Dwarven Council

Gondor

Dol Amroth

Lebeninn

Galadhrim

Mirkwood

Dorwinion

Gundabad

Dale

The Dwarven Lords' Council is a council to unite the leadership of the biggest lore-driven dwarven builds. As such it consists of the Blue Dwarves, Durin's Folk, and the Red Dwarves (part of Durin's Folk until they are added to the mod, however). Together the 5 Lord Councillors or High Lords pass decisions on matters affecting all dwarves, handle inter-faction policy, and appoint a High King of All Dwarves who acts as a figurehead for the entire dwarven race. The Council is supported by a 24-seat Senate.

The Council presently maintains Non-Aggression Pacts with Arnor, Rohan, Gondor, Dol Amroth, Lebeninn, Galadhrim, Mirkwood, Dorwinion, and Gundabad. A Defensive Alliance is maintained with Dale. The Council considers most other good factions as friends.

## History

In the dawn of the server there was a single dwarf of renown: SquatchThunder, King of the Blue Mountains. He established himself at Belegost while his closest friend, iwellner24, built the southern city of Nogrod and did fealty to Belegost. Squatch desired to expand Dwarven power so he rallied his banners and joined with the High-Elves and Rangers in sacking Mount Gundabad. The last Gundabad orc, the inexperienced SirWilsonGS, then sold Mount Gundabad to iwellner for 64 coins on October 19th 2014 and iwellner established the Kingdom of Durin’s City on the mountain.

On November 18th 2015 Hayoo, an elf who was building the city of Khazad-Dum, gave up the city to SpoangityBob. Spoangity immediately began seeking closer ties with Squatch and iwellner. More dwarves began appearing as Squatch’s brother, SpeedySC, abdicated as King of Rohan and founded the Red Dwarves while JJMS2002 founded the Dwarves of the Mirkwood Mountains. Another dwarf, Venturellec, founded the Dwarves of the Iron Hills.

Squatch desired to create a centralized Dwarven government and he and iwellner issued invitations for Speedy, JJMS2002, Spoangity, and Venurellec to assemble at Durin’s City for a council. Venturellec, who was the most isolationist of the bunch, didn’t attend but the rest assembled on November 28th 2014. Aidansebastian, the heir of SpoangityBob, requested that he be allowed to establish the Kingdom of Dains Hall with another Grey Dwarf, Smiturion, and the council agreed. Squatch then proposed that a High King be elected to chair the council. Speedy voted against the idea of creating a High King but lost 5-1 and then voted Spoangity for High King. Spoangity refused to accept the position and voted for Squatch, who he saw as a mentor, resulting in Squatch’s 5-1 victory. The council additionally turned itself into a “Super Faction” with Kings of factions being able to remove players from other factions, the council conducting diplomacy as one force, and the council even having the ability to remove faction leaders.

The Dwarves of the Mirkwood Mountains soon collapsed and merged with the Dwarves of Durin’s City, temporarily decreasing the council to 5 seats. Shortly thereafter, however, Erebor was founded by connor7boss who joined the Dwarven Council. While connor soon left for Khazad-Dum where he founded Mount Methedras, his heir, Mathyas504, was the Lord of Dale and brought the cities of Dale and Laketown with him. SpeedySC fled to the Iron Hills after his city was reset and took over the domains of Venturellec, who had by now disappeared. Speedy joined the Dwarven Council and the council informed two Khazad-Dum players: Sebbeopetrini and Willie912 that whichever reached the Red Mountains first would become King. Sebb won the race but soon disappeared and Willie would join the Dwarven Council as its 7th seat.

The Dwarven Council now entered an age of unprecedented expansion. While most factions on the server struggled to establish themselves and create stable systems of government the dwarves were able to rapidly absorb recruits thanks to their stable system. The release of the movie Battle of the Five Armies on December 4th 2014 resulted in waves of new recruits joining as well. The Dwarves of Khazad-Dum and Dain’s Halls grew especially powerful but all save for the Red Dwarves boasted sizable communities of at least a half dozen active players, something that was out of reach for most factions of the day. Trimmed armor to signify the ranks of council dwarves were enacted at the second meeting of the Dwarves at Durins City in February of 2015.

The Dwarven Council joined the White Council on February 16th 2015 and along with the rest of the council took part in the Spring 2015 crusades against evil, smashing anti-White Council hardliners in civil wars fought in Mordor and Near Harad. Other dwarven forces aided in the Southern War after they voted to support Gondor at the third meeting of the Dwarven Council on March 22nd 2015.

The Dwarves took advantage of their huge populations to create massive halls across their realms with the largest being at Belegost, Dains Halls, and Khazad-Dum. During the summer of 2015 the forces of evil had begun to bounce back from the devastating crusades of the Free Peoples, however. Gundabad, which was recovering from the Dwarven Crusade of 2014, in particular wanted to reconquer the Misty Mountains. Forces from the smaller orcish factions of Mordor, Angmar, Dol Guldur and Gundabad joined together to launch a series of devastating raids against Dain’s Halls. Aidan called for a fourth council at Durins City where the council unanimously declared the War of Retribution against the aforementioned orcs.

