Val-Thorim

Val-Thorim is the oldest Dwarven city, and the only city to be built into, rather than ontop and around a mountain. It's founding dates back to the Mazzikhan Empire and was settled by the first Dwarves to be invited to Porun.

Demographics

Species	%
Dwarven	80%
Halfling	10%
Human	5%
Gnome	3%
Dragonborn	2%

Government

Val-Thorim is a clan based city, and is ruled by the head of this clan. The city is then split into districts, guild and departments. While the clan chief is the head, the day to day operations are carried out by the heads of these sub groups. The role of the chief is to set the direction, to drive discussion and to weigh in as an arbitrator when a decision cannot be made.

Defences

As a city located underneath a mountain, Val-Thorim is perhaps one of the best defended cities in Porun. It was built to withstand the full might of the Mazzikhan armies. The granite mountains provides an impenetrable wall on all sides and protects from magical scrying and interference.
The grand gate of the city sits at the furthest end of a U shaped crevasse in the mountain. This has the effect of forcing a would be attacker to close ground to the gate while being attacked from both flanks.
Internal farms and rivers mean that the city can withstand a siege indefinitely

Industry & Trade

Miners

As a mining city, the bulk of jobs are mining or related. Most of the inhabitants are involved in the extraction of ore and its refinement into metal ingots which can then be shipped and traded. Of the miners about half are employed to dig ore and caverns while the others are employed in various jobs building, maintaining and operating the necessary equipment.
Mining forms the backbone of the economy of this city. Ore is dug and and processed into ingots, which are then shipped to the major cities before being shipped across the world. This industry is highly profitable and has built the wealth of the city and the region surrounding it.

Gardeners

Unlike other mining towns being entirely underground has had a distinct influence on the city. In order to be self sufficient the city has a number of farmer/gardeners who tends to the underground plant life that covers the city and keeps it livable. This plant life is key to filtering and cleaning the air and water through out the city and the Gardeners are a highly educated and respected profession.

Infrastructure

As a mining town the city possesses significant heavy industry. Smiths, smelters, kilns and other equipment can be found in the industrial districts. To support these the city has an extensive horse drawn railroad system used to ferry people and equipment.

History

Val-Thorim is one of only a few pre-forced migration era cities and one of only two on the continent of Nornhil. The Val & Thorim clans settled at the based of a small mountain about 500 years before the current era. The first mines sprung up as the Dwarves began to do what Dwarves do best.

The Fall of Nildirth

Around two hundred years after the founding relations with the Mazzikhan began to sour as the Giants pushed for greater quantities of metals at cheaper prices. The city of Nildirth in the southern Jarnfjoll mountains was the first to fail to meet demand. To rectify this problem the Giants decided to appoint their own rulers and overseers to increase production. This was not well received, with the Dwarves turning away the Giants and refusing to let them in. Negotiations broke down further until the Giants broke and decided to make an example for all other settlements. The great Giant armies were called down who proceeded to destroy and annihilate the grand city. The devastation was so great that the location of this city has since been lost. The few survivors were allowed to live so that they may tell the tale as a warning to the other cities.
Upon hearing the news the residents of Val-Thorim knew it was only a matter of time until the Giants came for them. After discussions about how to resist such a large and powerful army the Dwarves realised that they could not win a straight fight. Instead it was decided to use the mountain as their fortress. Overnight the city began to change as the residents began to did in, moving their city from the fields into the mountain itself.
A decade after the fall of Nildirth, the Giants came to Val-Thorim. After the Dwarves rejected their demands the great army descended upon the Iron gate. While the battle was bloody and violent, the Giants could not break the defenders and eventually were forced to retreat after the loss of so many warriors, while the Dwarves had lost so few. The mountain defense strategy had paid off, the city was invulnerable to the Giants magic and forced them to attacked in one spot opening them up to crossbow and ballista fire which had decimated their ranks.
Unable to break the defenders the Giants settled into a long siege, unaware that the Dwarves had built underground farms and were self sufficient. While the diet of mushrooms and lichen were not glamorous it did mean they could simply outlast the besieging army. After 12 months, and a very harsh Nornil winter the Giants sued for peace and struck new trade deals very favorable to the Dwarves.

Architecture

Being an underground city has had a major impact on the architecture. The city is spread out across several large caverns and is made mostly of stone and brick. The cavern is a very static environment, once a smell, toxin, etc, is introduced it may take a long time to dissipate due to the lack of airflow. This has had a major impact on the city design with the Dwarves striving to create a balance to keep their lives comfortable. In order to keep the air clean there are no wood fires. Heat for industry (e.g. forges) is provided through natural gas, while food is often cooked using magical sources of heat.
Most surprisingly nearly every exposed building surface in the city is covered in either moss, lichen or mushrooms. This plant life is deliberately grown and cultivated. Its purpose is to provide the residents with food, and to help clean the air. This has given the city a most unexpected aesthetic, one that surprises all who visit the city.
Lack of space has always been a problem with buildings placed close together to maximse density. The city is peppered with lots of small alleys with a few larger, grandly adorned roads to allow larger carts to move through the city carrying goods. These roads are lit by an extensive series of lamps mounted along side them and are powered by magical means. These lights bathe the city in a soft light, creating a feeling of late afternoon.

Founding Date

500 BFM (Before The Forced Migration).

Alternative Name(s)

The buried fortress

Type

City

Population

~10k

Owning Organization

Nornhil

Related Historical Events

• 708
  Settlement of Val-Thorim