"The Marnair Canal is nothing less than one of the greatest feats of engineering my people have ever produced. Those privileged enough to see it never forget, the long and downsloping canal, which drags ships at unfathomable speeds out to sea. We however go to the great lock, designed to take us from deep down in the earth all the way up to the Underkingdom proper. It works from ice melt, and through an oxen-propelled system of bucket trains, which slowly pull water up from the depths of the earth. As some say, 'we dwarves do nothing by halves!' Tis true indeed."

-Mercantile Ambassador of Marnair, Hesgar af Noldrum

Marian Culture

The Silver Dwarves

The Marians as a cultural group came to be in the XII Ginealach, a period of great expansion for the dwarves in general. During this time, a great number of dwarves came from the Usgaroth Mountains, the Bruno-Marians, and settled in the largest, and in some ways, least hospitable of the mountains of Adra, the Roughcut Mountains (named after their mentioned in-hospitability). There, they spread out, and found two very large ore-deposits, one of iron, the other of silver. Both of these weren't particularly glamorous metals, at least by the reckoning of the dwarves, but each were vital for the world economy in their own ways. The initial split in this large group came not over any political or ideological struggle, but simply over which ore was more valuable to mine in mass quantities. The Marians came to see silver as obviously more valuable. It was not as prestigious as some precious metals, but the quantities found were unfathomably large, as far as the dwarves could tell, and it could serve as a useful method of exchange for the growing Kith nations spread across Adra. By supplying useful currency to the world, the Marians believed they could trade for goods from the farthest reaches of Adra. What began as a mere disagreement over ore led to geographical conglomeration, and separation, between two distinct regions, eventually inhabited by two distinct cultures, the Brunians and the Marians. In the early years, these two peoples had the sense that they were essentially united, both by their common origin, and by their common goal to colonize the Roughcut Mountains. However, as time separated them, their true division became cleanly defined when both peoples claimed to forge an Underkingdom, that is, a massive and cavernous city beneath the surface. For a people to be loyal towards two underkingdoms seemed impossible, and so the division between the Brunians and Marians became forever cemented from then on. The Marians became defined by their preference for trade, immediately making their silver available to the disparate peoples of Adra, scattered across the Zaltine plains. As such, the Marians became the first dwarven people to focus on entirely on what they did best, activities like warfare, mining, and crafts, particularly smithing, while trading for everything else they weren't interested in making themselves with non-dwarves. They took on the diets of valley farmers, eating fine breads, meats, and cheeses not available to most mountain folk. They saw goods from far-away lands, especially fine silks and tapestries from the far west. In essence, they pioneered the system of large-scale trade that would be largely embraced by most dwarves in the years to come. Not only did they pioneer land trade, they did what for most dwarves was unthinkable: they took to the sea. The Marians, using technology gathered from elves and other people, began to create ships to trade over-seas with. These were not just any old dingy, but massive treasure galleons, capable of hauling hundreds of tons of raw silver over thousands of miles. In those early days, the Marians connected lands that were previously completely unknown to each other. Eventually, as divisions grew between the Marians and the Brunians, each came to see the other as inhabiting their mountains, rather than seeing the mountains as collectively belonging to both peoples. When diplomacy failed, the two nations eventually came to blows, in what would be a series of brutal civil wars between the dwarves, the only in history of their kind. While the first two civil wars would remain in the Roughcut Mountains, the third and final war spread across the dwarvish world, and involved each dwarvish people taking one side or another. After tens of thousands of dwarves died in the conflict, some nations began to see their ancient enemies take advantage of the conflict. Eventually, the Great King of Drumshiel drew the war to a close, and forbid any further wars like it from ever taking place; if they did, the other clans and nations swore to cut off all trade, support, and exchange with the participants. Since then, peace has held between the Marians and the Brunians, though very little communication or trade ever takes place between the two nations. In the years after the civil wars, the Marians had focused much of their efforts on a client kingdom to their south, Manfried, who they gave their ship-building techniques to, and with whom they supported in building up as a capable mercantile kingdom. These Manfrieders fought with the Marians in their wars against goblin-kind, and in the unofficial skirmishes between Brunian and Marian clans. They would, on the whole, become more efficient long-range merchants than the dwarves, who began to use them to transport their goods for them. As time wore on, the Marians lost their client kingdom, to conquest by the Arissians, and conflicts with rival merchant cities. Still, in the modern age, while Manfried is not officially beholden anymore to the Marians, they do exist in collaboration and alliance once more with one another.

