Nestled at the foot of the norther spur of the Summer Mountains, Daric is the hub of mining in Jiara. The city itself is interspersed with the mines, built on every available surface in a series of interconnected, jagged canyons. Wooden scaffolds and precarious rope bridges link the city’s neighborhoods. Mine entrances are scattered throughout the canyon, with the ones holding valuable deposits heavily guarded.

The mineral wealth of Daric is controlled by the merchant clans, many of whom are connected to the princely families of Jiara itself or to the Guild. Citizens work as specialized miners, foremen, clerks, herdsman, and armed enforcers. The hard work of mining, especially in the hardest conditions extracting salt from the earth, is done by slave labor.

Rather than competing for the best finds, the merchant clans have a complex negotiated system of allocating veins and deposits according to the Writs of Claim. The Writs, which describe the conditions that grant a particular find to one of the clans, are hotly disputed. The clans often offer rewards to speculators who can find deposits that match the conditions of particular claims.

The mines of Daric are a tangled network of tunnels and pits. No map of the mines exists, and rumors persist among slaves of strange things lurking in the darkness below the city. Other rumors suggest the right tunnels lead beyond the city, though if slaves find those paths, they do not return.