"Our beautiful home, ours that was taken. To feel the earth beneith my feet as I walk on fabled ground."
Demographics
90% Gnomes
<1% Goblinoids
8% Humans
Varience 3%
Government
The Government of the Empire may have the Moniker of Empire, however, there is no Emperor. The Entire Goverment is Built around a Theocratic Oligarcy of the Highest ranks Priests of the Seven Mountains and the Eternal Watchers.
Defences
The mountains themselves serve as an impregnible barrier to nigh on all invaders from the core of the island. While the Dwarves have a penchant for harrassing the Alpine Rise in the defiance against the Empire, they find it extremely difficult to gain access to the interior of the island.
The Island features the largest armada in the Federation with nearly 2000 vessels to their name. Some old, some modern, all of them heaviy armored and bristling with weaponry both arcane and mundane. Their fortresses lie high on peaks of ridges and smaller mountians that overlook the mist filled valleys.
The Spire itself is almost entirely undefended as the Gnomes that call the City home have the utmost confindence in their security of The Core. The mountians and the gods that watch over them, have never failed to protect their borders.
Industry & Trade
The Ilse predominatley is an export nation. Being a Island, their shipping fleet is immense. Their most frequented rout is Galus Route. Where they trade in stone, building material, exotic spices native to Mhuzelt, and the vessels themselves.
Districts
The land is divided in three distinct regions that roughly form the shape of rings. Each ring of Mhuzelt is of very different ecosystem and climate.
The Alpine Rise
The outer ring known to both the Gnomes and Dwarves is The Alpine rise. It is a very apt name as the outer ring is an alpine region that juts up suddenly from the seas surrounding it. With sparce pine forests, gushing streams and waterfalls from the melting glaciers and ice packs from the middle ring.
Though a few notable differences in the outer ring need to be addressed. There is the Southern Rise which is a gentle sloping hillscape that meets the sea and is the easiest access to Mhuzelt. It has a home port on the mainland known as Split Rock that sees a massive industry of ferries that take passengers to and from the Southern Rise and the Mainland continent. Then there is the other Hillscape on the North East side of the continent known as the Neckbreakers Refuge.
The refuge gained this name after the local goblinoid tribe that calls the region home. As far as the Gnomes and Dwarves are concerned, they are part of the landscape and have always been there, in recorded history at least. This region boasts the same landscape as the Southern Rise, though the rough seas merge waters in a rough crash against the cold sea current from the north, makes this landing effectively impossible to build any port.
Fjallen
The Second ring of the Island is called Fjallen, or the barrens in common. This ring is composed entirely of high craggy mountains that many of the summits cannot be seen past the dense cloud layer. The region is known for its unscalable cliff faces that protrude at odd angles and precarious points. This mountain range was formed during the event known as The Hammer fall , the natives of the region call this event Stjernenes hammerslag. This entire mountain region is new, slightly more than a thousand years old.
The Hammer Fall is not home to anything except the odd dragon, mountain goats, Ibex, and a few juniper forests on the rock surfaces below the cloudlayer. There have been an increasing number of predators coming from the mainland however. Frequently there have been more and more sightings of cold weather condors and large eagles, apparently taking in the bounty of game available to them with little competition.
The middle ring is an inhospitable region that many Gnomes and Dwarves avoid. Settlements have sprung up in ages past, however, the frequent earthquakes and rockslides make settling the inner ring a daunting task. In notable fashion though, the middle ring is home to six of the tallest mountains on the planet. All six are sacred to the natives of the Isle, and are known collectively as the Krone, or crown in common. Their names are as follows: Bjornholt to southeast, Hjinderkeit to the south, Skald to the southwest, Halgierkeit to the Northwest, Dronnigen to the North, and finally Atlas to the Northeast.
The six mountains are arranged in an almost perfect circle around the middle core of the Isle, this is suspected because of the creation event for the core. The core of the island is the seat of the Gnomish Empire that took the same name as the Isle itself. The Mhuzelti City built around the large rock formation in the middle of the Isle is known as the Spire or in Gnomish, Spiret, in Dwarvish the Spire is known as Høydepunktet, or the Pinnacle.
