: Hmm…could the Dwarves meet with each other? Might they
: trade between the cities often, traveling from one
: city to another? They would have to leave the city
: sometime too to farm and grow crops, right? It's kind
: of hard for me to believe they'd stay completely
: isolated from eachother for millenia…though by what
: you say in your post, such isn't entirely likely (by
: related and common culture, close allies, etcetera).
: This brings up another question: is there any number
: of ages of the Dwarves mentioned, any approximate
: years? To that, what is a Dwarven lifespan? We might
: have to start running on Tolkien for some of
: these…:-).
A city-state, you understand, isn't a city which is a state--it's a state based *around* a city. A region with fields and scattered houses and stuff and mb even a few small villages--but centered on a single large, usually walled city, where everyone goes for commerce, politics, and defense in times of war.
So the Dwarves lived all over the mountains--but their lives were centered on one or the other of the twin cities. I'm sure they traded with each other, visited each other's cities, and so forth. Politically independent states can be very friendly and closely entwined--think about the US and Canada, or adjacent countries in Europe.
Dwarves are classified in GURPS as having "Extended Lifespan + 1"; not having the GURPS sourcebook, I can't tell you exactly what that means, but I'd imagine it means that they live somewhat longer than humans, but not extremely long. Maybe 100-150 years? We know that Jari, in Soulblighter, is the son of Balin, a Pathfinder of 60 years earlier in TFL--and we know that Balin is still alive in Soublighter.
--SiliconDream
