Dwarfkind: Gabrandor

Though sheltered by the Birthing Mountains from heat, and near to the sacred lands of Zha-Hadundar, the lands of Gabrandor have always been considered a risky, negligible, and toilsome stretch of land inhabited by the dwarvish peoples. The dwarves do not believe they hail from that side of the mountain, and that it has been the most despoiled from propriety by contact; that it is the hardest to control and that it has lost its sense of proper shape.

The lands of Gabrandor are the most temperate of the dwarves, though also rocky and frequented by storms. The lands are slanted by foothills and dales, making farming less proficient than in the neighboring lands of Torfandor. The seas are at times begrudging, but the coasts offer areas for port.

Its history is hard to say, but needless to say in ancient times, proud dwarfish kingdoms line its soils. The men of the west have always seemed to believe that elves would make frequent travels to Gabrandor to deal with the elves, and claim kingdoms in the east. Since this has been proven false, none know what the rumors may have been based on.

Several times in human history, men have tried to claim land tithes and colonies in Gabrandor and set foot into the eastern continent. Most notably, this was done in ancient times by Numidia, but due to its closeness to Zha-Hadundar and the Birthing Mountains, the dwarves always stood steadfast in defense. Later both Shen and Bacharium would attempt colonies on the far shores, but they too would fail, but not without disrupting and destabilizing the region each time. Dwarf folk sing many songs about lost kings and crowns lying unknown in its foothills.

Now, the humans of the west do not seem to show much interest in the shores of Gabrandor, finding more use in economic sensibility and diplomacy than conquest; with the exception of Shena, though despite making threats - they have made no such attempts.

The lands of Gabrandor are the most effected by other societies. Unlike the traditional Body of Counsel, where dwarves of like professions and skillsets band together, and have specific laws addressing their group, the region of Gabrandor has a unified law under a Great Counsel, that affects all. Similarly, Gabrandor has the highest genetic diversity of its peoples, and has even more racial minorities than does Torfandor - though they are also more mixed with the general population, instead of having isolated communities.

Gabrandor's Great Counsel rules the land as an oligarchy, with officials from each of the nation's great cities electing someone to sit a seat. Gabrandor is among the most advanced and learned nations of the dwarves, receiving new ideas and inventions through trade, which the uncreative-but-industrious dwarves may put to use.