KOGOLOR (Dwarven Kingdom of)
Location: Eastern range of the World Spine Mountains the continent of Iciria, between the Brute-Men Lands and the Krugel Hordes. HW
Area: 133,021 sq. mi. (344,525 sq. km.).
Population: 500,000, including Kolmstat (pop. 28,000).
Languages: Kogolor.
Coinage: Bifric (50 gp), gilder (gp), platen (sp), kupfen (cp)
Taxes: Tithe of 10% of income to royal treasury, 10% tariff on all goods except food, plus additional exactions as needed in crisis and war.
Government Type: Monarchy influenced by clan leaders.
Industries: Timber, woodworking, brewing, furs, leatherwork, mining.
Important Figures: Bifric III (King, male, dwarf, F12).
Flora and Fauna: Mountain and hill vegetation, including aspen trees, evergreens, various underbrush. Animals that survive in these elevations include deer, elk, moose, goats, apes (white-furred carnivorous dwarf-eating apes), black and brown bears, beholders, mountain lions, dinosaurs, giant ferrets, giant weasels, giant hamsters, gnomes, griffons, pterosaurs, purple worms, rats, giant spiders, wolves. Humanoid races include giants (of the hill, stone, mountain, and frost varieties), trolls, orcs, ogres, lycanthropes, minotaurs, and yeti. Troglodytes are known to live underground.
Further Reading: Hollow World boxed set, previous almanacs.
Description by Theukidikies the Historian of Corisa.
The Kogolor are a mountain folk, dwarves who live in the vales amid the peaks of the World Spine Mountains.
The Land
Perched atop the World Spine Range, the lands of the Kogolor dwarves are a rugged but beautiful mountain country. The snow-capped peaks soar over lush mountain vales covered with evergreens and cut by glittering streams of cold water. At the centre of these gorgeous mountains, however, are a blasted lavascape around Mount Ronani, but even this area has an eerie beauty to it. To the northeast, several forts are built along the passes between the Kogolor lands and the Krugel Horde, to bar the way of attacks by those people into the Dwarven Kingdom. The Hordes do sometimes get by these defences, however. As a result of this, the inhabitants live in walled towns, protected against attack. These are scattered throughout the Kingdom.
The People
The Kogolor Dwarves who inhabit this land are a stout and robust folk, hearty and gregarious. They dress in tunics dyed in bright colours, wearing coats to protect against the brisk mountain air. They wear doeskin shorts held up with suspenders, which they call lederhosen, and top off the outfit with a short hat with a feather in it. Both men and women wear this outfit, which I find bizarre.
These are an outgoing, cheerful people, given to feasts and brewing and drinking beers, ales, and mead. They embrace travellers as if they were long lost cousins, feting them, inviting them on hunts, and encouraging them to regale the dwarves with tales of their journeys and exploits. The Kogolor Dwarves are good fighters, but unlike the Azcans or the Antalians, they are not obsessed with fighting. They live as loggers, craftsmen, trappers, herdsmen, and brewmeisters. The males govern, but they allow their women to fight and own property.
They have a King, who rules from the capital of Kolmstat, but most matters are decided by town and clan leaders. About a quarter of the Kogolor live below ground, in caverns like the Icevale Elves, though with a different aesthetic sense. The rest live in orderly towns and villages above ground, pretty cottages set along hillocks and in mountain glades. These communities communicate with each other through a type of warbling song, which they call yodelling, and can transmit messages very quickly across the mountains by this means.
Don't Miss
The
Kogolor have one true city, the capital of Kolmstat. This is a city, small by Milenian or Nithian standards, but with
a strong double-wall surrounding it and a multitude of stone buildings within
it. It is built over a series of
mountain springs, which the dwarves swim in and say are good for one's
health. The ground below the city is
riddled with caves and tunnels, so vast that they haven't all been
explored. Where they might go, no one
can say.