The Kingdom of Silk

The Kingdom of Silk
''If its secrets that you seek, come into our chambers. From the Underworld, we hear things, and see things that you cannot. If you knew what we knew, I don't think you'd waste so much time on the surface world with your kings and politics and wars. Yes, we did make these chambers of ours from the old halls of the arthritic dwarves. There is much knowledge in these depths, and those fools were wasting it telling old stories and dulling their wits with whiskey. Nature rewards the clever and the strong, and so now this fortress is ours. Come into our realm, for we offer much. But be warned, once you are down here in our web, leaving becomes a difficult task.''

Summary
The Kingdom of Silk is a country located beneath the surface world, in the ancient home of the Mainlund dwarves underneath the Kharos Mountains, peopled by a race of bipedal, hyper-intelligent insect-like beings called the "Arachnids" by the surface races. These strange people emerged during the Barbarian Era, asking the dwarves of mountain for some caves to settle in, but eventually launched a surprise attack and expelled the dwarves from the mountain completely. Since that time, this nation has not been much involved with any other kingdoms in the land, and seems to be preoccupied with preparing themselves against some secret or unseen Underdark forces. Just recently have they started to interact more on the surface, by funding human settlers to push into the Kharos Valley range to grow livestock and crops to feed the Arachnid nation.

Geography
The Kingdom of Silk is located beneath the Kharos Mountain range in the north-central part of the Mainlund. The caverns and caves beneath this granite mountain range have been tunneled out into a massive series of halls and passageways over the centuries by the various beings whom have called this place their home. The caves stretch from several thousand feet above the ground level, in the middle of the mountain, to several thousand feet below the ground, and spread out basically as far as the foothills which surround the Kharos range. There are distinct clusters of people/businesses which could be considered 'towns' under the mountain, which fairly narrow passageways leading through dangerous Underdark territory connecting them. The caves here all stay nearly the same mild temperature year round, although some sections are heated by proximity to underground hot springs, and lava pockets. On the surface, the Kharos Mountains are rocky, and bitterly cold. The middle-to-lower elevation points are covered with patchy forests of evergreens, but the taller peaks are barren rock faces, covered in snow for most of the year.

Racial Distribution
The Kingdom of Silk is primarily (70%) made up of Arachnids, the spider-people whom control the nation. Besides themselves, the Arachnids employ a few populations of surface races (mostly gnomes, elves and half-orcs) to work various jobs that they themselves are not suited to. For example, the gnomes comprise a large merchant and miner class, which extracts minerals and gems from the caverns and sells them on behalf of the nation. The half-orcs are used as manual labor, and the elves assist with diplomatic efforts and such. Humans are rare in this land, not due to any racial prejudiced but simply because the place is not set up for species whom cannot see well in underground caverns. Human diplomats are entertained on a regular basis, but maintaining a permanent presence underground is difficult. There is also a small percentage (5%) of other native Underdark races here (Deep gnomes, drow elves, durgeur dwarves, etc), although they are treated with suspicion by the central government of the Arachnids, whom, curiously, are not native to the Underdark themselves at all. How they came to emerge here is still a mystery to the world.

History
During the Barbarian Era, when the human barbarian tribes on the surface world united and spread their wrath and destruction across the lands, the dwarves of th Kharos Mountains sealed off their great iron gates and decided to simply wait out the human assaults that were starting to plague them. They also were in need of allies, as they had expelled all the normal Underdark races from the surrounding areas around their ancestral home here, and were not quite sure how many years of siege they could withstand, having been importing their food from the surface world for many, many generations. At this time, a strange, rag-tag band of several hundred Arachnid refugees emerged in the south eastern portion of the dwarving-controlled cave systems, asking for asylum. They claimed to have been chased away from their homes much further and deeper away in the Underdark by horrible, unspeakable forces. The dwarves, feeling that if they turned away the Arachnids they would surely perish, felt charitable enough to grant them a small patch of mineral-poor tunnels in the south eastern corner of their lands.

Once their colony was established the Arachnids started secretly bringing in more and more of their people, far more than the dwarves realized or would have tolerated The arachnids used their highly developed arcane magical skills to conceal their numbers for years, slowly amassing an army right under the dwarves noses. The Arachnids slowly deduced that there was a weakness in the dwarvin society: a growing social rift between the majority clan, the Kharzhaks, and the minority power, the Numbhar clan, who had traditionally been the link to the surface world for the dwarvin nation, and were being viewed suspiciously by the Kharzhaks now.

Eventually, the Barbarian threat on the Mainlund quieted down, and the dwarves were poised to emerge as a powerful influence once again. However, as soon as the mountain gates were opened, and the defenses taken down, the Arachnid army launched its surprise coup d'etat.

The Arachnid's first assault was a commando team of wizard assassins, whom materialized directly within the governmental halls of the dwarves and assassinated virtually all the Kharzhak leadership in one concentrated period of attack. They left the confused Numbhar chancellors completely unscathed, going so far as to magically immobilize them when they charged at the attackers, with the effect wearing off as soon as their poison crossbow bolts and magical spells had hit their Kharzhak targets.

After that, the dwarves poured their forces through the tight halls connecting their territory to the caverns gifted to the Arachnids in a counter attack, only to realize they had been caught in a brutal trap. The Arachnids had laid a series of magical traps down in the caverns which pinned the massive force of dwarves together in disconnected clusters, and the spider-wizards unleashed furious magical poisons, fires, and lighting down onto the helpless dwarves.

In the weeks that followed, the Arachnids pressed every advantage they could, smashing into one side of the dwarvin territory, then fleeing from the counter assault into the deep Underdark, only to emerge minutes later on the complete other side of the dwarvin halls, as if the entire army was teleporting around (which it in fact, was). The dwarves had been used to fighting barbarian humans and low-intelligence demi-humans for decades, and had no answer for this highly magical, relatively small-numbered assault. Within 2 months, the Arachnid forces had destroyed a dwarvin army that was easily 6 times their size to begin with.

