The Lands of Warlderia

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.

The mountains themselves are as much a part of Hovarden civilisation as the Holds built within them. Beneath the Shield Wall lies an immense network of mines, roads, galleries, reservoirs and ancient workings accumulated over thousands of years. Some remain amongst the busiest arteries of the realm, carrying ore, goods and travellers between neighbouring Holds without ever emerging into daylight. Others descend into older levels whose original purpose has long since been forgotten. The Hovarden take immense pride in this subterranean inheritance, though even their meticulous archives no longer contain a complete record of everything their ancestors built beneath the mountains. Although frequently described by outsiders as isolationists, the Hovarden do not believe themselves withdrawn from the world.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, several thousand Dwarven refugees from The Other Place sought sanctuary beyond the great southern defences of the Shield Wall. Many belonged to the defeated Klans of Martazhold, Thorekmek and their allies, societies shaped by centuries of conquest, slavery and rigid racial supremacy. Although fellow Dwarves by blood, these newcomers possessed values profoundly different from those of the Hovarden. They believed Humans existed principally to serve their masters, regarded slavery as a natural institution and considered compassion towards lesser races to be weakness. Their treatment of conquered peoples had been marked by brutality, forced labour and systematic cruelty. Such practices horrified many Hovarden nobles, who regarded them as dishonourable, wasteful and fundamentally unworthy of a true ruler. Ancient custom nevertheless demanded that Dwarves genuinely seeking refuge from disaster should not simply be turned away. After considerable debate, the High Council granted the survivors sanctuary, although acceptance into the Shield Wall did not mean acceptance of their beliefs. The refugee Klans were required to swear binding oaths of loyalty to the High Thane and submit themselves to Hovarden law.

The newcomers, for their part, found much about their hosts equally bewildering. They were astonished that Humans could own land, serve as village magistrates, worship freely, bear arms within the militia and expect the protection of Dwarven law. To many Martazhold and Thorekmek warriors, the Valley Folk appeared not as subjects but as dangerously indulged servants. Some quietly argued that the Hovarden had forgotten the proper relationship between ruler and ruled. These disagreements have created one of the greatest ideological divisions within Hovarden society for centuries. Traditionalists insist that the strength of the Shield Wall rests upon duty, justice, discipline and the loyalty of its subjects. They point to the prosperity and stability of the western valleys as proof that their ancestors chose wisely. A smaller faction, however, privately admires the uncompromising authority of the newcomers and wonders whether generations of peace have made the Hovarden complacent.

For the Valley Folk, the arrival of the refugees has been deeply unsettling. For countless generations they had known only one kind of Dwarf: stern, conservative and demanding perhaps, but bound by law and by an equally stern obligation to protect those beneath their authority. Discovering that other Dwarven realms practised slavery and ruled through terror has only strengthened the loyalty many Valley Folk feel towards their own Mountain Lords. Yet the refugees have not simply disappeared amongst the population of the Shield Wall. Their numbers, military experience and unfamiliar customs presented a problem which required a distinctly Hovarden solution.

That solution was found upon the Southern Barrier.

The Southern Barrier

Stretching for almost fifty miles across the southern frontier of the Shield Wall, the Southern Barrier is amongst the greatest engineering achievements of the Hovarden Dwarves. It seals the principal approach into the fertile western valleys from the south, where the magical wastes of the Autirre Desert meet the foothills of the Hovarden Mountains. Unlike the great Holds of the eastern ranges, the Barrier was never intended to become a city. It is first and foremost a military frontier, constructed to deny passage to an enemy and protect the southern approaches to the realm. The Barrier is not a single uninterrupted wall. It is an immense defensive system of curtain walls, fortified gates, watchtowers, barracks and strongpoints, constructed wherever the landscape permits passage northwards. Cliffs, ravines and rocky escarpments were incorporated into its design and joined by colossal sections of dressed granite. From a distance, much of the Barrier appears less a construction than an extension of the mountains themselves.

