Dwarves

Dwarves are a race of stocky, tough individuals. They are typically shorter than humans, usually around four feet in height, but as much or more, from just under one hundred pounds for the smallest Akthar to nearly three times that in the largest of the Kathar. They are known to generally be of good heart, though prickly dispositions, and often said to love drink, fighting, and the crafting of stone, metal, and gems.

Of The Dwarves
It is said by loremasters of the ancient ways that in the days before time, the world was created by Evighet from that which was nothing and yet everything. That the world was brought into being by his divine will and that those who would be his companions were brought from nothing into being by the hands of the creator. The Mountain Lord Kivi and Valtameri, Lady of the Deep, brought into being all that which stands below our feet and placed the fires of Tuli deep within to warm the world. And above all this roamed Frihet the Windwalker, breathing life into the air and clouds.

And when the world was whole, and the mountains stood firm between waves and clouds, the Mountain Lord looked upon his work at the center of all things, standing firm in the midst of oceans tossed and clouds broke asunder with rain and lighting and saw that his lands must hold fast and be that to which all other things must be anchored.

And when the first age drew to a close, and the gods came to emulate their own creator and created for themselves companions in their realms, the Mountain Father created a race of sturdy brethren to inhabit his mighty mountains. As stout and as strong as those mountains, to weather the storms of sea and air that would batter them, he created the dwarves who would burrow into his rocky realm and take their refuge in it’s halls of stone.

The Six Crafts
So it came to pass that the first of the Dwarven clans was created and the race of the Kathar was born. They dug deep into the first mountain, coming to call their new home Kathar-thur, the Dwarf-home. And thus was founded the first of the great delves of the rock dwarves. It’s halls of stone magnificent and grand, tunneling deep into the earth of the world. And thus the first of the great labors was learned and the craft of the Stonemason was perfected.

As the Stonemasons delved deep into the earth, great veins of precious metals were revealed to them, gifts of Kivi to his children. And these great metals were taken up by the dwarven lords and offered as thanks giving to their Lord and creator and he told to his children that the gifts were for them, and he came to them, and showed them how to dig for these great treasures and how to refine them from the rocks in which they came, and thus was created the second of the great labors and the craft of the Miner was perfected.

When the craft of the Miners was done, the metals that were pulled from the great works of Kivi were smelted and purified, the Kathar came again unto Kivi, who showed them how to take the metals and make from them great items of utility and instruments of protection and defense. And thus as Kivi taught his children did listen and the third great labor was crated and thus was given birth to the Blacksmiths.

As there were now weapons and armor to defend the Kathar from those great terrors of the deeps, thus were called upon mighty Kathar to take up the armor and weapons and defend the delves, and Kivi came again to his children and taught them the art of defense, and of battle, and of the honor of defending his realm from those that would seek to destroy it. And thus in this time was the fourth great labor created and the Warriors of the Kathar were born.

When it came to pass that the Stonemasons and Miners delved deeper into the great halls of the earth they discovered the last of the gifts of Kivi, great deposits of raw gemstone, and these glittering rocks they did take up into the halls of reverence and place before the altars and asked for the guidance of the Mountain Lord and he did come, and did show unto them how to take these glittering gems from their stone prisons and work upon them such as they would glitter and shine with all the light of the stars of the upper world. And so, the halls of stone came to mirror the dome of night, and be lighted by the glittering stars of the mountain. Thus was created the fifth great Labor, and the craft of the Gemcutter was born.

And when the children of Kivi finally came out unto the light of the world and ventured forth atop the rocks of their underground home, they came upon the forests of the world and found that those trees that had fallen, or would be felled before their axes, rendered unto them a material that was good for building that which iron and steel was too heavy or too solid for, and thus the art of working wood was begun. And with tool and strength they taught themselves the art of wood working. Thus, did Kivi smile, as his children had come to teach themselves how to work and his job of guiding them was done. And the sixth great labor was come unto the dwarves and the craft of the Carpenter was born.

