Ralmulash

**Ralmulash** or the Silver Confederacy is a dwarven realm located in the Zapno Mountains.

## Politics

*The following subject is an absolute WIP - The Author*

The realm is headed by the Sterling Council out of Ingareth, named so for their meeting room being made mostly of sterling. The Sterling Council is headed by the most skilled crafters of the realm and is elected every ten year in the Grand Crafting where dwarves connected to Crafts Councils have a chance to show their skills. The Sterling Council primarily decides on foreign policy, however these foreign policies may sometimes effect the internal structure of the dwarven society. This can be during times of war, or the time that a few councillors for some reason wanted to specifically ban the trading of toys, for example mini-forges, toy hammers or toy axes.

Each dwarven fortress is headed by a series of Crafts Council. The Crafts Councils are similar to guilds and consists of dwarven labourers connected to each of the different industries. They also decide upon the prices of goods in their respective fortress and also control local export mandates. The Crafts Councils holds a smaller local competitions to determine who will be send the Grand Crafting. Usually the senior members setup mock competitions so that they are send to the Grand Crafting, however on some occasion a newcomer will be able to show of their skill in crafting and be able to acquire a spot in a leading position.

The Sterling Council originally functioned as a advisory organ to the royalty of Ralmulash, even though the royals ruled the Sterling Council held significant power. This power would be the undoing of the kingdom of Ralmulash after the king started a series of unpopular wars, which limited the ability to trade. Trade was seen as the primary way to make coin by the Sterling Council and the many Crafts Councils. So the forces conspired and eventually overthrew the kingdom in the year 982. While the king himself was arrested some of his children managed to escape and form a new dwarven realm, still claiming the lands of Ralmulash as their rightful home. The faith of the country would be decided in what is now the infamous Silver Speech.

## Economy

The economy of Ralmulash primarily relies on its deposits of tetrahedrite located in the Zapno Mountains. Tetrahedrite consists mostly of copper with small traces of silver, when smelted the process might therefore either provide bars of copper or silver. In turn the dwarves will either export the silver bars directly or alloy them with the copper to create billon and sterling silver. These valuable alloys are then turned into different kinds of crafts, such as furniture or goblets. The billon is also often minted into coins. All these products are then exported, while in turn tin and food is imported. While the dwarves of Ralmulash primarily life from food grown underground they also have developed a taste for food grown aboveground. The tin is used together with the copper to create bronze weapons, armours and tool for the soldiers and labourers of Ralmulash.

Most of these goods are hauled via the beetle routes, a series of underground tunnels and caverns connecting the various cities of Ralmulash.