parliament to concur.
Typically Mayors will work with Guilds that preside over areas that they fall within but Guilds have a different focus of authority than townships. They are seen as somewhat equivalent but townships are concerned with the immediate area around a town and its citizens while guilds are concerned with larger areas.

The Guilds

There are various guilds in the Dwarven Kingdom that are broken down by profession and then by area. Each Guild can only preside over a certain amount of monetary traffic before another guild must be instated. For example, there can be a mining guild that presides over four hundred tons worth of Gold in business after taxes. If the business became too profitable for a span of five years then it would have to split and form two guilds. The reasoning for this is that Dwarven Law dictates that past a certain tonnage of Gold, the number of workers or footprint needed to sustain the operation grows too large to be managed effectively by one person.
This makes it so that new guilds are not uncommon during times of plenty or expansion and the consolidation of older guilds into newer ones is an effective way to consolidate experience and resources. Guilds always focus on one profession in particular, this will always be a trade-based profession (mining, smithing, alchemy, carpentry, etc....). The authority of a Guildmaster is such to regulate prices, trade, and give craftsmen a means to connect with larger trade structures in the Kingdom and in the world. Guildmasters and appointed officers can also preside over a court of Dwarven Law but only when it concerns members of their guild. These courts often deal with trade disputes, infractions against other guilds, or even international disputes and issues that need representation in courts of other countries. Typically Guildmasters do not extend their influence to local issues unless it impacts trade and contracts beyond the influence of a single guild member.
Guildmasters also have the ability to enter into international deals and contracts as an envoy of the Kingdom. Because of this, they must be instated by a vote from Parliament.

The Parliament

Dwarven Law is built on a constitution that is informed heavily by history, scientific research, and theocratic input from the primary deity of the Dwarves. The Parliament is made up of Scholars, former Guildmasters, former Mayors, and priests from the order of Crommel. Members of Parliament are elected officials that are elected as representatives to serve for a span of two decades. These are the experts that create Dwarven Law and preside over serious matters for the entire Kingdom. They regulate the guilds and act as the highest courts in the land, often they receive intent from the Royalty and enact these into laws or advise the Royalty to create revisions turning intent into reasonable law.
Parliament grants authority to other branches of government including Mayors and Guildmasters. Without the approval of Parliament, there cannot be a Mayor or Guildmaster nor the formation of a Guild. When disputes appear in lower courts, Parliament has officers that are able to conduct higher-level courts through an appeal system. They also see to the formation of townships, infrastructure of the land, and they manage the treasury on behalf of the Royalty. They have no power when it comes to military actions per se, but they hold a great amount of respect when it comes to council and input because they understand what the country can support.

The Royalty

Dwarven Royalty are the ruling class of the Kingdom, they trace their lineage to the first Dwarven King hewn from rock by the hands of Crommel. They have the authority to control the Kingdom and establish directives for the Parliament to pursue in addition to directly controlling the Generals and military forces of the Kingdom. During times of emergency and war, they hold absolute decision-making power. Tradition dictates that they can also establish laws and make decisions concerning the infrastructure of the Kingdom but the Parliament and a constitution were established to ensure a wider understanding of the Kingdom as it expanded.
The Royalty follow the tenets of Crommel strictly, they see the care of the Kingdom and Dwarves as a charge given by their deity Crommel. Most members of the royal family are entrenched in the study of religion, history, science, warfare, and traditional craftsmanship so that they do not depart from their roots. It is not uncommon that members of the Royal family will preside over high positions in the Dwarven Magic Academy, the First Furnace, or over a fortress or become Generals. These positions often follow tradition in the respect that the family that was trained in charge of a given branch of the military will likely produce heirs that take the same position. These traditions are not a spoken rule but a cultural tradition that is followed in so much as the heir proves themself able to carry on the duties of their ancestors.
A modern responsibility of the Dwarven Royalty, specifically the King, is to induct and grant the status of being a "Dwarf" to one that was not born a Dwarf. It is considered the highest status and honor that an outsider can ever hold because it demolishes any difference between them and a natural-born Dwarf in the eyes of the Kingdom.

Founding Date

190,500 IM

Type

Geopolitical, Kingdom

Capital

Sapphire City

Leader

Maximus Thunderbeard III

Ruling Organization

Thunderbeard Clan

Government System

Monarchy, Theocratic

Official State Religion

Pantheons of Isekai

Subsidiary Organizations

• Royal Dwarven Military
• School of Mines

Location

Great Furnaces

Official Languages

• Dwarvish

Related Ranks & Titles

• Adamantine Smith
• Master Dwarf

Controlled Territories

• Old Dwarven Road
• Prospect Valley
• Sapphire City

Neighboring Nations

• Coastland
• Human Empire
• The Cradle

Manufactured Items

• Arcanum
• Legacy

Related Species

• Dwarves

Related Ethnicities

• Dwarven Culture

Related Historical Events

• 227 EA
  Founding of Prospect Valley
• 190500 IM
  Founding of the School of Mines

Religion

This area worships a primary Crommel as its primary deity almost exclusively, this is helped by the fact that the Kingdom is almost primarily composed of Dwarves. Other popular deities for the area would fall secondary, the Pantheons of Knowledge is widely respected in the Kingdom with widely acknowledge deities including Cique, Dementia, and Utarr. Temples in the Kingdom are all dedicated primarily to Crommel with large, bold exteriors that identify them both as a place of worship and a place of craftsmanship. Places of worship inside of the temple for other deities are often ornate halls or areas that display the proper iconography that often have quite complete collections of texts and implements to properly conduct all required services. In most towns and cities, the temple is a place of religion, law, education, and work due to the nature of Crommel as a master craftsman himself and thus the temple becomes the center of most population. The iconography of Crommel is widespread, appearing on many buildings and items including the currency of the Kingdom.

Currency

The specific currency used within the Standard Metal Value system for the Dwarven Kingdom is called Anvils. They have an ornate, etched design with an anvil on one side bearing the year of their production and the name of the mine that sourced their metal, this denotes that all currency in the Kingdom is wrought by the hands of its citizens. The reverse side shows a realistically depicted hammer set with a single gemstone, this is the hammer of Crommel tying the Dwarves to their religious heritage.
These coins are common to find in many countries, especially in underground cities of any kind. The coins are not widely collected, often being praised by Dwarves themselves as they can trace the metals back to their sources and often to specific groups of their people that pulled the metal from the ground. The occupation of a Miner is greatly respected as it is the foundation of their society. However, one coin in particular is highly prized by collectors: the Adamantite coin, the value of the metal is immense and the design of the gem on the hammer is replaced by an actual ruby in this denomination of currency.