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Deep Home
An ancient nation of Daernarthor Dwarves and ally
to the United Kingdoms. The dwarves of Deep Home are one of the oldest civilizations
that endures in present times and many of the underground passages in the area were originally of their making. The
lands of Deep home fill the central Cruth Mountains, from the hidden valley of Brighton to the edges of the Alasyian
Desert. Though mostly mountainous, it is still a land that changes from lush forest to sandy desert.
Population: Daernarthor Dwarf (98%), others (2%)
Government: Hereditary Patriarchy. Each clan (a Thûrs) is led by clan lords
(Thûrbardane). Each Thûrbardane holds a seat on the Ulud, a council which advises and petitions their
needs to the Thane, the king of the dwarves in that nation. Two special positions rest just beneath the Thane in
power: a high priest of that faith closest to the Thane's liking (the Tholindukar) and the Thane's champion
(a Khazadukar) and general of war. These two positions are appointed by the Thane. Rulership is inherited,
though can be taken away by the Ulud if both the Khazadukar and the Tholindukar agree to a vote of no-confidence.
Following such a rare occasion, the throne of the is held for a descendant of the Thane to come of age. Daernarthor
are deeply loyal to their leaders, countrymen, and other dwarves. Even clans that normally fight against each other
will join together in the face of a common enemy. These ties, traditions, and loyalties are passed down from generation
to generation and they form powerful bonds.
Leader: High Thane Gindûm Thurzidune.
Religions: Daernarthor of Deep Home, like all Daernarthor, worship the same deities as all other
races, but know them by different names and aspects. Most Daernarthor worship not one, but several gods.
Clannadigan (Brakah) the Earth Mason is
worshiped as creator of all things. His two sons Khazadul (Daer-Koch) the Warrior and Tholin (Lathidus) the Temper of Law watch over most day-to-day affairs of
Deep Home society. Madalin (Illustree) the Shard, wife to
Khazadul, is both a historian, bard, and fertility goddess. Her children are Harn (Zhakrin) who guards the gates of the afterlife, counts all that
is to be counted in the realm of mortals, and tests the souls of the dead; and Thase who consumes the wicked
(Azhull) that are not fit for the afterlife that Clannadigan
has prepared for all good dwarves.
Climate: Temperate hills and high mountains. Though much of Deep Home is underground, the
surface is also dotted with many villages (Thebargs) towns (Bargs) and cities (Ulbargs). Being just south of the equatorial
regions gives Deep Home a fairly dry climate, most precipitation does not make it though the Cruth Mountains and the Desert
of the Sinnd to the north sucks much moisture from the air. Timber is harvested from the more fertile hills to the southwest
where the climate is only slightly cooler but rains from the Quegan (kay gaan) Ocean reach there after traveling across the plains of
Sheynar. The northern hills can barely sustain the dry brush that grows there, but the southern hills
are fertile and used for agriculture. Snow is common in the mountain peaks. Even those in the north have snow caps, but only
at such an altitude that the passing seasons have little effect on the frozen mountain peaks. In the northern hills the
temperature changes little, from 70F in the winters to temperatures often in excess of 100F in the summer
(such as in Glantruse) or greater if one travels as far
into the desert as Khante. In contrast, the temperatures of
Mittertowne allow for more varied seasons, though snow at its altitude is uncommon. Summer
temperatures there are typically between 80F and 90F and Winters are typically near 35F to 50F.
Major Cities: Glantruse (44,500); Mittertowne (21,500); Khante (16,000); Brighton (12,500);
History: When Clannadigan broke his hammer on the firmament, having finished his work at
building the world, and took up the broken bits of stone that had chipped from the hammer and the bluntest piece he set into
the Fire of Life and made the Daernarthor Dwarves. Being the bluntest piece he tempered them to honesty and into craftsmen
whose hammers would shape crafts in his and his children's image. They would be bold and forthright, difficult to chip or bruise,
not born for war but still capable of bashing a skull if needed.
For thousands of years the Daernarthor Dwarves of Deep Home have proven themselves to be craftsmen,
bold, and forthright. Wars have raged about them from generation to generation, both above and beneath the surface of the land.
It was the ancestors of Deep Home who birthed the All Stone (circa AC2498) from far beneath the earth and brought it into the
world of mortals. Later called the Heart of Magic, this two-fist sized fragment of Heartstone would bring about the Unholy Wars.
Called by the magic and seeking yet more, Sol-wielding Nadristi
would defeat Brunigin Alewyrd, the last of the First Line of
dwarven blood, and then invade and destroy (circa AC2505) the ancestral lands of the Daernarthor, called the Clainbrough, forcing
the Daernarthor of Deep Home to move westward. The lands that were the Clainbrough are now better known as the
Alasyian Desert, it was all that remained after the mountains were sunken and the earth
was razed of all life by the power drunk elfin arch-mages.
In the thousands of years that have passed since then they have plied deep into the earth, bringing
forth other wondrous treasures and uncovering great powers of evil that lay buried in the earth, imprisoned there before the end
of the Age of Chaos. It is for this reason that more dungeon halls, abandoned mines, and haunted underground cities exist
in that region than anywhere else in the world. It was there that the demon Ilerth would hide its power and later be sealed
in the Abyss of Tything, only to bring about the time of the Black Scourge (AC12858 to
AC12868) two-thousand years later.
When humankind came to the northern shores of the Gulf of Biengyar and founded what would later
become the United Kingdoms (AC4545) the dwarves greeted them in friendship, for the humans fought against the giant-kin just
the same as the Daernarthor, and against many other evils that freely roamed the land in those days. In later generations when
the sea titan Gog arose from the ocean depths and brought his fury upon the United Kingdoms, it would be the dwarves of
Deep Home that would turn the tide of battle and help the humans force the giants back into the sea. Many times over the
centuries have the dwarves of Deep Home and man joined in battle against common enemies and come to each others aid. When the
Shub-Naddar Overlord, Zul, invaded from the depths of the earth (AC8537), it was humans of the United
Kingdoms who bravely entered into the underworld to fight alongside the dwarves of Deep Home.
This relationship continues even to this day. Against the Dark God's armies the dwarves of Deep
they again sided with the United Kingdoms (AC12865) when the Black Scourge came to these lands even though none could stand
against the might of the Dark God. Deep Home continues to trade with the south; weapons and armor of the finest craftsmanship,
cunning devices and beautiful jewelry flow from their lands into the United Kingdoms in return for the agricultural bounty,
technological advances, use far reaching trade vessels, and continued alliance with the humans.
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