The Core
The core is predominantly a large lake that could in all rights be called a fresh water sea. The shores of the Ilinethi Sea are surrounded by fertile soil and vast farmland and cedar forests climbing the mountain sides. The region despite being sounded by icy mountains having no real outside weather patterns is a mediterranean climate. The massive island in the middle of the lake also boasts the same fertile soil though it does not have any native forest of its own. The Island is home to the Mhuzelti City: The Spire.
The core has all weather patterns dictated by the large gap in the mountains from the south. This gap allows the air to swirl around inside the core as the air current comes from the Continental mainland from the Glaion region, and thus is a warm humid jetstream. This allows the region's core to stay at a comfortable temperature at all times of the year. The lake is also a source of heat as the bottom of the lake surrounding the City itself is volcanically active with hot springs and exposed lava flows. The core of the island is truly graced by the gods' favor.
Guilds and Factions
A famous unit in the nomadic states of the Dwarves is simply known as the Mhuzulti Company. This wandering band of mercenaries and heavy infantry has been wandering the continent for generations. The band itself has had many notable figures throughout the years, but the current rendition of the band has a core group of Dwarves that act as the governing body for the entire wandering state. Halgier the Warlord, Gherdahl the Commander of the front, Gjorn the Bluejay, and Jhor the All seeing.
Halgier earned his name by being one of the most aggressive in taking back the Ilse of Mhuzelt from the Gnomes. While all six of his attempts have failed, with his small numbers he is always able to inflict massive casualties to the Gnomish empire. Notably at the Siege of Spire Hjinderkeit, his unit of 200 lost only one fighter and the Empire had taken a loss of nearly 6000. This was mainly due to the Mhuzulti Company taking up a fortified position where they collapsed part of a mountain side and cut off the Empire's supply chain while whittling down the now trapped force between a literal rock and a hard place. His exploits have earned him a death sentence if he ever sets foot on Mhuzelt again, and has led to many advances made to him by both the Federation and the Caliphate. To date his vanguard of troops has taken nearly 30000 Gnomish soldiers to The Shores Beyond.
Gherdahl the Commander of the front made his name known by leading an unprecedented puncture in the Caliphate Forces during the war between the Federation and the Caliphate. He had led a cavalry charge directly into a fortified front. The Caliphate had not expected such an obvious maneuver, and had not been able to react in time before Gherdahl and his cavalry charge had broken the front line and executed the commander. The Huronian Forces rushed in to fill the void behind the charge and decimated the army that had been encamped just outside the Slash for over two years. Gherdahls charge had shifted the course of the war in the Federations favor. This also inadvertently led to the Huronian forces being able to allow instigators to follow the retreating army and spread disinformation throughout the Caliphate.
Gjorn the Bluejay, is one of the few Dwarves with an affinity to A Domain of Air. Anything pertaining to sound, Gjorn is able to manipulate. He had knocked a gate house down by strumming a lute softly, but matched the stones frequency so that the mortar holding the stones together crumbled away. He had also been able to enthrall a dragon by singing the beast to sleep, that same dragon is still sleeping since the event took place nearly 15 years ago. Some speculate that the beast may never wake, though this isn’t exactly an issue, as the serpent had been terrorizing the mountainside residents for years. He is given great caution in any royal court, and not typically allowed to speak by both Gherdalh and Halgier as they don’t want the court to suspect Gjorn of influencing decisions by using his magic.
He is widely known throughout most of the continent. The Bluejay evokes many different reactions throughout the cultures he interacts with, for example; in the Caliphate he is known as The End Song. This is mostly due to his propensity to hum songs while fighting, apparently just loud enough to tell he is doing so over the din of battle. But, the most important thing about the Caliphate aspect of him, is that they are terrified of him. He has casually strolled through battlefields, weaving his magic into his songs to calm entire companies, or to route battalions with mass hysteria. His voice is his weapon, he was fond of turning armies on themselves. Within the Caliphate he is treated with the highest level of caution and misgiving. His command as one of the Four kings also gives him all the same rights as any actual king that walks through foreign lands.
He has a few pieces of history about him that not even the three other kings can explain, despite being very familiar with the figure. The first being as they know he didn’t used to have such power. He was born an ordinary Dwarf with no exceptional talent for magic, only a propensity for music. In his early twenties he had disappeared from the Company for a few years, and returned with an immeasurable talent for tonal magics. He claims to have been bound to an ancient power to not speak of it. All he lets on is that he was given the power “with a promise to beckon an unknown call at an unknown time from an unknown entity.” He usually says the exact same statement with a smirk.
