“Never again will the clans of the Ironroot serve a master other than themselves.” – Guldark Mroranon, dwarf diplomat

From a his tory of barbarism and warfare, the dwarves have risen to a position of enormous economic might. For eight centuries dwarves have dominated banking
and finance in the burgeoning mercantile industries of Khorvaire, leaving their brutal past behind them. They remain a race of proud warriors, and they present an appearance of elegant sophistication – beards cut close, armor trimmed with fur and brocade, and the fury of an ancient barbarian warrior simmering deep beneath the fair facade.

The dwarf clans of the Mror Holds have never had the strong national identity typical of other races. As the great clans strive to unite the holdings into a secure empire based on finance, they continue to fight this legacy. The feuding dwarf
clans were too weak to resist being annexed into Karrnath in the early years of the kingdom of Galifar but turned their subjugation to good use. Karrnath’s rule forced the clans to cease fighting each other, allowing them to focus on building a civilization from the tremendous mineral wealth of the lronroot Mountains. Twenty years after the outbreak of the Last War, the Mror Holds declared their independence from Karrnath and emerged as a new nation – the first true dwarf nation ever seen in the world.

Lands

The Mror Holds stretch throughout the Ironroot Mountains, a dangerous and forbidding range at the northeastern edge of Khorvaire. The dwarves live in a hard and hostile climate. Over the last nine hundred years, the Mror Holds have used the incredible riches of their homeland to buiId themselves into an economic powerhouse. Still, in their own lands they are faced with ever-present danger, not just from ores, trolls, and other monsters, but from the cold, barren land itself.

Power Groups

The dwarves of the Mror Holds remain a loose confederation of clans rather than a unified nation. The great clans rule through a body called the Iron Council, a group of lords made up of representatives from various clans. Each clan, however,
continues to govern its own holds and acts, in many ways, as an independent state in negotiations with the other nations of Khorvaire.

Other powerfuI groups, particularly House Kundarak, the holders of the Mark of Warding, influence the Council and the nation from the periphery. Although House Kundarak does nor have a seat on the Iron Council, many of the Council’s decisions seem to hint at Kundarak influence.