Shabarcht

The mountain stronghold of Klev

The province of Shabarcht in Elothnin's northeastern quadrant, is a land of harsh terrain and stalwart people dedicated to the extraction of the valuable resources that lay beneath its rocky surface. The majority of its area is made of the Klevarcht Mountains or their foothills, making it rather useless with regard to agriculture and forestry. Thus, the bulk of Shabarcht's inhabitants earn their living toiling in the numerous mines that descend into the rocky depths of the mountains.

In addition to the Elothninian population, there is a substantial number of Dwarves that inhabit the province. Relations between the two peoples have been largely peaceful, lubricated by the mutually beneficial relations of trade: indeed, the dwarves are able to acquire the food and timber resources they need in the markets of cities like Klev and Tresleneer in exchange for their well-crafted metal goods and rare gemstones. Of course, as one would expect in such a situation, there have been instances of conflict between the two disparate peoples.

Elothninian expansion into Shabarcht was long and slow, but peaceful as well. Initially, humans were drawn to the admittedly spare timber reserves in the age of Otellian. However, when these were exhausted -- the soil in Shabarcht is highly acidic, lending itself to slow growth of soft pines, making it a less than ideal location to produce timber -- endeavoring settlers turned to the mineral rich mountains. This led to occasional clashes with the territorial dwarves, but, ultimately the commercial instincts of the dwarves won out when they realized the great potential for wealth production from relations with the humans.