Hill Dwarves

Hill Dwarves are a short, stout, subsect of the dwarven species from the mineral-rich Highlands of Zundrbar. Hill Dwarves are known throughout Azeroth for their excellent mathematical skill, which they apply into the sectors of finance and engineering predominantly.

Biology, Appearance, Traits
Hill Dwarves are a race of short and bearded Dwarves with burly bodies. Much of their number have pasty-white/gray skin color, mostly due to a lack of sunlight as a result of extensive mining activities, as well as generally staying indoors, as even in the highlands themselves, Hill Dwarves do not like to travel. Hill Dwarven voices often come out nasally as a result of having more elongated noses than those of mainland Dwarves, such as Prince Ghlafferge Sootbeard.

Caste System
Hill Dwarven society consists of several castes, although caste mobility is common as a result of the freedom so dearly kept by the Hill Dwarves.

Base Castes
The first caste- the Founders Caste, is made up of the miners, manufacturers, farmers, and hunters of Zundrbar, who fuel the economy by manual labor.

Middle Castes
They are followed by the Craftsman Caste, made up of the artisans of Zundrbar, who process the natural resources created by the Founders Caste, such as Blacksmiths, Leatherworkers, Butchers, and Brewers.

Upper Castes
The Upper Castes consist of those more specialized individuals in the society, who tend to utilize more intellect in their work. The Upper Castes includes engineers, scientists, financiers, lawyers, and diplomats.

Culture
Hill Dwarven life and culture is centered around the economy, whether it be as a stock trader for one of the nuemrous joint-stock corporations, or as a coal miner trying to dig deeper than the next miner. Hill Dwarves are very competitive in their work, wherever it may be. Over generations, this competitiveness has helped to build a strong work ethic and increase levels of production.

To defend their lands, Hill Dwarves often took defense into their own hands, especially when it came to dealing with criminals. Most, if not all, Hill Dwarves maintain a basic arsenal of weapons in their homes at a bare minimum. The subsect clan of the Hill Dwarves- the Boers, also known as Arathian Hill Dwarves, practice this at a much higher level, due to the "Total War" Doctrine with the Witherbark and Vilebranch Trolls surrounding their homeland.

Language
The Hill Dwarven language is more connected to that of the Vrykul/Kvaldir raiders of Northrend than it is to the Dwarvish and Dark Iron tongues of their cousins. However, many Hill Dwarves travel around Dun Morogh, mostly to do business, and as a result- many have picked up Dwarven accents.

Others pick up or "fake" a Dwarven accents simply to fit in, as speaking the language outside of Zundrbar or in front of foreigners is viewed of as a taboo subject. The reason for this is because of the business-savvy nature of the Hill Dwarves. They view their language as a trade secret, and often times it is spoken outside of Zundrbar by Hill Dwarven merchants when speaking about their surroundings, mostly on commenting on the dim wits of others.

The language is very complex, utilizing a series of cases, genders, and a specific feature of the language known as, "Staarkvort," literally meaning, "Strong word," which determines the "strength" of a word, and categorizes it as such. For example, there are peaceful or "weak" words, such as flower (Bluum), neutral words, such as Tankard (Krugg), and war-like or "strong" words, such as Axe (Aaxt).

Hill Dwarven Sovereignty
The Hill Dwarves established themselves as a major sub-sect of the Dwarven race upon their Independence from the Kingdom of Ironforge negotiated by the Treaty of Kharanos, which guaranteed a payment of steel and tobacco annually by the Principality to ensure their independence. Up until this point, Hill Dwarves formed a small minority group who worked as coal miners along one of the richest coal mining veins in Dun Morogh, though their numbers were sparse. By the time they declared independence, barely five thousand Hill Dwarves lived in Zundrbar, and even fewer were literate.

However, under the successful rulings of Prince Karlsefni Sootbeard, steadily the Hill Dwarves became a strong power. One hundred years later, the education system had undergone an overhaul, with Gnomish professors teaching the simple-minded Hill Dwarves complex subjects, while other Dwarven scholars taught Hill Dwarves subjects like reading and writing from an early age. All of this was completed without intervention by the Prince, who merely watched on and collected profit from his own business- Sootbeard Coal Mining.

