The Sons of Thordrindal
Structure
At its most basic, dwarven society begins with the Hearth. The Hearth is an extended family that typically lives close together, with it being expected for members of the Hearth to honor its name and bring fame to it, or simply admire the contiuation of hard honest work. Above the Hearth is the clan, typically being the vast majority of dwarven members living in a hold. For some of the bigger holds, its common for several clans to exist within the mountain home. Guilds then play an important part in dwarven hold economy, and labour as they help represent the intrests of workers and other labourers. The most prestigious position however is the Royal Clan. Every hold has a royal clan, and the royal clan is made up of members that can directly trace their ancestry to some of the first generations of dwarves, mainly the dwarven ancestors spirts. Only those descend from this line may rule the dwarf hold as King or Queen. Then, there is the high king, the one seen as leade rof all Dwarves, and ruler of his hold.
Culture
The Birth Holds may have fallen, but in truth the culture of the Dwarven people has changed little. This is due in large part to the traditional nature of ther kind. that and their stubborn nature. THis is not to say that they are stuck in the past, and refuse to ever change, in fact alot has changed with technology and other fields since the disaster. This is more just that they find it more comfortable having structure, order, and familiar things to keep a sense of stability in their lives. This is why meeting humans espically can be make a Thordin Dwarf's head spin with how fast the less long lived races can change. This is in part due to their obsessive, almost primal need to craft things, stemming in large part from their all father ancestor spirt, Thordrindal, and how he crafted the first Dwarves. This coupled with the stories of shared ancestry or at least history with dragons means that its no wonder Dwarves love to craft and to horde gold and beautiful things.
That is one thing Dwarves seem to love above all, beauty. The reason they make such master crafted items is because they like beautiful things, and in turn wish to make beautiful things. They wish to take raw materials and turn them into something new and pretty, which is why alot of armor, clothing, and architecture is heavily designed with symbols and inscriptions upon every item. For this reason, craftsman look at the items they make with the same reverance one might hold a child with, and each item is seen as an expression of the maker. Its no surprise then that Dwarves are a relentless people, maybe not to the same degree as the shorter lived races but its said Dwarves hardly take breaks. Labour and work is a thing to be respected, and again brings a since of structure to their lives. This structure is needed now more than ever with how fragmented and scatterted the Dwarven people are. This relentlessness also helps in the developing of their technology, with Dwarven technology being some of the most advanced in the modern world. Automatons, flying zepplins, and other such marvels are made and built in these lands, with automatons (or warforged) being more common ever since the Birth Holds fell to bolster their ranks.
To live in the Thordrin Holds is to live a life clinging to hope. Hope is what keeps the flame of the Dwarven people alive, as no one else will look out for them. While they may at times trade and bargin with outsiders, at the end of the day they cannot trust anyone but themselves fully. Even as it seems like the world itself moves against the Dwarves, they must keep faith to the hope that one day they will return to their Birth Holds, and reclaim their birthright as a mighty empire. For this reason the Dwarves embrace one another like kin, even if there is no family relation. This makes it confusing to how unfreindly life outside the hold can be with mortal villages seemingly not knowing anyone save a few people. This is in contrast to the holds, where the dwarves seemingly know just about everyone in their immediate area, and all the important people to know in the hold for a variety of reasons. This is the main reason the holds are commonly reffered to as Rocky Islands admist seas of darkness, and why many Dwarves do not like leaving the holds. Many still do mind you, either being exiles wanting to travel the lands, scouts, or young adventuerers wishing to explore. Their holds are not as numerous as they once were, and are very spread out across Nilush, dotting the occasional mountains. None as nearly as big as the Birth Holds, and some are quite small, but no less warm and cozy on the inside. However make no mistake that Dwarves are capable of rage and fury when they need to, and would rather fight to the very last than give an inch of ground into their homes, for every Dwarf warrior fights with the love of the hearth in their hearts. They are still a martial people, and honor means all to them. If one is dishonored or dishonors themselves, they will typically swear upon the Deathlesss Oath to redeem themselves by dying gloriously in fire and war. They tkae a mark such as a tatoo or brand, or even the notorious mowhawk the Deathless wear to show their eagerness to die a glorious death. It is for this reason that one knows that oaths sworn by Dwarves are not broken lightly, and that to go back on a promise made to a Dwarf is an easy way to invite a grudge that will be held for thousands of years if need be.
