MIRA BAR
Mirabar is a human city that rests atop dwarven cav-
erns. On the surface, humans dominate the population,
with some dwarves mixed in, and a handful of gnomes
and halflings. The uppermost level of the undercity is
mostly dwarves, with some few humans. The mixing
of races is due to convenience of trade, preference, or
skill; just as some few humans like to mine, to imbibe
strong dwarven drink, and to work underground, so do
a minority of dwarves take to the open sky, doing dock
work, or even manning and building ships. The lower
levels beneath Mirabar are all dwarven, as even the
most dwarf-like human can live so deep below ground
for only so long. Almost all of its citizens, regardless
of race, honor Moradin and the dwarven gods, making
Mirabar a dwarven city in spirit and ethics, if not
entirely by population, much in the way my own Silvery-
moon speaks to elven ideals of natural beauty.
Long ago, the great dwarven kingdom of Gharraghaur
stood to the west of Delzoun, delving mines near the
River Mirar and finding great, near-endless veins of
gems. Like many of the dwarven realms, Gharraghaur
fell to marauding ores, which destroyed the kingdom
and its capital city but couldn't take advantage of the
wealth therein. For millennia the lower city lay empty,
until some eight hundred years ago, when Prince Ere-
skas of Arnn settled the same spot, creating the city
of Mirabar (coincidentally echoing the dwarven "-bar"
naming convention used for citadels throughout the
North). It was only when dwarves returned to work
the mines below that Mirabar began to see its for-
tunes increase.
Mirabar is ruled by its hereditary marchion, Selin
Raurym, who issues edicts fed to him by the Council
of Sparkling Stones. The council is a group of dwarvesEverbright
The dwarves were the first to discover the secret of treating
their metal with everbright. The technique has been imi-
tated by other races, to varying degrees of success. Armor,
weapons, and other metal objects to which everbright is
applied maintain their luster without needing to be pol-
ished, and are resistant to natural (and, in some cases,
magical) pitting, rusting, and tarnishing.CHAPTER 2 I THE SWORD COAST AND THE NORTH
and some few humans elected to make policy for the
city, who determine where the output of Mirabar's mines
will be sold. Although the council has long kept Mirabar
associated with the Lords' Alliance, it is the marchion
who negotiates with his fellow lords. Thus far, Selin
Raurym has proved far more capable than his predeces-
sors at making beneficial decisions for the city, and the
council has given him great leeway to speak for Mirabar
outside the walls. His threat to pull out of the Alliance
following its failure to aid the northern cities against the
most recent ore hordes, though considered by some an
empty gesture, has brought Mirabar more advantageous
relationships with Waterdeep and Baldur's Gate, some-
thing which has not gone unappreciated by the council.
The city's guard, the Axe of Mirabar, exists primarily
to deter and prevent sabotage of the mines, without
which Mirabar would collapse. The guard also pro-
vides swift and capable defense and law enforcement
within the city. The wealth of Mirabar is so great that it
maintains docks, ships, and fortified harbors on many
of the islands in the Sea of Swords, and as such the
city is always seeking magical and military support for
these defenses. Where other cities might use such vast
mountains of coin as Mirabar possesses on shows of
prosperity, Mirabarrens use it for more functional goals,
making sure that the city's defenses are new, that its
gates close securely when they are moved, that its build-
ings and walls are strong and secure. Given the recent
destruction of Sundabar's surface city at the hand of
ore armies, such expenditures are well justified, since
no one in Mirabar wishes to see the surface city wiped
out. It would simply be bad for business. Mirabar spares
no expense in defending its wealth, and hires as many
mages and adventurers as necessary to clear threats
away from roads, investigate sabotage, and otherwise
protect its vital trade.
With the rise of Mithra! Hall in the last century, and
now Gauntlgrym, Mirabar fears its place as the armory
of the North is at risk. 'The miners, smelters, and smiths
of Mirabar work ever harder to increase their output and
improve their craft, while the jewelers and enamelers
study ways to incorporate ancient techniques of melding
dwarven, human, and elven designs together in their
work, in the manner of old Phalorm.
Mirabarren (or to some, just Mierren) dwarves like to
cultivate long, wide (as opposed to tapered or pointed)
beards and tight braids of hair growing elsewhere than
on the chin, a fashion copied by some local humans.
They love polished, everbright-treated sheets of metal,
particularly copper, used as doors or mirrorlike wall-
panel inlays. They often set gems into the pommels
and nonworking ends of tools and weapons. Mierren
dwarves tend to be wealthy, to have personal collections
of unusual and rare gems, to use seals made of gems
carved into signet rings, and to be investors in ventures
(rather than property) up and down the Sword Coast.
They are sophisticated and worldly, and they decry the
isolationist and xenophobic attitudes of some dwarves.
Mierren dwarves demonstrate their own broader
attitudes by being the diplomatic traders and power
brokers in trademoots and agreements in Fireshear and
Neverwinter and everywhere else they can worm their