One of the other things that the three other kings can’t explain is where exactly he came from. They always seem to have a vague memory of the Bluejay being born on Mhuzelt, but never remembering who or where his parents were. As a side note, he is also known as the Doom Beat on Mhuzelt for many of the same reasons as the Caliphate does. He has been an instrument of war for many of the Mhuzelti Company’s long history.
The last thing that isn’t widely known or even has a clear explanation to anyone except the Bluejay, is that no one knows where he goes when he disappears occasionally. Some think he is wandering different branches of the Great Tree, some think he slips away in time. Though with his ability for tonal magic, this doesn’t quite seem to fit. Though if you ask the Bluejay, he will tell you that “Sound plays a unique role in our world. The tree was created with the words of the gods, words sung in lovely hymns to their creations. Do not think that magic is so well separated as we mere mortals would like to think.” He has been questioned many times about this statement, but refuses to elaborate with any meaningful answer.
The sheer amount of speculation made about the Bluejay is staggering. Though in recent times he has been seen confiding in more than a few notable figures. The God's Eye Odeza, Baron of Glaion Lucas Berthelot, Ilgor of the Skullbrood Clan, and The Warlord Halgier. All four of which are quite tight lipped about their conversations with the enigmatic king.
There has been much speculation on the actual nature of Gjorn’s magic as well. Many questions emerge as to how can do the things he does. He has been seen knocking down mountain sides with sound alone. Though notably, not with the strength of the sound, for his songs are never actually loud. He has been seen calming storm clad seas, enthralling armies of living subjects. He has been seen conversing with spirits, and going toe to toe with opponents utilizing Archon Stones. (though this has spawned much more speculation, as he becomes irreparably enraged when his opponents do this. He has been documented to be furious for weeks after he has beaten these casters. Though has never given a reason beyond “The blood of the fallen” in his own words.)
History
The Hammer Fall is an event that has been contested over the years as to the how’s and why’s, though a few things are certainties. The first is the race known as the Dwarves were created in this event. The Dwarves themselves are a variant of Gnome that are more solid in build, taller, and have a suspicious resistance to fire, heat, and abrasion. Beyond that they do not share their Gnomish origins skin color as well, they are light skinned, and pale.
The second certainty is that the event caused the middle spire to form, the rebounding rock formed the basin that the lake now sits in, and the Fjellen was created in a shockwave that pushed the continental plate upward. The Gnomes and Dwarves share the same story of the event. There was great civil war between two competing tribes of Gnomes, the fighting ceaseless, the bloodshed endless. The tragedy of brothers at eachothers throats, knives drawn. The gods themselves had enough of this war and to break the siege between the two, the gods threw a great hammer down and fell on the island. Changing the fates of the two tribes, one burned, one grew ashen. Thus paraphrasing immensely for this story, the Gnomes as we know them today were made, and the new race of Dwarves were made as well.
Though this really didn’t stop the fighting in a conventional sense, the Dwarves were exiled from Mhuzelt by the gods and now roam the mainland continent as nomadic tribes. The Dwarves hold the Isle of Mhuzelt as their ancestral homeland, though very few actually live on the Island due to the poor relations with the native Gnomes that have built their empire there.
Points of interest
- Neckbreakers Refuge
- Bjornholt
- Hjinderkeit
- Skald
- Halgierkeit
- Dronnigen
- Atlas
- The Spire
- Split Rock
Natural Resources
The mountains contain a vast array of mines, and ore deposits that the Empire uses to fund it's military and expansion of The Spire. While precious metals are rare in all but the bones of the highest mountains, Iron, Copper, Mithril, coal, and meteorite steel are common. There are vitually no forests on the Ilse that are readily accessible to the Gnomes, most are found in the Southern Rise and even then, they are sparse. They are also ardent exporters of many building materials of stone. Many are metamorphic in nature due to the Hammer Fall, though this has not diminished their beauty. A fact not lost on the Gnomes as they export Marble, Gniess, Schist, many varients of Granite infused with garnets, jade, and mica. The fact that the Mountains are their main source of goods and material come from them shouldn't be surprising.
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