Svartfjall
Overview
Welcome, Travellers, welcome to Svartfjall.
Neither do I know what you want here nor do the Onyxkin dwarves, which are called "Svartdvergur" or "Dwarves of the Black Stone".
You see Svartfjall here. This city is the reason they are called that way, not to speak of their darker skin. Not as dark as the Magmakin dwarves, but close.
If you follow me, I guide you through the first, last, and only real city in the realm of the Svartdvergur.
You see Svartfjall here. This city is the reason they are called that way, not to speak of their darker skin. Not as dark as the Magmakin dwarves, but close.
If you follow me, I guide you through the first, last, and only real city in the realm of the Svartdvergur.
A brief history of Onyx
Svartfjall is - as said above - the first, the last, and the only real city on this windy, cold, and harsh island. The Dvergur found this large hillside, and everyone agreed that it was as good as a mountain, so to the surprise of everyone they dug a hole.
You won't believe what they found: Onyx!
A lot of it. In caverns, in veins, entire hills were filled with the dark stone and its variants, which gave the Svartdvergur their name. At least the black version of Onyx. Later on they also found the other variants, but now their name was set and so was the name of the city. And since Dvergur are honourable by default, they stick to their name with honour and a sense of proudness only dwarves display.
At first the hills were just hollowed out, scraped for resources, but as they progressed deeper - only in the span of a year, mind you. Dwarves have time, but they want to get somewhere - they built walls, gates, made better walls and a better gate, until everything including their defences were to their liking.
Shall we take a look inside, then?
Knock on stone
Ah, do you see that? The Gates of Svartfjall? The faces of the hills? Why four faces?
Good question. You see, these are - were - the four leaders which were responsible for the migration away from the Stonekin clan. To honour them and their enormous successful undertaking, the Svartdvergur carved their faces into the moving wings of the gates. Yes, those are two gates, both open into the same entry area.
Shall we knock? Good, you see the bell at the right side? If the guards do not see and address you, you ring that bell. You might be able to hear it; according to a guard I talked to it is placed somewhere at the side at a guardhouse.
But it looks like they have spotted us. Follow me into the entry hall. Do not make any sudden moves or draw something which might look like a weapon, alright?
Why? You see the small holes? Fire, spears, round rocks, everything can be flinged at you with deadly precision. Their motto "Pays to be prepared" works out just fine, wouldn't you agree? Not that they have any enemies on the island, mind you. They are just prepared. And do not get any funny ideas, those hidden weapons work like a charm.
Now, let me talk to the guards so they don't bother us during the tour.
Feels like a maze, but with a plan
If you would raise your eyes, you are about to witness the halls of old. You can make out the entries to the old living caves, and partly those of the markets on the ground level. Those with more keen eyes you might be able to notice the traces of pickaxes or hammers where they mined and carved out the caves.
Good? Good. From this entry hall you have three ways to go to. Straight ahead you got the main part of the city with the market, the government buildings, and the Svartskjaldur, the Black Shield, which is the second line of defence when an enemy had the luck of breaching the gates. The Shield is a three-layer defence comprised of three walls, oil trenches, catapults, and slingshots. The latter ones are so damn powerful to just send small round stone bullets straight through chainmail and thin armour plates. The guards are pretty well protected too, the walls are a few meters high, and are accompanied by a few thick towers which house small anti-siege weapons.
If you survive this crossfire of bolts, arrows, fire, stones, and whatever they throw at you - or if you come as a friend like we do - you enter the center of the city. First you have to traverse through a tunnel which diverts into different tunnels which lead into more tunnels and into other caverns or down, down, down, into mines, new and old. The main entrances are in the "left" area of the city; we will get there.
Enter Sandman main
Now we enter the main part of Svartfjall. If you want to look, I would advise not standing in the way. Go to the left or right side if you come out of the tunnel, because dwarves - with honour or not - do not like people standing in the way. To be fair, who does like it, eh?
