Kaer-Duval
The Citadel
Deep within the bowels of the Frost Mountains lies the dwarven city state of Kaer-Duval. Maintaining the only access route out of the deep roads and into the river valley, the city of Kaer-Duval serves as the most important and well known of the five dwarven settlements in the region, and likewise serves as the only passageway through the Frost Mountains into the Kazus Wastes .
Demographics
Almost entirely dwarf, most other races don't naturally choose to live underground and never see the sun. As the dwarves are masters of trade and industry, they have no problem with outsiders and generally welcome visitors to their halls. They also fully recognize most people aren't going to stay. In Kaer-Duval itself the population is somewhere around 95% Dwarf, with the remaining 5% being a mix of other races that changes at any given time.
Government
Kaer-Duval is the head of the Kaer-Duval city state, and the government is directed as described in that article.
Defences
The Citadel of Clan Duval has been the Kaer-Duval's primary line of defense for over a millennia, and no encroaching army has ever made it passed the citadel. The fortress itself sits behind walls embedded into the stone wall of the cavern at an angle, giving the appearance that the citadel itself is a floating attachment to the cavern wall. Atop the curtain wall of the citadel is an imposing array of siege weaponry from catapults to scorprions, all pointed at the Mithral Gates: the only entryway into the dwarven city-state. The Citadel is separated from the city by a moat of lava that also provides ample light to the city, which can be crossed by a massive retracting stone bridge. At any given time the citadel is manned by no less than 1,000 Dwarf warriors.
Industry & Trade
Kaer-Duval deals primarily in arms and armor. Some of the finest equipment in the world comes from the forges of Kaer-Duval, but they keep the finest equipment for themselves. Additionally, being the only route in an out of the dwarven settlements of the Frost Mountains, Kaer-Duval has a stranglehold on the trade that passes out of the other dwarven territories, a relationship that has existed for the past thousand years with no indication that the other settlements are unhappy with it.
Infrastructure
The dwarves of the Frost Mountains, and in fact almost all dwarves across Unorrea, are skilled magic users and artificers. They have mastered a form of taming and in some cases enslaving the raw power of elementals to power devices of curious workmanship and design. These inventions include the lightning rails that spread across Imperial Edane, dwarven airships and their most potent weapons called the Dwarven Boomtubes. The dwarves have also perfected a strange form of pyromancy that has given them the ability to melt metal and stone down into it's molten state and then cool it, while keeping it in a liquid form, so that it is not harmful to the touch. This has allowed the dwarves for centuries to light their caverns and deep roads with streams of molten lava that are of very little danger to the general population.
The dwarves build their homes deep in the earth, occupying caverns miles below the surface, but still above the tunnel network known as the underdark. While they constantly contend for territory with the denizens of those dark places, the dwarves have managed to secure their borders for the time being, connecting the various city states via large passages they call deep roads.
Guilds and Factions
Mining Guild
A localized faction headquartered within Kaer-Duval. The Mining Guild more or less serves as a union for the dwarves that work the mines. Considering that the mines are the city-state's primary source of income and trade, they have much more political influence that really anyone gives them credit for. While they do not have a seat on the Council of Chieftains, their voice is never unheard in those gatherings, nor is their "advice" ignored.The Artificer's Company
An independent business of magically inclined dwarves (and on occasion, others) who are some of the finest artificers in the region. Many if not all of the magical weapons and armor exported from the city have passed by their table or been enchanted directly by one of their members.History
Kaer-Duval's history falls perfectly inline with that of the city-state as it is, in fact, the city-state itself. For more information see Kaer-Duval
Architecture
Dwarven architecture is very much function over form. Many of their buildings are geometrically simple in nature (cubes, rectangles and hexagons) and shape. That is not to say that the dwarves themselves do not have an eye for beauty or art. In fact, they pride themselves on adorning their otherwise simple structures with intricate, angular carvings of family histories, ancient battles and heroic ancestors. In fact there are very few places one can go in Kaer-Duval or any of it's settlements where one will not see such displays of art and culture. Furthermore, the Dwarves are very big on statues. As a meritocracy it only makes sense that great deeds would be remembered, and so they are. Whenever a dwarf passes away a statue is erected in their honor and culturally looked at as a vassal for their spirit by which their families can communicate with them. The more grand the accomplishments of the dwarf in life, the more grand the statue after death.
Geography
The five dwarven settlements of Kaer-Duval run the full length of the Frost Mountains connected by miles of deep roads carved throughout the mountains. There are no springs of fresh water throughout the mountain range, instead the dwarves use pumps powered by steam to pump water from the tributaries of the Summervine into a complex aqueduct system throughout the city-state.
Natural Resources
See Natural Resources of Frost Mountains.
Type
City
Population
Estimated to be in excess of 50,000
Inhabitant Demonym
Clan Duval
Location under
Owner/Ruler
Owning Organization
Related Reports (Primary)
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