The Copper Peaks

The Copper Peaks were a mountain range home to a dwarven kingdom of the same name. The region was named for its abundance of copper veins, though the dwarves have discovered a bounty of all ores and gemstones under the peaks as well. The Peaks were the oldest of the Three Kingdoms.

Geography
The Copper Peaks were located to the east of Willowroot and the southeast of the Sea Haven caldera. The mountain range spanned from the northern coast southward, forming a natural barrier between the Three Kingdoms and The Ashes to the east.

Description
The kingdom of the Copper Peaks was comprised of five dwarf strongholds distributed beneath the mountain range and dwarf-ruled territory reaching westward. Most accessible among these strongholds was Thelfadihr, the capital city. The strongholds were connected by a network of underground tunnels that allowed the nine resident clans to travel freely between settlements. These routes had to be patrolled regularly to protect travelers from intruders. Starting a few decades before the War of the Three Kingdoms, the dwarves created a subeterrannean railway that connected the five strongholds, allowing the dwarves to move throughout their kingdom even more efficiently.

Four of the five strongholds had secret entrances known only to dwarves. The only publicly known entrance was the front gate of Thelfadihr, which could be approached by way of a mountain pass through the Peaks. The strongholds themselves were cavernous, generations-old cities of carved stone decorated with masterworks old and new.

Government and Clans
Typical dwarven settlements were made up of one clan living in one stronghold, whereas the mighty kingdom of the Copper Peaks were comprised of nine clans living among five strongholds.

The strongholds of the Copper Peaks were led by a king or queen, who presided over a tribal council representing every clan. The monarch and each member of the tribal council were the elder of their respective clan. The most notable clans were the Copperhearts, whose elders had been kings and queens since founding day, the Torevir, who lead the Peaks’ technological advancement, and the Silverscales, who facilitated trade and diplomacy with the outside world. The Sunforges had a special connection to the dwarven pantheon, producing priests and the occasional Cleric. The smallest clan was the Rynstir, so named for their knowledge of Giant runes.

The tribal council had the authority to remove the Copperhearts from the throne, but has never considered it due to the Copperhearts’ steadfast leadership.

The presence of so many clans all but guaranteed a growing acceptance of intermarriage, and it was not uncommon for individuals to identify with disciplines outside what their clan was known for.

Technology
The dwarves more than outmatched their neighbors in science and engineering, to the point where they were living in an entire technological era. Miles beneath Thelfadihr lay a great lava lake, whose power the dwarves of the Torevir clan sought to harness.

About fifty years before the War of the Three Kingdoms, the Torevir invented steam power. By running river water past the lava lake, the dwarves created pressurized steam, which they routed throughout Thelfadihr and used to drive all manners of machines. The surrounding strongholds adopted the technology as well, relying on magical flames or the burning of fuel.

With a nearly limitless supply of steam on tap, it was only ten years before the War when the Torevir learned how to harness electricity. The dwarves created a mighty steam-powered generator and electrified the entire kingdom.

The dwarves utilized steam and electrical power in seemingly limitless applications. Steam powered automatons assisted in mining and construction. Electric lamps lit every chamber. An elevated electric tramway enabled quick transport through Thelfadihr.

Perhaps most impressively, a vast railway connected the strongholds to one another and to trading posts in the outside world.

The Copper Railway
The Copper Railway was a rail network that connected the strongholds via underground tunnels and the Copper Peaks to Molgrum via surface tracks, with Thelfadihr as a hub terminal.

Building the railroad itself was child’s play compared to typical dwarven construction projects, though the demand for steel certainly kept the miners busy. The real challenge came in building and maintaining the locomotives, and managing transport logistics.

Three long haul locomotives operated the railway, and six tank engines worked the railyards. Each tank engine was a prototype of a particular engine design, making every engine vary from the others in appearance, power, and efficiency. Three of these designs proved to be the most effective and were replicated on a larger scale for the three larger locomotives.

Though most of the Copper Railway was underground, any train could access the surface tracks to Molgrum via Thelfadihr.

Irrespective of its status as an unsuccessful prototype or a long-haul locomotive, each engine was a symbol of national pride. The Torevir clan declared that steam power was a triumph of all dwarvenkind, not of just the Torevir alone, and therefore named the engines after the clans of the Copper Peaks. The three main locomotives were named for the Copperhearts, the Torevir, and the Silverscales, with the other clans claiming the tank engines. Most of the clans desired to have clan members operate their respective engines, and sent out promising engineer candidates to apprentice with the Torevir for this purpose.