If you’ve ever met a high-ranking dwarf, you get the immediate impression that they have some sort of Napoleanic complex. But really, the dwarves drive to succeed isn’t despite their height. It’s about making up for lost time. The Mror Holds are the ancestral home that the dwarves have strived to make whole again. Long ago, the dwarves were constantly at total war with each other, feuds spilling blood everyday. So a 13th clan, whose name is lost to history, banished the dwarves from underneath the mountains, locking the gates until such time that fighting stopped and the 12 clans showed themselves to be worthy.

Unfortunately, by the time the clans stopped their major conflicts and united in alliance with Galifar, it was too late. When the magically sealed gates opened, they found only skeletons of the last clan, cities ruined by some mysterious force. Beyond these cities, the clans found the Realm Below, a subterranean zone that has numerous manifest zones with Xoriat. The Realm Below has countless treasures, both from the lost dwarves and the daelkyr stores of bioweapons and symbiotes.

Today, the Holds are effectively a confederacy, with national matters handled by the Iron Council, but local matters under the purview of the local clan.

Clans

• Doldarun: .These dwarves are known for their moral and martial discipline, and had the most outspoken opposition to Narathun.
• Droranath: Known as the “barbarian” clan, these dwarves spend most of their in battle or preparation thereof, mostly with the Jhorash’tar. Their culture puts much less emphasis on mining and material possessions.
• Kolkaran: These dwarves are known for their shifting allegiances, following profit from partner to partner. They also dominate the Mirror Lake naval staff as well as trade, often under the aegis of House Lyrandar
• Kundarak: This dragonmarked house is not officially a clan and holds no seat on the Iron Council, but their power and influence in the Holds are undeniable. They also serve as a bridge between dwarvenkind and the rest of Khorvaire.
• Laranak and Londurak: These two clans are inexorably linked, on opposite shores of the Mirror Lake, following the same trades (fishing, brewing, farming) and values, and the clans share a representative on the Iron Council. But the two clans have kept an ongoing non-violent rivalry on every aspect of their lives, from sports to crafting to art.
• Mroronan: The clan from which the nation takes it name, the Mroronans are some of the wealthiest dwarves due to a heavy iron trade, along with strong Brelish ties. They have strong rivalries with clans Kolkaran (on trade), Soranath (an ancient feud), Toldarath, and Tordannon (on the orc issue described below).
• Narathun: This clan is invested heavily into arcane arts and artifice, recently investigating and even designing their own symbiote magicks. This path of daelkyr-related research has fueled feuds with Doldarun, and Tordannon. They are also famous jewelers.
• Noldrun: This generally hated clan disappeared 400 years ago.
• Soldorak: This clan is much more malleable in its power structure and attitudes about magic, with the largest number of dwarven warlocks and symbiote harvesters.
• Soranath: This clan is known for its world-class crafters, and its severe dislike (some say envy) for House Kundarak.
• Toldarath and Tordannon: Allied closely, these two clans are consumate diplomats.

The Jhorash’tar, a coalition of orc tribes, have warred and traded with the clans for over 2,000 years. Their governance is mostly tribal, and they spend most of their time above ground, but they still produce sophisticated crafts and are master miners. Clans Toldarath and Tordannon are known for advocating their entry into the clan system, which is violently opposed by the Mroronans.

Geography

• The Holds consist of a V made by the Hoarfrost and Ironroot Mountains, with the gigantic Mirror Lake sitting between the two. In the west are the Holds’ former master, Karrnath, south of which are the Talenta Plains. In the far southeast corner, the Holds touch the Endworld Mountains of Q’Barra. To the east, over the Hoarfrost range are the Lhazaar Principalities.
• Notable Locations
  • The Fist of Onatar is most famous mountain in the Ironoot range, with a gigantic volcanic opening said to be a manifest zone of Fernia.
  • The Goradra Gap is an enormous cravasse which cuts a hundred miles across the middle of the Ironroot range, and is one of the common entries into Khyber. Noldrunthrone was the closest settlement to the gap, and the rumors surrounding its abandonment usually include monsters from Khyber.
  • Korunda’s Gate (population: 20,000) is the home of the main enclave of the Kundarak clan, with all the banking, mining, and trade facilities that go along with it.
  • Krona Peak, the capital of the Holds, acts as the meeting place for the Iron Council.
  • Although the Mror dwarves are mostly content in their mountains, Lake Home, the Hold’s port on Mirror Lake, is the center for their naval trade. Many pirate traditions started in the safety of Mirror Lake, defensible against anyone chasing a dwarven pirate fleet down the Glimmergleam River.

Demographics

• 700,000
• 65% dwarf
• 12% human
• 10% orc
• 8% gnome
• 5% other