Korovia - The Free License Fantasy World

Roknar
Population: 19,000 (mostly Dwarfs)
Terrain: Dense Mountains.
Economy: Fragile, but strong.
Military: Very strong. Western Army (5000) + Dwarf Militia (6000+)
Leadership: Council of Clan Elders

Roknar is an ancient dwarven fortress nestled in between two mountains, near a mountain pass. The Great Dwarven Wall runs across the path and on the other side, people can easily see the smoke rising from the distant Orcish City of Molloch. The town is tiered in fortified sections on both sides of the mountain pass. Every tier and every building has masterwork siege weapons on it. It is the most fortified city in Korovia. The dwarven siege masters are so good at aiming at targets that they would make elves jealous.

The economy of the city is strong, but has fragile moments whenever the fighting and orcish raids are especially bad. Otherwise the city produces large numbers of quality weapons and armour, many of which are sold throughout all of Korovia. Much of its steel doesn’t come from mining, but from melting down the weapons of fallen orcs. All along the Great Dwarven Wall are forts and lookouts that defend against orcish assaults. Rarely is a fortress ever overrun by orcs, and the dwarves have become extremely skilled at defending their fortresses.

A single dwarf worth his salt will usually kill over a hundred orcs during a year in service defending the wall. Only when they are severely outnumbered have dwarves been known to lose ground in this war. Lost ground is always swiftly retaken as there are hidden entrances to their fortresses that only dwarves know about, thus giving them both an emergency exit and a way to stage a surprise counter-attack if need be.

The city of Roknar is in a constant state of war preparation, always training its dwarves to be at peak fighting condition and preaching the values of being ready for any tricks the stupid orcs might try. The racial enmity is such that the killing of orcs is something all dwarves embrace freely and supports whole-heartedly. If it were up to them, they would march into Molloch and destroy the city brick by brick.

Raids into or near Molloch never fare very well however. There has been the odd time when they have managed to rescue dwarves trapped in the slave pits, but usually the raids have ended in whole parties of dwarves being killed or captured and never returning. Those that have been successful have had magical aid and used a “teleport out” retreat strategy. It would take a full out assault for an attack to even stand a chance of success.

Dwarven rangers are often amongst the best warriors in Roknar. Orcs as a favoured enemy has been a huge advantage when fighting against their hated foe. The orcs likewise have orcish rangers fighting on their side. Every dwarf in Roknar has heard of Omar the Dwarf-Slayer, the orcish general who “eats dwarves for breakfast” (See Chapter 6).

Roknar lives under a state of martial law and criminals are dealt with severely. Criminals have a quick trial and the punishment is exile in Loqland. They are branded as criminals on the forehead with a skull symbol, but are given weapons and gear sufficient for them to kill orcs and possibly survive in orcish controlled territory. Small time criminals (thieves) are branded on both hands (symbol of a coin) and are often forced to work off their debt in dwarven mines. Roknar is NOT a fun place to commit a crime or be accused of one.