Urkhaim

Urkhaim
Capital	None
Ruler	The Three Stone Kings
Government	Council of tribal kings
Demonym	Urkhaim
Adjective	Urkhaim
Languages	Urkhaim Dwarven; Targai
Religions	Dwarven pantheon; Abanir pantheon

Urkhaim (pronounced URK-aim) is a dwarven realm within the Northern Wall. The hardy dwarves that live in this frigid land are largely isolationist and rarely leave their secluded mountain homes, only venturing forth into the Aban Steppe during their great hunts and to carry their dead to Tomb Lake.

Geography, flora, and fauna

Urkhaim lies entirely within the snow-capped mountains of the Northern Wall, north of the Khindushar Basin and Mhakan's Trials. The region is cold year-round. There is enough seasonality, however, that in the summers some plants manage to grow around streams and ponds in the rocky valleys, enough to support small populations of animals like mountain goats and hares, which then provide food for bears, eagles, and a handful of other predators. At higher elevations up the mountains, where the dwarves live, effectively no wildlife is found, the snowy and icy environment too hostile to support life. Temperatures never rise above freezing, or even get close to it, at the peaks of the higher mountains.

History

The Urkhaim have not always lived in the mountains, and in fact only moved to their current homes several hundred years ago. Previously they lived in lodge-villages within the foothills of the western Cage and along the Eastern Hethalak River, where they made their living primarily through hunting and trade. But this same land was also claimed by the Xuldorai giants, and after many centuries of conflict between the two peoples the dwarves were left with only a handful of scattered communities in the lands up against the mountains.

Eventually it became clear to the dwarves that staying in their remaining villages, under constant threat from the giants, was untenable. Leaders from their largest tribes held a summit in the late ninety-sixth century to determine what course of action their people should take, but their decision ultimately tore the dwarven communities in two. Emerging from their secretive retreat, they declared the Urkhaim would counter-attack the Xuldorai in force, a display of strength that would dissuade any future aggression. As the leaders went about organizing their warriors, others within the dwarven tribes covertly made other plans. Many saw the planned attack as doomed to failure, and themselves inevitable targets of retributive raids, and instead began schemes to flee somewhere the Xuldorai could not reach them. When the day of the planned attack came and the dwarven warriors ventured forth to meet the giants, much of the remaining tribespeople set off as well in the opposite direction.

They traveled for months, passing by many potential new lands to settle, each of which they discarded for already being home to someone else. By now the dwarves had lost any trust in others, as their once-allies amongst the targai and gatai of Tomb Lake had long since stopped responding to their calls for aid against the giants. Eventually they found their way to the Northern Wall, where, seeing a rugged and easily defended land with no signs of habitation, they decided to remain.

As for the Urkhaim warriors, most of the exact details of their last battle with the Xuldorai are unknown. What is certain, however, is that they lost decisively. The very few who survived scattered, some finding their way in time to their kin in the Northern Wall, after first returning to their now-abandoned old villages. Others fled elsewhere across the steppe.

Demographics

Effectively the entire population of Urkhaim are dwarves of the Urkhaim heritage.

Culture

Religion

Though the Urkhaim follow the gods of the Dwarven pantheon, their practices of worship differ significantly from those of most other dwarves. Relatively little emphasis is placed on the roles of clerics as authoritative religious figures, as instead the Urkhaim have adopted the typical Abaniri view of the divines as entities who must be conversed with on a personal basis. As such, shamans who can aid in understanding the enigmatic speech of the Dwarven gods are important in Urkhaim religious life, and are regularly consulted for their advice. Shamans direct offerings to the gods, performing intricate rites in order to turn the attention of the divines towards their petitioners. Solnas and Myrmoris are particularly important deities to the Urkhaim.

Alongside shamans, bone-menders serve another important role in the religion of the Urkhaim. These healers receive patronage from all the gods collectively, giving them their powers of magical restoration, but at a cost. All bone-menders are sworn to lives of silence and neutrality. None are permitted to speak or take sides in any dispute. As a result they are widely trusted and appreciated, welcome even in times of feuds between the dwarven clans, as they can always be relied upon to help tend to the sick and injured. Few bone-menders have homes of their own, instead relying upon the hospitality of strangers as they travel between dwarven communities.

There are few temples to the gods in Urkhaim lands, though their cities are home to innumerable small shrines.

Languages

See also: Urkhaim Dwarven

The Urkhaim primarily speak a language called Urkhaim Dwarven. Largely separated from their dwarven kin for thousands of years, with only the occasional visitor and without access to the Warps, the tongue of the Urkhaim has diverged greatly from the Dwarven spoken elsewhere in the world, beginning as a dialect then turning into a full-fledged language in its own right.

Urkhaim Dwarven has kept the same overall structure and grammar of Dwarven, but the differences it has accumulated, combined with the great influence on its vocabulary from Targai, has rendered the language mutually unintelligible with its parent. Though the Urkhaim are not a particularly literary people, Dwarven runes continue to be used to write the language, with one important caveat. Rather than the typical right to left of Dwarven writing, Urkhaim Dwarven uses a boustrophedon style.