          The Marians are characterized most accurately by their love for exchange. Their main holds of wealth being silver allows for them to not only trade for massive imports of expensive goods, as most dwarves do, but also they can facilitate small-time trades between smaller merchants. As such, every Marian settlement commonly holds a marketplace, either in the open air outside, or within the interior of the hold. Merchants and traders are welcomed from every corner of Adra, to bring their goods to market, and either trade with other merchants who come, or with the Marians for raw silver bullion and coin. The Marians prefer for merchants to come to them, but they too make journeys out to the major ports and settlements of other nations, often setting up trade-houses and banks run by a Marian Clan in prominent cities. Given that silver is the coinage of merchants, and 4 in 5 silver coins in Adra come emblazoned with the seal of Marnair, their prestige among the business class is unimpeachable. They also view trade to be more than just a means of exchange, heralding its virtues at bringing peoples together, exchanging ideas, reducing prejudice, and securing diplomacy. While Marians practice warfare with as much zeal as most of their fellow dwarves, they view it as a necessary evil, when trade and diplomacy have failed, or as a means to protect and ensure the flourishing of trade. As a result, most Marian warriors, when not called home to great foreign wars, spend much of their time as marines and coastal patrolmen, seeking to root out piracy wherever it is to be found. Whereas many pirates can prove beneficial to some merchants, depending on their persuasion, the Marians oppose piracy on principle, as the antithesis of civilized and orderly exchange. All of this trade has had other effects as well. The Marians tend to be very accepting of foreign cultures, and knowledgeable about all the peoples of Adra. They are often more welcoming of outsiders within their fold, and are only rivaled by the Canaens in their xenophilia. Unlike the Canaens however, the Marians are not overly generous with their wealth. In fact, while the Marian love of trade can be viewed as a positive, it also betrays a fierce avarice among the Marians that, while existing among all dwarven cultures, presents among the Marians as a hunger for not only that which they can produce, but that which they can gain through clever mercantilism. Further, their reliance on trade makes many Marians quite pampered, when compared to some of their hardier and spartan cousins elsewhere in the world. They rely heavily on the goods they bring in from across the world, indulging in fine spices, wines, foods, arts, and innovations that they do not need, but which they have become strangely reliant upon. Many other dwarves point to the Marian culture as an example of degradation of ancient dwarven values, but the prosperity and prominence of Marian culture cannot be denied. Marians of course, while accused often of being debauched pampered ponies, cannot be accused of cowardice. Instead, Marians are the only dwarves in general that have no fear of the awe-inspiring seas, taking to the waters with ease, and preferring to engage in battle in a place where the casualties are often obscenely high. And indeed, when not making money, partaking in crafts, or nautical pursuits, Marians are often keen to learn and study the histories, languages, and literatures of cultures from across the world, making them erudite and well-educated when compared with many of their kin.

          The Marian people are most highly concentrated in the southern ranges of the Roughcut Mountains, though occasionally they can be found in the southern Roughcut Mountains. They are found in great numbers in the settlements of Manfried, in particular Rumpkin, and in many other prominent mercantile settlements across Adra. The predominate race of the Marians are dwarves, though some numbers of humans, elves, halflings, and some other races can be found among the culture, not a rare exception, but instead apart of a fairly racially diverse culture, at least when compared to most dwarven cultures. The most popular gods among the Brunians are Aerideia, Ardonis, Hagelia, Melteos, Sindra, Yeshaya, Alas, and Gowlga. Of course, despite his death, Oerack remains the patron god of all dwarvish settlements.. Marians tend to be xenophilic, mercantile, and erudite. They also tend to be greedy, overly-pampered, and dependent. The dominant language among the Marians is Dwarvish.

If you choose Marian Culture, you gain the following:

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

~A -1 to your Constitution score~

~As a known language, Dwarvish~

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

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