Location:
Name: The Ogdaren-Torvelli Commonwealth
Flag:
Capital and Major Settlements: Ogdaren and Torvell are two distinct city-states, one dwarven and one human, located in the mountainous region known as The Daggers. While the dwarves have built a massive fortress in the mountains themselves, the humans of Torvell have settled in the foothills, enjoying the privilege of being the main "gateway" to Ogdaren. A third city, the dwarven port city of Kaloch, is a vassal to Ogdaren and serves as the coastal entryway into this dwarven realm. Beyond those foothills lie rural ranching lands populated by both dwarves and humans.

Ogdaren - An impregnable fortress-city dug into a mountain in the mountain range known as the Daggers. The populace is chiefly dwarven, though some humans and a rare few half-dwarves (derogatorily called "Halfmen") are among the populace. Its outer walls protect the ranches and vinyards this place is famous for. It has a rather simple tunnel network that caravans sometimes use. This tunnel network allows quicker passage through the mountains and also connects it to the port city of Kaloth.

Torvell - A walled, hilly human city at the base of the mountain. Streams of water from the mountain peaks flow together to form a river which sidles between the hills and down toward the sparse forest below.

Kaloth - A rather poor port city known for its pubs and for being a mercenary hub. It has a higher crime rate than the other two cities in the Commonwealth. It is part of a tunnel network that connects it directly to the capital city of Ogdaren, allowing quicker trade and an escape route that can be collapsed if necessary.

Ruler and Royal Family: The bourgeois wield great power in the Commonwealth, but power ultimately rests in the hands of a number of Merchant Princes. These Merchant Princes elect a Crowned Prince, who by law must be "of dwarven blood," to rule the Commonwealth for thirty years. The Crowned Prince may be reelected as many times as the Merchant Princes wish to choose him.

Amglam Forisen is the current Crowned Prince. He has ruled the Commonwealth for forty-five years and is busily trying to shove his two unmarried daughters, Joane and Danae, at any dwarf of influence outside of his realm. This is proving difficult as there are few influential dwarves outside of the Commonwealth and Danae has an unhealthy preference for human men, a taboo fetish to be sure. His three sons - Ulrich, Angden, and Lorig - are currently married to the daughters of Merchant Princes throughout the realm. He used to have five siblings, but two of them have had mysterious "accidents" after trying to sweep the family's holdings out from under him. The remainder are his twin brothers, Holgrim and Halgrim, and his sister, Eglise.

Amglam has managed to maintain control over the Merchant Princes through a complex web of blackmail, threats, and bribery. If it were not for that, he would not have been reelected.

People/s: Dwarves are the majority race in the Commonwealth, representing roughly seventy percent of the population. The rest are humans; any non-humans, non-dwarves in the Commonwealth are too few in number to matter in a census. (Unless you count the Halfmen, but they're only arguably people. They would make up three percent of the population if they counted. Most of them are bastards.)

The dwarven population is not originally from the continent, arriving generations ago as colonists. They have lived here for hundreds of years, however.

The human population shares a lot of heritage with the people of Jura, though some of their old traditions are slowly adapting to the changing political climate. Some have blood of the first peoples to live on the continent in them, and a few others have the foreign blood of the Xiang empire.

Kingdom Traits:

A breaker of webs - Your agents are many, and as such they combat the spy network with great efficiency.
Brutal politics - Assassination is more than just a means to an end in the Commonwealth, but an honored tradition. The dwarves of Ogdaren have turned this practice into an art, and when it comes to making someone very, very dead, their assassins-for-hire are the best around. Of course, some of these master assassins are willing to work for foreigners...
Schools - Your people are taught in schools. Some folks are literate.
Developed infrastructure - Your roads are well-built, your villages have wells, watchtowers, and even walls sometimes. Armies and caravans pass rather quickly through your lands.

