Dwarven Stronghold

[Thanael]

Dragon #224 has the article "Castle Designer's Guide: Coping with Magic and the Supernatural" which has some interesting ideas for such a stronghold. The picture on p10. always made me think of just such a dwarven stronghold on the mountain tops. Seriously check out that picture it's awesome.

There's also an article on Dwarven Tombs in that issue.

Another random thought:
Instead of boar-rider cavalry or even bear riders how about elite dwarven griffon riders?

 

[DrunkonDuty]

A major city with a great deal of industrial production would have of course have Factories; Mines; Storehouses and Market Places. Not just a few stalls but a great bazaar, with twisting narrow alleys filled with merchants hawking cunningly crafted Dwarven wares. Not just weapons but tools, mechanical toys, furniture. Dwarves think for the long term, all their goods are crafted to last for centuries. ANd of course with everything they have to trade they will have the goods they traded for as well; goods from across the known world and beyond.

How about underground stone gardens, ala the Glittering Caves of Aglarond?

What's the political structure like? Are their guilds? If so Guild Meeting Halls. Is their a Royal Family? Then a palace. And maybe a great hall for public meetings. Dwarves strike me as being keen participants in civic matters. And maybe tension between the powerful new guilds and the old clan leaders.

A cult of worshippers of Abbathor, the God of Greed, who live in a secret thieves' guildhall in the lava tubes.

Factories: water wheels driven by the fast mountain streams.
Locks (as in canal locks) for the streams. Allows the force of the streams to controlled as wanted.
Cisterns for storing water in a seige.
Breweries and distilleries making fine ales and whiskeys from the pure mountain streams.

 

[Veril]

Farms. Where the dwarven prisoners (or slaves) toil to produce food for the
dwarven nation.

Thr first mountain is wound around with a road 30' wide that rises slowly
to the upper plateau where the outer dwarve city is located. It winds three
times around the mountain before ascending to that plateau. Set along it are
deadfalls and guard posts where the defenders can rain death upon any who
would seek to challenge Dwarven Might.

The second mountain is ascended through one of 4 stairs carved into the living
rock that rise from the bottom to the top. Each stair way is 2000 paces high,
and set at one of the cardinal points of the compas. Columns depicting the
dwarven victories over the millenia line the south stair, which is called the
walk of victory. These columns extend 1/2 the way up on both sides.
The north stair is call the Way of Heroes

The third mountain (Spire of the King) has had it's sides smoothed away by
genereations of dwarven stonemasons, The lower 500 yards are mirror smooth.
In it's mirror polished planes are set frescos to the dwarven gods, depicting
their glorious deeds in pannels 100 yards high.

 

[Aholibamah]

How about "Tower of Welcome" for the diplomacy fortress?

 

[the Jester]

Elevators, either mechanical or simply winch-and-basket affairs.

Maybe goat herds? Some kind of mountain meat that the dwarves can raise. Alternatively, maybe they eat a lot of bugs. (In my campaign, a large portion of the dwarven bonus to saves vs. poison comes from their tendency to eat nasty gross stuff.)

Hmm, an aviary? Maybe they use pigeons to carry messages back and forth from one mountain top to the other.

How about a system of gondola lifts (like ski lifts) between the three fortress tops?

 

[frog]

The dwarven version of bonsai gardens...crystalline structures slowly grown over hundreds of years. If you want to add to this, they can also serve as musical instruments. Each one resonates on a different note or key to create a symphony.

 

[the Jester]

The dwarven version of bonsai gardens...crystalline structures slowly grown over hundreds of years. If you want to add to this, they can also serve as musical instruments. Each one resonates on a different note or key to create a symphony.

Wow, that's great.

 

[frog]

I would put the gardens into the religious peak. I think that as soon as you enter the gates you should start to hear them in the background. Perhaps dwarves don't use "magic", but are powerful psionic users and the crystals augment their defensive powers that prevent magical assault on the peaks.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

I would put the gardens into the religious peak. I think that as soon as you enter the gates you should start to hear them in the background. Perhaps dwarves don't use "magic", but are powerful psionic users and the crystals augment their defensive powers that prevent magical assault on the peaks.

Well, no psionics, but I love the idea anyway. Crystalline music / religiousness - the order of the crystals will fit well with the nature of Dwarves.

Plus it's a great visual image if someone (or thing) should, ahem, break them.

 

[Whisper72]

Adding on the crystal gardens in the religious center, maybe they are used to store the souls of wise men and great heroes who can be consulted in time of need. Breaking the crystals either releases these sould or destroys them...