Gazel

Passage through the mountains

Gazel was created by the legendary mage-deity Gazel Asferon. Through his study of geomancy and eventual mastery of it, he shaped chambers and corridors that could withstand the weight of the mountain above and connect the southern and the northern sides of the continent without crossing the dragon's territory.

The first citizens of this place were Dwarves - created by Gazel out of rock and weave itself - who helped to expand the tunnels and mine for rich veins of minerals, long before any mortal stepped foot in one of the underground halls. They were created with mastery of stone work in their flesh and although none of them ever reached the mastery of their creator, they were the greatest masons and miners on the whole continent.

Gazel and his creations worked for nearly 100 years, constantly improving the tunnels and adding new chambers, each masterfully shaped and decorated. When the mage deemed his project ready, he formed an escort out of 50 of his favorite dwarves and fitted them with gleaming bronze and gold armor with white cloaks and marched alongside them towards Exodus to reveal his work to the world.

First visits

The existence of a safe, reliable passage between the two parts of the continent sparked a new age of exploration and settling. Only days after Gazel and his entourage told the world about it, a line of adventurers formed at the gates of the underground city to test their mettle against the unknown. The legendary mage and the dwarves prepared beforehand to receive the visitors, but even the Gilded Halls that spanned several hundred meters in each direction, were too small to fit all of them. Thankfully, the congestion did not last long, the adventurers quickly moved north and established their own camps, using Gazel as a supply route for their operations. The constant movement of people during the settling of the North provided the dwarves with a constant stream of new materials and tools that they then sold and made massive profits.

The last farewell

After the initial boom in prosperity, the day to day operations of Gazel leveled off, letting a stable system to emerge. The great mage who has until this point managed everything himself decided to designate some roles to his creations. He called forth 3 of his most thrusted helpers and established three clans (Gazemin, Gazerode and Gazetor), each made for a different role but all of them united in purpose - to help Gazel work smoothly.

With new found freedom, Gazel Asferon begun the work on his greatest project, he was already an old and venerable mage, who managed to create a whole new race of people but he had always felt unfulfilled and strived for greater heights. After years of working alongside each other, The father of the dwarves was absent from their daily lives for the first time.

The great mage locked himself in his study and could not be persuaded to come out of it. When the clan heads tried to force the door to it open, it bent back into place and doubled in thickness. With no direction from their master, the dwarves productivity atrophied, the mines shut down, forges went cold and gems lied in piles on the floor of workshops. Entire families gathered in the corridors leading to the mage's room, but no matter how many offering they left, the doors stayed closed.

After days of separation, the clan leaders (Gungir Gazemin, Balin Gazerode and Umon Gazetor) noticed a problem, the demand for their services was still high, visitors have been getting lost in the tunnels, orders went unfulfilled and complaints flooded in. To keep the good name of their people, they ordered everyone to get back to work, using their authority to break the preemptive mourning. Weeks passed in the same fashion, with the clan heads trying to keep the dwarves together in the time, when they lost all of their guidance.

After a time, the leaders of Dwarven society, started to bicker immensely, they all thought their industry to be the most important and in the greatest need of manpower. The conflicts usually lasted for a few hours, before one of the side gave, but one time all three of the dwarfs yelled at each other for two days and were forced by one of the traveling bards (who came to Gazel to document it) to draw lots.

One day, the doors to the mages study opened and out came the master geomancer. The dwarves flocked to him, bombarding him with question about the purpose of his disappearance, but he would not tell, instead, he headed down into the tunnels, telling a group of miners to follow him. He walked up to one of the fresh dig sites and marked a spot on the wall with a gesture of his hand, telling the workers to mine there. After a few hours, they uncovered an unprecedentedly big lump of adamantium ore, Gazel Asferon ordered it melted and made into two pairs of ornamented gates that would seal both sides of the city to mark it's role as a gateway to the North.

The work took weeks, but when the doors were placed on their hinges, The great mage personally warded them against any means that might try to open or close them unjustly. The Gates gleamed in the last rays of evening sun, flashing with pale blue light reflected of it's magnificently sculpted figures and letters. That day, the dwarves threw a festival in celebration of their master's return but in the middle of the revelry, he disappeared.

The Dwarves followed him out shortly after marking his absence and found him in the middle of the (now empty) main chamber. He was standing in the middle of it, looking up into the stone ceiling , when the clan head approached him, he looked at them and gave a speech, saying how proud he was, that his creation has passed his test, they were able to function without his intervention and proved to him, that even if he was to leave, they would stay as a legacy, that would not be easily forgotten.

