The Dwarves saw in the rugged mountain spines bounties of resources to be extracted and limitless potential waiting to be realized. Throughout the Age of Exploration generations of Dwarven kings sent forth expeditions to chart new veins of ore and map river systems that could feed forges and mines.
The annals of Kothar Ironhelm capture this spirit of collective endeavor: “In each stone’s secret heart, a future; in each tunnel carved, a home for all kin.”
The Argulron Mountains became the Dwarves’ lifeblood. They tunneled deep, founding the city of Jarrkliff with its vaulted halls and gem-lit galleries.
Ambitious bands later struck farther north into the Nordshal Mountains, laying claim to every cavern, crag, and snow-fed spring, thus sewing the vast kingdom of Haalmdor into reality—one granite keystone at a time.
Dwarven society grew rich with clan rivalries, trade guilds, and enduring customs. Their stonecraft reached new heights, and their roads of gravel and flagstone radiated outward, built to endure centuries.
Meanwhile, the Jungaran Peninsula offered the Rith’yar all their hearts desired. Vines heavy with fruit, clear springs, ancient groves for ritual and healing, and canopies thick enough to shelter their villages from outsiders. The Rith’yar learned to coax yield from reluctant soil, to blend into the green tapestry, and to listen to the world’s pulse.
Though they rarely ventured beyond their jungle villages, Rith’yar traders occasionally visited new markets, bringing rare flowers, obsidian arrowheads, and tales glimpsed only in dream. As guardians of a vital ecological heart, their quiet choices helped maintain the balance upon which the other races often depended.
Mountains and jungles alike became new homelands.
In the coming weeks, we’ll explore how these scattered settlements began to weave themselves together.