Exploration and Expansion
In time, the explorers of the Kathar ventured further about the world under the sky, and they came to discover that there were other mountains, far from their homes in Kathar-thur and thus, the first of the Great Councils of the Kathar was called. Leaders of the ten clans gathered to discuss what should be done. The discovery of other mountains, and other home sites was viewed as the third boon of the Mountain Lord Kivi, and it was decided that each clan would send members to the new mountains, and form a new delve in the image of Kathar-thur.

Then the clans did choose from among the best of each of their kin to send forth into the world, far and wide, among the other races and kins. They that would forge forth into the world and into the mountains, newly discovered, delve new homes, and thus spread the word and the gifts of the great Mountain Father.

And so were created the brother delves of Kathar-thur. Far to the south was delved the dwarf-realm of Dunroginar. In the far north was carved out the great delve of Thorvinog. In the west was made fast the dark hold of the Gardagon Keep. Across the waters, by boat some traveled and in the rocks of the sea-side range was delved the realm of Haradron. And to the east was dug the greatest of the Delves, one that would rival even Kathar-thur.

Duhricktharn
Those that journeyed into the east lands were guided by a star that fell from the night sky, and following the trail of fire, the dwarf fathers, led by Thane Drumibor SteelHeart, did come to find a calm vale carved into the earth by the fall of the star, which was viewed as a sign from Kivi, bringing a star down to rest upon the bosom of the Dwarf Father’s lands. And thus at the far south end of the vale was found a great mountain rising above those about it, and so it was seen as the location of the sixth delve. And so, the party of dwarves did traverse the vale, and the great rock that had fallen was dug from the ground in the center of the vale, and was put upon great carts and taken to the mountain. And upon the eastern side of the mountain was found a great crack in the rocks and here was to be made the great entrance. And thus, guided by a star fallen from the heavens, the great Delve of the Fallen Star was founded.

The Ten Thanes of the great clans that did travel to the Vale of the Fallen Star did delve into the rocks and carved from the heart stone of the great mountain a mansion of the Dwarven lords that was the mightiest of all the delves. And of the Thanes that did set upon this task were two Thanes of gold, who did keep the mines of the Dwarven realm, and their names were Hargrim GoldHelm and Birgof SilverLode. And four thanes of Steel did come to forge and weild the blades of the delve, and foremost of them was Thane Drumibor SteelHeart whose warriors did lead the expedition, and with him were his generals, Thanes Orlin IronForge, Doroff Earthshaker, and Bjorn FellAxe. And Three thanes of the crafting peoples did come and were known to all as Vorith Stonecutter, Thinroff TreeCarver, and Kethrich RockBreaker. And of last one thane who served the Mountain Lord Kivi, and his people did hold with the ways of the Mountain lord and keep the souls of those who would hold the Delve, and he was Rogoth Thunder-Hammer, whose very voice spoke with the sound of the Mountain Soul, and who none who listened to him ever doubted the veracity of his communion with the Dwarf Father himself.

It was decided then that the ten thanes of the delve should chose one from among themselves to be their leader. And to this end was declared the Servant of Kivi to be the one that would lead them all in the ways of the Mountain Lord and keep to them all the close ties to the Dwarf Father himself. The other nine brought forth the treasures of their clans. Gold and platinum were brought and forged into a crown and scepter. A mighty hammer befitting the thane’s namesake was forged and gifted unto the new Thane of the Mountain Delved. A helm of power, armor hard and fast, and a shield within which the power of the Moutain Lord himself was said to hold firm were all brought from the forges and gifted unto the Thane. Three gems were gifted from the thanes of the people. Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, they glittered in the dim lights of the forge fires of the Delve and these were taken and set into the crown of gold.

Within this mountain, the stone was sturdy, and the delve was carved with such care as to create a thriving city under the rocks with great chambers and giant halls to awe and inspire those who lived and visited. And the great Fallen Star itself was taken up by the smiths of the delve and forged into a giant gate that would seal the entrance to the delve that had been named the Great Valve. And this great gate did stand open and did beckon to those that would come to trade with the mighty crafters under the mountain. And thus did a center of trade with the nearby races did thrive. Lush forests near the vale provided lumber for the carpenters and the vale itself was often used by elves and gnomes alike to make camp while trading with the dwarven crafters. And within this great delve was found by the miners of the SilverLode clan, the first of the great veins of Mithril, the fourth boon of Kivi. A metal of such light weight and yet bearing the strength of steel, such weapons and armor could be created that the likes of which had never under or over the mountains been seen before, and all who touched it And thus, in time, the Delve of the Fallen Star came to be the largest and richest of all the delves. And it was called by its dwarven name of “Duhricktharn”.

