Post by Trippy Hare on May 19, 2006 22:19:06 GMT -5
The Dwarven capital city of Doshor Avaroth lies in the Great Burning Desert, on the western slope of the Doshor Irethe mountain range. It was built around a large natural oasis, though the Dwarves have expanded the oasis artificially. The city is fairly new, having been built after the Dwarves were pushed out of their deep mountain strongholds by the Stygian race.
Dwarven society is industrial by nature, and work is tantamount to its existence. All Dwarves serve in the military at some point, often for their entire lives. In Doshor Irethe, there is no government, there is only the Army.
Dwarven religious ideology is fairly straightforward: there exists only a single deity, named Kathos, who is credited for helping bring about Eshathar's existence. He is seen as an impassive observer, merely watching the trials and tribulations of the various peoples. Overall, religion has been fading from Dwarven life for nearly a century, as the need for it has dwindled away. The Army now provides a purpose in life, making the need for any sort of god minimal at best.
As a people, the dwarves were once concerned with a less-militaristic lifestyle, but have adopted a Spartan-like culture out of necessity, to combat the Stygg and to ensure survival in the harsh environs of the desert. Conscription begins a year after birth. Boys and girls alike are taken under the Army's wing, and trained according to what role they will fill as adults: boys are foot soldiers until death, or until they cannot effectively fight due to age or injury. Women are raised to be either archers or field medics until death or until disabled from injury or age, at which point they are placed in charge of domestic medical needs, such as hospitals, apothecaries, etc.
All dwarves, regardless of age, rank, or station, are expected to fulfill domestic duties outside of their military careers in such a fashion that they are completely independent...i.e., each dwarf farms enough land to feed him/herself, fetches their own water, icinerates their own waste, etc. Those who are too old, or too young, or too injured to perform these duties are looked after in communal hospices. Injured dwarves become smiths and fletchers, while elder veteran dwarves are promoted to field commanders or generals. Those whose injuries are too severe, or whose age is too infirming, are executed... not as criminals, but as heroes. It is considered a great honor to survive terrifying wounds or to live to such an old age that senility sets in.
The goal of all this conditioning is to ensure that the Dwarven race is never again bested as they were by the Stygg. Although this gives the Dwarves a clear military advantage over other kingdoms, they do not seek out conflicts, preferring to keep their people sharp and their forces strong, for the glorious day when they will march into the mountains and take their former homelands back from the Stygg.
Dwarves are capable of using magic, and do so primarily to keep the oasis from dwindling and to create fires for their forges. But their truest strength is in their armaments. Dwarven smiths are reknowned across Eshathar as the finest craftsmen available: their armor never rusts and their swords never break. This reputation has made Doshor Avaroth very wealthy, and it enjoys trade relations with all of the major kingdoms (except Stygg, of course).
Dwarves in general utilize similar monetary systems as the surrounding kingdoms and merchant villages, in the form of gold, silver, and copper coins, each bearing a different comparative value. Due to their excellence in metalsmithing, Dwarven coins are generally worth more in non-dwarven markets: a Dwarf gold coin is worth about 5 gold coins outside of Doshor Avaroth, with a similar discrepancy in value for the silver and copper pieces. Among the dwarves themselves, a gold coin is worth ten silver, which are worth ten copper. Dwarves do not mint mithril into coins, as they see mithril as far too valuable a material for such use. There are dwarven moneychangers in major cities among other kingdoms that exchange gold and silver coins for mithril ones, which are sent back to Doshor Avaroth to be melted down and used in weapons and armor.