This war soon spiraled into the great war as many evil powers, including Isengard, joined the war effort. Soon every player on the server was at war and a great army of dwarves was marching on Isengard. This army was smashed and an orcish counterattack took Mount Gram, a fort which was within the Kingdom of Durins City. The entirety of iwellner’s subjects were banned for homophobic slurs against Head Admin and siege commander Joetatoe following the battle. Within a day Durin’s City had lost all but 1 of its players and it's only fortress besides the city itself.

Orcish armies then crossed the Misties and attacked Dains Halls, only for a dwarven counter-attack led by aidansebastian to destroy their army. Aidan in turn counter-attacked Mount Caradhas only to incur a devastating defeat. Gundabad armies now prepared to attack Khazad-Dum itself when SpoangityBob and Gundabad signed the Treaty of Moria, giving Gundabad control of much of the region of Khazad-Dum and ending the war. The war was an utter disaster as iwellner soon left the server and sold Durins City to Gundabad for a pouch of enchanted books, only for enchanted books to soon be banned. In effect the Dwarves had lost half of Khazad-Dum and all of the northern misties for a bag of useless books.

The de facto abolition of the Kingdom of Durins City was made official at the 5th Dwarven Council on December 22nd 2015. At this council mattdiver, a Thane of Khazad-Dum, requested permission to found the Dwarves of Forochel. The council voted 6-0 to accept the request and he took the 7th seat on the council. The second half of 2015 also saw fierce fighting between the Dwarven Council and the Northshire Republic, as well as fighting between the Dwarven Council and the Gladden Fields. An army from Khazad-Dum occupied Dunland while the Blue Mountains were given Helms Deep by its former ruler.

The end of 2015, however, saw the start of a decline for the Council. Smiturion, aidan’s successor in Dain's Halls, effectively ran the Kingdom into the ground while Forochel failed to take off and the Reds still struggled to attract players. The Dwarven Council was forced to take the unprecedented step of removing Smiturion as the King of the Grey Dwarves at the 6th meeting of the Dwarven Council due to his inactivity, replacing him with VetusGeneral. Former King Aidansebastian threatened to ban the entire Council if they didn’t back down but aidan was instead forced to step away from server politics by a group of admins led by SpoangityBob. Although the Greys initially rebounded, the Grey Dwarven players rebelled against Vetus and the council was forced to put the rebellion down by force. The effective destruction of the kingdom set the Greys into a death spiral that they have never truly recovered from.

BorinOfForochel (mattdiver) left the server for a year-long break, and East Gate, the capital of the Iron Hills, was accidentally reset on September 29th 2016. Erebor itself was caught in a struggle with its neighbor, the Kingdom of Dale. King Thorin\_The\_King had agreed to give the city of Dale to Lego\_Army as he sought to refound Mathyas’s old kingdom. Erebor came to regret this as tensions began to erupt and ultimately waged war against Dale.

By the end of 2016 Erebor, the Blue Mountains, and Khazad-Dum were the only truly healthy kingdoms but the Council entered 2017 looking to regrow its strength. While the year indeed saw increasing development and the Iron Hills largely bounced back from its misfortunes the woes of the Greys, Reds (who had never truly taken off), and Forochel continued to grow worse.

In October 2017 SquatchThunder was assassinated by MandatoryPeanut of Harad. He assembled the Dwarven Council and called for a war against the Astrasi Empire, being backed by Khazad-Dum, Erebor, and Forochel, whose fortunes were rising following the return of BorinOfForochel. The Iron Hills refused to answer the call and the small kingdoms of the Red and Grey Dwarves declined as well but a great army of Dwarves went south. The campaign soon turned disastrous as their army was routed at the Imperial Capital of Ajtiaz-al-Harad and they were forced to return north.

A chance to avenge the earlier disgrace presented itself when on November 25th 2017 Mordor declared war on Arnor. Arnor had ever since the Northern War been allied with the Dwarves in an alliance known as the Alliance of the North and the Dwarves answered the call only for their armies to be ripped apart at the Siege of Minas Alqua and the Battle for Bree. In these engagements it became clear that the Dwarven Army was ill-trained, poorly commanded, and badly supplied. SquatchThunder responded by leading the Council in ordering its forces to withdraw from the war and barricade themselves in their halls.

