New Kharsis

New Kharsis
''Betrayal!! The greatest of sins. Our proud people survive, but our great nation was nearly extinguished by the treachery of demon-spawned neighbors, and by the betrayal of our own brothers. Yes, our brothers lost their faith in the dwarvin way, and were tempted with untold riches, no doubt. And now here we sit, a country away from our homeland, perched on a rock in the godforsaken sea, while those Spider bastards lounge in comfort in our old halls beneath the great Kharos Mountains!! Those halls were ancient to my great-great-wardenfather when he was a boy. To think that we've lost them forever is enough to drive a dwarf to suicide ... or murder ... OR WAR!!''

Summary


New Kharsis is an island nation of displaced dwarves from the Mainlund, pushed out of their ancient mountain halls of the Kharos Mountains by a strange, highly advanced race of bipedal spiders. The nation is peopled almost entirely with dwarves from the Kharzhak clan, who hate their fellow Numbhar dwarves almost as much as the Arachnids whom forced them out of their ancestral home. Today, the nation of New Kharsis is slowly decaying as the Kharzhak's spend their ancestral wealth coin by coin to maintain their lavish royal halls and to import grain for their people.

Geography
The island upon which this nation resides is the flattened top portion of an underwater mountain which reaches up to break the surface of the frigid North Sea. The surface of this land is fairly inhospitable, being nothing much more than steep rocky outcroppings with a few sparse trees and streams here and there. It is colder than any other spot on the Mainlund, and can only grow the toughest of plants and moss in the warmer half of the year. The waters surrounding the island are treacherous with huge waves bashing against steep, jagged cliffs. The interior of the mountain, both above and below the sea level, is riddled with naturally occurring caverns and passageways, which are occasionally prone to flooding, and these caves have been expanded upon by the dwarves now living in this area.

Racial Distribution
The nation is virtually 100% dwarves of the Kharzhak clan, which was the ruling clan of the dwarves going back to almost ancient times. These dwarves are stodgy and stiff, even by dwarvin standards, and are obsessed with their proud history, to the point of being detrimental to their current situation. They are having an incredibly difficult time adjusting to their new reality, being a nation on the edge of poverty, and are prone to blaming their current struggles on an array of crimes (both imagined and real) committed against them in the past.

Non-dwarvin visitors are welcomed to the nation, so long as they are not coming from any lands that the dwarves are currently verbally feuding with (these change from year to year). These rare visitors are treated to fairly lavish hospitality, but might notice the gaunt looking faces of the dwarves who serve them, as food rationing has been occurring off and on for several decades now.

Dwarves of the Numbhar clan, while being essentially first cousins of the Kharzhaks would not be allowed to set foot on the island, let alone inside the mountain halls, without being attacked on site. Non-dwarves whom are discovered to have spent any time at all in the Iron-Sea desert (home to the Numbhars now) are viewed with suspicion at best, and as spies at worst.

History


The story of New Kharsis really begins on the Mainlund. The dwarves of older times lived as one healthy, successful society, beneath the Kharos Mountains, and were known for their wealth generated by the rich minerals of the mountain, along with their renown metallurgy and blacksmithing skills. The dwarves were rich, but isolated. They freely traded with humans and elves who came to their mountain halls as guests, but they themselves were not known for venturing out into the surface world much. The Kharos Mountain tunnels connect to an almost endless chain of underground passageways, so there was no visible end the exploration that the dwarves might do in their cavernous world. As such, they really didn't see any need to bother with the surface world. Virtually all trade with the outside world was conducted by the minority Numbhar clan, as the majority Kharzhak clan viewed this activity as a a distasteful necessity, best left to the merchant class.

This isolation was heightened during the Barbarian Era, as those people pushes back the elves, whom always had some level of cordial contact and trade with the dwarves, out of the central Mainlund. The barbarians themselves made plans several times to storm the Kharos Mountain stronghold, but the dwarves were always successful at repealing these invasions, and keeping their gates sealed. At this time, the strange Arachnid race emerged at the edge of the dwarvin territories underground, claiming to have been displaced from their homes far away. Their numbers were small, and they only wanted to set up homes in most mineral-poor sections of the Kharos caverns, so the dwarves greeted these bizarre folk with hospitality and allowed them to claim a small section of caverns as their own. This hospitality would prove to be the greatest mistake the dwarves would ever make.

