Pronounced "rovan-heim," or the "Home of the rhue trees," Rovaneim is one of the few great strongholds of the dwarves left in the north today. Located southeast of Candovar, one can pass the borders of Rovaneim vale while on the South Road to Sargoth or points beyond. The city has a long and colored history, having been founded as a colony of the Gray Kingdom. When the great dwarven homeland fell the græwys of Rovaneim moved all the things they could out of the ruins and brought them to the rhue wood forest on the slopes of their mountain.

Rovaneim rules over a wide countryside of dwarven farmers and artisans. While it may appear to be just a smaller settlement writ large on the surface, there are difference in Rovaneim that make it worth examining.

Firstly, oustiders are welcome in the city proper as long as they do not ascend into the holy rhue-wood groves that demarcate the temple-district of the city. These are sacred places, and the holy vaults that retain what little relics of the old Gray Kingdom that could be saved are located in this forbidden section of the city.

The city itself is built to remind the eye as much as possible of the Gay Kingdom. This means that it is dotted with thick-built towers which dominate the skies (for a practical purpose as well; these towers contain arbalests and stone-throwers with enchanted arms to shoot down the flying menace of Dragons in the old days) and heavy stone buildings quarried from the gutrock of the mountain.

Other races are welcome to settle here, and do so with surprising frequency. There is almost no crime within Rovaneim. The city is ruled over by the Heirophant, Ragnath of the Grim family (prestigious priests and smiths throughout the history of the Gray Kingdom) who administers all aspects of civic life through the Civic Council. Councilmen run for office in each district of the city, and are selected by popular vote. The process is called the Throwing of Stones, as each district maintains a large jar or amorphae and stones with the symbols of the candidates are clandestinely deposited therein. Voting is considered a sacred duty, and thus most dwarves vote.

Outsiders may vote as well, and even run for office, though there have been very few ever elected to the Civic Council. They have served in less important positions throughout the city before, so there is precedent.

Physically the city is lain out on dwarf-made plains that have been carved from the mountainside, giving it the appearance of a massive set of stairs. Stairways are a prominent feature on all of the many narrow roads that lace the city about, as are walkways that cross over the road. There is, infact, an entire second level of the city built on the second and third floors of most buildings, providing a flatter and more level transit space for foot traffic to move. These roofs are considered public property, and anytime a new building is constructed it must be approved by the Civic Council as both defensible in time of war (and thus connected to the tunnel system that undermines the valley) as well as "civically available", which usually means consisting of walkways and stairs to access them on the second or third story rooftops.

The whole valley is surrounded by an outwall of ancient adamant, sea-foam green in hue. From a distance it blends into the forest that it is set against. Several smaller townships reside in the valley, each being a continuous extension of the farming community and looking more like closer knots of buildings than anything else.