Military Traits:
Good equipment - Many of your soldiers have access to good equipment, which means that they'll fight with better armor and arms. However if you take this trait along with the trait 'Big armies' you get a modifier making less soldiers have the same good armor and weapons.
Show of war - Songs are sung, crests and sigils are adorning the shields, tabards, flags, and even painted on faces. The morale in such moments is extremely strong.
Awe-inspiring fortifications - Your castles and keeps are known for its' beauty, but most of all its' security as they stands tall and imposing, as a big challenge for the world. The kingdom's forts are highly valued strategic positions which reinforce certain regions and protect it from the foe.

Trade Traits:
Rich with ores - After successful expeditions into your mountains, you've discovered numerous veins of rich ores and still to this day you're making profit from them.
Important trade routes (COSTS 2 POINTS) - Many roads vital to international trade go through your country. Merchant guildmasters bow and pay tariffs to you, coin circulates through your demesne like blood.
Ancient merchant families - Your merchant families are old, all having haggled with kings and queens of old. Through them you can get access to many other markets and places. The Merchant families and guilds are extremely powerful, almost as powerful as your vassals, or even more.
Black market - There is some very interesting wares that can be purchased in your domain, if you find the right person and have good coin. And even for Your Majesty's unspoken approval, they can give a share.

Flaws:
Here Be Dragons! - No, seriously. Though they've been greatly reduced in number, a few dragons still live in the mountains around the Commonwealth's cities, and they're not the friendly kind of dragons. Nobody knows if they're intelligent or not; anyone stupid enough to try talking to them has been burnt to a crisp and eaten. They raid villages, attack caravans on rare occasions, and mostly just fly off with ranch animals. They're a right menace. While they're not as devastating as a severe bandit problem, they're far harder - almost impossible - to get rid of.
Sellswords - Often mercenary companies form the backbone of your army, which is not a very good thing considering that they are only loyal to their purse.
Corruption (+1 point) - There is clientelism, bribery, and other disgusting things in your government. Your closest advisors take a slice of the tax money for themselves and possess too much power, fighting over the kingdom like petty children.
Overly powerful merchant guilds (+1 point) - These ones can become an annoyance if you get on their bad side. They can even try and assassinate you if they consider you dangerous or a liability.

Culture: The dwarves of the Commonwealth worship Bruen, the god of writing, law and trade. They tout him as the father of the dwarven race, though non-dwarven sects of the religion often disagree. The dwarves use a runic writing system based around this religion, though they also practice the writing system common to the Seyan kingdoms.



The people of Torvell largely worship the same goddess - Surana, Mother Light - that the people of Jura do, but there is a growing cult to Bruen among them as years as the weaker partner in a Dwarven alliance have changed their culture. Some humans believe this to be a serious concern; others say that Bruen and the Goddess are not so different and may, perhaps, be the same deity viewed from different lights. Do not both seek to illuminate the darkness? Simply because one does so with words and another with light does not mean they must be opposed. Some claim that Bruen was a prophet of Jura; others claim the opposite is true. Either way, there is a definite religious shift happening in Torvell, though the ranchers beyond the cities still largely worship the Goddess.

As trade comes first and foremost in the Commonwealth, the studies of mathematics, writing and foreign cultures comes first and foremost. Astronomy, calligraphy and cartography are highly valued as well, and are the subject of several higher education institutes (which, of course, are by and large only accessible to those with wealthy backgrounds). Thus, among the populations of Torvell and Ogdaren, literacy is rather high (roughly 50-60%). The port city of Kaloch is comparably uneducated (roughly 20-30% literate); fishing and hard labor come before schooling there. The ranchers are similarly educated to the people of Kaloch.

Politics within the Commonwealth are some of the deadliest within the world. There is even a saying based around this: "Never dine with a dwarf Prince," a saying invented two hundred or so years ago when a dwarven Prince invited all his enemies to a feast and poisoned all of them. Great disputes are sometimes settled by duels, but assassinations, poisoned wine and strange "accidents" are much more common. Even the duels often have a dash of devilry to them; duelists have a habit of poisoning their swords and axes, the better to assure their victory. Such dirty politics may be the reason why dwarves are so resistant to poison.

