Underground Kingdom of the Children of Kharl
Wealthy, industrious, and even-keeled. Words that describe both the Khadra and the vast tunnels and caverns below the Rheuthengage Mountains that make up their nation. Incredible craftsmen, the have made their underground home one of spectacular beauty and grandeur.
Structure
The Great Khadric clans work together to lead the Khadric people. The Hall of Chiefs fills with a representative from each Clan, and five voting members of the Khadric church. High Clans receive two votes, while other clans each receive one vote on all matters. Any law passed by the Hall is considered the word of Khadra, unless contradicted by anther vote or a combined statement by the Clanchief and the High Priest of Kharl. A Clanchief is voted by general vote, all Khadra over the age of sixty may vote. The Clanchief serves as the political spokesperson for the Khadra and served until another election is called by the Hall. The Clanchief chooses nine advisors, traditionally each from different clans, to assist him with his duties. Each of these selections, along with other major decisions, must be ratified be ratified by the hall.
Politics interferes little in the lives of the Khadra. As a stoic people, few question the cast system, or any other aspect of the society in which they live. It often takes several weeks to find a volunteer to run for Clanchief. Laws are minimal, except in times of crisis, when the firm leadership of the Church takes over. Mostly, the Clanchief and their staff had diplomatic visits. As there is little foreign policy to direct in an isolationistic state, the position is mostly ceremonial.
Culture
Khadric society uses a Clan System. The Khadra divide clans by their placement within the mountain, with the lowest clans being the working class: the miners, smelters, craftsmen of tools, etc. The middle class is made up of both High and Low clans, these being the merchants, traders, and the brewers. The upper class consists of the High clans, the artisans, the weapon smiths, and the priests of Kharl. Naturally, the High clans hold the Low clans in less regard.
Khadra, both High and Low are required to spend ten years in active military service. There they learn to fight, basic smithy work, and a variety of tunnel fighting tactics. The best of the recruits remain with the military, and some even go on to the Khadric elite, the Kharlbhak. The Kharlbhak consists of the finest Khadric warriors and craftsmen . . . they are a true example of what it is to be Khadric.
History
The Khadra believe that they were created when Kharl, the shaper God, took a patch of stone, and molded it in his own image. He pleaded with the Old Ones to imbue his creations with life, to aid him with his duties. The Old Ones smiled on Kharl's creations and gave them life. As Kharl’s people flourished, he taught them his craft. When the Gods were banished from Tarien, Kharl left his people with one final gift; he filled the mountains with metals and gems and bade his children to unearth them and use them.
The Khadra worked hard and long, becoming both skilled miners and creative inventors. Their smiths combined coal with iron to smelt steel. Eventually, they even started using the precious metals that they unearthed as a medium of trade, becoming the first to use gold, platinum and silver as a medium of trade. Just about this time, courageous Khadra began digging upward in the mountain, and finally one of the tunnels reached the surface.
Upon seeing the sun for the first time, the great architect Khurn Stonewarden was struck with the idea for a great city built in the mountainside. A third of the Khadra followed him to the surface, and they assisted him in building his vision. In the year 2010 BC, the construction on city of Kharolin was begun. With the exception of a pause to fight back Orkish and Goblin invaders in 1951 BC, it did not cease until nearly two centuries later.
Those who followed Khurn to the surface established their homes in the city. There they abandoned mining and focused all of their attention on crafts. During this, the Khadric Renaissance, some of the finest pieces of metal and stonework were created. The Khadra who remained below appreciated the ideals of their brethren and supplied them raw materials to perfect their crafts. While many craftsmen remained below, they never garnered as much public respect as their high mountain brothers. This was the beginning of the Clan System of the Khadric.
In the years that followed some Khadra chose to travel the surface world that they had discovered and eventually met the other major races of Tarien. They brought the idea of currency to the outer world and began trading their wares with them.
About fifty years after their first meeting, the Khadra and the Soulmeliti engaged in an exclusive trade agreement. By the start of the Soulmeliti’s holy war against the Elynthi, the agreement also included an exchange of troops. Nevertheless, as the war progressed, the situation at home worsened. The Orkish Horde had established a foothold in the Dreuthekon Mountains, and the aiding Khadra were forced to fall back to their homeland to defend the city, leaving the Soulmeliti vulnerable. The war with the Orks continued for nine long years until the death of Grat the Undefeatable, which splintered the Orkish clans.