The Nithar
As such things go, in time, the crafters of the Delves all grew restless and some found themselves lacking room to ply their trade in only the six delves and wished to set out and form more delves, and the elders of the race denied them the rights to go forth and delve into the deeps and make for themselves new homes. Some were even jealous of the gifts of magical enchantments that the runesmiths laid into the items of station of the thanes, and the envy rotted away at them like a disease. And so, denying their heritage, members of all clans, and all crafts, among all the delves, did leave their mountain homes and take up life upon the surface of the world and thus were outcast from the Kathar who disowned themselves of those who would leave and did call them Nithar, the ‘fatherless’, for they had turned their back on their Mountain Lord.

Thus, the leaders of the Nithar left their mountain home and led their followers to found new homes among the hills. Many clans ventured forth from the mountain homes they had known for all their history, and some clans split in twain, tearing families apart as some of the Kathar left to forge a new life in the wild lands beyond the safety of their caves. And in time those that went forth became know as the Hill Dwarves. For each great delve that had been founded in the early days of the second age was then created a city of surface dwelling Nithar. For each Delve there was a shadow city, on the surface, that mirrored the great cities of the deeps.

For Kathar-thur, there was the shadow city of Nithar-thur, with towers of granite that soared over the city in great blocks that reached to the stars. Near Dunroginar there was the great sprawling complex of Thingoradin, which excelled at the arts of agriculture, much as it’s bretheren city was reknown for mining prowess. Near the great Keep of Gardagon was the citadel of Morgardoth, where the first monasteries of the dwarven kingdoms were founded, and the way of the fists shadowed the mighty warrior castes of the Keep of Vigilance. In Haradron were found the finest carpenters in the kingdoms and those that journeyed forth from there sought solace in the trees and built a kingdom of dwarves at peace with the woodland realms, where axe would not fell tree, but rather, worked within the woods to fashion the realm of Rothanos, which rivaled even elven sylvan homes in their majestic beauty. And from Thorvinog ventured forth the great gemcutters of that mountain realm and sought refuge in the port city of Thalanion, where they built great ships and plied the seas, and became great students of the stars of the night sky, and through them, their abilities to navigate the waves was unmatched in it’s time. And from the mighty Delve of the Fallen Star did the venture forth blacksmiths of great skill and craft into the hills north of the Mountain hold and did found a great city of crafters, from which came some of the mightiest works of dwarves. And thus that city was named Kaeginar, the City of Fires.

By these claims of land by the Nithar, and the cities which were forged by those who were cast out by choice of their own, were the two dwarven empires forged. And there was much rivalry and feuding among the clans, and the Nithar traveled upon the surface of the world and made peace with those who shared the world of Aurinko’s sun, and with them, did raid and feud bitterly with their rock-dwelling bretheren.

And the Kathar, who were split from one another, did not have the ways to travel between their realms in safety, and the Thunder-Hammer of the Delve of the Fallen Star did take aside his runesmiths and did request that a great portal be built such that all the delves could be linked through the powers of their mighty magics. And thus did the runesmiths ply the mysteries of the rune magics and come upon a means to link the six great delves. And thus were the great crystal portals of the Delves created. And six keys for each gate were created to be shared among the thanes of the Delve, each held in trust by the elder thane of each of the Great Crafts such that the mighty gates would not be used lightly. And the master key was a seventh item, held in trust by the Over Thanes of the delve, and held in secret, such that it would be kept safe.

