Thaner Roads

"Find a shortcut, or make one."

The Children of Aktar are rich in mineral wealth, and the Thaner dwarves have made many advances towards conquering the difficulties of living among the high peaks. Leveling the slopes and moving the earth to farm, aqueducts to carry water, and underground fungus farms allow the Thaners to subsist. However, while terrace farms, mushrooms and aqueducts allow the Thaners to live, it is the roads which have enabled them to thrive.
The Thaner Roads consist of pathways carved into the mountains, underground tunnels to cut through high peaks, barge stations whereever there is a convenient stream, and even mechanical counterweight lifts that allow the Thaners to move heavy loads up and down sheer cliffs. Though ingenious in many ways, the Thaner Roads represent less innovation than they do the coordination and sheer bloody-mindedness of the Thaner. Despite the historical rivalries between Deim't and Agbith, the networks are connected both to neighboring realms and to the world beyond the mountains.
This however is in the past. As the dragon Inkrimane has claimed the mountains and cast away the road builders, the network has fallen into disrepair. Though the Dragonthralls continue to make use of the roads, they do not build upon it or maintain what was there, and in particular the lifts are largely unusable today. The small section of the network that extends into the Gafhi is likewise in a poor state, as the Ras Gafhi can afford to fund little but war against the dragon.

Social Impact

In its day, the Thaner Roads were the foremost public works of the Thaner kingdoms, owned by the crown and accessible to all. Even the lifts, despite requiring operators on standby at all times were generally free to use. The Thaners took pride in having conquered the highest peaks of the continent and making them accessible and traversable.
The Thaner Roads enabled communication and trade, and made the kingdoms of Agbith and Deim't possible. The wealth and power of the Thaner kingdoms was founded on the roads, allowing them to move materials and men through the hardest land in the continent. Without the roads, all the iron and gold of the Children of Aktar would remain in the ground, and the peoples of the mountains would remain scattered.