Khôr-Mithral is what remains of an empire that once carved mountains like clay.
Now it is a single living city within a dead one.
The dwarves live deep within a mountain hollowed long ago — corridors vast enough for giants, now echoing and empty.
They occupy only what they can defend.
Doorways tens of meters tall
Halls supported by pillars thicker than towers
Collapsed districts sealed permanently
The dwarves appear small in these spaces.
They are not.
They are condensed.
Central, defensible district
Homes, forges, council chambers
Dense, warm, and loud
Still active
Fed by deep magma channels
Guarded by elite forge-wardens
Abandoned districts
Forbidden without sanction
Said to echo with ancestral weight
Dwarves are:
Few
Stubborn
Intensely communal
Every dwarf is:
A craftsman
A defender
A bearer of ancestral debt
They do not forget Arnot.
They do not forgive elves.
But they endure.
Mithril forging (extremely limited)
Stonecraft beyond mortal standard
Trade of tools, not weapons
They never sell full armor.
Never again.
Choke tunnels sized for dwarves, not giants
Pressure traps using gravity and stone
Mithril-reinforced gate mechanisms
The mountain is a weapon.
Dark Elves: Civil but cold
Humans: Useful intermediaries
Arnothi: Kill on sight