And so the Kathar worked the rune magics of the deep realms, summoning the power of earth and the sufferance of the Mountain Lord to ply the ways between their realms, and thus were forged, in times of woe, the great portals between the six Kathar Kingdoms such that they could support each other in their feuds with their Nithar bretheren. And thus the Thanes of the Kathar realm would commune with each other and support with troops and goods the efforts of one another. And thus was the Kathar realm brought closer together in it’s time of strife with the Nithar.

The Wars of Elves and Dwarves
After a time, the Kathar and the Nithar forgot why they fought, and many generations passed in relative quiet until such a time as a new threat came upon them. And the elves of the world began to turn against the Nithar that had trusted them. And the trade routes of the Kathar with the humans and other races were beset by raiding parties. And the cities of the Nithar were hounded and much vigilance was required, lest they fall to the quiet daggers in the night of the elves that would come in the silent hours. And thus did the Kathar and the Nithar come together to defend themselves against the unwarranted aggression of the elven bandits. And thus the dwarven wars ended and the two realms came together, and the reforged dwarven empire did turn itself to do battle upon the foul realms of the Elven host.

The battles raged between the Dwarven Empire and the elves of the world. And much woe and pain was suffered unto both races, and cities were laid waste, and Keaginar was felled by the magical might of the elven empire and thus they did throw down it’s mighty walls and lay ruin to what was once a city of much creation and industry. Those that did survive the ruin of Kaeginar were offered refuge in the halls of Duhricktharn and did come there to find safety, and to help in the defence of the mighty delve. And woe was brought in return upon the elven realms and great swaths of forest were cut down by the axes of the dwarven carpenters and burned so that the smoke of the fires might block out the light of the sun and choke the very air.

Battles were thusly fought, and fires burned both tree and earth, and the world was made to tremble with magics terribly and great. And the Dwarves did great harm to the forests of the elves, and the elves did call upon Tuli to quench the fires of the Dwarven forges and alternately burn them out of control with the firey hatred of the elves. And the weariness of both races did weigh heavily upon them and the battles soon turned to raids and to disputes and to clashes of a much smaller nature for neither side had much the men nor the will to fight save for pride.

And to this end did come a band of elves bearing flags of peace to the dwarven realm. And they did say that they have seen the evil in the hearts of their brethren and wished to put a stop to the battles and the conflict and did betray to the dwarves the secrets of the defense of the elven capital. And the dwarves did muster and through their ways secret and passages dark and perilous did take their battle unto the enemy in it's very stronghold. Then did the great host go forth to attack and in their haste they left not enough defense of their own city and in that was their own undoing. For the elves did betray the dwarven city.

So the dwarves did find a host of the enemy before the elven city, and battle was joined and many did fall as the city was as prepared for the dwarven advance, as the dwarves were fooled into going. And lo, at the twilight of the battle, in the gathering of the evening, did all those who fought fall back and find unto themselves filled with horror as the world was sundered before them and a great light filled the sky and all came apart. And the world was broken by the foul hand of misdeeds.

Upon returning to their own halls at great haste did the dwarven thanes find that the terrors of the deep had taken hold of their fair delve. When the world was broken apart did the foul blackness off Sslira then seep into the world and infest the darkest and deepest chambers of the mighty city of Duhricktharn, striking at the core of the greatest of the Dwarven cities. And a new war was fought. A war to save those of the world as what could be saved. And in this great battle was joined the dwarven host by those of what elves that still remained, and gnomes, and all who would come to fight for the world such as remained, and laid siege to the remnants of the dwarven home.