The aftermath of the war saw a crisis emerge as Forochel, which was by now the strongest Dwarven Kingdom, began to grow estranged from the dwarves. Its members were warlike and strongly Arnorian and they strongly disagreed with the Council’s order to withdraw from the war. The Council, led by SquatchThunder, furthermore accused Forochel of stealing recruits. After a series of arguments, culminating in the heir of Forochel samways18 leaving Forochel in protest of the Council’s policies, Forochel withdrew from the Council on April 2nd 2018. Borin proposed that he would rejoin the Council if the following changes were made to the Council:

1. Removal of the position of High-King.
2. End to the council’s policy of collective diplomacy.
3. End of the Council’s ability to remove faction leaders.
4. Taking away the rights of faction leaders of one dwarven faction to interfere in the affairs of another.

In effect, Borin wished to turn the Council from a super faction into an alliance. LlianB of the Iron Hills was allied with Borin and receptive to reform while Spoangity was in agreement with most of the demands but was on the fence over the issue of abolishing the High Kingship. Both Willie912 of the Red Dwarves and VetusGeneral leaned towards Squatch but Borin attempted to buy Vetus’s vote by promising significant resources to aid in the rebuilding of the Grey Mountains, something that Vetus desperately needed. The newly crowned Bofur\_The\_Dwarf of Erebor was quiet and it was unknown how he would vote.

With 4/6 votes necessary to amend the Council Charter the vote was going to be a close one when suddenly, on April 9th 2019, Borin was banned for duplication. Forochel effectively imploded with a Lossoth Chieftain, Hexidecimark, taking over the faction. Hexi attempted to continue Borin’s reforms but the Council refused to change for his faction, resulting in an end to negotiations regarding Forochel rejoining the Council.

At around the same time, on August 29th 2018, a group of Erebor dwarves led by Goldbar22 founded the Dwarves of the Wind Mountains. Attempts had been made before to found Dwarven factions without Council permission but all previous attempts had collapsed. Instead of sputtering out, however, the Wind Dwarves thrived and Goldbar22 sought to take advantage of the collapse in negotiations between Hexi and Squatch to join the Council. Vetus and Willie were keen to block Gold’s ascension for not asking the Council permission to found the Kingdom, but Bofur, Llian, and Spoangity were all in favor. Squatch, deciding that the Winds would help resurrect the ailing Council, ultimately supported the measure. Vetus and Willie joined him in inviting the Winds to the Council, leading to a 6-0 vote.

The Winds' time as an independent faction had left them with a PvP culture that the council as a whole lacked. After Mordor launched a series of devastating raids against Firith Galad (the Wind Dwarven capital) and their old home of Erebor the Wind Dwarves declared war on Mordor on February 3rd 2019. In a move starkly similar to the Astrasi War all of the Council factions save for Erebor stayed out of the war, simply signing a treaty with Gundabad to ensure their mutual neutrality.

Goldbar22 was strongly reformist, wanting to decrease the power of the council. He soon began feuding with High King SquatchThunder, who desired a strong council and isolationist diplomacy. Gold was backed by LlianB and Bofur\_The\_Dwarf while Squatch was backed by VetusGeneral and Willie912. SpoangityBob was a crucial swing vote but often failed to attend Council meetings, resulting in 3-3 deadlocks. Even when he did attend the requirement to receive 5/7 votes to amend the Council Charter meant that many votes died on the floor by a vote of 4-3. Among the few successful votes was a successful move by Gold that allowed council members to sign alliances without council permission, although every faction in the council would still hold a NAP with the faction in question.

Issues came to a head when Gold and his allies began to push for the resignation of Spoangity, believing that all 7 council members needed to be active. Gold initially pushed for Aussie6869, a Wind-Dwarf who had led a large group of Khazad-Dum players in leaving KD for the Winds, to be made Spoangity’s regent. Willie agreed with the removal of Spoangity, but only if that Regent wasn’t Aussie. In the ensuing 4-3 vote the Council voted to replace Spoangity but Squatch declared that the vote needed the support of 5, rather than 4, votes to pass. In an ensuing 6-0 compromise it was agreed that fearrippers, the last player in Khazad-Dum, would become Spoangity’s Regent.

On April 27th 2019 the Dwarven Council was assembled and Spoangity officially announced his resignation as the King of Khazad-Dum in favor of Fearrippers, ending an incredibly distinguished tenure and leaving Squatch as the last original Councillor. At the same time LlianB announced her resignation and replacement by JenkinsKUC.

Thus Squatch was left with a dominant majority of four on the Council and Gold had to earn Fear's support in votes to prevent edits to the Council Charter. The Council agreed to support Arnor after it was invaded by Isengard on October 2nd 2019, but Gold grew increasingly frustrated over Squatch’s hold on the council. On February 28th 2020 Gold finally cut ties with the council, leaving to found the Council of Calion.

Tensions eventually began rising in Erebor. The faction was by far the most reformist and pro-Wind Dwarven of the council factions, but King Bofur was banned on April 11th 2020. He was succeeded by \_Fiene22\_, his heir of 2 years and who had been 3rd in command of the faction for nearly 3 years before that. Unlike Bofur Fiene was pro-Council, causing the playerbase, which was reformist and closely associated with the Winds, to demand her resignation. With civil war seeming certain the council requested, and received her resignation on July 26th 2020. Instead of appointing one of the Erebor leaders like Barhir or Shakespeare\_Dano leader, however, the Council instead offered the throne to the heir of the Iron Hills JackFlash29. Jack was known to be a reformer but the Erebor players refused to accept a foreigner on the throne and rebelled on August 21st 2020.

