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Lurking KrogThe Dwarven Kingdom of Karak
Leader
Menerak is considered a harsh but righteous leader in the eyes of his people. He's been immortalized by coining the phrase "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth", declaring his notion of justice, and is also celebrated as a great military strategist since his victory against the hordes of nomadic ghublain that invaded Karak a decade ago. He is however without heirs, and at the soon-to-be old age of 290, speculation and rumors regarding the aftermath of his demise has begun circulating.
Played Characters
Urabad hails from one of the warrior clans in Karak, and was as such tutored from a young age in the art of combat. He is currently supporting his family by serving as a sergeant in his lords force of retainers, and dreams of earning enough coin to buy a mine of his own. That dream is still far off, however, and for now he is content with being able to put food and drink on the table for him and his family every day.
Yereshteh was born to a clan of scholars, and is unsurprisingly a scholar herself. She is learned in history and culture, both of Karak and its neighbors, and speaks a handful of languages fluently. Her skill and knowledge often earns her important work at the palace, which in turn has made her wealthy, but she has yet to find a mate and secretly dreams of leaving Karak to see what the rest of the world has to offer.
Culture
The basis of Karaki culture is their faith in the Great Architect, Munitor. Everything in the world is worth studying and perfecting. There are no taboos regarding science. As a consequence of this Karaki dwarves are often curious and inquisitive, but at the same time secretive. They want always to know as much as possible, but are greedy and defensive of their knowledge.
Law and justice in Karak is centered on revenge and balance. You pay for what you did with what you did: thievery is punished with fines, violence is met with violence and murder with death.
Dwarven society in Karak is very hierarchical. The inhabitants are divided into clans, and every clan has a specific task assigned to them; some are warriors, others are scholars, or artisans. There is a defined structure within these clans, with the oldest and most competent individuals on top, and the young and challenged on the bottom. Going against your clan is taboo and dissidents are dealt with harshly.
Religion
Above: Priests of Munitor
The dwarves of Karak believe in the god Munitor, the Great Architect who created the world and everything in it. To the dwarves, the world is a craft of supreme complexity and brilliance. The goal of their faith in Munitor is to unravel the mysteries of this masterpiece and learn to duplicate them so that they one day can become gods like Munitor themselves.
Temples of Munitor are places of science and learning, much like academies and univerities. The most competent and well renowned scholars are regarded as priests of their field, and are expected to give lectures and produce literature on their findings.
Attitude to magic
As magic is part of Munitors great creation, it must be studied and mastered. Karaki dwarves treat magic as any other science.
Brief history
Above: early dwarven nomad warrior
Karak was founded a long time ago by nomadic tribes of dwarves. During its early history these dwarves worshiped a pantheon of different deities and waged constant wars against each other for supremacy. It was only when the profet Mhaza began spreading the word of the Great Architect that the tribes were brought together to form the nation as it is known today.
Military
Above: Karaki warrior retainers
War is a science, as is studied accordingly. Karak sports a very competent, but rather small, military. Each governor is required to train and outfit a cadre of retainers, and to answer when the king calls for arms. The king is expected to field an own elite force in addition to these retainers.
Apart from lacking numbers, the Karaki military is also lacking a significant cavalry, as horses are sparse in the region. They mostly rely on infantry, artillery and siege.
The perhaps most famous unit of the Karaki military are the blackpowder bombard cannons, also known as Dwarven Thunder. These marvels of modern science are feared and jealously coveted by many other powers, and are known across the world for their terrible destructive power.
Government
Karak is an hereditary monarchy, ruled by a king or queen. Regions and cities are entrusted to loyal governors, who collect taxes from the population and in return pay taxes to the crown.
Main sources of income
Karak trades with anyone and everyone. The dwarves import whetever resources and crafts they do not possess themselves, and export their finely crafted artifices as well as their science. It is not unheard of that Karaki dwarves are invited by cities in other nations to build temples of Munitor, sometimes refered to as Munitoriums, in exchange for trade. The dwarves seldom refuse.
Current goal
To endure as a culture and reach total understanding of the world (and as a consequence of that... total dominance!).