Beneath these visible fortifications lies another equally impressive complex. Tunnels connect neighbouring strongpoints, whilst underground barracks, magazines, cisterns and supply passages allow troops and provisions to move unseen even during a siege. Some of the deepest passages are considerably older than the present fortifications and intersect with ancient workings beneath the mountains. Many of these lower routes have been sealed for centuries, their destinations forgotten or recorded only upon maps so old that few now regard them as reliable. For generations the Barrier was defended by Klan Khaz Baragor, whose warriors maintained the walls, guarded the gates and patrolled the southern frontier. The slow decline of the Hovarden population, however, steadily reduced the strength of the garrison. A frontier once defended by more than five thousand warriors eventually had barely two thousand available to hold it. The walls remained formidable, but maintaining such an enormous defensive system was becoming an increasingly difficult burden. The arrival of the refugees from the Other Place offered an unexpected solution.

The warriors of Klan Martazhold and Klan Thorekmek were experienced soldiers, engineers and siege specialists, precisely the skills required upon the Southern Barrier. After prolonged debate, the High Thane permitted the refugee Klans to retain much of their military organisation and settle within the Barrier's barracks and fortresses. In return, they assumed responsibility for much of its defence and swore binding oaths of loyalty to the High Thane and the High Council. The agreement deliberately limited their authority. The newcomers were given no jurisdiction over the Valley Folk, no right to govern a Hovarden Hold and no claim upon the fertile lands beyond the Barrier. Their domain was the frontier itself. There they could preserve their military traditions whilst placing their considerable strength at the service of the realm that had granted them sanctuary.

Officially, the arrangement has been an undeniable success. Neglected fortifications have been repaired, old towers reopened and patrols restored. The refugee warriors have proved disciplined, industrious and remarkably effective custodians of the ancient defences. Even many of their critics concede that the Southern Barrier is stronger today than it has been for generations. Nevertheless, unease remains.

Few Martazhold or Thorekmek warriors have abandoned the beliefs with which they were raised, and contact between them and the Valley Folk is deliberately limited. Travel through the military districts is carefully controlled, and outsiders are rarely permitted into the deeper fortifications without good reason. Consequently, the Southern Barrier has gradually become a realm apart: Hovarden territory and loyal to the High Thane, yet inhabited by Dwarves whose customs and beliefs remain markedly different from those of the Mountain Clans. An old saying has consequently found new popularity amongst the Hovarden: “Better to know where the wolves keep watch than to wonder where they have wandered.” For the moment, the bargain appears to have worked. The wolves stand upon the southern frontier, and their strength serves the Shield Wall.

The Valley Folk of the Shield Wall

Although the Hovarden themselves dwell predominantly within their mountain Holds, the broad and fertile valleys west of the Shield Wall are home to a far larger Human population. Known collectively as the Valley Folk, their ancestors have lived beneath the protection of the Mountain Clans for countless generations. The Valley Folk do not consider themselves a conquered or occupied people. To them, the Hovarden are simply the rightful Lords of the Mountain, as they have been for longer than Human memory records. Their villages and towns provide grain, livestock, timber, craftsmen and military service to the neighbouring Holds. In return, the Dwarves defend the valleys, administer the highest law and maintain the great roads, bridges, irrigation works and fortifications upon which much of the region's prosperity depends.

Centuries beneath Dwarven rule have produced a Human culture quite unlike those found elsewhere in Warlderia. The Valley Folk admire permanence, craftsmanship, discipline and duty. Stone buildings are preferred whenever they can be afforded, Human craftsmen proudly describe particularly fine work as being “built the Dwarven way,” and even village elders frequently quote old Dwarven sayings whose origins have long since been forgotten. A common expression amongst the Valley Folk declares: “If the Dwarves built it, it shall outlive us all.”

