Telmachar Clan

The Telmachar are a clan of Dwarves which specializes in the collection of bog iron on the swamp plane of Oglothas.

Mining
The Telmachar mining method is not very advanced - a massive pair of claws is lowered through the opening in the houseboat and into the swamp until it digs into the floor of the swamp, then the claws are brought together, trapping the bog iron. The pair of claws is then lifted into the interior of the houseboat, where water is pumped downwards onto it until all of the dirt and muck is gone. The iron is taken in chests up to the smelting area, where it is put into a furnace and left there until it becomes a single mass of metal, then placed into ingot molds. The ingots are sold to weaponsmiths and metalworkers.

Houseboats
The Telmachar live in large houseboats, about the size of a suburban human home. These houseboats are all centered on a large open center area, where the claws and lifting mechanisms are, along with the pipes for the pump. Around this are the kitchen, bedrooms, communal area, and storage room. On the outside are a rowboat garage, smeltery, workshop, pantry, and meat-drying racks. There is also a large deck on which the Telmachar spend a lot of their time.

Each houseboat has about twenty people, and once there are at least thirty people, a new houseboat is constructed - a boat can hold up to forty, but comfortably only twenty.

Jobs
Each day, the Telmachar divide into several groups. They must hunt, clean, and gather bog iron. The hunters go out in rowboats and check all of the alligator, bear, catfish and rabbit traps set by them near or in the swamp. Those who gather bog iron must also pump the water to clean all of it. This is all on days when the houseboat is stationary - the boats spend about a week in a single square mile of swamp.

On moving days, everyone takes a long pole and helps push the houseboat forward.

Food
The Telmachar eat Jultoush of alligator, rabbit, bear, and catfish, with some seaweed mixed in (occasionally).