Legality of Dwarf settlement:
Legally speaking, Dwarf settlements which are not built into human cities within the Empire, are independent realms. Dawi can legally find a spot and build an independent town, mine, (technically a city, but nobody ever did that.). But the land they are on, is granted on two conditions -from the Emperor-.
1: They must actively be teaching humans crafts.
2: They must maintain and support local infrastructure
Now, in the millenia since then, you have had Emperors changing requirements, cities changing the laws on the Dwarfs among them, and the general confusion that came along with the civil war. They have largely become insular and try to avoid conflict around them.
Interesting that the note is specifically "From the emperor" which I think is meant to prevent the Dwarves from being constantly uprooted and harassed by local and mid level to the elector count nobles? Otherwise youd have constant "No this is mine now"s from foolish nobles and even then there's STILL those that do it
and as you show here, even then within that framework, the frame itself keeps getting altered so the Dwarves are more encouraged to, well, hold up as it were to cope with the constant shifting landscape around them.
The more things change, the more they stay the same amirite?
Umgdawi in the Empire
The Umgdawi arrived in the Empire in two general phases.
2 main waves hmm?
The original migration.
-1500 IC to -1000 IC
Dawi survivors from the fall of Karak Varn that settled among the Belthani and taught them to work with copper and lived among the pastoralists. These communities formed the foundations of what would become the many Dwarf Quarters of Imperial cities. Without their royals, they switched to each community being led by a Council made up of Clan Elders.
When the Teutogen and other warlike human tribes moved into the Empire, they drove out the Belthani, with the Dawi unable to stop this, and largely just allowing the conflict to rage around them. (Starting to see a pattern?).
Alaric the Mad's uplifting:
After the original wave of settlement by Dawi ended, and a split developed between those who lived there since the Belthani, and those who were sent by the Everpeak to teach the newly arrived human tribes iron metalworking and masonry. But these groups sent to help the Umgi rarely stayed very long.
Oh that's interesting, they tried human uplifting beforehand and were doing decently at redeveloping a civilization, but then more tribes came in and went for the nice pastoral regions that were developed because they were fertile and with less danger. With the Dwarves basically just keeping themselves neutral because to do otherwise would be to fight a battle they could not win.
Yeah I am seeing a pattern
Huh, so there was a secondary culture at that time of those that came to teach and only stayed if they were really drawn to it or just didn't want to return, and those that had been there since the beginning and just adapted.
Sigmar's invitation.
-50 IC to 100 IC.
Continuing on from his father and grandfather, Sigmar aggressively encouraged Dawi settling among the empire. Offering them functional independence for their settlements in exchange for the above noted conditions, and them owing military aid to the Emperor. This offer was largely taken by impoverished clans and holdless Dawi. They moved in to find there already being the original Dawi settlers, and they moved in with them. This meant that many of these settlers switched away from the original Dawi ruling system with a royal clan, to each community being led by a Council of Elders.
Ngl this was really smart of Sigmar and is arguably one of the things that has allowed the Empire to survive like it has.
And yup, similar to what we're trying to do now, he went for those that had little to lose by trying and everything to gain by doing so.
Current state:
The Umgdawi are all over the Empire. They have their own guilds, master crafts, and largely serve as the backbone of the Empire's engineering and mining industries. There's at least single digit percentages of Umgdawi in all the major cities of the Empire, and a lot of them spread out through the rest of the Empire.
Most Umgdawi do live in fortified Dwarf Quarters, and often need to aid in the defense of the human settlements in which they live. Due to the disdain towards them from the Karaz Ankor, they do not really have an option to return to the Holds
That is no small amount of dwarves, all of whom can and might well make a difference in military and economy.
The no real option to return is partly why I do want to encourage both Umgdawi and Karaz Ankor dawi to be able to settle and mingle. Maybe the current generations can't return, but perhaps those with blood ties and contacts with the Karaz Ankor clans might be able to do so in the future...or at least be able to call upon them for a joint effort to retake a hold.
In total across the Empire? Maybe two to three hundred thousand. From a starting population of a few hundred, through generations of conflict, war, civil war, etc.
That is no small amount indeed, and would I be wrong to say that part of why they are able to grow such numbers is 2fold: Partly the lack of the constant sieges from underground that the hold dawi are under and partly because in the case of the human cities which *do* have them, which is most, the attrition is, to put it coldly, eaten up by the humans rather than the dwarves?
So it's a combination of less direct attrition which allows the decent birthrate of the dwarves (4 kids on average if not more) to survive longer as well as human meatshields to take the brunt of the skaven trouble.