Thankfully, most disputes do not require such overt acts of murder. Most are settled in the courts or with bribes and blackmail. Some Princes are prone to kidnapping the family of their rivals and using them as leverage to make another Prince vote in a way that is favorable to them. Wealthy families have adapted to this over time; kidnapping is not as traumatic to the people of the Commonwealth as it is for other peoples, and some view being kidnapped as a sort of vacation from the drudgery of day-to-day life. There is a sort of formal air to it, and the prisoners are often given reasonable quarters and a servant to assist them. Nevertheless, angering a rival may lead to the summary execution of these souls in gilded cages.

Assassins are honored members of dwarven society. These individuals do not dress in black leather and wear clothes that belong to men of the night; rather, they dress like ordinary citizens of the Commonwealth, the better to blend in with the people and go unnoticed. They are trained in the use of poison, explosives, and various forms of weaponry, especially the crossbow. Some are trained in runic or illusion magics. While their identities are secret, stories of an assassin's endeavors are spun everywhere, and it's a well known fact that the Merchant Princes employ assassins regularly. Still, some of these assassins tire of their work and become adventurers - a profession just as honored among the dwarven people, and one that lets the former assassin be adored by the public.

Military: The first defensive advantage of the Commonwealth is its natural barriers. With mountainous terrain and an ocean as natural barriers, most invaders would be hard pressed to find a good foothold. Furthermore, dwarven stonework being what it is, the walls that protect the three cities of the Commonwealth are mighty and firm. Even more damning for any would-be conquerors: there are enough vineyards and mushroom farms behind the walls to keep the defenders sustained for a long time.

The real weakness lies in the defenders. While the troops are well-equipped to hold the walls for a long time, most of the professional soldiers are mercenaries whose loyalties lie with their coinpurse and their families, not to the Crowned Prince. Assassins-for-hire are also plentiful. Invading forces, therefore, might be able to exploit this lack of unity in the professional ranks and turn some of them against the city itself.

Still, the mercenaries and militiamen of the Commonwealth are not to be underestimated. Dwarven crossbowmen are said to be equipped with good crossbows, and human militia mixed with dwarven Houseguards - those who protect the wealthy merchant houses - make for a sturdy frontline. Ogdaren cavalry are also very unique: rather than riding horses into battle, they ride mountain boars that are much more maneuverable in the rough terrain of the Commonwealth than other nations' mounts.

The Commonwealth typically has drummers relaying orders to the rest of the army, making them pivotal to keeping the troops organized. The result is a smoothly-functioning fighting force... and often dead drummers. The enemies of the Commonwealth have learned to go for the drummers in the past. Both dwarves and humans serve in this role, though they are usually children. In particularly trying times, children as young as eight years old have been struck dead by a nasty shot from a bow thanks to being unfortunate enough to hold a drum. While they live, however, these children are heralded as heroes and mascots by their companies; they eat well and are introduced to mead at a far earlier age than their mothers would have wanted.

For particularly large battles, actual bands of military musicians actually attend the scene, playing intense battle music as the armies clash. (Sample music.)

Between their sturdy walls and seasoned mercenary soldiers coupled with burning oil and ballistae, this merchant's realm is well prepared for a siege or an assault on their walls. The ranchers beyond the walls, however, would be at risk, as would any outlying villages...

Caravans originating from the Commonwealth typically have crossbowmen and spearmen in their employ as guards.






Economy: Glittering gold, bounties of crystals and gems - these are the lifeblood of the Commonwealth. While much of Ogdaren's wealth was lost to the old dragon attacks, they still find plenty of rich ores in their mines. Iron, copper, tin, gold, silver... precious stones of all sorts... The Daggers hold such treasures that draw greedy hearts to Ogdaren, hearts that come with fat coinpurses.

Just as important as these rich ore deposits are the trade routes. If gold is the blood of the Commonwealth, then the trade routes are the veins through which the blood flows. As the dwarves have sole control of the tunnel through the Daggers, they can charge hefty tariffs of anyone that wants to move goods through them rather than skirt around the edges of the mountains. Trying to cross over the mountains is, perhaps, even more dangerous than that; there be dragons in those sharp peaks, and they do not take kindly to strangers. Thus, most who can afford passage through the mountains will choose that rather than take the longer route.

