The Hjelkar Tundra

An ancient kingdom of ice and snow, the Hjelkar Tundra is the most south-westerly region of Andara. Only a hardy folk such as the dwarves could call this unforgiving land home, and they have staked their claim to this unforgiving land for thousands of years. It is said that in the time before history, the kingdom was far warmer and home to a now-forgotten race who left a number of mysterious ruins throughout the province, most of which now lie hidden under the ice.

Geography
Along the northern edge of its uneven coastline, the Hjelkar Tundra borders Surön's Bay; a frigid sea separated from the Western Gulf by a large headland in Westerlent. To the west lies a largely uncharted expanse of ice floes and sea ice known as the Neversea, which is home to a rich ecosystem of fish, seals and polar bears. To the south of the kingdom, a scattering of broken mountain ranges separates the kingdom from the Ice Wastes which lie beyond charted territory. In the south-east, small forests of hardy spruces grow in the shelter and relative warmth of the mountains.

The Hjelkar Tundra exists in an almost permanent winter; for most of the year the sky is grey with snow clouds and the wind blows a bitter cold. Dwarvish summer is short, and usually considered to start in early Warmdawn and end in mid-Firesky, giving less than three months of meager warmth in an otherwise freezing year.

Settlements
Due to the unforgiving nature of the tundra, dwarves congregate in a few enormous ziggurats scattered throughout the kingdom. Outside of these cities, almost no other settlements exist within dwarvish borders; certainly not on official records.

Dovyk
To the west lies Dovyk, and though it is the smallest of the dwarvish cities, Clan Irkendor is proud to call it home. Situated atop a maze of glacial caves, there are old rumours that at least some of these caves are not natural formations, and could be remnants of the architecture of the race that lived in the Hjelkar Tundra before the dwarves. Clan Irkendor, however, keeps the true nature of these caves a closely guarded secret. Though their economy is primarily supported by precious minerals, the mines of Dovyk are greatly overshadowed by those of Mohrg Dow.

Kodozar
The coastal city of Kodozar is the most self-sufficient in terms of food, besides Türhelm, as it feeds itself off of the bounties of the frozen seas. Asides from its large harbours and fleets of fishing vessels, Kodozar also boasts the Magikundar, an ancient academy of magic which specialises in the study of artifice and transmutation magic. Many sailors from Kodozar have attempted to find lands west of Andara, but many have never returned. Those who do claim to have seen nought but endless icy waters filled with all manner of leviathans, krakens and other horrifying pelagic terrors.

Mohrg Dow
Many of the world’s capitals are ancient, and Mohrg Dow is no exception. This towering ziggurat is so old, in fact, that the dwarves do not truly know if the city was built from the ground up or is in fact a mountain which has had every possible inch of it carved to serve some purpose or another. Nevertheless, this proud citadel can be seen for miles around the tundra, hidden only by the fiercest blizzards. At the deepest level of the city, hidden under hundreds of meters of hewn granite, lies Drorvuurlor; the Heart of All Things. This magma-heated forge is the largest in the world, and legend holds it that all the worlds most powerful weapons, or at least the metal from which they are wrought, can be traced back to this forge. The city is governed by the largest of the four Dwarvish clans; Clan Bthardun. This is a collection of some of the oldest and most respected families in the kingdom, and though they are governed by a large group of individuals, many look to Yorg Bthardun as the overall leader of the clan.

Türhelm
The newest of the dwarvish cities, Türhelm proudly supports almost the entirety of dwarvish agriculture. The milder climate of the northern tundra permits a modest amount of arable land within their borders, and several diplomatic agreements allow the dwarves to farm and graze cattle on parts of Westerlent's southern fringes. As well as supplying much of the kingdoms food, Türhelm's economy is bolstered by its proximity to Westerlent, and is the forefront of dwarvish trading. Thus, it is a rich and prosperous city rivaled only by Mohrg Dow, and many citizens of the tundra will try to seek their fortunes in this comfortable fortress of a city. Aside from dwarves, large portions of the city's population are made up of elves, humans and half-dwarves, and the city is considered to be 'surprisingly' multicultural by dwarvish standards. The city's clan, Clan Bastion, recognises members from a wide variety of racial heritages, though is primarily composed of half-dwarves. Clan Bastion originated as a mismatched group of non-dwarvish individuals who ferociously fought back a frost giant siege on Mohrg Dow during the early days of the age of arcana.

