"Profit isn't the point of it. Of course Hillen dwarves do partake in some mercantile trade, I won't deny, but that is hardly the point of it. I trade at most 20 barrels O' my tobacco with the Marian merchants. But I trade 50 barrels O' my tobacco with my neighbors, and not for profit but for pure exchange, and noble exchange at that. I send a barrel O' my tobacco down the road to Odella, and she sends me a cart full O' barley each year. And we ain't doing it to profit. If she had a bad harvest one year, and couldn't send nary a small pittance of barley, you bet I'd still send a full barrel her way. And you can bet if I had another worm-blight, like I did 40 years past, that she would send a full cart O' barley all the same. Trade around here is about looking out for each other."

-Tobacco Farmer from near Vannigan, Nemrel af Rougelt

Hillen Culture

The Copper Dwarves

The Hill Dwarves of Arathia are very different. So different indeed, that they are not only considered a culture onto their own, but also a sub-race, a divergent sort of creature from the mountain dwarves of their ancient ancestors. The differences are subtle, but they are informed by their isolation from the dwarves outside of Arathia, allowing them to slowly evolve into their own people, culturally and racially. Their culture began first in the Eighth Ginealach, as a large group of dwarves who were war-weary and exhausted from their conflicts with the Valenterans and Underdark hordes. They dusted off the ships which the original Vulkish settlers used, and set off with them, promising to send back 500 tons of gold to their mother city, or an equivalent of other goods. They made passage to the east, to Arathia, a continent untouched by the Dwarves. They ranged up and down the coast, discovering brutal jungle landscapes across the continent, until they came upon a vast open space, rounded by mighty hills. The only catch was this land was occupied; a race of giant-men lived in wooden forts which scattered across the lands. The dwarves, making land, attempted negotiations with the Goliaths. They offered them many jewels, an attempt to purchase tracts of land on or near the coast. However, the Goliaths refused, suspecting that these dwarves were trouble. The Vulkish dwarves that came to colonize this land refused to turn back, and after another failed attempt to pay for land, they simply built a fort without permission, beginning the Great Dwarf-Goliath War. The Goliaths launched attacks on the first dwarf fort, The Wide Fort, to no avail, unused to the incredible weapons and armor which the dwarves brought with them, not to mention the construction of the dwarves, second to none. Eventually, the dwarves sent war parties into the hills, systematically crushing each village they came upon, and building small forts upon the bones of each settlement. The Goliaths struggled for years and years, but each year against the dwarves brought destruction, famine, and death. After years of war, the dwarves too were not feeling magnanimous, and refused any treaty with the Goliaths, eventually forcing them to leave their homeland entirely, in disgrace and shame. From then on, there were occasional flare ups with the Goliaths, but none proved fruitful for them, eventually resigning to their new lands. The dwarves for their part turned their well-experienced army to protect their new borders. Rather than carve a path through the Ridgeback Mountains, which many in Arathia assumed they would do, the dwarves settled permanently in the hills, keeping the monsters and foul-kith of the jungle and swamplands out of their settlements. They discovered vast pockets of copper lying just beneath the crust of the hills, as well as smaller deposits of iron, tin, and even mithril. Using the Marians to run their supplies to the other Underkingdoms, the Hillen dwarves took no interest in sailing again themselves, and took their ships, flipping them over, and using them to form the buildings in their capital settlement of Malmuir. Overtime, the dwarves established trade routes which ran through Arathia, and took to farming in the valleys of Malmuir. Resisting pressure from the Underking of Drumshiel, the Hillen dwarves refused to excavate a connection to the Underdark, fearing the instability of the the growingly terrifying world below. Overtime, the dwarves became so respected and feared by their neighbors, that they slowly transformed into a mostly peace-loving society, at least by the standards of the dwarves. Malmuir was declared an Underkingdom, perhaps out of tradition more than reality, for the underground of Malmuir was miniscule compared to the labyrinthine complexes of the other Underkingdoms. Indeed, the Hillen dwarves lived more above the ground than any of their kin, and doing so slowly transformed them, in addition to their cultural proclivities, into a unique sub-race. These dwarves felt more comfortable above the ground, and so when other Underkingdoms wished to settle a dwarf town or village, they would sometimes ask for Hill Dwarves to emigrate there and aid them in their efforts. These Hillen dwarves became somewhat derided by their Mountain kin, thought in some ways as less-than-dwarven. However, they became highly respected by non-dwarves around the world, who saw them as more temperate, less-greedy, and more amiable.

