The Unyielding Mountain, The Ordered Hearth
"From unity, strength. From strength, survival. From survival, purpose."
In the chaotic decades following the Burning of Haugaeldr, the world seemed destined for collapse. The "Time of the Howling Dark" (5-15 AH) saw famine, monster attacks, and warring clans. From this anarchy, the Dwarf-Giant Jarl Bor Stone-Hand and the Human-Giant Jarl Sigrun the Steadfast forged the Founding Covenant. They argued that the failure of Haugaeldr was not the loss of knowledge, but a failure of discipline and unity. Their union of Dwarven engineering and Human adaptability created a bastion of order, the Commonwealth, dedicated to a single principle: the collective must survive, whatever the cost.
Commonwealth society is a meticulously engineered machine where every soul has a designated purpose.
The Guild System: Life is governed by all-encompassing "Iron-Writ Guilds" (Masons, Wardens, Forge-Tenders, etc.). Membership is mandatory, and guild rank determines one's status, housing, and rations. This creates immense stability and efficiency but strangles individual ambition.
Benevolent Control: The ruling Jarls of the Hearth-Fire provide absolute security, warmth, and food for all who contribute. In return, they demand absolute loyalty. Dissent is not punished with cruelty, but with "The Cold Choice"—public renunciation or exile into the frozen waste. This is seen as a merciful, if grim, necessity.
The Role of the Lítillfólk: The small folk are integrated as essential, if junior, partners. They are the delicate hands that maintain the giant-scale machinery, the scribes in the archives, and the scouts in tight spaces. They live in well-maintained but densely packed "Stone-Neighborhoods" within the giant citadels.
The Granite Schism (211 AH): A faction of more conservative Dwarf-Giants, led by Clan Ironroot, argued that sharing power with Human-Giants diluted their pure craftsmanship. The schism ended when Jarls from both lineages stood together to exile the entire Ironroot clan, cementing the cross-cultural bond at the heart of the Commonwealth. The "Exiles of Ironroot" are said to still dwell in the deep frost, their bitterness festering.
The Discovery of the Sun-Vein (455 AH): Commonwealth miners broke into a colossal, subterranean geode filled with the largest known deposit of Sun-Splinter crystals. This discovery, known as the "Sun-Vein," granted them near-limitless warmth and power, propelling them to a position of unassailable economic strength and fueling their greatest architectural wonders.
The Betrayal of Jarl Kára (598 AH): Jarl Kára, a beloved Human-Giant commander, secretly made a pact with the Hrímþursar, offering them a remote fortress in exchange for them ravaging a rival Jarl's lands, hoping to consolidate her own power. The plot was uncovered by a Lítillfólk scribe. Kára and her entire household were offered the Cold Choice. Their exile into the glacier-haunted north is a cautionary tale sung in every hall, a stark reminder that no one is above the Covenant.
The Forge-Citadel Completion (722 AH): The completion of their capital, the Forge-Citadel, carved into the volcano of Mount Harrow, marked the apex of their power. It is a city that is also a fortress, a forge, and a monument to their unbreakable will.
Today, the Commonwealth is the bedrock of Niflheimar. They are the master architects, the most reliable smiths, and the most disciplined warriors. Other nations rely on their goods and fortifications, even as they fear their rigid ideology. They view the Frost-Fang as savages, the Sun-Splinters as decadent, and the Free-Soul as chaotic. Their greatest internal struggle is the constant, quiet tension between the safety they provide and the freedoms they extinguish to do so. They are a mountain that shelters all who live upon it, but whose slopes can be merciless to those who stumble. Their leaders fear the Echo-Frost, but won't admit it.