Völkervier

Pictorial map of the Vondemberg Historical District as drawn by the Cartographic Society of Völkervier c. 543 JDF

## Society

### Inhabitants

Hill Dwarves, Folk, Krovi, Warforged, Wood Elves, High Elves, Tabaxi, Gnomes, Changelings

**Völkervier** (pronounced FOL-ker-FEER) is the largest city in Unsere and the capital city of the Federated Republic of Völkervier.

## **Introduction**

Völkervier, or "Four Peoples" in dwarvish, is named in acknowledgement of the four groups who came together to reforge the former dwarven city of Vondemberg ("of the mountain" in dwarvish) after decades of fighting between them.

## **Government**

Völkervier is led by a council of seven representatives. Four seats on the council are held by the heads of the highest ranking trade nobility, while three are held by the leaders of the most prestigious and influential commonborn guilds and companies.  As of 547 JDF, the membership was as follows:

* **Lady Gretchen Blau** of House Blau, the family with the rights to the lumber east of the Klargeshen. House Blau has less total available lumber than House Schneid but the wood is of equal quality and they don't contend with as many attacks from shifters, Krovi and other bandits, a fact that Lady Gretchen is all too happy to leverage in matters of business with prospective buyers still trying to decide from whom to purchase their lumber. House Blau holds residence in the town of Gutblau, and holds further renown for producing some of the finest crossbows in the north. House Blau's colors are blue and white.
* **Lord Adolphus Schneid** of House Schneid, the family with the rights to the lumber west of the Klargeshen. Technically holds more total land than House Blau, but the usability of that land is regularly compromised by attacks from shifters, Krovi, and other bandits. This frustrates Lord Adolphus to no end, leaving him regularly flustered and grumpy. House Schneid holds residence in the city of Kalte Barte alongside House Flussmeister, whose seemingly endless profits drawn from the Kalte Barte fisheries does nothing to alleviate the boiling temper of Lord Adolphus. House Schneid's colors are white and red.

* **Lord Richter Stein** of House Stein, once a mercenary family that now boasts the strongest military and holds the greatest presence within the city guard. Renowned for their smithing, elite training and for spawning the mercenary guild Truesteel Relief. Lord Richter, though still attending court and full of bluster, is advanced in age even for a dwarf and quite sickly, perpetually suffering from some ailment or another. He has become renowned for interrupting his own grand military speeches with fits of violent sneezing. House Stein's colors are silver and black.

* **Lady Franziska Flussmeister** of House Flussmeister, the family which dominates the fishing trade, holding the rights to the freshwater catches within the Silberbarsch Foothills. The enforcement of these rights varies from region to region, with the Flussmeister Tax placed on catches sold at market appearing less and less the further one travels away from Kalte Barte, the home of House Flussmeister. Lady Flussmeister has shown no sign of going to any greater lengths to enforce the tax, seemingly fat and content with the never-ending stream of revenue from the rivers surrounding her home and those of the Klargeshen. She is infamous for falling asleep at court, so complacent is she with hers and her house’s position. House Flussmeister's colors are green and gold.

* **Frau Anika Ruhigezehen**, Spionagemeister of the Longweb Brokers Union which handles the inflow and outflow of intelligence for the Republic. Longweb agents keep close tabs not only on potential threats to the Republic’s interests from other nations, but also from within the Republic’s own borders, including threats from other guilds and houses with seats on the council. When a credible threat does cross their notice, the Brokers waste little time in seeing to its elimination. The Longweb Brokers recruit from anyone they believe useful, but are known to recruit heavily from the various bard colleges of Völkervier. Frau Anika herself presents a quiet, demure and even bashful exterior, preferring always to allow others to speak to whatever length they will before making any comment or taking any action of her own. Those lured in by her timid facade soon find themselves working for Anika and Longweb, whether they realize it or not. The Longweb Brokers' guild colors are violet and grey.