The Khadra continued to lead their isolated lives until around 1700 BC when the Soulmeliti showed their true nature and turned on their Khadric allies. The Soulmeliti allied with the Orks in the north and laid siege to the city of Kharolin. The Khadric defended the city for almost five years as the Low Clans tunneled east, beneath the Gulf of Kharl and into the Rhuethengage Mountains. The Khadra fall back into the tunnels, with warriors from both the Low and High clans covering their retreat with weapons made from the newly discovered alloy mithril. As the Khadra retreat, they systematically destroyed all the tunnels leading east, cutting off any pursuit. The Khadra then began to build a new place to call home, New Kharolin, which would be completed twenty years later.
Even before the completion of their new home, explores from the Kingdom found several excellent deposits of both precious and trade metals to explore. The first of these, found in 1634 BC to the south, named Torgar, became an important source of mithril for the newly relocated Kingdom. The mine increased in importance a century later, when Adamantine was discovered. Stronger and lighter than even Mithril, though much more difficult to work, Khadric masters began to create weapons with the metal for elite warriors who vowed to never allow New Kharolin to suffer the same fate as their old home. Unfortunately, the supply of Adamantine was cut off a scant two decades after its discover with the sealing of Torgar. The Kingdom immediately secured their supply of the metal in a strategic reserve, forbidding its use with or trade to the outside world. To this day, no other source has been found, making it the rarest material for forging on Tarien.
They forbid After the completion of New Kharolin came the second Khadric Renaissance. Khadric culture flourish as craftsmen spend decades perfecting their arts. It is during this time, that the practice of a masterwork – a single object or work created by a master as a representation of his or her craft – came into being. This concept lead to several amazing discoveries.
The first came in the 1400’s when several scribes and smiths worked together to create movable, carved blocks of steel runes upon which a Khadra add ink and impress the runes upon papyrus. This discovery, which allowed the Khadra create multiple copies of the same notice, was soon used by the Church of Kharl who requested a set of blocks for the several holy texts to be made from the Adamantine reserve, creating a press that would be able to spread the word of Kharl for millennia.
Other Kharda expanded their studies beyond traditional pursuits. Shortly after the invention of the press, a Clanchief named Dherrick the Wise One penned the first book of Khadric philosophy, Stone Thoughts. This seminal work is, to date, the most printed book in New Kharolin. Another brave Khadra found a way to attract hornets, so that they would nest in specific caves. He constructed these nests in such a way that he could harvest their nectar, making honey widely available in New Kharolin. Shortly thereafter, Theatric Barley, a master brewer, began to uses this honey as base in his ales, creating Tarien’s first mead.
Khadra had their first close contacts with Dharjans in the middle of the 12th century, BC, when Kheldon the Great visited New Kharolin. Clan Chief Cloetin the Questful was so impressed with the spiritual balance of Kheldon that he even allowed his brewers to share the secret of mead with the man. Later, when Kheldon formed the Drakshal Monks, the Kingdom sent a detachment of engineers to aid in the construction of the monastery. They maintain a close relationship with the Order to this day.
The discovery of Mithirl near the mouth of the Mothkarin River, in the northwestern Rhuethengage Mountains, lead to the first town, Norhalrin, in the Kingdom outside of New Kharolin. With the first veins found in 1105 BC, the town grew quickly. Other mines in the area, containing iron, nickel, and even diamonds helped it grow quickly. Unlike New Khorolin, which was with a fotress-like mentality, Khadric stonecrafters built Norharlin to blend into the hillsides, as much art as architecture.
Their location, and experience with other nations, have certainly impacted the history of Khardric relations with outsiders. Several times, Soulmeliti diplomats have been rebuffed and denied access, including requests to lease the Khadric print press and overtures of peace as far back as 956 BC. Finally, in 169 BC, diplomates from both nations agreed to act of forgiveness known as Mending Matters.
It was not until around 650 BC that Clanchief Marjick Farsighted elected to send traders to the new human community around Lake Galen. It turned out to be a fortunate decision as Galencia hungered for Khadric craft goods, especially mead, and soon fell into a deep debt with the Underground Kingdom. To repay their debts, King Raliph Markudar VI formed his own mining company, hiring Khadric engineers to lead the expedition. Soon more iron ore came into New Kharolin from Galencian mines than Khadric ones, allowing the Children of Kharl to focus on more lucrative mining activities or to shift their professions entirely to master craft work.