Culture and Tradition
Tradition is one of the most important aspects of life to a dwarf, and with their sometimes-stubborn nature, many of their cultural practices are incredibly deeply rooted into their society, and have been for centuries.

Religion
The Old Faith is at its most prevalent in the Hjelkar Tundra. Religion is somewhat less important to dwarves than it is to other cultures, so the simple nature of the Old Faith's four deities has suited dwarves for millennia. Specific deities are worshipped more prominently in each city than others; and it is a commonly held belief that each deity has a connection to each city. Türhelm predominantly worships Tarsh, the sun god, in hopes that his appeasement will bring fair weather to encourage crop growth. Mohrg Dow has worshipped Yeera, the earth goddess, for as long as it has existed, believing that she provides the rock and soil beneath them with a bounty of gemstones and ore. Citizens of Dovyk often pray to Suuna, the moon goddess, as ancient legend claims that she built the city herself with stone from the moon. Finally Kodozar worship Yen, the god of the ocean, for favourable tides and bountiful harvests from the sea.

Marriage and Family
Family, and one's wider clan, mean everything to a dwarf. To lose a clan member, either to death or dispute, is a great sorrow like no other. To be exiled from one's clan is the greatest dishonour, and many exiles will simply walk into the icy barrens to their deaths. Because of this, marriage is taken incredibly seriously by dwarves, and every marriage will have huge implications for both families; for when two families are joined by the matrimony of two of their members, their honour becomes one. Every good or bad deed, every favour and mistake, is instantly shared by all members of the newlyweds families upon completion of their vows. As such, courting takes years and arranged marriages are common. Even when marriages are not arranged, both individual's families will play a large part in their relationship.

Clans
A clan is made up of a number of families, but not every citizen in a city will belong to the city's clan. Clans are best described as a more expansive, less exclusive form of aristocracy; though joining a clan may not necessarily be easy, it is often straightforward. One may join a clan through marriage, or simply by performing a heroic act or great deed in service of the city or the wider dwarvish culture. Examples of this in history include giantslaying, discovering a new cave system or forging a great weapon or piece of armour.

Food and Drink
Dwarves cannot afford to be fussy eaters, due to the scarcity of food offered by the lands of their kingdom. However, a ship lucky enough to land a whale can feed almost an entire quarter of a city for a week. The fields of Türhelm provide the kingdom with much needed vegetables, in the form of potatoes, turnips and spelt grains.

Accompanying a hearty dwarvish meal is almost always a flagon of strong ale, brewed from hardy hops and barley. A stronger, and somewhat unusual beverage that is offered in dwarvish taverns is cave crawler blood. This alcoholic substance is sometimes served neat, mixed with other liquor or further distilled into a purer alcohol. Though it is much loved by the dwarves, most other cultures find it to be an acquired taste that is hard to acquire.

Ecology
The barren tundra itself does not support a great amount of life, with very little plant life on the land to support a thriving ecosystem. A small population of bears wolves hunt wild goats in the north, but most of the kingdom's wildlife reside in the sea. Teeming with shoals of fish and a coldwater reef, Surön's Bay is home to a number of porpoises, seals and whales. Further out to sea, larger whales and giant squid threaten the brave ships that sail into these treacherous waters. Polar bears, arctic owlbears and frost drakes can be found prowling the ice floes of the Neversea, hunting seals and scavenging whale carcasses which find themselves beached on the ice.

Plantlife is virtually non-existent on the surface of the tundra, save for a scattering of spruce forests to the east. The many caverns deep below the surface however, support a diversity of luminous fungi, which dwarves still use to this day to help guide them through the mines. Also within these cave systems are a number of strange beasts which can prove dangerous to the unaware spelunker. Cave crawlers prey on unsuspecting dwarves, while rust monsters compete with dwarves for ore veins, and consume tools, armour and weapons when they can.