View Single Post
Old 09-20-2018, 04:29 AM   #29
(E)
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: New Zealand.
Default Re: [GAME] Collaborative World Building Dwarven city as a start

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daigoro View Post
Question 17
How do the five families fit into the city's power structure? What status do they have, how do they relate to the guilds, and how are they tied to the city's history?
Not all resources required by a dwarf hold are available within the area protected by its soldiers. In ancient times the dwarves responsible for gathering these distant resources were granted the rights to maintain soldiers to protect themselves. To pay for these soldiers these early nobles were granted further rights related to the resources they mined. With these rights came the responsibilities of both providing the dwarf hold they serve with soldiers in times of war and specific resources in times of peace. Overall there are many similarities to the human fuedal systems where nobles are granted land in exchange for military support.
In these more modern times there have been some unique cases, Up until two generations ago the noble house Brithnurl maintained their warrant of nobility by trading for Knurlkyth’s sulphur requirements from the Halfling cities before several disasters saw them lose their position. The dwarves who operate mines are analogous to lords in human society, the dwarves who gather other mineral resources without mining are similar in position to human knights.

Technically the division between the nobility and the guilds lies at the city's gates. However due to the nature of the government of Knurlkyth there are causes of tension between the two groups. The Guild of the Auger is responsible for assaying the resources each noble house provides and adjudicating unclear matters of succession in favour of the most skilled miner. The Guild of the Smelter however sees the Nobility as competition who have the right to sell "surplus" arms, armour and metal goods. The Guilds of the Bushel and Horn can have a complicated relationship with the nobility as the Guild of the Bushel may require the specific resources the nobility provide while the nobility are usually reliant on the food the Guild of the Horn is responsible for.

The Five Families of Knurlkyth
The families Kuzrada and Gromgorm respectively have control over Tin and Copper mining. They are the oldest of Knurlkyth’s noble houses and were founded before the city itself as some Elves have a mild allergy to Iron and required weapons made of other materials. These houses have the strongest links to the Twilight Elves that live with the city.

The Merins are the wealthiest of the families as their salt mines produce a lot more than the city requires. The surplus red salt is taken by lama to Drochaidùir where it is loaded onto river boats for sale in many of the nations north of the Ornthrond mountains. The soldiers who operate under the Merin banner are seasoned and well equipped caravan guards.

The Razik family controls the flow of silver into Knurlkyth. Their current mines are starting to play out however and they are striving to find new source so they can maintain their warrant of nobility. They have gone so far as to begin prospecting in the deep shadowed valleys along the eastern edge of Ornthrond range. They were once a family that had the wealth and influence to play politics with the halfling cities, as a result they have both friends and enemies in that region.

Lead is controlled by the Doragyth family -- I'll leave this open for anyone else to expand on --

Minor families
The widely respected family Knurlar are the direct decedents of Knurl the Firstsmith and they hold the rights to harvest a rare clay that Knurl discovered. This clay is a key ingredient in the production of the highest quality steel. The family holds Knurl's personal arms and armour in trust for the people of the city. They are also being placed under considerable financial pressure from an unknown source. The current head of the family fears that this may be to force them to sell their most precious family heirloom the two "prizes" of Lornegei and Knurl's wager on the outcome of their argument. He also fears the financial pressure might force his family to surrender it's warrant of nobility and the secret of the clay along with it.

The newest of the families is Knardum who hold the rights to jade, they seem driven to make their house greater. They are on very poor terms with Guild of the Auger who argue that jade is a gemstone and part of their guild's remit.

Question 24
What does Knurlkyth do without a royal family to adopt Weirdwrights to directly serve the city?

Question 25

What was wagered on the outcome of knurl and Lornegei's bet?
__________________
Waiting for inspiration to strike......
And spending too much time thinking about farming for RPGs
Contributor to Citadel at Nordvörn
(E) is offline   Reply With Quote