Overview

The city of Daboran hugs a mountain on the Eastern side of the Dragon's Maw. It consists of three tiers of stone wall battlements, each protecting their own semicircular area of stone cut buildings. In the past century, Daboran has expanded well beyond its outer wall using the plentiful stone excavated during the mining of the Grand Tunnel Line. The Outer City is a maze of winding streets lined with many stone buildings, markets, businesses, and homes all mixed together.

Daboran is famous for The Grand Tunnel Line, often affectionately referred to as the GTL by locals. This awe-inspiring tunnel system connects the city to the settlement of Dornadur through the Dragon's Maw. Over the course of a century, Daboran carved tunnels through solid rock and earth, 50ft high and 50ft wide. Lit by a sea of lanterns containing a local glowing cave fungus, these tunnels contain two sets of large stone tracks where minecarts are used for transporting goods and passengers. This transportation system has revolutionized travel and commerce between the Midlands and the West. While the tunnel may be underground, the nation also claims rights to all the mountains it cuts through. This is mostly just saber-rattling for appearance however, as they maintain little to no surface presence above their tunnels.

At the end of the Tunnel lies an impressive city carved into the base of the mountain. Fortress Dornadur is well fortified; great stone walls with ballista towers, archers walks, and thick steel gates ensure control of the Tunnel within. Unique to Dornadur is a form of public transportation: a smaller-scale network of the stone rails and minecarts used in the Grand Tunnel. These lines connect the Fortress to the seaside ports of Dornadur, known by citizens as 'The Posts'. These small settlements are almost exclusively a series of trading posts built along the coast. They are a distance from the main city; however, the stone track transit lines make travel between the two places manageable, and many citizens of Dornadur make the journey out to their businesses at The Posts every day. Dornadur has quickly become a critical trading hub between the West and the Midlands.

Daboran has grown good relations with most Midlands nations due to trade routes established with the West. Of the nations outside of the Midlands, Bollen is most friendly to Daboran. Their relations have improved steadily as more and more of their trade is rerouted through Dornadur. Daboran nor Dornadur boast any real farmland, and are reliant upon outside sources for food.

Daboran is currently mining a new tunnel, The Grand Southern Line. This tunnel connects to the Grand Tunnel, cutting down through the mountains with a planned end point near the nation of Myra. Its creation is causing quite a stir among traders in the West. Jaryk Toren, the current Strongest of Daboran, is very proud of the endeavor. He plans to name the settlement to be built at the end of the Southern Line “Jarton”.

Culture

Daboran was once a Kingdom, but today the Strongest of Daboran is not dictated by bloodline. Every 5 years the leader of Daboran, the Strongest, goes before the people and makes a speech at the end of which he asks if any would challenge him. To be considered a legitimate challenger one must have the support of the people. If there are challengers, and there often are, there will be two tests that the Strongest and any challengers must compete in. First there is the Test of Might, where the competitors will fight to see who is the strongest. While this component is important to many, it is not the only measurement of worthiness. The Test of Mind is always a public event, but has varied in format from a series of speeches, to heated debate, and sometimes an open forum of questions from the people. At the end of the Tests the people choose their leader through a voting process. Oftentimes the Strongest proves his title, and his reign continues. The current Strongest, a Ram Wyldling named Jaryk, has defeated all challengers since he took the title 22 years ago.

Daboran’s citizens are a proud people who value strength and work ethic. Many people maintain a strong national pride, even if they've moved away from its territories. This nationalism can be seen in its military mindset and general societal discipline. It is one of the greatest honors to serve the Nation, whether it's through the Defense Force or the Mining Corps. Most from Daboran strongly believe their nation is the greatest in the world.

Pride can result in somewhat aggressive temperaments or exchanges amongst the people. This can be intimidating to foreigners who are unaware of their customs. For example, to send back a meal at a tavern in Dornadur would shame the chef in front of the customers; such a thing is avoided, unless one is actively looking for a brawl. The citizens of Daboran do not take disrespect lightly, and are usually willing to start a fight about it.

