Gunstadtan
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| All hail the dwarves
of Gunstadtan! Stalwart allies! Great heroes! Miserly little buggers
to a dwarf! So sing the bards of Norandor. In 172 LE the humans of
Norandor first opened a proper dialogue with the Gunstadtan dwarves
in order to co-ordinate their efforts against the goblinoid hordes
that were sweeping through the region. From that time a shaky trading
relationship has grown between the two great nations, and despite
the great divide of the Gunstadtan Straits the dwarves of the hills
have much more to do with the Norandons than they do with the much
nearer Kerikites. This may have much to do with the fact that the
Norandons have money to spend and all the Kerikites traditionally
give to dwarves is VD. The current Norandon ambassador-to-dwarves,
Niergan, dwells in the city of Timberlake (in the foothills of the
Cullbarren Peaks). At least four dwarves are known to permanently
live in Timberlake, and it is widely believed that a new dwarven clanhold
has recently be set up south of the straits with Yaddagon's blessings.
Dwarves are still pretty uncommon outside the mountains, although
many stalwart adventurers have come from their ranks.
The Gunstadtan Hills aren't hills, but a mountain range equally as high and dangerous as the Cullbarren Peaks. At a time in the distant past, before the schism that created the fractured continent, the Gunstadtan dwarves and the dwarves of the Auld Kingdom were part of one gigantic dwarven nature that covered much of Urova. Although the Auld Kingdom exists over many of the eastern lands, Gunstadtan is a completely separate nation. As a result of this break, the two dwarven nations have never truly seem eye-to-eye and as a result they are in a state of war. According to dwarven loremasters, this state of war has persisted for as long as records have been in existence, although the two sides have never come to blows. The 'war' is a formality more than it is everything else. The dwarves are required to hate each other, and do, but black-market trade between the two nations is common place, and practically all dwarven officials turn a blind eye to it. The Gunstadtan dwarves are mostly hill and mountain dwarves, and are divided into innumerable strongholds and clanholds that are dotted through and under the mountains. Each stronghold has a dwarven king who has an ostensibly free-hand to do what he likes within his own borders. Each king is, however, answerable to the High King. The High King is the equivalent of a dwarven empire who rules over all the kingdoms of Gunstadtan. The High King resides in Dunhâzan, the greatest of all the dwarven halls. |