The Valley Folk have nevertheless retained their own communities and institutions. Villages are generally governed by Headmen, larger settlements by Aldermen, whilst Reeves administer wider districts on behalf of the neighbouring Hold. These Human officials collect taxes, settle local disputes, organise labour and maintain order, but ultimately answer to the Dwarven Thane whose Clan rules the district. Relations between Human and Dwarf are therefore founded upon mutual obligation rather than equality. The Hovarden expect obedience, taxes and service, but the responsibilities run in both directions. A Thane who allows his subjects to starve, permits banditry to flourish or exploits the Valley Folk for personal enrichment brings dishonour upon his Clan. Authority, in the Hovarden view, is not merely a privilege but a burden that must be properly discharged.

The valleys possess no great independent Human army. Instead, settlements maintain trained militias which can be called upon in times of danger. Human captains may command their own companies, but larger forces remain under Dwarven authority. In practice, most Valley Folk see little distinction between defending their village and defending their Hold; both are parts of the same homeland. Perhaps the most distinctive legacy of centuries of coexistence is the language spoken throughout the valleys. The Valley Folk call it the Mountain Tongue, whilst the Hovarden know it as Petty Dwarf. Descended from an ancient form of Dwarven speech, it has developed into a language of its own, retaining a considerable Dwarven vocabulary whilst acquiring simpler grammar and countless Human expressions.

High Dwarven, by contrast, remains the language of the Clans, law, genealogy and ancient ceremony. The Hovarden guard it jealously and strongly discourage outsiders from learning it. Even educated Valley Folk generally know little more than the formal phrases required for oaths, ceremonies and dealings with the Holds. Isolation has also shaped the Valley Folk profoundly. The mountains rise to the east, the haunted Deadlands lie to the north, the western coastline offers few easy routes abroad, whilst the Southern Barrier and the magical wastes of the Autirre Desert close the approaches from the south. Many Valley Folk live and die without ever travelling beyond their homeland. Consequently, outsiders can seem considerably stranger to them than Dwarves. Human visitors from distant kingdoms sometimes expect to find a subject population resentful of foreign masters and are puzzled when they discover precisely the opposite. A Valley farmer may have far more culturally in common with a Hovarden miner from the neighbouring mountain than with a Human merchant arriving from hundreds of miles away. To the Valley Folk, there is nothing particularly remarkable about this arrangement. The Dwarves guard the mountains. The Humans tend the valleys. Both remember their obligations. That is simply the way the world has always been.

The Holds of the Shield Wall

The great Holds of the Hovarden are amongst the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in Warlderia. Carved deep into the mountains of the Shield Wall, they are not merely fortresses but entire subterranean communities containing halls, workshops, temples, storehouses, barracks, mines and dwellings accumulated over thousands of years. Each Hold is ruled by a Thane, normally drawn from the senior lineage of its dominant Clan. Beneath him stand numerous lesser Clan chiefs, priests, engineers, military officers and administrators. Although every Hold owes allegiance to the High Thane, considerable independence is permitted in local affairs, and rivalries between ancient Clans can persist for centuries without threatening their wider loyalty to the Shield Wall.

The greatest of all is Karak Hovarden, the High Hold and traditional seat of the High Thane. Other major Holds guard important passes, mineral deposits, roads and approaches through the mountains, whilst numerous lesser Holds and fortified outposts occupy more remote locations. To outsiders, a Hovarden Hold can be bewildering. What appears from the valley to be a great gatehouse in the mountainside may be merely the entrance to a settlement extending for miles underground. Broad avenues descend through immense vaulted halls; bridges span natural chasms; shafts carry air and water into the depths; and stairways connect levels constructed centuries or even millennia apart. The Hovarden rarely demolish anything that remains useful. Instead, successive generations build around, beneath and beyond the work of their ancestors. A modern workshop might stand beside a sealed gate dating from an otherwise forgotten dynasty, whilst a busy market road may cross a bridge whose builders have been dead for two thousand years. This habit of continual construction has produced a subterranean realm far larger and more complicated than the inhabited Holds themselves.