He then turned around and raised his hands, the ground begun to tremble, making cracks in the immaculate tunnels. Avalanches and rocks fell down from the mountain slopes and slid into the valleys, birds that nested on the steep stone walls leaped into the air and complained loud enough, to be heard for miles. Lines of multi colored metals begun to streak the walls of Gazel as huge deposits of precious materials were lifted from deep underground by the legendary mage. When the shaking stopped, there was no sign of Gazel Asferon and all dwarves were left with a single word stuck in their heads - Farewell.

Great Clans

After the ascension of their master to godhood, the Dwarves were once again left with no guidance. They once again fell back on the clan heads to manage the under-city but it quickly proved too overwhelming for just three dwarves, so Gungir, Balin and Umon called upon the most hard working of their kin to establish new clans.

The first ones to appear were Migot, Rod and Kanig, but many others soon appeared also. In the end, there were twelve great clans that each held power and expert knowledge over their respective niches.

Each clan holds equal sway, when a decision must be made. It was agreed upon, that a majority of the clan heads needed to agree on a course of action for it to be valid and any and all ties would be resolved by drawing lots. Amongst themselves they elected an overseer who's duty it was to uphold these agreements.

About the clans

Gazemin

One of the first three clans created by Gazel himself. They are proud of their heritage and display it by wearing small shields with their heraldry as jewelry.

The dwarves from this clan are typically jewelers or goldsmiths and are knwon or their talents in shaping soft metals into things of beauty.

Their first leader, Gungir Gazemin currently serves as the Overseer and his voting seat has been taken by his son - Drago Gazemin.

Gazerode

The second of the first three clans was created with the express purpose of protecting the tunnels from any and all intrusions. They can be regularly seen patrolling the walk ways wearing traditional bronze and gold dwarven armor with white cloaks and bearing short swords coupled with massive blue shields.

Their forefather - Balin Gazerode served loyally for many years but tragically died at the hands of a troll when one tried to force his way into the tunnels at the end years of the conquest of the north.

He has been replaced with his second in command Borum the Beast, who now holds the role of the representative in the Mountain Court and serves as the Guard Captain for the city.

Gazetor

The last of the original clans, they mine and refine the abundant materials that were granted to them by Gazel. They are the most religious of the clans and worship their creator with upmost fervor.

Their leader - Umon Gazetor - created a district for his clan that's located in the depleted mithril mine, deep underground. Because of it, they are the most isolated of the clans, except for the Norte clan.

They are stubborn by nature and often cause friction between themselves and other clan by clinging to their identity as a part of the clan more than being a proud citizen of Gazel.

Migot

The Migot clan was established after the ascension of Gazel Asferon to godhood by Uzan Migot. Thanks to her uncanny ability to appraise the value of items, she became an unmatched curator of goods and and essential part of any trade made in the Underground City.

Thanks to her efforts, the dwarves from the Migot clan now serve as independent assessors and identifiers that have their homes right in the center of Gazel's trade hub.

Rod

With the increased specialization between dwarves, some of the more common activities became new jobs. Dwarves form this clan are some of the greatest miners the Underground city has ever seen, but instead of using their talents to extract minerals from the ground, they help others traverse the city by making new tunnels.

The talents of members of this clan don't end on creating new paths however, they are renowned masons and stone workers, who often enter contracts to oversee the operation of non-dwarven quarries or seek employment in the surface cities as expert builders or statue makers.

Their leader - Numen Rod - has left Gazel, instead focusing on the expansion of the Rift Project together with the mages from Kovir. His sister - Elva Rod - holds the responsibility of the clan head in his absence.

Kanig

This clan resides in the great forges, deep under Gazel's common spaces. They spend most of their time making various tools to sell or redistribute to other parts of the Underground City.

Dwarves from this clan form tight-knit families that focus on a specific task and master it. From many such families, the most famous are the Kanig Axe Makers who supply their products to Blackfall and the Red-Wood lumberyards.

Their leader - Malmo Kanig - has retired from his trade, but still serves as the head of his clan and spends his day butting heads with the Gazetor clan, who are his bitter opponents.

Torus

The mountains bring with them many bounties, rare minerals and precious metals are the ones that can be found below ground, but the surface also holds many treasures. One of those are the hardy mountain goats that can traverse the highest peaks without trouble, once domesticated, they serve as loyal steeds for the Torus clan.

