Castlemire

Castlemire is the home of the dwarves, a massive city built in the sprawling cave systems under the Mountains of Plenty. Most of the ores and valuable materials are mined in the caves of Castlemire, making House Kragborn the richest house in all of Valtoria. 

Castlemire is a confusing network of caves, some artificially made, some naturally formed, that goes extremely deep into the earth. It is not known exactly how deep it goes, but some dwarves say that it goes all the way down to the pits of hell. Most of the city is located within 10-20 miles of the entrance to Castlemire, with the city getting more sparse the further down you go. 

The first area of the city, called the Adamantine Layer, is located within the first 5 miles of the city entrance. This is the richest and most dense part of Castlemire. Glittering ore is left in the cave walls for decoration, lava plumes through glass tubes illuminate the city, the streets are made of pristine marble, and bustling taverns and fancy hotels line the streets. The unique atmosphere gives the city a nightlife vibe, as there’s never any sunlight. At all hours of the day the city streets are packed with people, and all the taverns and restaurants are open 24 hours a day. Bath houses that use lava for heating are a popular destination for nobles on this layer.  The Adamantine Bank is located on this layer, and so is the Kragborn castle.

The Adamantine Bank is the richest bank in all of Valtoria. Its wealth is only rivaled abroad by that of the Dravian Bank. While the dwarves lack in military power, they have maintained a powerful position by being the largest source of funding in the kingdom of Valtoria. The Adamantine Bank is not to be crossed, as noble houses have been left in ruins by not paying back their loans. Even House Vallos never dared to miss a payment. 

The Golden Layer is located just beneath the Adamantine Layer, and is a more residential district of the city. The Golden Layer stretches for 5 miles beneath the Adamantine Layer. Those that work in the Adamantine Layer but don't own the business often live here. The Golden Layer is for middle class to upper middle class citizens, the layer is still very nice but not nearly as extravagant as the Adamantine Layer. It is less dense than the Adamantine Layer, with mostly houses, general shops, and taverns. Luminescent fungus and moss grow all over this layer, lighting it up for the people. Water from the Golden River also flows through this layer, where fishing is a valuable source of food for the whole city, giving the city plenty of strange cave fish to eat.

The Iron Layer is located just beneath the Golden Layer, and stretched for 5 miles beneath the Golden Layer. This area is for the lower class dwarves, the ones who work in the mines. The majority of the population lives on this layer. The city streets are made of stone, and torches light the cramped passageways between the smushed together houses. The Iron Layer is the backbone of Castlemire, the dwarves who live in the Iron Layer provide the city with the resources that make it so rich. Many forges exist on this layer, but the pride of Castlemire, the Adamantine Forge, exists here. The super rare mythical ore adamantine is forged into weapons here. Only two people , Fane Forgeheart and his daughter Fiona, know how to refine adamantine into a usable metal. The process of finding enough adamantine to make a weapon can take decades, and then the refining of the metal and forging it into a weapon can take another decade or so. Adamantine used to be far less rare in the old days, allowing adamantine weapons to be churned out much faster, but the adamantine near the city has dried up and only adamantine in the deepest part of the caves is left.  Only a couple adamantine weapons are able to be forged in a century, making them extremely rare and extremely valuable. The only people you would find with an adamantine weapon are the great noble families, and they typically only have one that they pass down to their heirs because of how expensive and rare they are. Most of the adamantine weapons from the old days of plenty were lost in the Godscar.

The last largely habited zone is called the Outer Layer. The Outer Layer is just beneath the Iron Layer, and it stretches for 5 miles beneath the Iron Layer. This is a sparsely populated area, mostly outposts for mining expeditions exist on this layer with a few permanent residents to run the outposts. Beneath the outer layer lies the ancient ruins. The ancient ruins stretch for an unknown distance beneath the city of Castlemire. The ancient ruins were part of the dwarven kingdom a long time ago, but it fell into ruin when the dwarves dug too deep. Many more cities with size and wealth that could rival Castlemire existed deep beneath the city, but now ancient evils stalk the ruins of the cities after a cavern very deep beneath the surface of the earth was dug into by dwarves thousands of years ago, unleashing horrors that were long forgotten. The resources in the outer layer dried up centuries ago, and the miner dwarves of Castlemire now must delve deep into the ancient ruins to mine precious resources.

The upper layer of Castlemire is depicted in the first photo, while the depths can look like the second one.