Beneath the familiar halls lie abandoned mines, forgotten chambers, disused fortifications and ancient roads leading towards settlements which no longer exist. Some are carefully recorded within the Clan archives. Others survive only as names upon crumbling maps or references in chronicles whose meaning has long since become obscure. The Hovarden are justly proud of their knowledge of stone and mountain. Yet after thousands of years of building, mining, war and abandonment, even they cannot claim to know every passage beneath the Shield Wall.

The Hollow Roads

Beneath the inhabited Holds of the Shield Wall lies a far older and more extensive network of subterranean highways, galleries and passages. Collectively known as the Hollow Roads, these routes are the accumulated remains of thousands of years of Dwarven settlement beneath the mountains. The oldest roads predate the present political order of the Hovarden. In earlier ages the Shield Wall contained numerous independent Holds, Clan realms and small Dwarven kingdoms, many ruled by kings whose names now survive only in chronicles and inscriptions. Roads were driven through the mountains to connect their halls, mines, fortresses and settlements, creating an underground network through which merchants, travellers and armies could cross enormous distances without ever seeing daylight.

These were no crude tunnels. The greatest Hollow Roads were constructed as permanent highways, broad enough for wagons to pass one another and paved with carefully fitted stone. Bridges crossed subterranean chasms, stairways descended through the mountains, and fortified gates controlled important junctions. Cisterns, storehouses and waystations were established along the busiest routes so that travellers could spend days beneath the earth. Many remain in use. The principal underground roads connecting the surviving Hovarden Holds are maintained with the same meticulous care as the highways of the western valleys. Others lead nowhere.

Over the centuries Holds have fallen, mines have been exhausted and entire communities abandoned. Earthquakes and collapses have severed routes, whilst wars, monsters and other disasters caused passages to be deliberately sealed. As the surviving Holds expanded and newer roads were constructed, many of the older ways simply ceased to matter. The deeper network consequently contains countless forgotten branches. Some appear upon ancient maps but have not been travelled within living memory. Others are known only because a sealed doorway or blocked passage survives within a modern Hold. Occasionally miners unexpectedly break through into an ancient gallery which no existing plan records. Particularly mysterious are the roads associated with the Fallen Kings.

Before the consolidation of the modern Hovarden realm, numerous Dwarven kings and petty dynasties ruled within the Shield Wall. Some were absorbed peacefully by stronger neighbours. Others were destroyed by war or disaster, whilst a few simply disappear from the historical record. Their abandoned halls and fortresses are believed still to exist somewhere within the deepest reaches of the mountains. Old milestones occasionally bear their names. Sealed gates display forgotten royal emblems. Ancient bridges cross chasms towards Holds whose locations have been lost. It is from these vanished kingdoms that an old Hovarden expression derives: “The Hollow Roads of the Fallen Kings.”

Most Hovarden regard exploration of such places as foolish rather than romantic. Their ancestors sealed many passages for good reason, and there is little honour in risking lives merely to disturb abandoned halls in search of treasure. Known entrances to dangerous or useless sections are therefore commonly blocked and marked within the archives. Yet the Shield Wall is immense, and its Dwarves have been building beneath it for thousands of years. There are doors which no living Dwarf has opened, roads whose destinations have been forgotten and depths beneath the mountains which appear on no surviving map. The Hovarden know their mountains better than any other people in Warlderia,  but even they do not know everything that lies beneath them.

The High Thane and the High Council

Although the Hovarden are divided amongst numerous Holds and ancient Clans, they recognise a single ruler as the supreme authority of the Shield Wall: the High Thane. The High Thane rules from Karak Hovarden, the greatest of the mountain Holds, but he is not an absolute monarch. Hovarden government is founded upon ancient law, precedent and obligation, and even the High Thane is expected to rule within traditions established long before his birth. His authority is considerable in matters of war, diplomacy and the defence of the realm, but the internal affairs of individual Holds remain largely the responsibility of their own Thanes.

