Sjobar
| Sjobar | |
|---|---|
|
}} | |
| (Nation) | |
| Pronunciation | RĔN-thär
}} |
| Titles |
}} |
| Alignment | Lawful Evil
}} |
| Capital | Evermountain, the Keep on the Border
}} |
| Ruler | King Urist Whitebeard III of Evermountain
}} |
| Government | Constitutional Monarchy with Counsel
}} |
| Demonym |
}} |
| Adjective | Sjobi / Dwarven
}} |
| Languages | Dwarven, Common
}} |
| Religions | Maeli
}} |
|
}} | |
About 2000 years ago, the Rhenthar dwarves suffered a schism between two equally valid claimants to the throne. The immediate royal family had perished due to a cave-in caused by a cult of delvers, leaving Urist Whitebeard and Gevalt of Caturhn II as equally valid claimants, being the grandchildren of two dead princes. Urist claimed that, as his father was eldest, the royal line passed first to his father and then to him, making him the rightful kind. Gevalt, meanwhile, claimed that since all had died in the same disaster, that the line of succession was not followed in any order. He, being eldest of the two claimants, was therefore right to rule. A civil war broke out from this dispute.
Although the exact nature of the defeat remains a topic of serious discussion, Urist lost the conflict. Dwarven traditions had laws demanding the execution of traitors, but there was an intense argument among the Rhenthar legal critics regarding whether contesting an uncrowned king could be called "treason" by the classical definition. A century passed with Urist on death row before it was decreed that the execution would have to be stayed indefinitely under dwarven law.
Gevalt, humiliated and understandably concerned about being forced to leave his greatest rival alive, took the unprecedented step of condemning him and his followers to exile on the surface, hoping that the harsh life of a surface dweller, in what the dwarves saw as the greatest unguarded cavern that could possibly exist, would destroy his enemies for them.
It did not, however, take Urist long to make lemonade of the lemons, and he and his people found that life on the surface was not worse in any sense than life below - only subject to a different, unique approach. The Sjobar quickly made friends and partners among the people of the surface, especially the people of neighboring Tantalon and Gailifor, as well as the Touri and Darynyle peoples and the dwarves own Gnomish cousins.
The Sjobar, however, knew that the surface dwellers would not truly accept them without being forced to, and, as such, formed labor guilds and organizations, mostly as fronts for criminal enterprise. Over the past several hundred years, the Sjobar have distinguished themselves not only a shrewd businessmen and hard workers, but as highly organized criminal groups and special interests to be considered in every action.
Sjobar translates roughly to "Surface People," and in times past referred exclusively to non-dwarven surface folk. Now, only the Rhenthar use it for such, and the Sjobar use it to refer to themselves exclusively.
Real-World Comparison
The Sicilian mafia is a good reference for the criminal aspect of the Sjobar, with Venician or Milanese merchants inspiring their mercantile efforts. They retain the industrial superiority of their dwarven forebears.
Campaign Role
As a people, the Sjobar cannot allow a New World to be discovered and not get in on the action.