The Kingdom of Alban - The Dwarves & The Hills.

The Dwarven Nation is spread across the hills of Alban. There are two main hill regions in Alban separated by a large swath of The Wyld. Built on and within these hills are the three main dwarven cities: Axe, Hammer, and Shield. Dwarven civilization is a combination of a meritocracy and a rigid caste system. When a dwarf comes of age they are expected to join the military. The length of their term of service is left up to each dwarf; when they finish, they apply to join a caste. The strength of an application is determined by: the caste the dwarf was born to, and how well they did in the military. The Dwarven castes in order of prominence are: Officer, Smith or Sea Guard, City Guard, Engineer, Mason, Merchant, Miner, Fisherman, Farmer, and Servant. There are also three castes that exist outside the system: The Casteless, The Justicars, and The Metallurgists. Another factor in rank is the city the dwarf lives in. Dwarfs of the same rank from Axe, outrank those from Shield, who in turn outrank dwarves from Hammer. 

Officers ostensibly make up the ruling caste of Dwarven society. In theory they wield all of the political power one associates with the nobility. However, these dwarves tend to be very limited in their focus; as such, they delegate the majority of their work. They stick to military matters, allowing dwarves from lower castes to handle civil matters. Officers fall into one of five ranks. From lowest to highest they are: Squad Head, Troop Leader, Phalanx Captain, Legion Commander, and War Lord. A squad head has command of 20 soldiers, a troop leader command of 10 squads, phalanx captain 5 troops, legion commander 5 phalanxes, and the war lord has command of an army. 

The Sea Guard are accorded nearly as much respect as officers. The Sea Guard acts as the dwarven navy, and as such members of this caste are career soldiers. When not on patrol they also act as law enforcement on the docks. A dwarf can choose to join the Sea Guard when they take their mandatory service. It is a popular choice for dwarves from the docks, and lower caste dwarves from other cities, since it is a guaranteed caste. This is in no small part because of the fact that dwarfs have an instinctive desire to always be close to the earth and stone, and feel uncomfortable in water. Any dwarf willing to regularly abandon said comfort for the sake of their race thus gains a great deal of respect and honor. 

The Smith caste is the highest ranking civilian caste for obvious reasons. Each city has its own smiths guild that ranks its members from novice, to apprentice, to journeyman, to master. The guild is lead by the most senior master smith, who is accorded the title of guild master. The majority of the dwarves of this caste were born into it, since the best smiths start learning young. It is quite difficult for a dwarf who was born outside this caste to get in. Despite their high place in Dwarven society, the smiths hold little political power. They are not often delegated responsibilities by officers, instead being left to focus on their art. 

The Guards act as the law keepers of the Dwarven cities, as well as a militia during emergencies. The Guard is not considered a branch of the military or the officer caste, and they have their own ranks: Guard, Sergeant, Watch Captain, District Captain, and Watch Commander. Guards patrol the streets, Sergeants act as relays and command the streets guard station. Watch Captains have authority over a neighborhood, District Captains have authority over several Watch Captains. The Watch Commander controls the guard of a city in its entirety. Each level of the command can also acts as arbitrator for any crimes committed. Whether a guard can arbitrate is dependent on the severity of the crime, and the caste involved. The guards have no authority on inter-caste crimes, any crime involving officers, or for the most severe of crimes such as murder and treason. In cases that the guards cannot handle, they surrender authority to the Justicars. 

Engineers and masons, or as they might be more accurately dubbed: foremen and construction workers. These castes comprise the work force of the dwarves. Engineers act as architects, and inventors of products not relating to war. The masons act as their hands, building whatever the engineers design. The engineers have a lot of domestic political power, they are most often delegated tasks related to civil works projects. Despite being considered separate castes the masons and engineers are closely tied. The Masons have a guild with the same ranks as the Smiths guild; when a Mason reaches the rank of master they enter the Engineer caste. The Engineer caste is the only caste that a dwarf cannot apply to enter directly, and as such it is the smallest caste. 

