Chronicles of the World of DaoTyr

The proud and mysterious dwarven city of Gaulthum has loomed over Gavin Wel on the precipitous slopes of Eyria for nearly five thousand years, since the construction of the artificial volcano itself. The City’s first king was Baladhor the Liberator who lead a rebellion against the teifling slavers who held his ancestors as captive laborers, those who built the Mountain Made of Hands. The thirty thousand dwarves who live there in modern times are a noble people and operate in a world filled with ceremony, social hierarchy and a righteous sense of artistic superiority. Indeed, the crafts and arms exported from the cliff city of Ravens and Steel are among the highest quality in all DaoTyr.

The City is divided in two four vertical quarters, or castles as they are called by its residents. From bottom to top they are The Sacred Forge, The Castle Black, The Old Castle and the Eaves. The Sacred Forge is the arts district and everyone knows that the artists party the most. Here you will find taverns and travelers from all over the world. Indeed it is the only castle the xenophobic dwarves allow travelers to visit. Castle Black is where the Gaulthumian nobility rule from. There are three houses of dwarven royalty: The Gold Hammers, headed by lord Euranus, traditionally known for jewelry, the Silver Hammers, headed by lord Urthek, traditionally known for armor and the Copper Hammers, headed by Lord Dhethik, the runepriests of Moradin. All of the Nobility honors the young King Thurghiss.

The Warriors of the Steel Crow ride mechanically driven, clockwork birds and patrol the cliffs around Gaulthum. The thin road called the West Path is the only way to get to Gaulthum over land and a specially bred loaded-baring mountain sheep called the durgann is the only animal brave enough to navigate it.

All the dwarves of Gaulthum are literate in the arts and in writing runes. Facial and hand tattooing is common and indeed required for social advancement. The people have an elaborate ranking system based on braided knots of steel worn on their belts called the Quiputek. Other positions are noted by the title KHA, which means spirit guide and these are usually the rune priests and WHAREN, which means sherriff and these are usually warriors and not artists.

This entry was posted on May 13, 2011 at 4:20 pm and is filed under Gavin Wel, The Fey People. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.