"Some say the old line is broken, never to be repaired, and that the songs of our ancestors will never once more fill the halls of Drumshiel with mirth. I say trout shite! If the line of Usgaroth falls, let all dwarves in all the halls of stone wither and die! Out there, an heir yet lives, and one day he shall return to sit the throne, and peace and plenty will return to this world."

-The Vagabond Seer, Ispesh of Sevastipol

Shielan Culture

The Platinum Dwarves

In the earliest days of the lives of dwarves, they were an embattled and battered people. They slowly concentrated their forces in a single range of mountains, forgoing all movement in the treacherous valleys below. There, goat herders slowly became miners, and hunters slowly became masons. To fight their battles against their ancestral enemies, the dragons, the aboleth, they would need steel and stone, and so they dug mighty trenches in the mountains, fortified passes, built watch towers, and eventually hollowed out pits underneath the ground. In these dwarf-built caverns, no creature not permitted access by the dwarves could have safe passage. To lock out the crafty creatures which conspired against them, they invented powerful magical runes, which could combine in a nearly infinite plethora of enchantments and protections. The fortifications, weapons, and magical runes allowed the dwarves to expand and flourish, concentrating their strength and prowess in a mighty fortress, Drumshiel, or in dwarvish, "The Shield of the World." There, the many High Clans gathered to anoint their leader, the High King Usgaroth or "Iron Skull". Upon his grave was built a mighty lineage of High Kings, which would rule, at times in name, at times in practice, over the whole of the Dwarven World. Their progeny spread into the mountains, named after them, the Usgaroth Mountains. In the deep caverns of Drumshiel, great deposits of platinum ore, as well as many other valuable resources were found, and brought up to be harvested in vast quantities. The dwarves became rich beyond imagining, and spread their wealth through trade with the "mud-dwelling" races of that time. Eventually, these dwarves would set out in colonial groups, spreading their influence across the many mountain ranges of Adra Majoris and beyond. As the original enemies of the dwarves waned in their power, the dwarves secured great trade networks across the world, bringing civilization and commerce to far-flung unsettled peoples. In their greed and ambition, they created megalithic caverns beneath the ground, the largest of them below their capital of Drumshiel. They became so unstable and so enormous that collapses, sinkholes, and newly-forming rivers set off a run-away effect; with each passing generation, the Dark Under them grew just a little more. While the underworld brought many challenges, and curses, it also enabled the High Kings of Drumshiel to maintain a cultural grip over the rest of dwarf-kind. Dwarves, no matter how far they travelled from home, would always have a link connecting them to their origin point, and as such, the language, culture, and mindset of the dwarves never fully evolved past the original strictures of the All-Fathers of Drumshiel and the Usgaroth Clan. And yet, each culture of the dwarves carried their own particularities which distinguished them from their brethren. As the ages pressed on, the Shielan dwarves noticed humans and other races gathering in the shadow of the mountains. Going off of the successful partnerships established in other dwarven kingdoms, the Shielans began to send support to the humans, in the form of coin, supplies, and expertise. They enabled them to build up cities around Lake Saravo and across the steppes, and served to trade their wares further along to far-flung parts of the world. Food, mainly in the form of fish came flowing up the mountains in great quantities, allowing more of the dwarven population to retire to crafts, warfare, and the arts, enriching the culture and economy of the dwarves further. The wealth of the mother city was unrivaled, and in its prosperity it drew rivals. To secure their trade routes and patrol the lands of their clients, the Shielans violently prosecuted pseudo-wars against Orcs, Goblins, Giants, and all manner of creatures of an uncivilized nature. In time, these people grew deeply hateful towards the Shielans, cursing their name in enmity. Smelling the wealth of the dwarves, and sensing the feelings of the Shielan rivals, the Ancient Red Dragon Varniroth of the Ashes moved against Drumshiel. He gathered up a massive host of those motivated by their hatred for the Shielans, their greed, or both: the Army of Ash. This nearly invincible horde moved quickly to besiege the fortresses of the dwarves, while they moved to quickly raid the farms and villages of the Saravoans. Over many years, each and every Saravoan city fell to the conquest of Army of Ash, and with the fall of Lenipol, all substantial support from their clients ceased to the Shielans. All in all, the grueling sieges of the Usgaroth Mountains lasted 100 years, as the Army of Ash slowly but surely starved out, drew out, or assaulted each dwarven hold. Finally, in the end, Drumshiel fell. It is not understood what caused the mother city, once thought to be impenetrable to assault, to falter under the siege. Whatever it was, deception, treachery, brute force, or magic, the kingdom fell completely into ruin. It was only the actions of the heroic Son of the King who secured safe passage out of the city for thousands of its citizens, saving both their lives, and the culture of the Shielans. Now, the Shielans live mostly in exile, except for those who guard or work at the Tomb of the All-Fathers, mercifully saved by ally dwarves in the days of the collapse. The diaspora, no matter how they now live their lives, as craftsmen in foreign cities, refugees in other dwarven halls, or as vagabonds on the weary roads, all are united by their gaze towards their homeland, and their thoughts of returning home.