The dwarves from this clan aren't just farmers however, they use their four legged companions to serve as couriers and aid in transporting large orders across the known world. The mountain goats were made for traversing uneven terrain and the specially made dwarven sleighs allow for just a few of them to deliver immense loads to the most remote of places.

They have no set leader ever since their first one - Nikolas Torus - perished in a tragic attempt at crossing one of the many valleys in the Gazel Mountains using a levitation enchantment he put on his sleigh.

Because of their strange for a dwarf behavior and the lack of rigid hierarchy, they are considered uncultured bumpkins and are merely tolerated at the Mountain Court.

Zog

Deep underground, where even the dwarves are cautious to dig, the heat is immense enough to melt rock and metals into magma. This red-hot substance often makes it's way into the deeper tunnels because of the immense pressures underground. Diverting the flow of it and clearing the tunnels is the responsibility of this clan.

The Zog clan uses their signature dark gray suits made out of shed magma drake scales adorned with fire proofing enchantments and runes to work in the rock-boiling conditions of lava flooded tunnels to return them to working order. Sometimes, they have to work together with the Gazerode clan to get rid of an intruder that found his way through the breach made by the liquid rock.

Their clan head - a worked hardened woman named Jo Zog - is known for having tamed a Lava Wyrm (a distant cousin of the creatures that the Dragons evolved from). There are very few known specimens of this creature and although Betsy (Jo's Lava Wyrm) has laid six eggs, none have hatched in the three hundred years, as if they are waiting for the right moment.

Palin

The amount of traffic that goes through the top layers of Gazel everyday has made it necessary to form a stable group of dwarves who's job it is to ensure that everyone gets fed.

This clan is composed almost fully from cooks, pantry specialists, storage managers and servers, who work day and night to accommodate the visitors and keep the reserve of food stable (a rather important job in a mountain hold).

They are often employed by other clans to prepare meals for guests or to organize dinners to celebrate certain events. The most famous dwarven chefs can be found at the massive restaurant-guest quarter complex called "The Inn house".

The leader of the Palin clan - Gresilda Palin - is the head chef at this establishment, but because of his busy schedule and stressful work he stepped down form his position, letting her grandson - Tuum Palin take on the representative role in the Mountain Court.

Norte

This clan was first established unofficially by the the rebellious sons of Gazel, who escaped their ordinary lives to gain glory by conquering the northern part of the continent. This happened because a young Gungir Gazetor heard of the tales spread by the adventurers at the Inn House and relinquished his name to join them in their travels.

During his journey he slew many monsters and made a name for himself. This brought in more rebellious dwarves who joined him, soon creating a new unofficial clan that they called "Gaze Norte" - the northern dwarves.

When the conquest of the wild part of the continent was done, most of the dwarves returned to their original home where they were hailed as heroes by the young generation and hated for being punk by the old one. The group did become a legitimate clan however, now under the name "Norte" they became the explorers and protectors of transports.

Gungir Norte hates his new role as the clan head, but he represents his found family with pride, despite his many injuries still bearing his twin axes and being ready to fight at any moment.

Gote

The amount of visitors that wish to travel through Gazel brings with it huge amounts of gold that is being spent on traveling supplies and equipment. Gote clan exists to manage all that gold, subtract the fees and taxes and store the rest at the Gazel Vault's. They are the middle-men in most transaction, and together with the Migot clan they ensure the fairness of all trades done in Gazel.

Their leader - Pang Gote - is the head of the Bank of Gazel and the person who formally authorizes all transactions in his jurisdiction, either personally or through his many inderlings.

Borg

The last of the clans to be created, it's members pride themselves in the memorization of the under-city's layout and the history of it's many families. They curate a massive library that holds a number of books that is only secondary to the great library in Kovir.

Dwarves that belong to this clan are often scholars or mages, who (not unlike the Rod clan) travel the world in search of knowledge. Many of them end up in Exodus, Kovir or even at the prestigious White Spires of the Rift Project.

Their leader - Bengal Borg - is the curator of all knowledge gathered at the great library and spends his time attending to the many tomes in need of repair or reclassifications.

Dwarven Clans

Gazemin - Jewelers and goldsmiths

Gazerode - Guardians of the tunnels

Gazetor - Miners and refiners

Migot - Appraisers of treasure

Rod - Tunnel makers

Kanig - Smiths and tool-makers

Torus - Mountain goat herders

Zog - Magma flow experts

Palin - Cooks and food specialists

Norte - Explorers and mercenaries

Gote - Traders and accountants

Borg - Guides and lore-keepers