The national pride grown within Daboran over the past few centuries can be seen in their military. As the Grand Tunnel was a national project, this was naturally overseen by the military. The National Mining Corps is a well-known subsidiary of the military, and is the main force behind carving the GTL and GSL. The vast resources and wealth gained from the mining of the Tunnel allowed the nation to create and maintain a sturdy land force. The Daboran Defense Force consists mainly of infantry, support, and reconnaissance troops. The Defense Force maintains outposts along the GTL, roughly every 10 miles. While Daboran has yet to mobilize against other nations, some worry their cultural pride and aggressive temperaments could someday be a problem.

The people of Daboran have a variety of faiths, and temples or shrines to most gods can be found in the Outer City. Fortress Dornadur has a dedicated temple to Craigor in the shape of a great helm carved from stone. Inside is a simple arena and training center where faithful engage in daily combat and practice for the sake of it.

History

The Nation of Daboran developed from the Midlands city state of Daboran, originally founded during the Drought. This city state originally was formed as a town by tribes of Haroc who wished to keep themselves out of the affairs of others. With their natural strength and penchant for stonework, these Haroc carved a mighty fortress city from the bones of their Mother Mountains.

Daboran grew to boast multiple levels of living space, each separated by tall defensible walls. The tribes eventually agreed upon a chieftain to be their king, and this royal line would last for many years. Daboran was an almost purely Haroc state historically, and well-known for its distrust of outsiders. For many years, prospective merchants were only allowed to visit the lowest level of the fortress city for trade.

In 65AR, during the Breaking, the King of Daboran died his final death. A group of five Haroc calling themselves the Stone Dogs rose to power with the support of the people and led the nation through the chaos. Daboran joined the Midlands Alliance in 69AR, marking the beginning of their turn away from isolationism. It would still be years before they opened their doors fully. In 83AR only one of the original Stone Dogs was still living, and he named himself King, declaring that his son would rule when he passed on to join the others.

When the First Surge sent Ashriya into chaos not seen in a century, Daboran found itself suddenly populated by many earth elementals. While it stirred up some trouble initially, the people of Daboran were able to coexist with these frequent visitors. It is said that elementals helped build The Grand Tunnel Line and the Outer City.

The Outer City of Daboran was built after construction of the Grand Tunnel began. Using resources from the mining operation as building materials, they began to expand the city outwards. It began as shops and grew to include hospitality services

When the Fourth Surge left Sarth in ruins and Tangel lost to the wood, Daboran had many refugees at its doorstep. The Outer City became filled with tents at first, and eventually grew to have residential areas built in anywhere there was room. These areas were not built without great debate from within the city.

A reform faction grew, believing Daboran should become open to all peoples in these trying times. The royal bloodline aligned with an opposing faction; conservative traditionalists who sought to maintain the status quo. While political debates grew to commonplace events, true to temperaments of the time, they generally were ineffective and resulted in barfight-style brawls amongst all involved.

In a large final debate between the factions, attended by King Rakar himself, Dorn Ro-kresh of the reform faction shocked the Haroc world when he used his remaining time to expose the bias of King Rakar. As the traditional faction brawl began, Dorn challenged the King himself to unarmed single combat. The legendary fist fight that ensued is still sung about today by many bards.

In defeat, King Rakar gradually changed his mind. Not just the traditional xenophobia, but his role as regent in general. It is still unknown to this day if these revelations were due to genuine development, or all the screws knocked loose from so many upper cuts to the jaw. King Rakar decided that day that the one who leads their great people should be the strongest of heart and might, not a bloodline. Rakar held this decision to be upholding what he realized to be the True Daboran way; the unyielding warrior spirit, the boundless heart.

The head of the reform faction, Dorn Ro-kresh, was named Strongest of Daboran. Dorn went on to make key decisions that would shape Daboran's future. First, the nation became open to all peoples; as the city grew from the influx of refugees, Daboran shook off its isolationist attitude over time. Dorn's second, far more grandiose endeavor was to begin a national project for economic growth: construction of the city of Dornadur. The Grand Tunnel Line was completed under the reign of Dorn, and construction of the city began immediately.

When the ports of Dornadur were first established they were small townships in their own right, but raiders from Corsic drove the people of Dornadur back to the mountain-city. Building the walls to further protect themselves from threats turned the city into the Fortress Dornadur known today.