The Hovarden Dwarves of the Shield Wall

The Hovarden Dwarves are amongst the oldest and most conservative civilisations in all Warlderia. For thousands of years they have dwelt within the vast mountain citadels of the Shield Wall, a formidable chain of fortresses carved into the eastern mountains overlooking the fertile western valleys. Their society is founded upon duty, honour, endurance and the unbroken continuity of the Clan. Every Dwarf belongs first to his Clan, then to his Hold, and only lastly to himself. Individual ambition is considered a dangerous weakness unless exercised for the benefit of the greater whole. Unlike many Human kingdoms, the Hovarden measure wealth not by gold but by permanence. A bridge expected to endure for five centuries is considered a greater achievement than a victorious battle. Roads, aqueducts, mines, granaries and fortifications are regarded as monuments to civilisation, whilst wastefulness, unnecessary luxury and personal extravagance are quietly despised. Every Hold maintains extensive archives, recording births, deaths, engineering works, treaties and Clan histories dating back countless generations.

Although frequently described by outsiders as isolationists, the Hovarden do not believe themselves withdrawn from the world. Rather, they see themselves as guardians of an ancient civilisation that has survived because it has resisted the corruption and instability that has consumed so many other realms. To most Hovarden, the outside world is unpredictable, impulsive and dangerously short-sighted. Human kingdoms rise and fall within a few generations, whilst the Holds endure for millennia. The Hovarden have long ruled the fertile valleys lying west of the mountains. Rather than settling these lands themselves in great numbers, they govern through hereditary Human communities whose ancestors have served the Mountain Clans for centuries. The Valley Folk provide agricultural produce, livestock and local administration, whilst the Dwarves maintain the roads, fortifications, irrigation systems and military defence of the realm. Although Humans are regarded as loyal subjects rather than equals, Hovarden law places considerable responsibility upon every Thane. A ruler who exploits his subjects for personal gain is considered to have failed in his sacred duty to the Hold.

This paternal philosophy has often been misunderstood beyond the Shield Wall. The Hovarden make little distinction between justice and stability. They believe every individual has a proper place within society and that peace is maintained when each fulfils their obligations honourably. Freedom is respected, but always within the framework of duty. Personal rights exist alongside responsibilities, and few Hovarden would understand a society that placed one above the other. The bitter lessons of the Liberation Wars profoundly shaped modern Hovarden thought. Marshal Garrick Stonebreaker's patient conquest of the Iron March demonstrated that even the mightiest mountain kingdom could be defeated if its roads, valleys and supply lines were lost. Since that time, every generation has been taught that fortresses alone do not preserve a kingdom. Roads must be maintained, harvests protected and subjects treated fairly enough that they willingly defend the realm in times of war. The old military maxim remains deeply respected throughout every Hold:

"Win the road, and the fortress will follow."

Consequently, whilst Human militias are maintained throughout the valleys, no Human commands a Hold, controls a fortress or leads the armies of the Mountain Clans. The Hovarden distinguish carefully between trusting loyal subjects and surrendering ultimate responsibility for the defence of the realm.

The Refugees from The Other Place

The failed invasion of Aelfshaw presented the High Council with an unexpected dilemma. In the aftermath of the conflict, approximately five thousand Dwarven warriors from Klan Martazhold and Klan Thorekmek sought sanctuary beyond the Southern Barrier. They were not settlers, craftsmen or families seeking new homes, but the battered remnants of two once-powerful military clans whose realm in The Other Place had collapsed in defeat. Having abandoned their conquered territories, they arrived with little more than their weapons, armour and Clan banners.

Ordinarily, the Hovarden would have regarded such newcomers with considerable suspicion. The warriors of Martazhold and Thorekmek came from a civilisation profoundly different from that of the Mountain Clans. They believed Humans existed solely to serve their Dwarven masters, regarded slavery as a legitimate institution and considered mercy towards conquered peoples to be a dangerous weakness. Their campaigns had been marked by forced labour, ruthless reprisals and rigid racial hierarchy. Human women were commonly retained as household concubines, whilst children born of such unions were seldom acknowledged by their Dwarven fathers. These customs were viewed with quiet disgust by many Hovarden nobles, who regarded them as both dishonourable and ultimately self-defeating. Yet the Shield Wall faced a crisis of its own.

For centuries the ancient clans had struggled against steadily declining birth rates. Nowhere was this more keenly felt than upon the Southern Barrier, where the traditional garrison had fallen to barely half the strength required to defend its fifty miles of walls, towers and gates. The High Council recognised that the frontier could no longer be adequately manned by the Hovarden alone. The refugee warriors offered an uncomfortable solution. After lengthy deliberation, the High Thane proposed a binding compact. Klan Martazhold and Klan Thorekmek would be granted permanent sanctuary within the Shield Wall, but only upon strict conditions. They would retain their military organisation solely for the defence of the Southern Barrier. They would claim no Holds, own no lands within the valleys, exercise no authority over the Valley Folk and take no part in the government of the Mountain Clans. Their sole purpose would be the defence and maintenance of the Barrier. In return, the Hovarden would recognise their right to exist and provide them with provisions, armouries and barracks.

To the surprise of many, Jarl Dorik Martazhold (pictured) accepted these terms without hesitation. Having sworn his oath before the High Council, he has never broken it. Today the Southern Barrier is defended almost entirely by the refugee clans. Their discipline is beyond question, their engineering exemplary and their vigilance unwavering. Many Hovarden officers privately admit that the Barrier has not been so well maintained in generations. Yet admiration remains tempered by caution. The refugees have remained largely isolated from the rest of the kingdom, living within the great fortresses of the Barrier and seldom venturing into the valleys except on official business. Relations between the refugee clans and the Hovarden remain cordial but distant. Both sides respect discipline, military professionalism and the sanctity of sworn oaths, yet they disagree profoundly over the nature of rulership itself. The Hovarden believe that authority carries obligations as well as privileges, and that loyal subjects are the foundation of a strong realm. Martazhold and his followers hold a sterner philosophy, arguing that strength is maintained through unquestioning obedience and that mercy merely encourages weakness. Although these differences are rarely discussed openly, they represent the greatest ideological divide within Dwarven society since the Liberation Wars.

The Valley Folk know little of the warriors who guard the Southern Barrier. Few have ever seen them, and fewer still have reason to travel so far south. Amongst the villages, stories speak of grim Dwarves clad in blackened armour who seldom smile, rarely leave their walls and still cling to the harsh customs of their lost homeland. Whether such tales are true or merely the product of rumour is uncertain, for access to the Barrier is tightly controlled and the refugee clans keep largely to themselves.

Many members of the High Council consider the arrangement a necessary compromise. Better, they reason, that five thousand formidable warriors stand watch upon the kingdom's southern frontier than wander the world without purpose. Nevertheless, some quietly wonder whether the greatest danger posed by Martazhold and Thorekmek lies not in rebellion, but in the gradual spread of their uncompromising beliefs amongst younger Hovarden officers. As one elderly Thane is reputed to have remarked:

"Walls keep out armies. They do not keep out ideas."