Although not the most prestigious caste, the merchants guild wields a great deal of political power. Peaceful foreign affairs, matters of commerce and tax, budgeting of civil projects, and many other tasks, are all delegated to this guild. The Merchants caste is comprised of a wide variety of skilled laborers, such as: tailors, cobblers, butchers, glass blowers, innkeepers, etc. They are controlled by a guild with members having one of three ranks: tradesmen, aide, and Councillors. The majority of the merchants belong to the tradesmen category, as these are the skilled workers of the dwarven kingdom. Dwarves with ambition, who seek to create, expand, or control a trade empire, are the ones who try and move up the ranks. Councillors are the true political power amongst the dwarves. They are the richest merchants, who own many small businesses, and the they act as primary delegates for a War Lord. Aides work directly for the Councillors; they are the hands of their boss, and seek to garner political power. Unlike other castes, the Merchants will accept a dwarf with no military background, so long as that dwarf shows sufficient intelligence. In recent years this caste has seen a significant dip in prosperity. With the loss of An Dli, foreign trade and trade amongst the other races has died off. This crippled many businesses over the last two decades. 

The miners, the fishermen, and the farmers, are the lowest rung of dwarven society that still possess honor. These are the dwarves who failed to distinguish themselves in their military service, and lacked the skills to get into a higher caste. This caste makes up the majority of the dwarven population, and they possess very little power in dwarven society. More often than not, those who are born to this class stay in it. 

The lowest of the low in dwarven society are the servants. Only two kinds of dwarves are placed in this class: minor criminals, and cowards. Cowards are the dwarves who either refused to join the military, or fled from a battle. Universally treated with disdain, ignored and shunned by friends and family, most dwarves in this class dream of leaving it. For criminals this is as easy as serving the time set out by their sentence. If a coward wished to leave though their only option is to join or rejoin the army, and prove their valor. 

The casteless are the dwarves who served time in the military and on completion, chose to explore the world as mercenaries or adventurers. These dwarves are usually looked on with disgust, since they abandoned the homeland. Though if a dwarf establishes themselves as a hero, then he can return with great honor. 

The Justicars, are a group of 20 dwarves, 10 masters and 10 apprentices. They are the most feared dwarfs in the kingdom. There is no moratorium on violence between castes. A miner can strike a smith, and will be forgiven if the reason was just. However, raising a hand against a Justicar is a death sentence for any dwarf. Crime between castes, capital offences, and crimes committed by officers or metallurgists, these are all dealt with by the Justicars. They are unerring in their pursuit of truth, incorruptible, and unbiased. They only exist is to see justice done. One does not apply to be a Justicar, they are chosen. When a master dies their apprentice takes their place. The newly raised apprentice then chooses his successor. Usually a babe of healthy stock or a young child. The exact nature of Justicar training is unknown. The results though are unquestionable. They are the worth of any ten dwarves on the battlefield including the feared dwarven ironclads. 

The final caste is The Metallurgists. The dwarves of Alban have a unique relationship with metal. Some dwarves, from birth, have the ability to produce certain magical effects using certain metals. There is no rhyme or reason to who has this power. Each dwarf when born is exposed to one of the twelve metals; if an effect is produced, than they are a Metallurgist. Each type of Metallurgist fulfills a different role in dwarven society. In fulfilling that role they have unquestionable authority. The metals and their effects are as follows: 

Iron - Increases momentum when in movement. 

Bronze - Increases strength when worn. 

Copper - Strike it to create flame. 

Zinc- Chew for healing. 

Silver - When warmed produces an aura harmful to preternatural beings. (A preternatural or supernatural being in this case being any being reliant on magic for it's existence. If the being cannot live without magic then silver is harmful to them.)

Gold - Move quickly to create gusts of wind. 

Tin - Ingest to increase reflexes. 

Nickel - Apply water to create ice. 

Steel - Apply a lodestone and it attracts metal with extreme force. 

Pewter - Squeeze to store force, throw to release it. 

Lead - When rubbed on a surface it increases the density of the item. 

Aluminum - When a lodestone is applied it repulses metal with extreme force.  

Most Metallurgists possess affinity with only a single metal. A rare handful can wield more than one. The most any single dwarf has been able to use is five. Even within this class there is a hierarchy. Polymetals are the highest ranked, followed by Bimetals, then followed by ironshods, and finally the rest in no particular order. 

The average Dwarf lives to be around 270-300 years, with dwarfs usually reaching their prime at around 100.