Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Sarlax Jun 20, 2010 4:32:33	A thought recently occurred to me. The Mror Holds is the largest-known dwarf society in Khorvaire. Isolated from larger dwarven society because of their belligerence, the twelve rebellious and one faithful clan of the Holds have redeemed themselves in the Age of Galifar. When the gates to the old dwarven empire were opened by Kundarak, the empire was found to have been destroyed by the daelkyr and their creations. Or was it? Who knows how extensive dwarven civilization was or perhaps now is beneath Khorvaire? I started thinking: what if a massive dwarven civilization lies beneath the Five Nations, which for centuries has resisted the onslaught of aberrations, and is now ignorant of the surface? What might such a society be like? My first though is a culture that rejects all physical and mental deviance for fear that it represents corruption by the daelkyr. These dwarves reject all mutations and all differences in opinion, producing a fascist, militaristic nation that engages in total war against the other beings of Khyber.  If exposed to the surface, I imagine such dwarves might initially interpret all surface races as Khyber aberrations, or at least as creatures which are dangerously vulnerable to the manipulations of the daelkyr. If these isolated dwarves met the races of the surface, how would they react?
#2 Hellcow Jun 20, 2010 6:07:22	I don't have the time to give my thoughts now, but it's always been a subject I've felt was waiting to be explored. The previously unknown advanced subterranean culture is a classic pulp trope. The constant-vigilance-against-Khyber is an interesting idea, though there's some overlap with the Umbragen Drow of Xen'drik... though the Umbragen embraced one form of darkness to fight another, while here you're suggesting a fanatical devotion to genetic purity (if I'm reading it right). I think the idea of their fear that other races have been corrupted is an interesting approach... though if *I* was running that campaign, I'd have them seem obsessively and freakishly concerned about it, and once the players dismiss it, reveal that they're actually dead on and that there's a whole lot of subtle Puppet Master-style Daelkyr corruption in the world that people haven't yet realized. Of course, another approach would be the "Mars is Heaven!" angle. Instead of a fascist state, make it an enlightened and advanced nation finally willing to share its treasures with the surface world - a nation that defeated the Daelkyr and prospered. They've even been watching the PCs through their advanced scrying, and the actions of the Dwarf PC specifically proved to them that the surface dwellers were finally ready for reunification. Unfortunately it's actually a Potemkin Village sham, that the dwarves themselves are mutated aberrations with powers of shapeshifting or telepathic manipulation, the "gifts" are dangerous Trojan horses, and the whole thing is the harbinger of a second Daelkyr war.
#3 Gilo Jun 20, 2010 19:37:23	Maybe combine the two: an advance dwarven utopian society which survived in a Khyber Daanvi manifestation zone. using all sorts of clockwork mechanus devices/creatures and self-forging. A society so obsessed with law and order where anyone that ignores a "keep off the grass" sign gets the death penalty.