Assisting him is the High Council, composed principally of the most powerful Thanes and senior representatives of the great Clans. The Council debates matters affecting the Shield Wall as a whole: relations with foreign powers, disputes between Holds, major engineering works, military mobilisation and questions of law which cannot be resolved locally. To outsiders, this system can appear painfully slow. Important decisions may be debated for weeks, old records consulted and precedents examined from events which occurred centuries before. To the Hovarden, however, haste is rarely a virtue. A decision affecting generations should not be made merely because the present generation is impatient. Political disagreements certainly exist. Clans compete for influence, Thanes feud over ancient privileges and rival Holds argue about trade, mines, boundaries and precedence. Some disputes have continued for so long that nobody clearly remembers how they began. Yet there are limits.

Open rebellion against the High Thane is extraordinarily rare, and allowing a Clan rivalry to endanger the Shield Wall would bring profound dishonour upon everyone involved. Whatever their disagreements, the Hovarden possess a powerful sense that their civilisation is a shared inheritance entrusted to them by their ancestors and destined to pass to generations yet unborn. This attitude is reflected throughout Hovarden government. A Thane does not truly own his Hold. He holds it in trust. Its halls were built by the dead, inhabited by the living and must eventually be surrendered intact to descendants not yet born. The same principle applies to the High Thane himself. He is not considered the master of the Shield Wall. He is its foremost custodian.

The Mountain Clans

At the heart of Hovarden society lies the Clan. A Dwarf is born into a Clan, raised within its traditions and expected throughout life to protect its honour. Holds, offices and rulers may change, but the Clan endures. The largest and oldest Clans contain thousands of members scattered amongst several Holds, mines and military settlements. Others consist of only a few extended families associated with a particular craft, district or lesser Hold. Each maintains its own histories, customs and ancestral traditions, some stretching back thousands of years. Clan identity is not simply a matter of ancestry. It carries obligations. Members are expected to assist one another in hardship, contribute to communal undertakings and avoid behaviour which would bring disgrace upon their kin. Likewise, a prosperous Clan is expected to care for its elderly, support widows and orphans and ensure that none of its members fall into unnecessary destitution.

Amongst the Hovarden, ancestry is taken extremely seriously. Genealogies are meticulously recorded, and many Dwarves can trace their lineage through dozens of generations. Ancient deeds—both honourable and shameful—may still influence how families regard one another centuries later. This long memory occasionally produces rivalries which outsiders find almost incomprehensible. Two Clans might distrust one another because of a disputed mine abandoned four hundred years ago, an insult delivered at a wedding feast or disagreement over who stood where during a battle nobody outside the Shield Wall remembers. Yet Clan loyalty does not normally override loyalty to the realm. The Hovarden distinguish sharply between feud and treason. Clans may quarrel, compete and nurse ancient grievances, but threatening the security of the Shield Wall for private advantage is amongst the gravest disgraces imaginable. The Clans also preserve much of the specialist knowledge upon which Hovarden civilisation depends. Certain families have produced engineers for generations; others are renowned as miners, armourers, soldiers, administrators or priests. A young Dwarf is not compelled to follow the occupation of his ancestors, but family tradition carries considerable weight.

Marriage between Clans is therefore important both socially and politically. Such unions bind families together, settle disputes and strengthen relationships between Holds. Marriage is regarded less romantically than amongst many Human cultures, although affection is certainly valued. To the Hovarden, a successful marriage joins not merely two individuals but two lines of ancestry and two generations of descendants. This explains much about the Hovarden attitude towards individual ambition. Personal achievement is admired, but it is rarely considered entirely personal. A masterwork sword honours the smith who forged it, the teacher who trained him, the Clan which raised him and the ancestors whose knowledge made the work possible. A Hovarden therefore seldom asks simply: “What shall I leave behind?” The more characteristically Dwarven question is: “What shall my Clan remember?”

