Dwarven Banks

Seen as the backbone of Dwarven society, the Banks are known as the gatekeepers of wealth that has kept the Dwarf Kingdoms solvent throughout the eons.

Formation
Formed as a coalition of wealthy miners in the early 2nd Eon, the early banks became local businesses where miners could deposit their newly mined minerals and metals into while they were away from home, knowing that they would be there when they returned. This allowed the banks to accumulate such a large amount of wealth that they began to offer loans to new miners who needed early capital for equipment.

During this period, early banking theory was formed which began a rapid transformation of how wealth was made within the existing kingdoms.

Centralization
As early banking theory spread between the coalition banks, some of the more ruthless families began a process of using the wealth they held in their vaults to buy other local competing banking coalitions. These banking families used their new capital to further centralize banks into a single bank for their hall, city or region. This is where the current banks were formed and while some newer banking families have taken over from older inbred houses, the current model for banking as led to an equilibrium between the families over who controls different regions and cities and therefore a general peace to avoid one house gaining power over all the others.