As the Barbarian warlords on the surface of the Mainlund settled down into more permanent, peaceful people, the dwarves were poised to emerge as a dominant force again, but in a shocking move, the Arachnids revealed that they possessed easily 10 times as many people as the dwarves believed and opened up a lighting fast assault on the dwarvin government, assassinating virtually all the ruling Kharzhak leadership at the start of the conflict, while leaving the Numbhar chancellors untouched. The Numbhar clan, which was influential but small, protested that they had no idea why this was done. As the war ravaged the dwarvin population, whom had no answer for the highly magical assault of the Arachnids, the Kharzhaks became convinced that the Numbhars were secret allies of the Arachnids, and had betrayed their brethren.

The reality was that the Arachnids, being master strategists had correctly predicted that a schism in the dwarving society would be easy to trigger, and would allow for enough distraction to let the Arachnids smash the dwarves completely within a very short time. Their forces were primarily magical, and they did not have the resources to hold an extended siege war against the stubborn dwarves, so a lighting fast blitzkrieg was their plan, and it required that the dwarves fight amongst themselves to weaken their group collectively.

Within less than half a year, the dwarvin people were being routed. Their armies had been smashed, their leadership killed, and their halls mostly overran by the Arachnid forces. The existing leadership was divided over what step to take next. Some traditionalist forces (mostly Kharzhak) demanded that every dwarvin woman and child be armed to fight, and that all dwarves should fight to the death over the last few inches of their ancestral home. Other, more progressive forces (mostly Numbhar) insisted that the dwarves abandon the mountain and retreat on the surface world to re-group, using their human contacts for support and shelter. In the end, the idea of retreating out onto the surface won out, and the dwarves prepared to evacuate the mountains.

Once evacuated, the dwarves spilled out into the plains of the Mainlund in modern day Garmond, and immediately set upon each other in a vicious conflict. The Kharzhak's, exposed to the harsh surface world, became more and more convinced that the Numbhar's whom were the ones with relationships with surface people, had a hand in the Arachnid plan, in order to seize power from the traditional Kharzhak monarchy. The Kharzhak's themselves, perhaps inspired by the efficiency of the Arachnid assault, launched a secret plan to kill all the Numbhar "traitors", but to the horror of the Numbhars, and to all the human forces whom were assisting the dwarves at this time with food and shelter.

The Numbhar lost half of their remaining people over the week-long massacre, and only survived by fleeing the region as fast and as in as many directions as they could, thus fragmenting their people and scattering them across the land. The Kharzhaks, once their cousins were out of axe range, gathered their meager supplies and moved to migrate north to what was at that time, called "Rock Island". A non-nondescript name for a non-nondescript, worthless rock. The dwarves had sent a colony or two to this place in years past, and had found that while the mountain that formed the island could easily be hollowed out further, it had virtually no resources worth having. No rich mineral veins or gem clusters filled its interior, and its caves would be expensive to protect against the periodic flooding they endured. Salt water permeates the porous rocky interior of the mountain, meaning that the fungal agriculture practiced under the Kharos Mountains would be unlikely to work. Regardless, it was the only major outpost of the Kharos Kingdom, so the remaining Kharzhaks moved there in a pitiful caravan of sun-burned, nearly blinded dwarves, whom were forced to sell their prized family heirlooms and armor to afford boat passage to "New Kharsis".

Once the dwarves had moved all their people onto Rock Island, and renamed it New Kharsis, they sealed themselves into the mountain to dream of vengeance against both the Arachnids who now claimed their halls, and against the scattered remnants of their traitorous cousins, the Numbhars, whom they places 100% of the blame for their defeat upon.

Political Relations
As expected, the dwarves of New Kharsis have no diplomatic connection with either The Silk Kingdom of Arachnids under the Kharos Mountains, nor with the growing Numbhar nation in the Iron-Sea desert. They are simply waiting to gather enough resources to launch a counter war against one or both of these foes, and make no effort to conceal this ambition.

New Kharsis has been on generally good terms with Partha over the years, as Partha supplies both navel services and food for the dwarves, whom have absolutely no skill when it comes to sailing, or large-scale farming in their new island home. These services do not come cheap however, and the dwarves of New Kharsis are growing more and more resentful of the Parthian merchant captains whom charge "outrageous" prices to ferry food and supplies from the Mainlund to the island-bound dwarves.

