Kossith and dwarves in Nueva Libertad

I had not realised it at first, but after several days here my eyes were open to something of a revelation – truthfully, one of many – in the form of one section of the population of Nueva Libertad – that of kossith and dwarves.

Now, when I say kossith I mean kossith. Yes, it is believed that there are practitioners of the Qun nearby but every huge, horned being that I have seen so far has been what is normally considered Tal Vashoth. They live here. In the city. This is no hallucination, nor do I possess the hubris to fabricate lies for the sake of base entertainment. Kossith live in Nueva Libertad; in fact, they live and work.

This city is still very young and as such is largely in the process of being built; a settlement in this situation invariably involves the movement of heavy goods and supplies. The kossith are more than valuable when engaging this process and a useful visual aid to those who wish to commit crime and those visiting traders who seek to exploit the population. All things considered it is no great wonder that they are here at all.

- From the hand of an unknown scribe.

Discovery
The White Stone of Nueva Libertad is artificially manipulated but its creation is as common as most other rock. Within the mountains of Rivain, near where Furia decided to build his great statement of his deepest beliefs are where the rock forms. Untouched and unknown to any that had come before him, the rock had spread to form great deposits in a vast subterranean network of tunnels and caves. However, the leader of the Resolutionists saw with his own eyes that it also disintegrated very quickly when taken from underneath the mountain; concern was quickly followed by surprise and great curiosity as more deposits were formed in a fraction of the time of the most common rocks.

The rock very quickly became the heart of construction of Nueva Libertad. Most of the residential area is made from it, whilst el lugar de todas las personasis the crowning glory of examples of its use. It soon became clear to the Resolutionists that transport of the rock was thus vital and so those of the kossith who had joined the cause and moved to Nueva Libertad leant muscle to the task; this was a defining moment in the history of the city as it near wiped away the last of the lingering tensions of the newly formed citizenship – that between Thedas and Qunari. No, these kossith did not follow the Qun and were in fact Tal Vashoth, but that did not stop their integration into the cause from being difficult. Upon the revelation that they knew methods of quarrying beyond that of practically anybody else their joining of the cause was all but complete.

Of course, there are others of this world who are also uniquely talented in the field of engineering and so it was with great assertion that the few dwarves who had been bold enough to join the cause stepped forward to assist in the quarrying and handling of the rock. The group had hesitated upon discovery of the White Stone but they could stand by no longer and so a partnership between dwarf and kossith was formed.

Development
As the city began to grow and the Resolutionist cause spread the population of dwarves and kossith grew too. The quarry of the rock became so high that a settlement was created, predominately for the kossith but the dwarves also took to living there. Even with members of both species taking up residencies alongside, and sometimes with the human and elven citizens those who were most dedicated to the quarry took near-permanent residence in this smaller settlement which became known as Trabalho Inteligente.

Within months a crude workshop was set up for the purpose of investigating the rock and after many days work the dwarves discovered a great thing – this rock was vulnerable to influence. Influence by magic. Furia saw to it that those magi who were strongest in elementalist magic of the stone joined the dwarves in their investigations and soon enough theories were devised and a breakthrough was made – the mages could bind their magic into the White Stone. Such magi became known as Portador.

This discovery opened up a world of potential and immediately sped up the construction of the city. Of the many alliances that Furia has sought for his cause the only one to be so heavily swayed by the White Stone is with that of the Qunari of northern Rivain. An agreement was made between Furia and their leader in which the Resolutionists would provide further security for what was left of the Qunari-Rivaini settlements and in return many of the Qunari travelled south to take residence alongside those of their people who were there first, the Tal Vashoth. With these new settlers came more innovations in quarrying and even tentatively offered suggestions with regards to the White Stone’s potential with regards to magic. The Qunari thus have a dock of their own within the harbour that lies within a few miles of Nueva Libertad.

A booming trade of protection
The rise of the kossith population with Nueva Libertad has brought about a significant presence of hired muscle, namely in the form of personal protection. Kossith bodyguards are one of the most sought after quantities in the marketplaces of the lowest section of the city and even citizens with the appropriate coin hire them; crime is not unavoidable, after all, for all of the efforts of the government.

Tal Vashoth find this work to be something of a staple of their lives – if other avenues of work are closed off then the vast majority will gladly take a job or two, whilst others have found their calling this way; more than a decent number have forged reputations as fearsome guardians of those are willing to pay. One such kossith even retired from a working life and set up a tavern in the lowest section of the city, where kossith food and drink can be found as well as a board for posting and claiming work which is largely the protecting of other people. The board was originally a small piece of furnished wood but has since become an entire wall of the tavern.

The kossith bodyguards have thus grown to a great number and are currently considering organisation into a guild, under the guidance of the kossith representatives within the government.