Jack, exhausted by the effort of trying to hold the faction together, abdicated in favor of shadowmaster10, the last Erebor native who had remained loyal to the council. The council, supported by the Wind Dwarves’s evil enemies, was able to prolong the war long enough for the rebellion to collapse. Erebor was left a wasteland, however. As was the Iron Hills as Jenkins had effectively ran LlianB’s once powerful kingdom into the ground, a process that accelerated after Jack left for Erebor. As such, on April 3rd 2021, Erebor and the Iron Hills officially merged into the Kingdom of Durin’s Folk with Kaiser\_Wojak of the Iron Hills as its King.

As this crisis occurred King Willie912 abdicated as King of the Reds in favor of Thulin\_IV, who had similar politics to Fear, desiring an isolationist faction and less centralized council. On August 2nd 2020 VetusGeneral, who had over time changed his politics to match those of Fear’s and Thulin’s, abdicated as King of the Grey Dwarves. Instead of appointing longtime heir zombielizard218 as his successor Vetus instead crowned Hamr\_Thrung without council permission, effectively removing the council requirement that the council have the right to veto the appointment of new Kings. Hamr was similar in his politics to Fear and Thulin, wanting an isolationist faction. On December 12th 2020, however, Fear abdicated in favor of SoaringEagle12.

On December 26th 2021 Mordor invaded the Kingdom of Durin’s Folk but the council, along with its Free Peoples allies, fought off the invasion. The council, while currently in a weakened state, is by far the longest lived alliance on the server (the second oldest being the Council of Calion, founded 6 years after the Dwarven Council). While the Greys and Reds are both small, Kingdoms the Blues, Khazad-Dum, and Durin’s Folk boast relatively large populations.

On November 5th, 2022, following an extended period of recession, Thulin\_IV abdicated his throne in the Red Mountains, passing on the torch to Bazrack\_II in the hopes that his heir could revive the Reds and bring them to new glory. Thulin\_IV retired to Khazad-dûm, where he was given his long sought-after apartment, along with the position of Loremaster.

## Seats on the Council

The Council consists of 5 seats that are more or less permanent, pending action by the council itself to change what builds receive a seat. The number of seats, however, is fixed at 7 (being the number of stars in Durin's Crown, the number of the Fathers of the Dwarves, each of whom were the beginning of one of the Seven Clans of the Dwarves), so any changes in council seats would be a hotly debated and status quo-altering situation. Since the seat of Durin's City was vacated, the seat of Forochel had taken its place in the council, but do to a disagrement Forochel left the council and in October of 2018 the Wind Mountains were given the seat, before finally forfeiting it in their turn in February of 2020.

### The five seats are as follows:

1. **Belegost (B)** Currently held by High King SquatchThunder, King of the Blue Dwarves as well as the current High King of All Dwarves
2. **Khazad-Dûm (KD)** Currently held by King SoaringEagle12 of Khazad-dûm
3. **Dain's Halls (DH)** Currently held by Hamr\_\_thrung, King of the Grey Mountains
4. **Durin's Folk (DF)** Currently held by King Kaiser\_Wojak of the Kingdom of Durin's Folk
5. **Red Mountains (RM)** Currently held by King Bazrack\_IV of the Red Mountains

### Former Seats:

1. **Mirkwood Mountains (MM)** This seat was held by JJMS2000 for a short period of time around the founding of the council. This seat was removed when JJ went inactive and the position was found to be unloreful.
2. **Durin's City (DC)** After iwellner45 stepped down, the Forochel seat took it's place. This seat was formerly found at Mount Gundabad and the river east of Mount Gundabad running to Framsburg.
3. **Forochel (F)** Formerly held by King Borin of Forochel before unfortunate complications with the council, where his seat would be replaced by the Dwarves of the Mountains of Wind.
4. **Mountains of the Wind (MW)** King Goldbar22 of the Wind Dwarves deciding to leave the council of their own free will.
5. Kingdom of Erebor (E) one of the founding council seats given up with the merge of Erebor and Iron Hills.
6. Kingdom of the Iron Hills (IH) folded into Erebor to create the Kingdom of Durin's Folk.

