Nucholian Empire

A map of the Nucholian Empire's territory.

Before the empire of TumahnDawk spread its jetstreams across the continent, there were dwarves. When the Treaty of the Eight States was signed, and the Present Reckoning began, there were dwarves. When your bones crumble to dust and you are absorbed back into the earth, there will be dwarves - and they will dig a mine shaft through your decomposing coffin and carve a dope hammer out of your gravestone.

The Nucholian Empire is a state in the northern region of Yon'ver, situated in a mountainous region of the continent. It is currently ruled by Beldan Leadbow, the Emperor of the Nucholian Empire. The capital city of the Nucholian Empire is Aberden, a fortified underground city to which access is restricted. Most of the Nucholian Empire is populated by dwarves.

History

The dwarves of the Nucholian Empire have one of the most ancient and proudest histories in all of Yon’ver. Unlike the satyrs, who it is said came to the continent from another plane, or the goblins, who just kind of crawled out of a lake one day and got down to business, the dwarves have inhabited Yon’ver since long before the beginning of recorded history.

Originally known simply as Nucholia, they decided to change their name when the more imperialist elves began to expand the scope of their territory under the name of the Hounhilian Empire in 263 PR. The leader of Nucholia, Dalgeth Granitemaul, changed the name to the Nucholian Empire in 264 PR (maintaining to his grave that it was a complete coincidence and anyways, he thought of the name first).

Economy

The backbone of the Nucholian economy is their mining industry. The major dwarven cities were built next to the most profitable mines, and while they are all able to sustain themselves with plenty of iron and stone, each major city has a specialization:

• Bighall, the dwarven stronghold built at the far banks of the Mijjajas River, produces around 62 percent of the continent’s gold.
• Cryshell, known for its complex systems of tunnels and catwalks that provide a perfect home for gangs of smugglers, is also a massive producer of precious stones such as bloodstone and moonstone.
• The southern border, particularly Mapmaw, is known for mithral production. Mithral is an incredibly strong and light mineral that creates the strongest armor known to man. However, it forms at extremely deep depths so it is dangerous to mine. The mines and city of Mapmaw are one and the same; the citizens of the city live thousands of feet below the earth so they are always close to their mithral stores. Dwarves are very protective of mithral, and unlike their other products, they only trade it within the confines of Yon’ver. The trade route stretches from Dhodh to Mapmaw to Willow to Ligward, though there are also rumours of occasional caravans heading up to Mojesh as well.
• The capital city, Aberden, produces copper, silver, and lead, and is home to some of the best warsmiths in Yon’ver.

Aberden

Aberden is a city within a mountain. Unlike most of the dwarven cities, which welcome a wide variety of races and cultures, only dwarves or dwarf-chosen are allowed within the walls of the city. Since other states never manage to see the inside, not much is known about the layout or inner workings of Aberden. It is known to be a multi-layered, densely populated city with terrifying defenses - pit traps, mechanical defenders, and, if rumours are to be believed, at least three different ancient dragons. The ruler of the Nucholian Empire, Beldan Leadbow, lives in the base of the mountain.

Beldan Leadbow

Leadbow is an honest and paternal man, known for his reasonable nature in all matters that do not concern elves. He has led his people for nearly two centuries, and is a fierce defender of his people’s culture and way of life. Leadbow has a heated rivalry with the leader of the elves, Syrune Evioro. While the animosity has never escalated to any use of force, Leadbow has been building up his troops in case the whispers of nefarious new forms of military might being assembled in the woods of Hounhilia have any truth behind them. The northeast tip of the empire, from the Markess river basin and above, is a region of warm rainforests technically under the jurisdiction of Aberden.

Grung

However, the rainforests are overrun by grung, frog-like humanoids who live in a rigid caste-based society and consider art and violence to be one and the same. While grung can be found throughout the forest - climbing trees looking for squirrels, sunning themselves in rivers, and standing right behind you with a machete - the dwarves know of four grung settlements.

In the center of the forests (which have a name but the grung refuse to tell anyone out of spite) lies the “city” of Mojesh. Mojesh is a series of hot springs on the slope of a tall hill, in which many grungs have settled.

The grung caste system determines the height that different color grungs live at, with green grung being at the lowest spot physically and socially, followed by blue, purple, red, and orange. At the very top of the hill lives Pbeerg Pbeerg, the supreme leader of Mojesh. A rare golden grung, Pbeerg is a violent man who does not take kindly to intruders who may disrupt the order of grung daily life. The other grung settlements, Basdekh, Skarjashe, and Gankess, have similar caste structures.

Other places of note

The Nucholian Empire has other notable locations:

• Bronwell, home of the Cracktooth underground fighting rings.
• Dorrakh, known as the armor-smithing capital of Yon’ver.
• Gankhess, where odd fae creatures have reportedly been spotted in the woods.
• Grazhul, city of tortles who claim that they have sovereignty over their land and are a distinct country, been locked in a legal battle for years with Aberden.
• Gidhuc, a town split in two.
• Krodruk, home of Yon’vers sixth largest boulder.
• Nedia Island, a small island to the northwest that is technically under dwarven jurisdiction. However, no dwarves want to live on a sandy island so close to the ocean, so it is inhabited by wild beasts and a few small tribes of kenku.
• Umug, town of 99 taverns. If you go, expect to have some tall drinks and get short on coin.