Religion and the Ancestors

Religion amongst the Hovarden is inseparable from their understanding of duty, ancestry and continuity. The gods are honoured, temples maintained and priests respected, but faith is rarely an extravagant affair. To the Hovarden, devotion is demonstrated as much through keeping an oath, maintaining the works of one's ancestors and fulfilling one's obligations as through prayer. The ancestors occupy a particularly important place in Hovarden culture. They are not generally worshipped as gods, but their memory is treated with profound respect. Every Clan maintains genealogies recording generations of births, marriages and deaths, alongside accounts of those whose deeds brought particular honour—or shame—to their descendants.

The dead are traditionally laid to rest within chambers beneath their ancestral Holds. Wealthy or distinguished Dwarves may receive individual stone tombs, whilst ordinary Clan members are interred within communal crypts maintained for generations. Weapons, tools or small personal possessions are sometimes placed alongside the deceased, although extravagant burial treasure is uncommon. To bury useful wealth merely to display the importance of the dead would strike many Hovarden as wasteful. More important is remembrance. Names are carved into stone, entered into the Clan records and recited upon appropriate anniversaries. Great engineers may be remembered through the bridges or halls they constructed, warriors through the gates they defended, and rulers through the prosperity of the Holds entrusted to them.

The abandonment of a Hold therefore presents the Hovarden with a particular difficulty. A deserted settlement is not merely empty property; it contains the halls, monuments and resting places of generations. Even when necessity forces the living to depart, deliberately disturbing the tombs of the dead is considered deeply dishonourable. This is one reason the oldest abandoned regions beneath the Shield Wall inspire such unease. Beyond sealed gates and forgotten stretches of the Hollow Roads lie the burial chambers of Clans which no longer exist and the tombs of rulers whose kingdoms disappeared centuries ago.

Some bear names still remembered in the archives. Others belong to kings whom history itself has forgotten. To the Hovarden, such places are not treasure houses waiting to be plundered. They are the homes of the dead.

War and Defence

The Hovarden have never regarded warfare as glorious. War is sometimes necessary, occasionally unavoidable and always expensive. The purpose of an army is not to win fame but to ensure that the Holds, roads and people of the Shield Wall survive. Every Hold maintains its own professional warriors, supplemented in times of danger by Clan levies and troops drawn from neighbouring fortresses and outposts. Although individual Holds control their own forces during peacetime, the High Thane may call upon them for the defence of the wider realm. Hovarden armies favour discipline, preparation and strong defensive positions. Heavy infantry forms the backbone of their forces, supported by crossbowmen, engineers and specialist troops. Dwarven commanders are notoriously reluctant to abandon favourable ground merely to pursue a retreating enemy, preferring to secure roads, bridges, passes and supply routes before advancing.

Military engineering is considered as important as battlefield skill. Hovarden armies travel with miners, masons and engineers capable of repairing roads, strengthening bridges, constructing field defences and undermining enemy fortifications. A commander who wins a battle but leaves his army isolated from its supplies is unlikely to receive much praise upon returning home. The Valley Folk also play an important role in the defence of the realm. Human settlements maintain trained militias which can be summoned when required. These forces normally defend their own districts, although in major wars they may serve alongside the armies of the Holds. Human captains command their companies, but overall command remains with Dwarven officers.

The Shield Wall itself remains the Hovarden's greatest weapon. Fortresses dominate the mountain passes, watchtowers overlook the principal roads and fortified gates control movement between the valleys and the mountains. Beneath them, underground passages allow defenders to move troops and supplies while remaining protected from enemies upon the surface. The Liberation Wars nevertheless taught the Hovarden that no fortress is truly impregnable. A Hold deprived of food, communications and loyal subjects will eventually fall regardless of the thickness of its walls. Consequently, roads are guarded as carefully as gates, bridges are built with defence in mind and great importance is placed upon maintaining the loyalty of the Valley Folk. This philosophy is encapsulated in the military maxim taught to every Hovarden officer: “Win the road, and the fortress will follow.” It is a lesson the Hovarden have remembered for generations.