Some Urkhaim are also fluent in Targai, but in general the dwarves place little importance on understanding the language of outsiders - it is typical for only political leaders, as well as religious figures like shamans, to be multilingual.

Food and cuisine

Even when the Urkhaim lived in the southern Aban Steppe, they relied almost entirely on hunting and foraging to acquire their food, avoiding agriculture just like many other steppe-dwellers. But even still, they have been forced to adapt their methods to live in their new mountain homes. The Northern Wall is remarkably bereft of sources of food, save for scattered berry bushes, root vegetables, and animals like mountain goats, none of which are found in anywhere near the amount required for the Urkhaim to support themselves.

Instead, the dwarves have doubled down on their hunting. Every so often they sweep out of the mountains en mass, often a third or more of a tribe at a time, riding onto the steppe upon their trained dire wolf mounts. There they chase down herds of wild aurochs, horses, antelopes, and yaks, carefully coordinating their activities to bring down precisely as many animals with their bows and spears as they are capable of carrying back. This meat is then kept frozen and dried in the cold mountains until it is needed; when stores are running low again, another great hunt is called. But the Urkhaim's diet is not purely meat. They supplement it with small amounts of mushrooms and freshly gathered wild fruits and vegetables, but these are typically seen as luxuries and not for everyday meals.

Architecture and urbanization

From the outside, Urkhaim cities appear to be massive facades, each hundreds of feet tall, carved out of mountain faces, with clear reliefs depicting ornamental doors, buildings within the cliff, statues, and immense dwarven faces. In reality, however, these are distractions for their real homes, which are located below, only accessible through disguised entrances in unexpected places. Even once these entrances are found, any unwanted visitor is forced to contend with traps and layers of defenses, magical and otherwise, before reaching the subterranean cities. Carved out of the solid stone of the mountains, these cities are rather tightly packed, though not cramped, as the dwarves keep all living areas close together to better maintain a livable temperature. Grid-like passageways connect areas of their communities set aside for living, working, worship, and the production and consumption of food. Reliefs carved into every exposed wall tell the stories of the Urkhaim, including those not only of their exile but also of their times of joy, as well as depictions of religious events and figures. Extended families generally live close together and, when necessary, carve out new abodes for newly wed dwarves.

Effectively the entire population of the Urkhaim lives in the three densely urbanized cities of Dagger Mountain, Mun Holhaim, and Turguur. Save for defensive watchposts with transient populations, there are no outlying settlements, as the dwarves' lack of agriculture, reliance on food gathered from far away, and guarded lifestyles render any rural community impractical. Each of these cities is controlled by one of the tribes of the Urkhaim, though all are free to travel between them as they see fit, as long as they are willing to brave the perils of crossing the mountains, either through the snowy landscape or in the often dangerous underground.

Burial practices

The burial practices of the Urkhaim bear similarities to those of other Abaniri peoples. Traditionally, before their move north, the dwarves took their deceased to the area around Tomb Lake, where they were interred in secret, hidden locations in the forests around the water. Even after their exile, these practices have remained. The bodies of deceased dwarves are mummified in the frozen mountains until the following spring, after which their family transports them south across the steppe to join the remains of their ancestors. Though these treks can be perilous and arduous, often involving weeks of travel for the solemn funeral processions, the Urkhaim believe that maintaining these traditions is paramount to kleeping their connections with their forebears.

Unlike other Abaniri, the Urkhaim bury their dead individually, as the dwarves do not make use of familial tombs. Once placed in the ground, usually covered by large rocks to better conceal the disturbed earth, Urkhaim shamans perform rites and offerings to aid the soul of the deceased in reaching the company of their gods. The dead are often interred with their favorite foods, writing, or tools. Seeds from certain kinds of flowers are also sown wild throughout the forest and around the lake after the ceremonies have completed, but never near the grave itself, so as to avoid attracting attention to its location.

Clothing and fashion

Clothing worn by the Urkhaim is largely made of warm furs, designed to protect their wearers from the harsh cold of the mountains, with a heavy emphasis on practicality over form. Under layers, meanwhile, are typically made of wool. Heavy fur overcoats are often passed down between generations, and between children as they grow up, as they are very well-made and a point of pride for the families of those that craft them.

Urkhaim dwarves typically wear their hair long, knotting it in patterns that indicate their clan and tribe. Beards are maintained the same way.

Equipment

The characteristic weapon of the Urkhaim is a type of short recurve shield-bow, typically crafted by the elders of each family and presented to dwarven children upon reaching adolescence. These are designed to be as effective when used riding as mount as in the close quarters of the underground, and therefore use clever mechanisms to fold up and re-expand rapidly.

Government

The Urkhaim govern themselves in a tribal system rather similar to that used by most peoples of Abanir. Each tribe is led by a monarch, which is usually a hereditary position, who then together form a council known as the Three Stone Kings that discusses any matters that affect the dwarves as a whole. Prior to their escape north this council was called the Seven Stone Kings, but four of the tribes functionally ceased to exist after their trek, merging with the others who remained. Though each tribe broadly has latitude to govern themselves as they see fit, the dwarves have grown increasingly closer after their relocation, and generally now defer to the council in most circumstances rather than entirely to their own king or queen.