Butcherblock Mountains, Faydwer
King Kazon Stormhammer
A large statue stands guards over the entrance to Kaladim. Some say this is a carving of Brell himself; others argue it is of Dagnor, the first Dwarven king and the founder of the city. Kaladim itself is an expansive city under the northern range of the Butcherblock Mountains. Tunnels give way to extensively worked stone caverns filled with shops, palaces and temples. The upper portions of the complex beyond the gates are collectively referred to as South Kaladim. This area is all outsiders to the city usually see. King Stormhammer's palace and administrative halls are here to the east and the Warrior's guild is to the west. Deeper under the Butcherblock Mountains is North Kaladim, where the city's mines, bank and religious complexes are located.
Almost exclusively dwarves, with a few notable exceptions.
From the time of Dagnor Butcherblock, the first Dwarven king, before the Elven Empire was established in the east, the dwarves thrived in the mountains to the west, surrounding the forest presently known as "Lesser Faydark." The dwarves settled into the jagged cliffs of what is known as the Butcherblock Mountains and there established their golden kingdom of Kaladim, the "forge of Norrath."
In the rule of Grimmly Fireforge, the 12th Dwarven king, nearby Ogres grew envious of the gold-rich mountain mines and the stone cutting skill of the Kaladim kingdom. This resulted in an intense racial hatred and many small fights occurred between the two kingdoms. In the middle of the second age, with the Elven wars raging to the east, the Dwarven nation was beset with an unanticipated and bloody war of their own when the Ogres took advantage of the situation in the east by launching a campaign against the kingdom of Kaladim, knowing the Elves could not afford to lend aid to the Dwarves.
The 5th warlord of the Rakthokian kingdom believed the key to annihilating the Dwarves was through destroying the trading centers and mining villages scattered through the northern Butcherblocks. He marched his army of Ogres and orcish slaves west across the Hills of Shade directly to north without fear of Elven intervention. The Dwarves still retell the horrible tales of the first Ogre attacks. The Dwarves were unprepared to meet such an unanticipated invasion force and the peaceful outlying cities of northern Kaladim were overrun in the opening days of the war. Ogre warriors showed no mercy, killing hundreds of Dwarves; no quarter was shown for women or children, for old or infirm. The bloodthirsty Ogres and their orcish slaves were thorough in their destruction. To this day very few hamlets outside of the capital of Kaladim can be found.
While the vile warlord's army reveled in its wicked deeds, dawdling over the eradication of the Dwarves outside the gates of Kaladim, King Grimmly was not lying by idly. He rapidly gathered a defense of stalwart miners and axe men, trained warriors and the men and women of Brell Serilis's temples. Anyone strong enough to lift an axe, sword, or pick was out fitted to meet the invaders. Within days of first hearing word of the threat to Kaladim, Grimmly was prepared to make his wrath known. On Crakthorn Ridge, just south of the Gates of Kaladim, the largest force of Dwarves ever assembled was ready to meet the invaders, their king at the fore. It was now the Ogres' turn for surprise. The fighting on the ridge was savage and brutal and the Ogres were forced to retreat to more favorable ground. The Ogre army was pushed back into the Hills of Shade with the Dwarves in close pursuit.
Unnoticed by Rakthokian horde, King Grimmly sent a small band of seasoned warriors to the south and east to see what could be seen of the enemy. Near the edge of the Faydark they observed a remaining fighting reserve of the Ogre army guarding the enemy's southern flank. This reserve, however large and potentially capable of swinging the war back in the favor of the Ogres, was populated primarily with orcs. For the only time in known history, Dwarves and orcs entered into an alliance of sorts. Appealing to the innate cowardice of the orcs, Grimmly's representatives convinced the orcs to slink into wilder lands of Faydwer, avoiding the risks of battle and a continued life at the feet of the Ogres. The Dwarves promised the orcish slaves they would leave them to their new freedom if the orcs would discontinue fighting for their masters. Thus the orcish slaves retreated from Lesser Faydark to the east, leaving the Ogres' southern flank wide open to an amassing second force of Dwarves. Caught between the two pincers of the Dwarven army the Ogres were decimated. The warlord fled with his few remaining soldiers to the south, escaping Faydwer altogether. Kaladim was safe once again.
As an historical side note, it is significant to briefly mention here the founding of Crushbone. While the Dwarves intended to keep their pact with the orcs, one group of orcs failed to keep their end of the agreement. A third of the freed orcs opted to settle much to close to the civilized lands of Faydwer. Founding Crushbone, the Dwarves felt, was a breaking of the limited alliance, re-igniting the feud between the Dwarves and the orcs. Accepting their role in loosing the orcs on nearby Kelethin, the Kingdom of Kaladim maintains a bounty on the orcs of Crushbone.
In more recent times, the local papers and bar talk are a buzz with the official trading embargo King Stormhammer has placed on Qeynos. Stemming from a case of discrimination against Dwarves by the tavern known as the Lion's Mane in the western Antonican city, the Dwarven king has called for a halt to trade until an apology is made by the tavern.