There is a traditional monarchy, the Shieldwarren family, and the High Thane (king) of the family always serves as Chancellor of the Civility and Military, which is the head of state. The present High Thane and Chancellor is Auwstuis Shieldwarren of DanKhaiden The Chancellor has power over all military and policy decisions, and is aided by a council of dwarves called Wardens. There is a Warden of; Theology, the Army, The Stoneguard (Karoc Knights), the Community (civil relations), of Jailers (prison system), of the "EhrWarten," or Upper World (ambassadors), and of Divination (magic). There are no separate states within the nation. Beneath the surface of Rock Island lies a network of roads and passages that connect 10 major cities to each other. These cities are; Dreskem, Serlon, Hattdt, Ichrech, Wuskav, Liebraugin, Rekhait, Vergert, Awshoal, and Kratciz.

Culture & Customs
The society is tightly controlled and structured, and there is a clear distinction between the castes of the nation. About 75% of the population will never spend more than an hour or two in the sunlight their entire lives. Families are divided into very distinct castes, which are basically inescapable, and provide the direction a particular dwarf takes throughout their lives. The society is also quite patriarchal, with female dwarves virtually never being placed in positions of real authority or influence. They are not allowed to participate in merchant activities, most religious ceremonies, or military service.

These stoic dwarves still honor the gods of their fathers and grandfather, going back many generations to the time before the dwarves were forced to leave the Mainlund. Father Havguard is Dwarvin Father God, and watches over all Kharoc dwarves and the other gods. Ruthmyr Crestrock is the patron of stone masons and construction, while Tesh Veingold rules over metal workers and craftsmen. The conservative dwarves do not give their deities much personality, and the gods are stable, unchanging statues, setting a standard for the dwarves to follow. The religion is not officially supported by the state, but it doesn't need to be. Worship of any other gods would be grounds for expulsion from the community, the worst punishment a Kharzhak could face.

The dwarves of New Kharsis have a wealth of old customs and traditions honoring their forefather's accomplishments. Each family will have a few holidays throughout the year, in addition to the several clan-level holidays that everyone practices. The typical foodstuffs of the dwarves are grown or raised underground. Several species of tubers have been bred to grow entirely in the darkness to provide basic starches, and the dwarves are masters at growing edible fungus and mushrooms. They also hunt or raise various cave animals, such as several massive insect species (sheep like one?) and also a strange sub-species of goats which can live comfortably underground if provided with basic torchlight.

The dwarves are renown for their love of, and ability to make, hard spirits. They can turn virtually any food product into a distilled spirit, including tubers, roots, and at least 1 species of fungal cave-slime. Despite not being able to produce any wheat, rye or barley in their underground caves, the dwarves absolutely love these products, which they usually convert into ale or whiskey, as opposed to eating them. As times grow increasingly hard for non-noble dwarves in New Kharsis, however, the practice of purchasing expensive grain to turn into booze has come under a lot of criticism As the poorer families are seeing their children growing thinner and thinner, the idea of wasting that much of the community resource is very displeasing.

The dwarven tradition of "Sorfaltig," where youths venture to the Mainland for wealth and glory, exists only for selected families with traditions of military duty or adventuring skill. A potter's son is expected to never see the rays of the sun, let alone the shores of the Mainlund.

Dwarvin warriors from New Kharsis match the typical dwarvin stereotype perfectly. Very heavy metal armor, thick shields, short battle axes and hammers, all these proud traditions of dwarvin warfare are carried forth by the Kharzhaks, and to deviate from that tradition as a soldier would be unthinkable.

Famous Figures
Myrk Baltstone was one of the youngest Generals ever to advance to the rank of Chief Warlord and White Thane of Bittrsmark in the Kharzhak Army. His feats in combat were legendary, and he is credited with saving the northern section of Rock Island from an invasion by a group of subterranean dragons. The Warlord of Bittrsmark is one of the current High Thane's most staunch supporters, and his 4 Battalions are the shock troops of an assault, the first to go into combat. His feats in combat were legendary, and he is credited with saving the northern section of Rock Island from an invasion by a group of subterranean dragons. The Warlord of Bittrsmark is one of the current High Thane's most staunch supporters, and his 4 Karoc Battalions are the shock troops of an assault, the first to go into combat.