The Rumwold Vastness is a Concordian Mithril Mine in Windholme.
Unlike many other mines that seek the wealth of Mithril, The Rumwold Vastness is a massive open pit, rather than a series of winding shafts. Over two hundred years old, The Vastness has grown slowly, owing to the fact that Mithril was not its original intention, but rather a series of useful Essencite, Bloodglass and small deposits of precious stones in the area. The wide ranging digs eventually became one massive open mine, which only grew as the Mithril vein began to be exploited.
In the current day The Vastness is three parts. The large open pit is mostly free of mine works, its veins long since depleted save for its deepest levels. Instead these spiralling ramps are home to workers, smiths and other attached industries. In homes built on old horizontal cuts or within offshoot tunnels, a population that matches the size of Rumwold township lives and thrives within the Vastness.
At the lowest levels of the mine are the only above ground workings. These deep pits are still working the mithril on the surface, bringing heavy coals and massive bellows to heat the nodules to a high enough temperature to be cut and removed. The work down here is hot, dirty and frequently flooded, but the ore is worth the trouble.
Beyond the mithril mines are hundreds of exploratory tunnels, winding away at ever single level of The Vastness. Some were creations of madness carved from the cold mountain stone by lost souls decades ago, others are still in use by some borough or another, exploiting one of the many veins of ore the dot The Vastness. Some are abandoned to all but corpses of long trapped miners, others are busy worksites home to dozens in the dark.
While the Deed Holder of The Rumwold Vastness is only due the mithril ore harvested from the mine, the truly find themselves gaining leadership or a large community. As the foremost Reeve of the Vastness in the many ways they will often be called upon to settle disputes, be they mining related or not. The Vastness is more than a mine, it is a people, a home, and a way of life.
Perhaps because of this community, The Vastness has seen some periods of nationalisation, being an Iron Valley Deed. As of 226, it is nationalised.
Deed to The Rumwold Vastness
The Rumwold Vastness is a realmic deed belonging to the Iron Valley, available for election at each Spring Summit. The Vastness tends to produce 15 wains of Mithril each season.