Dwarven culture starts with the family. Although patrilineal, they are not necessarily patriarchal. Men and women share the burdens and joy of parenthood, with only the most basic of biologic differentiations giving rise to any division of labor. To outsiders, either husband or wife can appear to defer to spouse based on expertise or simply mood. However, no outsider, except only the closest of family friends, will ever see an outright display of disagreement between partners. That is always left behind closed doors. Children tend, though not exclusively, to follow in one or the other parent's life calling. Tradesmen tend to beget tradesmen, Brell calls healers mostly from families already called, and warriors hand down heirloom swords to their sons and daughters. Regardless of calling, Dwarven families tend to be very close knit; it is not uncommon for husbands to remain "out of cups" with their wives during pregnancy.
Both Dwarven men and women are able to grow luxurious beards; until recently, both genders did. However, a recent shift in the culture has lead to around 90 percent of the women to take up the Human practice of shaving. The more conservative members of the society, mostly men, are up in arms about this and it may turn out to be nothing more than a passing fad.
Dwarven children are much more playful than their parents and prone to flights of imagination that the adults look on with humor but tend to have forgotten in themselves. Two common children's games are "Diamond in the Rough" and "Enemy in the Mines."
Dwarves are blunt and to the point, distrusting the flowery phrases of the Elves and having no time for the (as they see it) scatterbrained thoughts of the shorter-lived races. While they may appear to have little time for revelry, their culture is as rich as any other, just more Spartan. They are exceptionally skilled in crafts such as brewing and metalworking and all those skilled in crafts approach their products as a true artist approaches a canvas. It is only the Dwarves who can craft the smithed Brellium armor of the shorter races. Friendships tend to last a lifetime.
All Dwarves help in the mines at some point in their lives, with many families remaining focused on mining as their primary occupations. Amongst all the miners there is a band that calls themselves the Miner's Guild 628. These miners also serve as the explorers and scouts of Kaladim. While their secretive ways and propensity for acquiring items with less-than-forthright means have led many to the jails of outsider cities as thieves. In Kaladim they have a place among the general population that is as respected as any other. After all, no Dwarf would actually steal from another Dwarf, would he?
Kaladim has three major winze and rise connections: The east winze and rise connect a small shopping area in South Kaladim to the lower cavern in North Kaladim where the forge can be found, the west winze and rise connect a large cavern of shops, pubs and the Warrior's guild hall in South Kaladim to the bank and mine area of North Kaladim and finally, the Mine winze and rise leads from the bank cavern to the mines proper.
Dwarves by their very nature tend to a non-political conservatism. While they follow their king with a fierce loyalty that is frequently misunderstood as blind by outsiders, no Dwarf could hold his tongue from dissent even if an axe were poised above his head. Although the position is inherited, only a respected Dwarven king can lead his people, and no one earns a Dwarfs respect by pushing his weight around. It is so contrary to a Dwarf's nature to be pushy in this way it is not really clear what the consequences might be to a king who acted in such a manner. Most internal decisions are established through day-to-day talk and consensus building between the king and his citizenry, although the king has the right of absolute rule and could in theory make any decree he wished. Outcomes are usually well-known and understood before any official proclamation is made. For the most part, decisions dealing with the outside world are left to the king, which is what he's there for after all.
Should another Dwarf think he or she could make a better king, it is theoretically possible a would-be princeling would take a small group that agrees with him off to found a new city and mine. Although this has not happened intentionally in known history, it is interesting to note the similarities of process with Thurgadin. While the Dwarves of Velious were only an accident of storm, they have established themselves quite well in the frozen north with little or no discomfort from having been cut off from Kaladim.
Brell Serilis is the primary deity of the Dwarves, though there isn't much pomp and circumstance in their regular worship. Every sip of ale they take can be viewed as a prayer and they are likely to offer much of it to friends and family, as much sharing communion as sharing a drink. On high holidays, like the birth of a child, the anniversary of King Stormhammer's coronation day, or the observed day of the founding of Kaladim, the Clerics of Brell will bless the gathering with strong drink while the High Priest or Priestess of Brell watches over the flock holding a war hammer thought to contain a sliver from the handle of the Relic of Brell Serilis. The Relic, commonly known as the Butcherblock Hammer, is thought lost to the Dwarves, though the temple and king seek word of it far and wide through Norrath. Rogue miners occasionally follow a less common deity, Fizzlethorpe Bristlebane. This is, however, exceedingly rare. For the most part, even Dwarven rogues feel the jovial and prankster qualities of Bristlebane far too alien to hear a calling from this diety.
Felwithe & Kelethin - Against Crushbone, some trade.
Freeport & Highhold Keep - Trade
Oggok - Ancestral enemies
Neriak - Aiding the Orcs
Prillayle Stonebrewer
Verkarn Hardhammer, Trindolora Goldenale