### Former Lords:

* **JJMS2000:** Formerly Mirkwood Mountains
* **aidansebastian:** Formerly Grey Mountains
* **Sebbeopetrini:** Formerly Red Mountains
* **iwellner45:** Formerly Durin's City
* **SpeedySC:** Formerly Iron Hills and Red Mountains
* **SmexySmit:** Formerly Grey Mountains
* **Mathyas57:** Formerly Iron Hills
* **Luigi27:** Formerly Iron Hills
* **Thorin\_The\_King:** Formerly Erebor
* **LordBorin:** Formerly Forochel
* **LlianB:** Formerly Iron Hills
* **Spoangitybob:** Formerly Khazad-Dûm
* **Goldbar22:** Formerly Mountain of the Winds
* **Wille912:** Formerly Red Mountains
* **Bofur\_The\_Dwarf:** Formerly Erebor
* **\_Fiene22\_:** Formerly Erebor
* **VetusGeneral:** Formerly Grey Mountains
* **Fearrippers:** Formerly Khazad-dûm
* **Shadowmaster10:** Formerly Erebor
* **JenkinsKUC:** Formerly Iron Hills
* **Thulin\_IV:** Formerly Red Mountains

Each of these seats receives one vote when a decision is to be made, with a majority of 5 of the 7 necessary for a vote to pass. The High King is appointed out of one of the members of the council, however he holds no more official sway or votes than anyone else. Being the High King, however, makes him highly respected among the other council members, so in that regard, he does hold more power than the others.

## The Dwarven Senate

#### Function

The Dwarven Senate supports the Dwarven Council in 4 primary functions:

1. Senators must confirm the appointment of a new Lord Councilor before the latter may take office. A majority vote is required.
2. Should a tie occur between the 6 Lord Councilors, the Senate will act as a 7th seat in order to break the tie. A majority vote is required.
3. Treaties agreed upon by the Council must be approved by a majority vote in the Senate before they are confirmed. Should the Senate produce a decision which the Council disagrees with, they can override it with a vote of 5/6.
4. The Senate retains the power to remove inefficient or inactive Councilors. A majority vote is required

#### Structure

The Senate has 24 seats, 4 of which are reserved for each different Kingdom. Each Kingdom must reserve a seat for the Lord Councilor, the Royal Guard, and two Minor Lords from designated builds. The Lord Councilor may replace either of the Minor Lords with his or her heir, regardless of build or location. These designated builds are as follows:

* Blue Mountains:
	+ Minor Lord of Belegost
	+ Minor Lord of Nogrod
* Khazad-dûm
	+ Minor Lord of Azanulbizar
	+ Minor Lord of West Gate
* Grey Mountains
	+ Minor Lord of Dain's Halls
	+ Minor Lord of Framsburg
* Durin's Folk
	+ Minor Lord of Erebor
	+ Minor Lord of West Peak
* Red Mountains
	+ Minor Lord of Khazad-Agal
	+ Minor Lord of Baraz-tûm

## Laws and Agreements of the Dwarven Council

The Dwarven Council has a set of laws that apply universally to all it's members. They are stated as follows:

* **Dwarven Ranking:** Every faction in the Dwarven Council shall use the following hierarchy of ranks: Lord Councilor, Regent (as a temporary position), Heir, Senator, Royal Guard, Minor Lord, Thane, Loremaster, Citizen, Recruit.

* **Dwarven Census:** The Lord Councillors (or another appointed dwarf) will count and name active players in his faction at the 1st of every 2 months (January, March, May, July, September, November).

* **Grand Banner:** The Dwarven Council shall have any Dwarven city under the council include the Dwarven Assembly fellowship on the front gate banner. This is to allow high ranking dwarves into neighboring cities.

* **Dwarven Senate:** The Dwarven Senate consists of all councilors, heirs to council seats, and minor lords of the dwarven factions. Its purpose is to give insight of the Dwarven Council’s policies and decisions to those of rank within the Dwarven Factions.
* **Appointment of Minor Lords:** Each prospective Minor Lord must fulfill 3 requirements in order to be confirmed.
	1. Their seat of power must be a faction-sanctioned build.
	2. They must meet the activity requirements which apply to all dwarves.
	3. They must have two other players living in their builds.
		1. Senators are exempt from this final requirement due to their additional roles of maintaining large builds and participating in the politics of the Council.

* **Activity of Ranking Members:** All ranking members of the Dwarven Kingdoms as outlined above are required to maintain a minimum level of activity of 8 hours per month in order to keep their position. Failing to maintain this requirement will result in a 2 month period of probation before being demoted.
* **Dwarven Lord Titles:** The Uzbad Sigin-tarâgu Titles are reserved solely for the Lord Councilors. Minor Lords use the Dwarven Lord title, and Royal Guards use Khazad Commander. Any dwarf ranked lower than this will use the titles designated by their individual kingdom.

* **Dual Citizenship:** There shall be no Dwarven Council faction member that is in another faction at the same time.

* **Trimmed Armor:** The ranking dwarven armors have been edited as follows: High King: Mithril trimmed, Lord Councilor: Gold trimmed, Heir: Gold helmet and Gold Chestplate, Minor Lord: Silver trimmed, Royal Guard: Silver chest plate and golden boots, Thane: silver chestplate, Citizen: appropriate untrimmed dwarven armor. All dwarves are only required to wear appropriately trimmed armour at official events, but it is preferred they do so at all times.