* **Meister Gilbert Aufderstrasse** of the Ironarm Trading Company oversees the facilitation of all import and export trade tied to the Republic, particularly trade going in and out of Völkervier. Easy to bribe and even easier to dupe, Meister Aufderstrasse has held onto his position not because of his unparalleled proficiency or cunning, but because of how wealthy his fellow council members have all become under his stewardship, and how easily manipulated he is by more ambitious minds within the Ironarm company structure. Of course, no one would dare tell him this, preferring instead to allow the kindly, dopey old man to believe he is doing a spectacular job of service for the Republic which he so loves. The Ironarm Trading Company's guild colors are red and black.

* **Doktor Bruder Zweimonde**, Guildmaster of the Free Alchemists Union. After the Red Clerics fell from grace centuries ago following the Warforged Riots, the Republic was left in need of reliable alchemists which it could rely on to serve in the interests of the people. This led to the formation of the Free Alchemists Union; a coalition of alchemists from all races within the Republic who functioned under a strict code of conduct and answered to a publicly overseen medical board. Doktor Zweimonde is the guild’s current leader, and has maintained an uncommon popularity throughout his political career. The Free Alchemists Union guild colors are red and yellow.

## **History**

### **The Mountain Dwarves**

First were the mountain dwarves who lived under the mountains, to whom the city of Vondemberg's founding can first and foremost be credited. Years ago, Eisenaxt II commissioned a group of colonists to settle the surface world in hopes of expanding his kingdom's sphere of influence, as well as generate wealth from trade with lands exotic to the mountain-dwelling denizens. Using maps drawn by earlier intrepid dwarven explorers (which were admittedly crude by modern standards), Eisenaxt's colonists made their way to the surface and established the outpost of Vondemberg along the Klargesehen River.

The surface proved to be rich in resources, leading to Vondemburg flourishing as a source of trade. Within its first year, it grew from a modest outpost to a fully realized trading town. However, its success and traffic would soon draw the attention of the native goliath clans who already occupied the surface world. In their eagerness, the dwarves had found themselves in competition with the goliaths for both hunting grounds and fishing locales, as well as disputes regarding particular locations seen as sacred by the goliaths but ripe for settlement by the dwarves. Conflicts between the dwarven colonists and goliath clans soon erupted into all-out war.

### **The Hill Dwarves**

Initially the two sides found themselves at a stalemate. The dwarven colonists were able to hold the goliaths at bay with the aid of their mountain-dwelling cousins, with little territory gained or lost by either side. However, citing rising costs as an unsustainable drain on the dwarven economy, the mountain dwarves would eventually withdraw their support for the war, leaving their colonists to either retreat back into the mountains or to fend for themselves against the native goliath clans. According to hill dwarf tradition, not a single colonist gave up the fight for what had become their homes. To distinguish themselves from those who had abandoned them, they would take to referring to themselves as Hill Dwarves, and their cousins as Mountain Dwarves.

Without their mountain-dwelling cousins to support them however, the hill dwarves began losing more and more ground against the goliaths. The goliaths made great headway in reclaiming their ancestral lands, burning colonial settlements and pushing the hill dwarves back to their now sprawling city of Vondemberg. For months to follow the goliaths assailed the once bustling trade hub, leaving the dwarves in a meager state of survival

The dwarves proved fortunate on two fronts however. Firstly, having no prior experience in laying siege to a fortified city, the goliath assault effectively stalled upon their arrival at Vondemberg's gates. It would take them weeks to develop crude catapaults capable of sending projectiles over the city's walls, (though when they were eventually able to do so, great damage was done to the urban center). Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the hill dwarves would find themselves with allies they could never have dreamt of.

### **The Folk**

A group of human and halfling explorers from the south collectively known as "Folk" had recently landed on the continent in the past year, and quickly found themselves enamored with the lush frontier before them. Unlike their homes from wence they came, this was a land sparsely touched by the heinous plague of monstrosities that threatened their homeland. To their luck and the luck of the hill dwarves, these explorers largely avoided contact with the goliath clans who were too preoccupied with their war with the dwarves to take too much notice of these foreigners.

As they would move further inland, piloting deftly-fashioned rafts up the waters of the Klargesehen (which the folk would call the "Široká Reka" or "Wide River"), the folk would eventually spot the beleaguerred city of the hill dwarves. Narrowly avoiding goliath clan patrols, they were able to make contact with the dwarves who, while suspicious of these unexpected strangers, cautiously accepted a delegation to enter their city.

