Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #286

Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #286 

October 14th, 2023 

• Number: 286 

• Name:  Deep Dive on a Site of Interest: Tolfastun – Part 6 

• Location: Northwest Tuton Maug of Noldrune, southeast of Anum Taag 

• Population (approx.): 711 (Dwarven Canton of Under Tolfastun) 

• Brief: It is said, and some maps appear to confirm the saying, that the ancients delved below Tolfastun as far as they raised the citadel’s spires into the skies. As the populations of above ground races rose and fell as the years passed, so did the populations of the Dwarves, Gnomes and other Kin of the underdark who inhabit the lower chambers and levels of Tolfastun. The somewhat official Dwarven “Canton” of Under Tolfastun is the self-chosen name for the self-governing doughty folk who live in the topmost levels of the underworks. The Dwarves can be found throughout the citadel whether running a business, providing warriors to the council to guard the main and minor entrances and exits, repairing the infrastructure above and below ground, or undertaking ventures into sections of the underworks not mapped in recent memory. 

•  Benmin (Min) Everdelver, 125, male Dwarf, is a bard who sings at the Jazzy Ale Inn. He is slightly taller than a normal Dwarf and has open, honest hazel eyes. He wears his golden hair in a bun and keeps his beard trim. Min was born with a voice that makes people weep. He also has the gift of gab and can turn anything into a story. He wears loose hose and colorful jerkins. Min plays the lute quite well but also excels with a fiddle. He can use throwing daggers when tavern dwellers take objection to his songs. 

• Min has been singing at the Jazzy Ale Inn for five years. He has accumulated a following and keeps the Inn full most evenings. Min was an adventurer for most of his life. He decided to retire when bandits wiped out his adventuring group. Now, he sings for the sheer joy of it and sometimes drinks too much to forget what happened. 

• Min lives in a small room in the Inn. He spends his days practicing his instruments and his nights entertaining customers. He has been dating Redvia Cardfin, 120, female Dwarf, for a few years but seems in no hurry to get married. Min's best friend is the innkeeper, Hulkum Steelflight,110, male Dwarf. They go out fishing, both above and underground, whenever they have a quiet morning. 

• Geography: The bulk of the Dwarves of the Canton live in the levels adjacent to and just below the merchant circle (location 9 see below). Others, at their own risk, live further below ground in adjacent caves and chambers. The Dwarves share the merchants' circle (location 5) with their fellow kin, providing a variety of crafts and services to the population. Squads of guards (mostly Dwarves supported by other Kin) patrol the main passageways regularly and the outer tunnels on an irregular basis. Work parties supporting the council, working with magicians or as part of a merchant’s venture can be encountered in the depths of the central chamber and the outskirts of the underworks. The ancient and unusual nature of Tolfastun has attracted the unwanted attention of monstrous entities in the past, usually appearing on the outskirts of the citadel. Alarms ring out and heavily armored Dwarves and others lead the charge into the darkness.