Cultural/Economic Expansion
A major Hill Dwarven population transfer occured in the year 1636, when Hill Dwarves settled a territory along the eastern coast of the Arathi Highlands. This was the first of several accomplishments made by the Hill Dwarves.

Hill Dwarven merchants along the frontierlands of the Wetlands aided in the creation of Menethil Harbor as a major port between the Human Kingdoms of Lordaeron, Azeroth, and the Dwarven Kingdom of Ironforge. Hill Dwarves aided in the settling of the Wetlands by providing settlers with supplies, as having a frontierland in front of one's own land was not a good thing to have. The land was home to many hostile races, such as Gnolls, Kobolds, and Murlocs. Although with the aid of the frontiersmen, many of these species were wiped out or sent into hiding in the Loch.

Hill Dwarves also operated trading posts, corporations, trade guilds, and colonies throughout the Kingdom of Ironforge, staying true to their "friends in the mountains." The Hill Dwarves did so due to their knack for funding potentially profitable enterprises throughout the surrounding lands. However, they also operated often without many morals. Many Hill Dwarven banks sent elite Dwarven warriors to collect unpaid fees, which angered the Kingdom of Ironforge, feeling as though it violated their "friendship." Sven severed the "friendship" by the signing of the Treaty of Menethil Harbor in 1743, which stated that Hill Dwarven banks could act as interkingdom corporations, rather than as national institutions.

War of Three Hammers
During the War of Three Hammers, Dark Irons approached Prince Sven Sootbeard to utilize the Principality of Zundrbar as a staging ground for attacks against the city of Ironforge, hoping to subdue the Bronzebeards. Sven mistrusted the Dark Irons though, and instead gave underground funding to the Bronzebeard Clan, in the form of gold, weapons, and armor.

After this was uncovered by Dark Iron fund managers, Dark Iron troops invaded the Principality several weeks into the war, sparking the Battle of Zundrbar. Bronzebeard troops were tied up with a Dark Iron force attempting to invade Ironforge, and as a result could not lend support- a move that personally insulted not only Prince Sven, but the Hill Dwarves in general.

The Battle of Zundrbar ended in a superior Hill Dwarven victory, as a result of the heavily armed Hill Dwarves knowing the mountainous terrain better than their Dark Iron adversaries. Following the battle, the Hill Dwarves retracted funding for the Kingdom of Ironforge and established themselves as a neutral principality, in the Treaty of Thelsamar, which stated that the Kingdom of Ironforge recognized the Principality of Zundrbar as a neutral principality, and would not attempt to invade it under a payment, which doubled from the previous Treaty of Kharanos.

Interwar Period
During the period between the War of Three Hammers and the Orcish Wars, Zundrbar faced many problems on an internal level, including heightened Troll activity and border disputes with the Kingdom of Arathor over the conquered Troll lowlands. As a sign of peace, Sven bowed to the Arathian King, knowing that the Arathians could easily conquer Zundrbar.

Orcish Wars
The Orcish Wars were a great drain on the resources of the Principality of Zundrbar. Not only was its mainland attacked by Angerfang Orcs, a tribe of the Dragonmaw Clan, during what was known as the Dragonbinder War, after the leader of the Angerfangs-Thergald Dragonbinder, but also its colony of Zundrkaap in the Arathi Highlands, in the War of the Boar.

Present-Day
Hill Dwarves currently inhabit the still-neutral Principality of Zundrbar, as well as its constituent colony- Zundrkaap, and its series of trading posts and resource-gathering camps throughout the world. Zundrbar's technology is among the most advanced, as a result of combined technological works with Gnomish engineers and professors, many of whom immigrated to the highlands.

Furthermore, the Principality of Zundrbar is one of the richest countries in terms of per-capita GDP, mainly due to its large mining, engineering, and banking industries, as well as its small population. The economy is also one of the largest in the realm outside of the Alliance and Horde, dwarfed only by that of the Steamwheedle Cartel.

Renowned Hill Dwarves

 * Prince Ghlafferge Sootbeard- Prince of Zundrbar
 * Gulnam Angershadow- Head of the Ironvault Bank
 * Malcom O'Cobthaigh- Owner of Cobthaigh Tobacco
 * Haguarious Battlebeard- Owner of Battlebeard Mining Corporation