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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Captain America" data-source="post: 3902" data-attributes="member: 715">Stronghold 101I'm thinking Mountain Stronghold, for certain. But which kind?A) The Mountain Gate: Fully underground complex, with a single, massive, gate to the surface world, guarded by epic weight, machinery, and a small legion of warriors.B) Hall of the Mountain King: Fully underground complex, with several passages, including a Grand Entrance, to the surfaceworld, each guarded by posts, but not sealed.C) City in a Mountain: Mostly underground, but with several homes above ground, built into the walls of the mountain, with walls and guard towers around them for additional defense.The layout and such determines a few things, such as level of socializing, relations with the surface world, and so forth. Skipping this vital point for now, I'd suggest the following:Council of Elders. The primary leadership method of the Dwarves would be *extremely* organized. Certainly, there's a King, or a regent if you go for the 'Missing King' method, which might be one family's traditional post, or, it might be elected, or it might fall to whomever can pull an Axe free from an anvil ... whatever method you prefer. Just below him, however, is the Council of Elders.These would be the heads of each Clan, who get together to pass laws, and run the things below the King's radar ... common tax bills, settling squabbles within their own families, and so forth. There's obviously going to be some ststus inplications with how close you sit to the table, the size, wealth, and prestiege of your clan's history, and so forth. Just because they're Lawful Good, don't think that they can't indulge in some *wicked* political infighting.Nine and Thirteen are the traditional numbers for this sort of thing, but, feel free to angle a different route, for the different culture.  Perhaps the Dwarves see Eight as a lucky number, or maybe there used to be twenty families, but due to war, there are now only fifteen (but twenty chairs ... five are left empty) ... Pick a number, give a reason, and then we can establish the Big Names. Personally, I was always fond of Clan Axegrinder, for the double intendre, but, I'm just into wordplay. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Next would be the Kingdom's age. Not in exact years, but 'Ancient', 'Middle aged' or 'Young' ... This determines what sort of ancesteral enemies there might be, if there are any, a few, or several Dead Clans, if there are LOTS of old forgotten tunnels, if it's still being expanded, stagnant, or shrinking, and so on. In general, older tends to be smaller in population due to attrition, larger in abandoned areas, and more cloistered against the surface world. Lastly, for now, se if there's any primary import or export of the kingdom. Perhaps they have the best Axe forge in all the known world, or have a history of gemcutters, who showcase their work in a Tunnel of Brilliance. That sort of thing. A 'Hook' to give a bit of flavor. Sounds like it might be legendary for it's beer, currently. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Anyway, that's the first lil' tossoff from the Capper. Let me know what y'all think!-- Cap!</blockquote>

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