The dwarves debated hotly whether or not they should all (women and children included) form up a final defensive shell and defend their core halls to the death, or if they should flee to the surface to regroup and hopefully gain the assistance of some of the surface races. The latter idea won out, and the Arachnids celebrated their over-running of the dwarvin halls with glee. They braced for a counter attach from the surface, but it never came. As soon as the dwarves had reached the surface, they began fighting amongst themselves, as had been predicted by the Arachnids, with the Kharzhak dwarves blaming the Numbhars for their downfall.

Since this historic victory, the Arachnids of the newly christened Kingdom of Silk have kept mostly out of surface politics, trading with the surface races to build their wealth, but keeping their motivations and fears much to themselves.

Political Relations
The Kharzhak dwarves formed the nation of New Kharsis after their expulsion from the mountain halls, and have made no secret that they are planning an invasion of Kharos as soon as they are able. The Arachnids have been strangely calm about these hostilities. Being master spies, they are aware that the Kharzhak's do not posses even half the forces needed to re-take their former home. There are not sufficient caverns connecting the dwarves in New Kharsis to the Mainlund, so the Kharzhak assault force would have to sail through the treacherous Northern Sea, land, move across the Mainlund, and attack the fortified gates of the Kharos Mountains. Gates which their great-grandfathers built themselves to keep out human assaults from penetrating into the Kharos Mountain interior.

The Numbhar of the Iron-Sea desert also despise the Arachnids, but not the point of war. They do however, refuse to trade with them or entertain diplomatic relations. Partha and Garmond are on cool-to-cordial relations with the Arachnids. These groups benefit the most from trade with each other. The Arachnids often purchase livestock, leather goods, wood products, and labor from the surface, while in exchange selling gems, mineral ore, alchemical supplies, magical divinations, exotic Underdark materials, and enchanted items to their human neighbors. This puts Partha in a tricky situation, as it is also allied with New Kharsis, who occasionally demands a halt to trade between the Arachnid merchants and the Parthian government. The Arachnids have found this trade to be particuarely profitable with the Calcovans, who are in desperate need for alchemical supplies that could be used as fuel for their impressive aerial warships.

The Mur-ain of Northpoint have always viewed the Arachnids with mistrust and suspicion, and the Arachnids feel much the same. The Blue-Fae of Northpoint, during their more war-like period in the past, had no tolerance for any Arachnids they caught anywhere on the surface of the foothills to the east of the Kharos mountains themselves, and being a race of people whom mostly ate giant insects for food, gruesomely consumed a few Arachnid merchants from time to time, if those merchants strayed too far into the surface world. In modern times, the Kingdom of Silk has been funding homesteading human (mostly of Parthian descent) to grow crops and livestock in the Kharos Valley range, which has traditionally been a free buffer-zone between Northpoint and its neighbors. This does not sit well with the Mur-ain, and they are becoming more and more aggressive against these homesteaders in recent times.

The Silk Kingdom's government consists of a complex mix of parliamentary council members and nobles, with surprisingly little in-fighting. The Arachnids seem to have a knack for being able to pick the strongest from among their ranks without the usual bloodshed that accompanies human politics. The current leader of these beings is named Empress Xthyn the Wise, and has reigned for twenty five years as Absolute Leader of the Kharos Range and surrounding valleys. Xthyn has established something of a monopoly on the trade routes which connect Northpoint and the Mist Mountains to Partha and Garmond, bringing new wealth into the nation and firmly establishing the Arachnids as a force in the region.

Culture & Customs
The bizarre Arachnid people of the Silk Kingdom have only one being to be venerated as a god, Ythgal’tk being the closest pronunciation, and they have always revered his word. He is the original king of the Arachnid people, living on after death as their God and Advisor. This deity is known to prowl the bowels of the Kharos caverns, offering cryptic advice to those he sees. He is completely neutral in disposition, caring only for the overall advancement of the Arachnids as a group. Since logic and knowledge are the foundations of the Arachnid psyche, he does not promote superstition or rituals, and instead urges his descendants to avoid the trappings of religion. He keeps contact with the current leaders, and often offers advice on political and internal matters of the state.

True slavery is quite rare in the Silk Kingdom (reserved for only the dumbest and most dangerous humanoids whom might not otherwise be safely controlled), but the Arachnids exert a strange form of pressure on the non-Arachnid citizenry who dwells underground with them. Any travel to and from the surface world is tightly regulated with a series of bureaucratic steps, resulting in heavy tax fines if an offender is caught covertly slipping out to the surface. Furthermore, the Arachnids heavily encourage their non-Arachnid citizens to set up traditional families in the Underdark, but never allow an entire family to venture to the surface at the same time, under any condition. To do so would be to forfeit all property in the Kingdom and lose one's citizenship. This ensures that any ambassadors who leave for the surface have sufficient motivation to return promptly, as their wives, husbands, and/or children will be waiting for them.

Famous Figures
Lord Vyxtish of the Green Web is currently regarded as one of the most powerful mages on the planet. The wizard has earned the title of "Grand Metamancer " and young transmogrifiers from across the world seek his advice and council. Vyxtish is fairly benevolent for such a powerful wizard, and quite open for young students. However, his eagerness for new mage pupils might be tied to his tendency to drain the delectable life-juices from students who fail his curriculum. This practice is accepted among his Arachnid brethren, and is an accepted risk for most of the wizards that yearn to learn his secrets. It is said that he can transform a cave cricket into a Red Dragon by extending his finger and speaking one quick syllable, but Vyxtish refuses any such demonstrations of his power.