Agreements:

* **The Moria Treaty:** A non-aggression pact between the Dwarven Council and the Orcs of Gundabad which disallows any Dwarf or Gundabad orc to engage in any form of physical aggression.

## Office of the High King of All Dwarves

Determining the office of the High King was the original intended purpose of the Dwarven Lords' Council. It is based around this original meeting at Durin's City that the council present today was formed. While the factions of the Blue Dwarves, Durin's Folk, and Red Dwarves each have and retain their own individual kings to rule them, one of the players of the council is elected High King. A sort of "First Among Equals" position, it nonetheless marks him as the preeminent dwarf on the server and commands the utmost respect, for it is no small thing to be counted as the singular leader of all the dwarves!

The first and so far only High King of All Dwarves on the server has been SquatchThunder, formerly squatchthunder7. His election as High King was the reason for the council's creation in the first place, at a time when the seats were more fluid, there were fewer lords, and the entire system was much more informal than its present-day incarnation. He has reigned ever since with distinction.

## Passed Resolutions and Mandates

The decisions made by a formal vote of the Dwarven Lords' Council are as follows:

1. **November 2014** - Election of High King. **Lords Present:** B, DC, KD, RM. Also voting: Thane of Moria, Lord of the Mirkwood Mountains. **Vote:** squatchthunder7 - 5/6, SpoangityBob - 1/6 (squatchthunder7 (SquatchThunder), Lord of Belegost and King of the Blue Dwarves, becomes High King of All Dwarves)
2. **February 2015** - Trimmed Dwarven Armor. Lords Present: B, DC, KD, DH, E, IH, RM. **Resolution:** The new trims of dwarven armor will be used to signify ranks among dwarven players. Mithril-trimmed armor is to be reserved only for the High King, Lord Councillors/High Lords wear golden-trimmed, silver-trimmed is to be worn by lords, not of the Council, while the remainder of dwarven players are naturally allowed their traditional dwarven and blue dwarven armors. **Vote:** For - 7/7, Against - 0/7 (Passed)
3. **March 22, 2015** - War with Near Harad. **Lords Present:** B, KD, DH, IH. **Resolution:** The Dwarven Lords' Council agrees to join the war between the Kingdom of Gondor and the Empire of Near Harad on the side of the Gondorians. **Vote:** For - 4/7, Against - 0/7 (Passed)
4. **July 11, 2015** - War of Retribution. **Lords Present:** All. **Resolution:** The Dwarven Lords' Council formally declares war against the factions of Gundabad, Dol Guldur, Angmar, and Mordor in revenge of repeated attacks on dwarf-traders and inside Dain's Halls. **Vote:** For - 7/7, Against - 0/7 (Passed)
5. **December 22, 2015** - Dwarfmas Reforms. **Lords Present:** B, KD, DH, IH, E, RM. **Resolution:** The Kingdom of the Northern Misties was formally dissolved following iwellner's inactivity, in favor of founding the Kingdom of Forochel. Each council region will be permitted to appoint a *Royal Guard*. This player will wear a silver trimmed chestplate alongside his/her dwarven armor. This individual will lead players in battle and is awarded this position for being an all around outstanding dwarf and friend. Each council region is also permitted to crown *Thanes*, which rule over a hold under a Minor City or are heirs to Minor Cities. They wear a silver trimmed helmet. **Vote:** For - 6/6, Against - 0/6 (Passed)
6. **April 16, 2016** - Dwarven Census. **Lords Present:** All. **Resolution:** The Lord Councillors will count and name active players in his faction at the 1st of every 2 months (January, March, May, July, September, November). **Vote:** For - 7/7, Against - 0/7 (Passed)
7. **May 13, 2016** - Grand Banner. **Lords Present:** B, KD, DH, IH, RM. **Resolution:** The Dwarven Council now agrees that any dwarven city under the council will have to include all lords and minor lords (list to be posted) on the gate banner only. This is to allow high ranking dwarves into neighboring cities. **Vote:** For - 4/7, Against - 1/7 (Passed)
8. **May 13, 2016** - Senate Reactivation. **Lords Present:** B, KD, DH, IH, RM. **Resolution:** The Dwarven Senate facebook chat was to be activated again. It now houses all councillors, heirs to council seats, and minor lords of the dwarven factions. **Vote:** For - 5/7, Against - 0/7 (Passed)
9. **May 13, 2016** - Dwarven Bio Books. **Lords Present:** B, KD, DH, IH, RM. **Resolution:** Each lord or minor lord of a certified dwarven city will be asked to write a brief description of *when the player joined, when they were accepted as a dwarf, what city they hail from, faction history, and any personal notes*. **Vote:** For - 5/7, Against - 0/7 (Passed)
10. **November 19, 2016** - "Dwarven Lord" titles. **Lords Present:** B, KD, DH, IH, RM. **Resolution:** The "Dwarven Lord" titles are reserved for Lord Councillors only to use as they see fit. Lord Councillors will have the option to use the title in place of their older title. **Vote:** For - 5/7, Against - 0/7 (Passed)
11. **December 23, 2016** - Revision of Ranking Armor. **Lords Present:** KD, DH, IH, RM **Resolution:** The ranking dwarven armors have been edited as follows: *High King:* Mithril trimmed, *Lord Councillor:* Gold trimmed, *Heir:* Gold helmet and Silver trimmed, *Minor Lord:* Silver trimmed, *Royal Guard:* Silver chestplate and golden boots, *Thane:* silver chestplate, *Citizen:* appropriate untrimmed dwarven armor. **Vote:** For - 4/7, Against - 0/7 (Passed)
12. **October 20th 2018** - Joining of the Wind Dwarves. **Lords Present:** B, KD, DH, E, IH, RM. **Resolution:** On this date the dwarves of the mountains of the wind were accepted into the council, and given the abbreviation MW, Goldbar22 is their Lord Councillor. **Vote:** For - 6/6 Against - 0/6 (Passed)
13. **April 27th 2019** - Laws of the Dwarven Council. **Lords Present:** B, KD, DH, IH, RM. **Resolution:** A document was signed containing all the current laws of the Dwarven Council. Bofur\_The\_Dwarf was absent and thus represented by \_Fiene22\_. Other notable actions were the abdications of SpoangityBob and LlianB and the coronations of Fearrippers and JenkinsKUH respectively. **Vote:** For - 6/7 Against - 0/7 (Passed)
14. **February 9th, 2021** - Reform of the Dwarven Senate. **Lords Present:** BD, KD, GM, E, IH, RM. **Resolution:** A major reform of the Dwarven Senate was unanimously confirmed. This gave the Senate new powers and responsibilities, as well as overhauling its structure. New requirements for the appointment of Minor Lords were also approved, as well as the creation of activity requirements for all ranking members.