The main cave is mostly granite, but a few crafty dwarves lined it out with glittering Onyx in various colours. The pure black onyx surrounds the government buildings and has crystals set into the sheets of black onyx to emulate the night sky. The rest of the cave is lined out with all kinds of onyx like sardonyx or white onyx. The sheets create a pattern similar to ore veins and layers of sediments and stone. These sheets illuminate and brighten up the entire cave, so the Svartdvergur do not need as many lightsources like torches as they usually do.
The cave is filled with wooden and stone market stands, merchant stands, and smaller warehouses (on the left side of the main cave). There are also a few restaurants and taverns, including food stands, if you are a fan of a deep-fryed Ghost Lantern mushroom. The taste depends on the other ingredients, the texture is an acquired taste if you can follow me. They glow a bit, even when cooked, and are mostly used - and grown - in the Tomb City.
Everything you see here is open for visiting or exploration. The palace in the back is guarded, yes, but the Svartdvergur are no cowards. If you want a fight, you get a fight. The skulls of foes and animals are a testament to this.
Living and fighting
Back at the entry hall we are going to the right, and, after a myriad of tunnels and smaller caverns - mostly used for storage or ambushes - we enter the living area. It consists of multiple large artificial and natural caverns, either black because of natural rock or because craftsdwarves did it that way.
Here one finds smaller houses, living caves, even entire systems - which humans might call a mansion or a villa - are carved into the flesh of the earth. These caves are partly beneath the oceans floor, which is the reason for some of the hot springs here. Some dwarves live in literal houses like those on the surface, but that is purely out of convenience.
The Svartdvergur do not have a distinction between civilians and soldiers. Every dwarf is and can be a soldier if they are able to wield an axe, a sword, a mace, or even a stone club.
Get in line, ya buggers! Y'all are too whiny, buckle up, we are at war now!
This also means that the families are next to the training grounds, and family clashes are fought out where they break out. Skulls as trophies are a well-known way of displaying ones might and prowess in warfare, or at least fighting.
In this area are the baths as well. They are considered "public", but not to visitors. Caves with pools, food and drinks. A bit like the Caves of Joy, just not as lavishly.
Down, down, down the Mines
Alright, the last part of the living part of the city is from the entry hall to the left. The way is not as complicated as the rest, but as long as the other ones. You can go on foot or via belt-driven elevators deep into the heart of the island, partly deeper than the oceans floor, where the heat from the core of Koria emitts through stone and earth.
There are two large mines which are only used for harvesting materials for building. Like walls, houses, new structures outside the city like the port. There is a distribution area a few hundred meters beneath the entry hall. You can smell which way is what: to the left you smell the scent of dust and water - the stone mines - and to the right you can smell burning metal. This is where the smelters and workshops are. During every minute there is activity here: people working in the smelters, crafting their goods, hacking away at precious gems, or just trying to grab everything useful from down here.
The work never stops. We like it that way. I mean, you can hack away with your pickaxe day after day and you can find nothing and everything at once. Very useful to some, useless to others.
A Feast like no other
Did you enjoy the tour? Great. There is one thing we still need to talk about: the Feasting Hall. I can only mention it because we are not allowed to visit it. Well, you aren't, I was... uh... let's not talk about it.
You remember the longhouses of the Northern Realms? Imagine this with more and thicker pillars, a lot more fire, and a lot more skulls. Dwarves like a feast and when there is no blood, it was not a feast.
The Feasting Hall is located between the main center cave and the living area, connected via both ways. Imagine a mix of a battlefield, a party, and a happy event in the Caves of Joy, then you got a typical Svartdvergur feast.
A silence as deep as the Tomb City
The last part is not often mentioned and we will do it briefly. There is a city besides the city, the Tomb City. It is where the dead dwarves have their final rest after the cremation party. I was there once. Dwarves are silent there, no loud drinking, no laughing, seldom a word. It is a mausoleum made for the Onyxkin clan, layered deep into the earth, illuminated only by crystals and the Ghost Lantern mushroom.
Do not disturb the silence, be respectful, and have a drink with you as an offering and a toast to absent friends or family. Dwarves have no need for riches in the afterlife.
That was the dwarven city of Svartfjall. We hope you have enjoyed your stay, and our tour. Recommend us if needed, we will be here next time. Have a great one, you deserve it.