The Great War and Mage Wars both mostly ignored the Kingdom. While some Khadric forces reinforced the Soulmeliti during the former, the Khadra refused to participate in the “collective insanity of humanity” during the latter, cutting off trade with their longstanding friends in Galencia. After the embers of the Mage Wars finally died down, Khadric craftsmen and traders slowly returned Geyla, Geran, and a few even have ventured back to Eldoria.
Demography and Population
Within the Kingdom, 99% of all residents are Khadric. Of the Khadric residences, 99% belong to one of the greater High or Low Clans. The holds true whether in New Kharolin or one of the outlying settlements, like Norharlin or Minarik. It holds true, perhaps to a greater extent, in the dark tunnels the connect these settlements to each other and their many mines. The remaining residents are all either humans from Galencia or Nerrid and come from one of two groups – diplomats and apprentices. While many other nations have relations with the Kingdom, none have permanent ambassadors and Khardric masters will accept apprentices from no other lands.
One population that is never found in the Kingdom, are clanless Khadra. When a Khadra becomes clanless it is for one of two reasons: tragedy or shame. Those who become clanless by tragedy are often offered homes in other clans, rectifying their situation. Those who do not accept such offers always leave to wander Tarien, joining the shamed, who by law must never again return the lands of their god.
Territories
The Underground Kingdom of Kharl lies within the Rhuethengage Mountains, just north and east of Galencia. The mountain capital of New Kharolin has tunnels beneath it reaching far out in all directions (including down) and the entire race lives beneath it. Little is known for sure about the extent of these tunnels, but it is rumored that they extend all the way south to Minarik to the south and Norhalrin to the north, as well as to other smaller communities and mines.
The landscape above ground, while of less interest to the Khadra, is spectacular. With steep cliffs, snow capped mountains, and deep gulches, the terrain is impassable much of the year. Few, other than the occasional Drakshal monk, has ever sought an overland route to through the Kingdom. Most travel via the tunnel system, picking up the entrance in the south, near the Trans-Rheuthengage Highway. The entrance, however is well hidden and its location a tightly guarded secret. Visitors are required by law to be blindfolded for the journey from the highway to the entrance and reports from those who have visited describe a harrowing mule ride in the dark for anywhere from two to five days before regaining their sight.
Religion
All Khadra revere Kharl as their creator and protector. Kharl is the mountain, and the mountain is the Khadric. Kharl is the patron of the smithies and the lord of the forge. The Khadra also recognize several of the human deities, though typically save their worship for Kharl. They recognize Anderi as the Lord of Light; the giver of the rays that struck the first Khadric head as it left the earth to see the sun.
The Church of Kharl focuses upon the everyday lives of their flock. They help the poor, ease the sick, and bless them all. The Church also involves itself in government, if only on a small level. Although the church has political power far greater than a single clan, their rarely exercise their rights unless prompted by their god.
Foreign Relations
Khadric foreign relations can be divided into three categories and while they do not translate well from Khadric, may be described as distanced formality, close relations, and disdain. Each nation-state must, by law, fall within these categories. When new nations began forming in Azermathia, they immediately fell outside of the diplomatic categories, which threw the Khadric court into a flurry of activity, sending envoys south in great numbers to rectify the situation with all due haste.
Most nations in Tarien fall into the category of diplomatic formality. With the nations, the Kingdom has formal agreements to do no harm, freely allow the travel of citizens between the two states, allow trade to be conducted, and extradite citizens. No promise of aid exists and for the most part, these nations are rarely considered in day-to-day Khadric life. Beyond conversations with the occasional merchant for limited trade, it is almost as if they do not exist in the mind of the Kingdom.
Two nations, however, share much more with the Khadra: Galencia and the Nerrid Alliance. With both of these nations, the Kingdom has agreements assuring mutual defense, favored trade status, and laws governing dual citizenship. This status grew out of need to codify the relations between Galencians and Humans as trade, and then mining expertise, was shared between the kingdoms. The history behind this relations is so old that, despite Khardic reservations, Even in the depths of the Mage Wars, Galencia retained this status.