## Structure

The idea of a High King preceded the idea for a general council where all branches of the dwarves would take part. Once a council was convened at Durin's City and elected High King squatchthunder7, however, it was realized that maintaining a voting body on issues affecting all dwarves was a good idea, and thus the council has existed ever since. Technically, this makes the combined factions of the dwarven race a large parliamentary monarchy.

The original council, as shown in the details of the first resolution above, was a mix that barely resembles the present council, notably the presence of a dwarf of the Mirkwood Mountains. Over time the precedents of who could be on the council were evened out, and a larger body of every single dwarf player was formed as a Facebook group, known as the Dwarven Senate. The Lords' Council, however, is the only body that holds real power, the Senate is mostly for determining overall group opinion and features more general discussion, while the Lords' Council is for making important decisions that influence all dwarven factions.

It is important to note that while the Lords' Council is the ultimate arbiter of dwarven foreign policy, each of the factions or branches represented on the council maintain their own individual internal and inter-faction policy. For instance, the Lords' Council has an alliance with the High Elves, while the individual Kingdom of Khazad-dûm only has an alliance with the High Elven sub-factions Rivendell and Hollin.

The original site of the council was in a chamber built for its purpose at iwellner45's build Durin's City at Mt. Gundabad. Many other debates and celebrations were held here, however as of the latest world restart, Durin's City is not to be rebuilt. The most recent council debate was held in Khazad-dûm on "Durin's day" as all lords were together. The meeting places for the Council will be held in the individualized council chamber found in each lords' build. The lord who called the council will be able to hold the council in their halls or can ask for it to be held elsewhere for whatever reason they deem their own not suitable.

## Titles

Since there are many different branches of the council and sub-branches of said branches, there is a bit of an issue in determining who belongs to which dwarven faction. The easiest way to solve the issue is to have all dwarves of the faction/sub-faction use the same title and color.

**Ered Luin (Blue Dwarves)**

* Lord Councillor: Uzbad Sigin-tarâgu/faded blue
* Minor Lord: Dwarven Lord/city color
* Belegost: Broadbeam/faded blue

* Nogrod: Firebeard/faded blue
* Thorin's Halls: Blue Dwarf/dark grey
* Arvedui's Mines: Broadbeam or Firebeard/cyan

**Ered Mithrin (Grey Dwarves)**

* Lord Councillor: Uzbad Sigin-tarâgu/silver
* Minor Lord: Dwarven Lord/city color
* Dain's Halls*:* Grey Dwarf/silver

**Hithaeglir (Dwarves of Khazad-Dûm)**

* Lord Councillor: Uzbad Sigin-tarâgu/dark grey
* Minor Lord: Dwarven Lord/city color
* Azanulbizar*:* Khazad-dûm/dark grey
* West Gate: Khazad-dûm/cyan