The brewers and wineries of the Commonwealth also provide some income, as do their ranches, but they are not a substantial source of income. Still, the grapes used in dwarven wine are of good quality and make for sweet, flavorful drinks. Many of these goods are largely amongst the people, but some are crated and traded in foreign lands.

There is a thriving black market in the Commonwealth, and it holds considerable sway in Kaloth. While the government does not officially endorse the trade of illegal goods and substances, they do little, if anything to actually stop it, and instead take bribes and taxes from those that run the black market. The agreement is simple: so long as the Crowned Prince receives his due, the black market is allowed to do business with only the occasional mock arrest. Such dirty deals have allowed the black market to grow over the last century.

Reputation:

Dwarf lords can't be trusted. They'll smile to your face while stabbing you in the back.
Dwarven walls like dwarven men: they're tougher than they seem.
They say the dwarves of Ogdaren can sniff out gold. Their miners always seem to find new veins.
You can sell furs at high prices in Ogdaren.
If you really need someone killed, you hire a dwarven assassin.
They say you can buy anything in Ogdaren... Anything.

History: Long ago, dwarves arrived on the Seyan continent as colonists. They were not aggressive, and indeed claimed a part of the land that nobody else really wanted: the cold, northernmost mountains. People thought them a queer lot for choosing such an inhospitable place to live, but they nevertheless eked out a fair living there, building their home into the mountain itself. This city was named Ogdaren.

Ogdaren prospered due to a mixture of luck and dwarven ingenuity. Ingenuity led to the creation of tunnels that revolutionized trade in the region: they dug through the mountains themselves, making a clear and direct path from one side of the mountain range to the other. They built strong walls around those tunnels so that trying to take them by force would be difficult. Their luck was equally wondrous: they found rich veins of gold and gems in the mountains and used these resources to gain leverage on their neighbors. One could pass through the Daggers - the mountain range the Ogdaren dwarves called home, named for their sharp peaks - but they would have to pay for such passage.

And so it came to be that the merchants of Ogdaren attracted the wrath of dragons. Such wealth was held by the dwarves that dragons came and plundered it, stealing their precious gold as well as their livestock, burning their vinyards and their villages, making a mockery of their mighty walls. The dwarves were hard-pressed to win such a battle, and so they used their remaining wealth to hire adventurers to deal with the draconic threat. Many dragons were slain, but the dwarves of Ogdaren have never quite recovered their previous wealth since then.

Eventually, a large number of faithful to the Goddess of Light decided to build new townships - one of these townships was named Torvell - near the dwarven mountains, having had small differences in faith that led them to leave their homeland, Jura. They benefited from being close to the Daggers, built on both sides of the mountains, and enjoyed some prosperity, even if they initially did not get along well with the dwarves. The people of Ogdaren soon reconciled with these humans, however. The fledgling Kingdom of Torvell was formed.

The Commonwealth between these city-states was formed after a war with the Xiang Dynasty went very badly for the people of Torvell, which was a kingdom at the time. Torvell was the only one of these cities to not be conquered by this attack, and then only because they had built their city on the northern side of the mountains. Fearing a second war would be even more disastrous, the Torvelli people turned to their dwarven neighbors for assistance and formed a union with them, disbanding the kingdom and becoming a joint republic at the request of the Merchant Princes of Ogdaren.

Since then, the Commonwealth has expanded slightly, chasing out some natives near the shore and building a small but growing port city. The city, Kaloth, has typical dwarven walls for a defense and a tunnel network connecting it to Ogdaren. The Commonwealth may neighbor some dangerous states, and the dwarves may not be popular thanks to their splotchy history of assassination and intrigue, but they are nevertheless firm in their belief that their walls can weather any assault.

Misc: The bear is a favorite animal of the Commonwealth and is depicted in a great many of their works of art. They also have a fascination with keeping bears as pets and wearing bearskin cloaks.

Dwarves have three names: a given name, a last name, and a family name. Family names are carefully hidden from outsiders, and dwarves never introduce themselves to anyone but family with it. Their last name is usually a reference to their father. For example, Amglam Forisen's last name, Forisen, means "Son of Fori." His family name, which is unknown to outsiders, is a reference to the history of the family.