The relationship with the Nerrid Alliance is much more complicated. Originally categorized as distanced formality, Nerrid merchants have lived within the Kingdom for centuries. And while many Khadra find their cousins from the west hasty and at times frivolous, they respect their depth of knowledge and talent for invention, making the relationship profitable. After the Great War, in an exchange of letters – the Khadric being a single page and the Nerrid a short novel, the two nations agreed to both defend each other mutually and, more importantly, allow the exchange of apprentices.
The last category, that of disdain, is reserved for but two nations: the Ork Hills, with whom the Khadra have warred for millennia and with whom no Kharl-serving soul would ever consider peace, and the Kyushu Horde. It was with great regret that the Clanchief added the Horde to the list, mere centuries after finally removing the Soulmeliti Forests, but after three envoys were slain attempting to establish formal relations, she had no choice. By law, no Khadra may fraternize with, trade with, or assist a citizen of a disdained nation. In practice, they are generally attacked on sight.
Agriculture & Industry
Very little grows in the Kingdom, at least above ground. Some fields of winter wheat and barley grow in the valleys around Khadric settlements, but most of their agriculture focuses on potatoes, turnips, and other tubers that can grow in short seasons. Their most important food, the fast growing Jardine mushrooms, are cultivated in vast, underground farms where no light is needed to sustain them. Combined with flocks of mountain sheep and underground hunting parties for giant moles (a Khadric delicacy), their diet is very much one of meat and potatoes.
They are, however, an industrious Kingdom. Khadric craftsmen produce the finest weapons, armor, tools, barrels, stonework, and other artisan goods on Tarien. Each High Clan Khadra, once he finds his passion, seeks to perfect it with decades of study and practice. A Khardic built chair will last centuries.
Low Clans seek the same level of perfection but focus instead on the arts of mining and engineering. They mine mostly precious metals such as gold and mithril, and valuable gemstones. Iron, though prevalent in the Kingdom, is generally imported from Galencia.
Trade & Transport
Trade with the Khadra is invariably conducted outside of the Kingdom. Few have the privilege of travelling to New Kharolin via the extensive tunnel system. Fewer still have an appetite to try. As a result, Khadric traders, mostly in Galencia, though more recently in New Solarin, Grennig, Drythe, and even Karradone, can be found abroad. They travel over land as much as possible, preferring sturdy, mule drawn wagons and their own guards, much to the disappointment of the Mercenaries’ Guild.
Khadric typically trade jewelry, tools, mead and other high quality artisan goods with the outside world. They reserve trade in essentials - food and ore – for their partners in Galencia. Much barley, wheat, and tobacco comes into the Kingdom from this partner, allowing them to enjoy a much broader variety of foods than they had in the years before the trade agreement.
We understand that trade with the world above holds many advantages. We examined the issue, however, from all sides. Based upon our findings, and the recommendations of Kharl, we will remain neutral in all conflicts, self-sufficient in all materials, and isolated in our manufactured goods.
The Hall of Chiefs, New Kharolin
Maps
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The Underground Kingdom of the Children of Kharl
Master Work
Hammer strikes metal. Metal strikes anvil. The Anvil rests on the stone. The stone is the mountain. The mountain is the Khadra. We live in the stone, we shape it. We are the stone". As Barok Ironsides finished the ritual verse, he lifted the axe for his master’s inspection.
As the echoes of metal on metal died away, the Hall of the Masters’ Forge was engulfed in silence. The whispers in the onlookers’ gallery fell silent as well. Over one hundred and fifty High Clan nobles had attended this great ceremony; the induction of a warrior-craftsman into the ranks of the Kharlbhak.
Master Dharrl examined the weapon for several long minutes, turning it over; feeling its balance; testing its edge. After a long while he spoke, "What do you call this blade that you have created from the rock?"
Barok almost smiled as he spoke, "I give it the name 'StoneReaver.'"
The master smiled as he lifted StoneReaver to display it to the assembled crowd. "Barok Ironsides has crafted a Masters Work. I hereby pledge him to service. May StoneReaver defend and protect his brothers and bring doom to his enemies!"
The rest of the speech that followed was lost in the cheers of the crowd.