History
Few things can truly spook a dwarven soul, but that night of horror as the birth holds fell put terror in dwarven hearts. Of course, the great argument didn't help much, as the dwarven people became divded like they had never before with some wishing to leave for the skies of the elemental planes, and others wishing to stay and rebuild and recapture. High King Gilmaeth Thunderthane was adamant on staying within the realm of their birth, supposedly locking himself away before the meeting to both rage and mourn the horror they had just witnessed. This proved wise as he could calm his thoughts and consider his plan going forward, though he couldn't anticipate Trelgrun Skylover from wishing to warp to other planes of reality. Some accounts say that when Trelgrun Skylover laid out his plan, and half the dwarven lords agreed, High King Gilmaeth was roused into the most violent rage imaginable, and it took several of his personal throng to calm him. However, in truth, Gilmaeth is repotred to have only looked on in sorrow as Trelgrun wished to break from the holds, with anger yes but more that the anger of a disappointed and ashamed father. Reportedly this affected Trelgrun for the rest of his life, being "the most haunting moment of my life".
For those that wished to remain, they were dropped off and some of the lesser holds, with the material rescured from the Birth holds to build more, and all looked to Gilmaeth for orders. So it was that Gilmaeth, seeing the sunrise of early morning suddenly awaken with newfound strength, stand proudly high, and utter his first command: "My kin, my clan-mates, my fellow warriors in arms, the dwarven people have long since been hurt and cast down by the world. Whatever angry god exists above, below, and beyond wishes to see us brought into despair, into shells of what we once were. No i say! I refuse the destiny laid out by devils, and instead look to our ancestors, to Thordrindal, and I instead choose to continue to live as a dwarf! We are the makers of beauty in this world, the builders of the grandest homes the world has ever seen, and though we have lost the holds of ourt births, we must look to the future. We shall take them back, on my beard and every oath in existance I swear it one day, but we must rebuild, for even the mightest empire starts from the smallest stone. We must let rage, and fury for the wrongs of the past give us the strength we need in battle, but remember the happiness of your hearth and ale, for if we lose sight of that beauty, than we have lost as a people. So rise, Sons and Daughters of Thordrindal! Rise and get to work, for we shall outlast the world!"
So it was that the Sons of Thordrindal were born, or the Thordin Holds for short. They got to work laying down structure and stone for their mountain holds, either further expanding the smaller holds scatterted around the continenet of Nilush, or seeking out new mountains to build in. The work has been tireless, and brutal, but no less beautiful. Since than, the current High King, one Zathron Cliffdigger, has increased skirmishes and battles with the Goblin Bandit Kingdoms, eager to test the defenses of the endless hordes of greenskins and to take back the holds. However, even though many holds come under constant siege from all manner of monsters and greed fueld men, the dwarves yet still desperatly cling to the one flame that has kept them alive all this time.
They yet still cling to that warm flicker of hope
Demography and Population
Due to being built for them, and the general defensive nature of Dwarves, the only real people living in the holds are Dwarves or their automaton kin.
Territories
The holds are scatterted across many mountains of Nilush, not nearly as numerous as they once were. Some holds exist on the outskirts of Ashenfeld, Neundorf, Vebastonne, Ustaria, Aldinnheimr, Ardita, and even Carall.
Technological Level
Dwarves are perhaps the most advanced society in the world. None can argue this save for maybe the Elves of Iadith. Nothing shows Dwarven technological progress more than their automatons. They have both the golems and the warforged, who have become a fairly large part of their society. These are not mindless robots like some other golems, for those are not proper golems. These golems and warforged are built to house life itself, for they build the bodies and then use a ritual for the Ancestor Gods to gently breathe new life into these bodies to awaken them. It is rumored they learned this method from what little they could scavenge and learn from the Eternity Throne oh so long ago. These automatons are considered kin to the Dwarves, and they are embraced as if they were flesh and blood, with many forming incredibly deep bonds and friendships with these figures of steel instead of flesh. These automatons help in labor and in war, and even live their lives like any other might. They do not tend to leave the holds too much, finding it more safe from bigots and ignorant, hateful people than the outside world.
Foreign Relations
The Thordrin Holds typically wish to keep to themselves, only getting involved with outside politics for trade and barter. Very rarely will they declare war on an outside power unless they feel threatened or are actively being targeted by them. Of course, the exception is the Goblins of the Goblin Bandit Kingdoms, for they have long since vowed to show no quarter to them for what they have done in the past to the Dwarven race.
"Axes of the Dwarves!"
Founding Date
3900EC
Type
Geopolitical, Kingdom
Alternative Names
The Thordin Holds
Demonym
Thordin
Government System
Monarchy, Absolute
Legislative Body
The Council of Ancient Decrees helps to keep the law as the Ancestor Spirits saw fit.
Official State Religion
Official Languages
Notable Members
Related Species
