Lumthonom

**Lumthonom** one of the core ancestral kindoms of the dwarves. Has been reduced over the centuries to a mountainous range inhabitable to most other races to the lamentation of its dwarves.

Lumthonom is a story of tragedy, one not of hubris or failure, but just the endless march of time and its effect on an ancient culture. When Sixir brought magic to the lives of the cog, Takamul and Kushinda needed to balance the ambition, so they brought the dwarves and placed them in the great mountain in the centre of the peninsular. Takamul taught them the stones and the survival that made them strong and Kushinda taught them the crafts and pride. Sixir laid treasures and magic at the feet of her Etheral fey touched elves, but the sisters of the wild and of competition left their Dwarves to become hardy by themselves. When they came out of the mountain, the most lofty of elf lords had to reckon with the iron will of the lowest of Dwarf chieftains. Lumthonom saw the aeons change. And since the birth of the cog, Every dwarf could point to the highest mountain in the continent and see where they had come from, where their lineage began.

Now however, Lumthonom is seen as a bittersweet relic. Decisions made by Chieftains and even the rare times a mountain royal was needed have reduced the promise of a long lived race to contend with the elves. They refused to contend with the coalition of shorter lived races, just to defend their lands. They repelled Arghig’s march, but didn’t pursue him. The inaction lead to great heroes rebelling against the unvarying position of Lumthonom’s throne. Gerd the hammerwoman left to defeat evil and became a legend of the Yeroifox forest. Yuzem Hornfall took six thousand dwarves with him to Yoluger because the corrupt Lumthonom royalty wished for him to dishonour himself in a contest. Because of the loss of lands around them, The old entrances of Lumnthonom have been sealed, and now the only entrances are halfway up the mountain themselves. While the population is almost entirely dwarves, a handful of humans accepted into the clan can be seen, and in recent decades, more unique folk have settled including the odd ogre, orc or troll adding to strength of the forges.

The subterraneal city kingdom is arranged horizontally and vertically with grand halls made into galleria complexes of glowing crystal chandeliers and market plazas. The effect is somewhat disconcerting to a traveller, especially when an alleyway can include a ladder or a steep incline to lead to an entirely different neighbour above or below. If such a complex blooming fractal can have a centre, the origin point is now a hallowed hall of dwarven ancestors. Thousands of statues of various sizes are arranged in in a circular amphitheatre, creating a dome like effect of progenitors staring at those visiting the hall. In the middle of the room is an enormous and meticulously accurate floating bronze model of the cogs and five moons. Rising from a thin staircase, designed to resemble a mine shaft, the Ancestor hall leads to the grand throne room. Originally this was an active place of rule, but now it sits dormant awaiting a grand disaster that would require all the Dwarven chieftains to meet. It also now stands as a testament for how the dwarves across maligon seemingly see any disaster as one that they can beat on their own, without uniting. Because there is no mountain King, the highest authority is the high Lumthonom chieftain Grergabrur Bouldershaper. Bouldershaper is a remarkable elder in his record breaking 361st year, and is seen by many as symbol of both their ancestral heritage and unchanging stubbornness. Lumthonom invented the position of the undirkartagervir or ‘under map maker’ in an ancient dwarven tongue, and the current highlord mapmaker is Hjoldram Grortheck.

Of course, the mining of the lumthonom and underneath the cog has been the making of the dwarven culture. Any types of tool, weapon or armour can be produced or purchased from any number of craftsmen living within the mountain plazas. Most are simply named by the name of the family who established the forge, the most prestigious including Krumkum, Todokenn, Kroreag, Westonlir, Thakkonlim and Forsunli. Because of the traditions of undirkartagervir guild and mapmakers, the cartographers are very accurate and renowned by adventurers looking for maps of the less trod areas of the cog. These rare maps can cost thousands of gold, even for a parchment copy made from the vellum original. After Mining, Metal smithing and map-making the third most profitable industry is Brewing and beer making. Hundreds of ales, porters and stouts are brewed simultaneously, but they are done so with a tinge of sadness. In the glory days of the elves and dwarves, much of the surrounding area of the mountain were farmland. While they moved their livestock underground, the Grains, hops and barley never took hold in the mountain. where they can be grown it costs enormous energy from dwarven druids. Now they trade their ores and gems for thousands of tons of these grains and yeasts, buying them Yalmiront and illanik, land that many believe they should own. This concept of loss of promise through inaction, no matter how historically inaccurate it may be, has made the beautiful beer less enjoyable and increase the chip on the shoulder of modern dwarves. The largest and most popular pub is the enormous ‘Horn of Dale’ built into an octagonal tiered chamber, each of the eight sides covered in kegs and casks. The last unique trade are the rune magicians, keeping the old ways alive in rock. They are secretive and do not advertise their services but they’re known to help when the stones align with destiny.

The caves of lumthonom are long and deep. Some entering other countries, some under oceans and some unused for centuries. Bats, rats and giant centipedes have made their homes beneath there, along with the more mystical things that ancient dwarves brought with them. There is a whole series of chambers an estimated 400 feet below the surface to the northwest of the peak, known as the Kingdom of oozes. Some incursion from the planes of chaos has made a horrifying realms of slimes, consuming any being unfortunate to find themselves in there. Rumours that thousands of platinum pieces and hundreds of artefacts have been kept in there by powerful wizards, but wether this is just a malicious trick is unknown. The trip up the side of the mountain to reach the entrances is not without its perils. savage trolls and Ettins have established camps around peaks, drawn by some old grudge with the dwarves. Much like in Gadprig, Galeb duhr and larger rock elementals have been left to roam the mountainside. In the highest reaches, Yetis and other bestial mountainborn control the peaks.