Founding Date
2010 BC
Type
Geopolitical, Kingdom
Capital
Training Level
Professional
Veterancy Level
Veteran
Demonym
Khadra
Head of State
Government System
Monarchy, Elective
Power Structure
Feudal state
Economic System
Market economy
Deities
Location
Official Languages
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Manufactured Items
Notable Members
Related Species
Magic in the Underground Kingdom
Arcane magic does not hold the same awe nor does it inspire the same terror Khadra that it does in humans. With longer lives and a broader, more even temper, Khadra better understand that any skill worth mastering is neither good, nor evil. It is the beard that guides the tool that determines its morality.
Similarly, the Khadra are not quick to pass judgement on human states that forbid the arcane. While the Underground Kingdom is one of law – and one where such a prohibition would never have been enacted – they understand that each situation is different and respect the laws of other lands. Unlike citizens of the Soulmeliti Forests most Kharda would never protest anti-mage laws in human lands. And they would certainly never flaunt or skirt the laws like a Nerrid.
Still, the art of the arcane is raw in the Underground Kingdom. Khadra are, by nature, a tactile people. While mastering a craft is an important part of any citizen’s life and contribution to society, most find satisfaction in mastering a craft that requires strength or skill. Those few citizens that do elect to study the arcane often work diligently, yet cautiously. The lack of mentors and their sense of caution often leads to great skill in less magics but hampers their ability to master the depths of their art.
Mothkarin River, Near New Kharolin
Midnight Gold
Since its discovery in the cursed mines of Torgar, nothing is more valuable than the flat black, almost light absorbing, Adamantine. Indeed, the metal is so rare that the entire stock of ore taken from Torgar, that had not already been used, was placed in the Royal Reserve shortly after the mines were closed. Unfortunately, for the Khadra, no other deposits of the unusual metal have been found within the Kingdom. Fortunately, during its two decades of Adamantine mining, Torgar was fruitful. Enough of the metal was mined to forge masterwork tools, required to effectively work the metal. It was during this time, before the Khadra comprehended the scarcity of the metal, that most Adamantine objects were crafted. This includes tools used by the most masterful Khadric craftsmen, the dark armor and weapons of the famed Karlsbahk, and even a few, now seemingly frivolous items such as a chess set and even a squadron of toy Khadric soldiers.
The Kingdom even used the metal as a form of currency during time, trading a few Adamantine weapons and dinnerware sets with outsiders as well as forging the same, thousand or so Adamantine bars that are still in circulation today. A single trade bar, which is actually made of gold with a paper-thin veneer of Adamantine, weighs only a fraction of a 100 piece gold trade bar and is a quarter of the size. This portability made the notion of using the metal as currency appealing at the time and its durability has kept hem in circulation, though most now live in the Imperial Reserve of Eldoria and Royal Bank of Galencia.
Since the closing of Torgar, the Kingdom’s clan chiefs’ have rarely agreed to dip into their own reserves. In fact, only two instances have been made publicly available, the creation of the printing press for the word of Kharl, a millennia old press that still functions today, and to reinforce the gates to Lower New Kharolin during the Great War.
Other than the absurdly short-lived Adamantine rush in Logan, a small boomtown in Azermathia, no other sources of Adamantine have been found on Tarien. This small rush whetted the appetite for the exotic metal to the rest of Tarien and, although the yield was meager, it was enough to nearly quadruple the amount in circulation. The process of smelting and working the metal has proven beyond the skill of most smiths and much of the metal has made its way to Khadric masters who, by Kingdom law, will work the metal into any form a customer wishes, charging an equal amount of Adamantine that must be returned to the Kingdom’s reserves. These smiths are richly rewarded by Kingdom and the arrangement has resulted in a both influx of Adamantine to the reserves and a rapidly dwindling supply of unprocessed ore on the market.
The discovery in Logan, however, has given the Kingdom new hope that other veins of Adamantine exist in southern Tarien. Several expeditions have been funded, both by the Kingdom as well as by Azermathian powers such as Warwick and Drakkar. In fact, one Drakkarian delegation, exploring a range of mountains in the far south went so far as naming them the Adamantine Mountains before the expedition even began, in hopes of somehow influencing the fate of their expedition. No one knows for sure if their bold move had any effect on their fate, though if it did, it was surely not as intended. They were never heard from again.
Entrance to Mithril Mine, Near Minarick
Blindfolded and tied to the saddle, I bounced along in the darkness for three days, the cold wind biting at my nose and certain that I was about to tumble over the side of a cliff. When they took the blindfold off, I bounced along in the darkness of the tunnels for another six, never sure if the blackness to the sides was wall or Abyss.