          The Shielan dwarves are the most ancient of the dwarven cultures. Indeed, it is the root of the great dwarven tree, and the only older dwarven culture is the proto-Shielan culture of the earliest dwarves, before Drumshiel existed, indeed when Oerack still walked the earth. The Shielans therefore can be viewed as the prime-archetype of dwarven culture, one which all other cultures emulate in some way, and augment in unique forms. Therefore, three things can be expected of almost any Shielan. Firstly, Shielans are martial, favoring athleticism, strategy, and battle-training. They frequently train and spar, even those who are not warriors professionally, and few children are not trained to fight from a young age. Secondly, Shielans take to crafts like fish to water. All manner of craft are practiced to outstanding degrees of excellence by the Shielans, with traditions being passed down within a clan for thousands of years. Among all crafts, Shielans take most readily to smithing, making the finest smiths in the world, by far. Thirdly, Shielans are obsessed with mercantile pursuits. Their avarice knows no bounds, and their prime strategy for wealth creation is mining, deep beneath the ground for platinum, gold, silver, gems, and all that glitters. In their pursuit of deep mining, Shielans often prove to be the most reckless and ambitious; the megalithic cavern beneath Drumshiel is the largest of its kind. And while all dwarves to some degree take to these pursuits, one that is lost to most dwarves is the art of Rune Crafting. The Rune Masters of Drumshiel were famous in their time for creating the magical doorways and portals which would protect dwarven strongholds against attack or treachery. The Shielans kept this knowledge to themselves, using its rarity to maintain their own primacy in the dwarven realms. Not many Shielans are Rune Masters any more, but most remember the craft, and some practice it. Recently however, the character of the Shielans has changed in important ways. Unlike most dwarves, they are to some degree adaptable; one has to be when one loses one's home. Therefore, while many dwarves think certain types of labor or life beneath them, the Shielans quickly adapted to changing circumstances, and realized their survival depended on letting go of such sentiments. Therefore, it is common to find Shielans working as farmhands, wheelwrights, or even servants. Other dwarves look ascance at this sort of behavior, but Shielans view it as a necessary temporary disgrace; one day, they shall shed such burdens and return to their rightful place. Their modern psyche is defined by malaise over the past. While dwarves have always looked back to their past for traditions, Shielans look back mournfully and obsessively. They are often caught staring into the flickering light of their once glorious past, lamenting their current diminished status. Their focus on the past, while understandable, can also hold them back from future opportunities. Rather than rebuild a new city, or incorporate their people into another dwarven land, the majority of the Shielans have maintained that there is only one city they may call home, only one range of mountains from which they may hail.

          The Shielan people were originally concentrated in the Usgaroth Mountains. However, in these days the only Shielans which remain there stay at the Tomb of the All-Fathers. Most Shielan dwarves instead exist as a diaspora, spread across Adra. They live in other dwarven settlements, particularly in the Wandering Valley, they live in the settlements of humans, halflings, and other races, they live in traveling bands which follow herds of animals or move from town to town seeking work, or they live in the most depraved conditions, vagabonds in all but name. The predominate race of the Shielans are dwarves, though occasionally as they have melded with other cultures, some non-dwarves have been adopted into the fold. The most popular gods among the Shielan are Ariendale, Ardonis, Hagelia, Sindra, Yeshaya, Sorthal, Euolous, and Aristagoras. Of course, despite his death, Oerack remains the patron god of the dwarves in exile. Shielans tend to be valorous, athletic, and crafty. They also tend to be overly-nostalgic, greedy, and lamentful. The dominant language among the Shielans is dwarvish.

If you choose Shielan Culture, you gain the following:

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

~A -1 to your Charisma score~

~As a known language, Dwarvish~

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

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