Though the state in which the folk found Vondemberg was a sorry one, they could plainly see the potential of the trading hub, especially upon learning of the mountains from whence the dwarves had first come. An alliance was quickly formed between the dwarves and folk, who wasted no time in sending missives to their homeland requesting more military aid in securing trade opportunities with the dwarves. With hope now on the horizon, even the mountain dwarves who had once abandoned their colonies rejoined the war effort. The goliath clans would come to know the year that followed as the "Got Smerti" or "Year of Death."

### **The Krovi**

With the reunited dwarves now working in unison with their new folk allies, the Krovi soon found themselves on the receiving end of the slaughter. Despite their superior size and powerful magics, the Krovi were simply outarmed and outmanned by the dwarven-folk alliance. Within the year, the dwarves had reclaimed all the territory they had lost and then some, moving deeper and deeper into Krovi lands, cutting down the defenders until only a fraction of the natives remained standing. Holy sites were decimated. Entire clans were wiped from existence. It was only a matter of time before the Krovi would become a footnote in the annals of history.

With extinction looking all too possible, the remaining clans sued for peace with the dwarven-folk alliance. Eager to see an end to this war themselves and resume open trade, both the mountain and hill dwarves as well as the folk accepted peace terms under specific stipulations. First and foremost, the remaining Krovi clans would restrict their settlements to the northern coasts, high atop the mountains where no dwarf or human would ever look to settle. Secondly, the clans would aid in the rebuilding of Vondemberg, providing labour for both the reconstruction itself and to mine the quarries and lumber operations from which material would be gathered. Given the choice between these reparations and the complete destruction of their people, the Krovi begrudgingly accepted the terms.

### **Völkervier**

In the years that followed the wars, the reconstructed Vodemberg would be renamed Völkervier in honour of the four groups who had come together in peace to rebuild (though many would suggest this was a political move on the part of the hill dwarves to further distance themselves from their mountain cousins, as well as facilitate better trade relations between themselves and the folk as well as the clans of the Krovi). However, though peace had been established, smaller conflicts continued to arise between the four peoples of the city.

The mountain dwarves, still believing the hill dwarves of Völkervier to be subjects beholden to the throne under the mountain, made moves to reclaim colonial control, leading to the short-lived Dwarven Civil War. It did not take long however for the mountain dwarves to be reminded of why they withdrew their support in the war against the Krovi, and within six months signed peace terms which officially recognized the hill dwarves as an independant nation (with particularly favourable trade agreements between them and their mountain cousins of course).

The folk meanwhile found themselves with other concerns. While immigration into Völkervier and its surrounding settlements was not only welcome but encouraged by the hill dwarven leadership of the time, independantly governed folk settlements outside of those already established before the wars were not only discouraged, but outright prohibited. Both the mountain and hill dwarves, as well as the Krovi supported the prohibition, all three groups hesitant to see more competition arise on the continent. The folk had little choice but to accept the prohibition, lest they lose what trade opportunities they had gained, or worse yet, find themselves pushed off the continent altogether. Though their military forces were impressive, they were essentially an expeditionary force with little hope of defeating the dwarves in open warfare. Despite this setback, the folk found themselves well suited to life in Völkervier, trading not only in exotic goods from their homeland but injecting folk culture into the very lifeblood of the city.

To no one's great surprise, the Krovi fared the worst after the wars. While trade agreements had been established between themselves and Völkervier, it was a pittance compared to that which they had lost. Many within the clans began to see the inevitable decline of their people, stuffed into a cold corner of the world, inhospitable even by their rugged standards. Young Krovi began to leave for the south, immigrating to Völkervier, contributing to and absorbing the melting pot of culture forming there. Those who remained with the clans, however, viewed these Krovi with disdain, believing them to have at best abandoned their people, and at worst to be whoring out their culture for their own benefi, referencing a particular subset of Krovi immigrants who generated no small fortune by twisting once holy idols, symbols and cultural fashion into a source of exotic novelty to be sold and bartered, well beyond the official trade agreements between Völkervier and the goliaths which primarily concerned the sale of furs, skins and other trophies. Worse yet in the eyes of the clans, some of these immigrants had begun to breed with the folk, resulting in half-breeds known as Polukrovka.