          It should be well-noted that the Hill Dwarf subrace is not identical to the Hillen culture; there are Hill Dwarves who are not Hillen Dwarves, and even a few Hillen dwarves who are not Hill Dwarves, though the latter is rarer. What many people call "Valley Dwarves," those dwarves which have settled for generations in the Wandering Valley, are Hill Dwarves, racially speaking. They have similar natural dispositions towards agriculture, they are acclimated to the surface better than their Mountain kin, and they are used to residing at a lower elevation, all features of Hill Dwarves. Hillen Dwarves however are distinct. In many ways, they take the disposition of the hill dwarves and take it further. Hillen Dwarves love hearth, home, and field. They are fond of the sun, and the sky, and the stars, all things which rarely trouble other dwarves, particularly those who live beneath the ground. Hillen dwarves do mine, but not as ferociously or methodically as their kin; they are much more likely to scratch at the surface, and upon seizing a decent haul, move on to other ground, rather than digging massive underground channels, shafts, and constructions deep into the ground. When Hillen dwarves do mine, they do it almost out of obligation, rather than diligence or avarice. Rather than mining, Hillen dwarves take to farming out of a love for it. Hillen dwarves take great joy in making things grow and come to life, and even greater joy in the harvest. Perhaps their love of agriculture, over mining and forgecraft, comes out of their equal love of epicurean delights. Hillen dwarves love a well rounded cuisine, fit with bread, meats, soups, pastries, vegetables, fruits, roasts, and all manner of edible treats. They also have a great love of alcohol, not unique among them, but an equal love for the brewing of alcohol, beers, meads, and wines. Many dwarves of other cultures enjoy brewing as well, but rarely as a rule. The Hillen dwarves are almost all fond doing it, not just in the massive breweries which supply alcohol for the world at large, but also in small "backyard" barrels that a family keeps for their own enjoyment. So, when hard work is met with the reward of bounties of food, drink, and other consumables, such as tobacco, pipe-weed, and sourchew, so the Hillen love for agriculture is born. Of course, there are some dwarves who take to agriculture outside of the Hillen culture, like the valley dwarves mentioned previously. What separates Hillen culture totally from its other counterparts? On the one hand its ambition (or lack of), and on the other hand its pacifistic tendencies. In general, Hillen Culture can be thought of as the most mild of all the dwarven cultures. Most dwarves are fiercely ambitious, seeking wealth, glory, excellence, or all three, and in excess of what other races would consider an achievement worthy of pride. Even humans, constantly the subject of derision for their vein-glorious natures, are nothing to compare when faced with the pride of the dwarves. However, the Hillen Dwarves break this rule. Hillen dwarves tend to be much more concerned with happiness, that is to say, the ultimate pursuit of their own well-being. They of course place value on their own excellence, and the excellence of their pursuits, but their core sense of fulfillment comes not from what they've achieved, but how they've lived their lives. Of course, this sort of outlook, while admirable, can often lead the Hillen dwarves to turn away from the worldly affairs of their brethren and others. Hillen dwarves are unlikely to take up arms in a war, even if it is just. They are unlikely to worry about their past sins, or current ones, because it would cast a shadow on their current happiness. The Goliaths, who often live in the modern day in abject poverty and misery, are in their current lot in life at least partially because of the ancient atrocities of the Hillen people. And yet, the Hillen people have made very little, if any, attempts to make up for these past wrongs. The Hillen people are prosperous and wealthy, and could easily help to raise many goliaths out of their slump. However, they do not, partially because they may fear a resurgent goliath kingdom, and partially because they do not trouble themselves with such histories, and with international relations.

          The Hillen people are most highly concentrated in the Hills of Malmuir, and the coast to the west of it. They are also sometimes found in settlements controlled by other dwarven cultures, particularly those settlements which are found above the ground. The predominate races of the Hillen are dwarves, though there are a few rare non-dwarves among them, often times the descendants of merchants who found the land of the Hillen dwarves to be to their liking. The most popular gods among the Hillen are Gökotta, Ardonis, Yeshaya, Xerkune, and Eoulous. Of course, despite his death, Oerack remains the patron god of all dwarvish settlements. Hillen tend to be warm, jolly, and green-thumbed. They also tend to be unconcerned, privileged, and ignoble. The official language among the Hillen is Dwarvish.

if you choose Hillen Culture, you gain the following:

~Either a +1 to your Constitution score or a +1 to your Charisma score~

~A -1 to your Dexterity score~

~As a known language, Dwarvish~

~A Sub-Discipline in every knowledge skill on checks relating to Hillen Culture~

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