* Methedras: Khazad-dûm/gold
* Celebdil: Khazad-dûm/light grey

**Durin's Folk (Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain and Iron Hills)**

* Lord Councillor: Uzbad Sigin-tarâgu/cyan
* Minor Lord: Dwarven Lord/cyan
* Royal Guard: Dwarven Commander/cyan
* Warrior: Khazad Axebearer/cyan
* Citizen: Durin's Folk/cyan

**Orocarni (Red Dwarves)**

* Lord Councillor: Uzbad Sigin-tarâgu/dark red
* Minor Lord: Dwarven Lord/city color
* Khazad-Azgal*:* Dwarf or Khazad title/dark red
* Baraz-tum: Dwarf or Khazad title/faded red
* Manarbul: Dwarf or Khazad title/to be determined
* Gatholgardu: Dwarf or Khazad title/to be determined

## Ranking Members and Census

### Census as of 2/15/19

* **Population:** About 90
* **Total Builds:** 24 Major Builds
* **Blue Mountains:**
	+ *Lord Councillor of the Blue Mountains:* SquatchThunder
	+ *Heir to the Blue Mountains and Minor Lord of Belegost:* Cracklepop\_20
	+ *Minor Lord of Nogrod:* fistofmetal
	+ *Minor Lord of Thorin's Halls:* MINISLINKY
	+ *Royal Guard of the Blue Mountains and Thane of Thrain's Halls:*
* **Khazad-dûm:**
	+ *Lord Councillor of Khazad-dûm*: SoaringEagle12
	+ *Heir to the King:* Legootje
	+ *Minor Lord and Senator of Azanulbizar*: Skeshz
	+ *Minor Lord and Senator of West Gate:* Legooje
	+ *Royal Guard and Senator:* XPocketLintX
	+ *Lord of Methedras:* TEDisLAME
	+ *Minor Lord of Celebdil:* TIGSLY
	+ *Thane of Azanulbizar:* TimelessLemming
	+ *Thane of West Gate:* NylaOfArda
	+ *Thane of Celebdil*: Vacant
	+ *Thane of Entwash Hold:* 120jens
	+ *Loremaster:* Thulin\_IV
	+ *Grand Architect:* Fearrippers
	+ *Guardian of Zirakzigil:* Azwraith
	+ *Elder and Advisor:* Bushmaster Floonie
	+ *Retired Lord Councillor:* SpoangityBob
* **Grey Mountains:**
	+ *Lord Councillor of the Grey Mountains:* Hamr\_\_thrung
	+ *Minor Lord of Framsburg:* zombielizard218
* **Kingdom of Durin's Folk:**
	+ *Lord Councillor of Durin's Folk:* Kaiser\_Wojak
	+ *Heir of Durin's Folk*: marcobelva
	+ *Lord of the Iron Hills and Lord of West Peak*: JackFlash29
	+ *Lord of East Peak*: call363
	+ *Lord Commander of South Gate*: Misterymob475
	+ *Royal Guard of Durin's Folk*: Artpas
* **Red Mountains:**
	+ *Lord Councillor of the Red Mountains, Lord of the Ironfists, and Lord of Khazad-Azgal:* Bazrack\_II
	+ *Heir of the Red Mountains, Minor Lord of Khazad-Azgal and Minor Lord of Baraz-tûm:* KillYourDragon
	+ *Minor Lord of Redway: Wille912*
	+ *Royal Guard of the Red Mountains:* Pelargir\_Wave
	+ *Thane of Gatholguardu:* Cheeseheadpants

## Kill on Sight List

The dwarves of the council share common enemies. These enemies are different than the orcish enemies the council has. These individuals are wanted for crimes against the dwarven race such as, but not limited to: treason, theft, and general behavior that won't be tolerated. These individuals are:

### **Those Brought to Justice**

* **TheDarkBushes** - Wanted for rebellion against the Blue Mountains
* **Laerorndir** - Wanted for crimes against the High Elves
* **Arthod** - Wanted for assassination attempt of a Lord Councillor, assassination of dwarven kin, threats against the council
* **Varrick\_** - Wanted for unlawful faction placement in council lands
* **Ronnoc106** - Wanted for theft, slaughter of allies, targeted by allies so we are bound to help
* **Sociopathic\_** - Wanted for unlawful faction placement in council lands, leading a rebellion
* **Edward\_Blum** - Wanted for assassination attempt of a Lord Councillor, assassination of dwarven kin, threats against the council
* **Findi\_the\_dwarf** - Wanted for open rebellion and threats against the council
* **Gaming\_Dragon** - Wanted for rebellion against the Iron Hills. His head is displayed outside of West Peak.
* **Skyinlife** - Wanted for threats against the council and crimes against the High Elves, entire faction of "Blue Orcs" under his command is wanted as well, based in the Gladden Fields
* **rexbeat216** - Wanted for aiding a Criminal of the council and High Elves