Mithril Gate

[Rakaneth]

The Dvergar of Mithril Gate, dwelling beneath the Maw of Ataramakaris that serves as the barrier between Andarra and the mysterious western realm of Keldun called the Four Kingdoms, are not beholden to any of the dragons nor to any specific realm. They are craftsmen and entrepreneurs; wealth and avarice motivate this short, stocky, hirsute people. Through careful political negotiation and manipulation, they have managed to maintain their neutrality. Through hard work and efficient (if cold) use of resources, they have managed to dominate the economy in any realm in which they can establish a presence - and, despite being a mostly reclusive, subterranean-dwelling people, that reach is quite long.

The average Dvergr stands at four feet tall with dun, deep brown, or even onyx-colored skin. Males tend to grow long beards, while females remain relatively clean-faced. Their hair varies in color, but tends toward stony hues, as well as a stark white that reminds many of Falakian snowfall. The Dvergar can see in total darkness, but cannot perceive color at all when there is no light. They also have a peculiar ability to sniff out metal deposits, making them excellent miners. They are more hardy than humans by half and tend to have lifespans reaching into 150 years on average.

The Dvergar keep indentured servants, giving criminals the opportunity to repay their debt to society with hard work, though in truth few criminals sentenced to indentured servitude are ever freed, creating a de facto slave caste. The cheap labor provided by these criminals - and by their reanimated corpses in death, for many Dvergar are skilled in the use of necromancy - allow them to produce their goods at incredibly low costs. Because of this, there is no true death penalty in their legal system, as criminals sentenced to servitude are only treated well enough to keep their bodies whole and tend to languish under the yoke of particularly harsh masters. Unsurprisingly the crime rate in Mithril Gate is low.

The Dvergar as a race espouse an egocentric philosophy, that personal power should be the ultimate goal of every individual, and that enlightened self-interest creates a strong society. They follow neither the dogma of the dragons and their Dragonspeakers, proclaiming the primacy of those ancient creatures, nor the older mysteries of the World-Kings of their western neighbors. There are a few who give homage to a being they call Hrafinn ('The Raven'), but they are dismissed by the wider Dvergar populace as crazed cultists.