Fall of the Fallen Star
It was in this battle that the great line of the Thunder-Hammers fall, destroyed by the minions of the foul queen. And all the lines of Thanes unto their forefathers were sundered and none knew who yet remained to carry the crown. And all those who could fight did fight, and to save those that could escape they did battle, and those already fouled by the black one’s taint did they do battle with, brother fighting brother, father fighting son. And in the end the remants of the great Thane’s artifice were scattered to the rocks so that they might not be taken up in arms against their former masters. And the lines were drawn to an end. And dwarves fled the realms as the darkness grew, and great gates were thrown up into the halls of the delve to block the advance of the evil ones, and many died fighting their kin. And those who died rose up again and fought as the undead, against their former comrades. And all was thought lost. And a small clan of warriors, outcasts of Keaginar whose forefathers had lost honor and walked in shame from their noble houses did come and hold the final line of defense at the gates of the valve, such that those last dwarves that could escape would do such as they could. And the mighty valor of the warriors did fell a hundred fold their own number of foul beast, but in the end, yet of a tenscore that fought, only one of those score did still stand. And as their hammers and axes did cut a final swath and they stepped into the valley of the Fallen Star did the great Valve Baragrad finally close and was sealed. And upon the rocky lip of the Vale were named the last defenders of the delve and the name of the clan of Thunder-Hammer was gifted unto them to restore their valor and carry on the name in a line of blood worthy of such honor.

Recovery and Rebirth
The survivors of the Delve wandered back into the world. Those left behind in the deeps were all that was left of the Kathar, and none knew their fate. Those Kathar that escaped were tainted by the magics of Sslira, and were called Akthar, “the cursed.” Akthar and Nithar alike traveled back through the world, and found themselves cut off from the old lands that they knew. Some journeyed to the ruins of Keaginar and rebuilt it as the New City, and others traveled further west and found a sheltered cove on a new coast, and upon the rocky outcrop above the bay did dig again into the rocks, founding a new delve, Kal Gruva-dod. The Mines of the Dead, in memory of those that fell in defense of the realms.

The Delve was built near a small fishing village that was upon the very coast of the bay. A new people were there, these humans that the dwarven refugees had never met. They were amiable and much trade between the crafters of the delve and the fishers of the village was beneficial to all. The delve grew slowly, down into the rocks under the Fjordlands. Halls were carved and forges created, a great temple to the Mountain Father was carved into the heartstone of the mountain and a great stone anvil was placed in memory of the lost great forges of their former mountain home. The fishing village grew as the delve did, and eventually the settlement grew to the entrance of the dwarven retreat. A trading hall was constructed on the surface to replace the gates that had guarded the deeps, providing a place for the Dwarves to trade and meet with the humans and other settlers of their new home.

For a time, the dwarves enjoyed a semi-state of freedom. Any issues that took place underground were solely the responsibility of the dwarves to handle. The city wasn't responsible to help defend the dwarves, but neither were the dwarves required to help defend the city. Often, however, as a matter of convenience, select groups from either locale helped their neighbors with defense, but it was never mandatory. A peaceful existence was struck. The dwarves provided tools and weapons, the villagers helped provide food. Trade flourished.

As time went on and the Taldaran empire encroached the area, things changed, however. More formal agreements were struck and enforced, and the dwarves were subjected to being made citizens of the empire, and their underground home was made a part of the city. They bristled, but accepted in due time. They got to keep working their mines and making their craft goods, and all was well.

A few little things called 'revolts' changed all that, though.

Through the revolts against the empire, the dwarves always sat firmly on the side of the local humans, feeling far more attachment to their local neighbors than some throne in a far off land. The great forges of the delve were the flashpoint for the revolts, often providing the lion's share of the weapons used in the uprisings. Their underground locale difficult, if not impossible to take by force, and the great trading hall serving as a walled fortress to guard the entrance to the underground areas. After the second revolt, things were changed.

When the humans made peace among themselves, the dwarves were forced to concede along side the crown of the city. The empire attempted to find a way to put controls on the dwarven smiths such that ehy wouldn’t be able to put such a stranglehold on the creation of weapons and armor in the city. The Delve was sundered and the mines and forges were forfeit from the Delve. The crown created a 'mining consortium' to oversee the running of the delve and the mines, with half control of the crown and empire, and half control by all the mining and blacksmithing interests in the city. The directors of the consortium decided on price ranges for all ore and goods produced by and for the consortium and all control was wrested away from those who worked the bellows that their forefathers had built in long ages past.

The Enclave itself is, today, merely a shadow of the great Delve that it once was, and somewhere, there are dwarves that remember Kal Gruva-dod and long for the stone to be whole again under the rocks of the Trading hall. And upon their first chance, will likely send the imperials straight to Sslira’s bosom if they can.