The dwarves

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Overview

The dwarves are a secluded race, keeping to the underground looking for the riches of the earth and rare metals. Known for perfecting the art of smithing and stonework's as well as siege engines. Very few dwarven cities fell to invaders hands, with their weapons and armor forged from the best smiths, their ill temper, arrogance, and proud nature of the dwarves force back the invaders with the force of a hammer.  

Physiology

The dwarves are a short and thick, Their size can vary from five foot four, the tallest to be recorded, to four feet five. They are naturally pale, and there eyes are adapted to subterranean life with a keen eye for movement, and if a dwarf wishes to explore the outside world they must adapt their eyes over the period of years before taking a journey across the land, or face the searing sun and blind themselves in the process . Dwarves can live up to the age of four hundred years and in some rare cases past four hundred and ten years. The dwarves are limited in their combat techniques, with little to no magical bonds, only being able to craft runes, they tend to excel at close combat and are known for their marksmen.


Origin and History

The Dwarves were in a tribal era when the first High elfs showed up upon the shores of the aeria. The dwarves lived in the low caves and underground caverns in the mountains of what is known today as Estivon. The dwarves raided and pillaged small settlements of the high elves under the cover of darkness, attempting to take what was not nailed down, and run for their holes in the ground. In certain cases some High elves would encounter dwarves that would wield ordinary items that could be found at the settlements or from the raid and use them as weapons only to fail horribly. This could range from Spoons to kettles, to pots. Over time the dwarves began wielding the weapons of the elven soldiers and would crudely refit the armor of fallen soldiers to their needs, only to result in poor quality armor that barely fit.

This continued for over four hundred years and a stunning turnaround had begun to emerge when high elf armies began to expand froth from the cities subjecting many of the outlying tribal bands, with the dwarven tribes feeling secure in their caves they watched as some of the clans noticed their neighbor that they frequently traded food and clothing with had been subjected to the might of the high elves. The clans stopped their raids and attacks on the elves fearing for their lives they hid in their mountain range for years, and for years the high elves moved further inland passing by the dwarven caverns. Until the high elves began searching the mountains for passes in which to lead their armies in. They happened to stumble upon a group of hunters, and followed them back to the cavern entrance

Then began the first war of the dwarves, a war of territorial ground of their caverns. In the beginning the high elves simply marched their troops into the caverns out of the sight of the day of light only to find death and carnage, with the dwarves more adapted they could easily see where the elves could not. The elven tactics quickly changed as they began to use magic and spells to cast the dwarves to the side, to bring light to the dark, to bring fire and unseen death to the dwarves that resisted against them. Over the four hundred and fifty  years of resisting and to only fall in the matter of days and kneel to the elven kind.      

For the next  two hundred years the dwarves resided in their caves and mountain side fearing the return of the elves. When one day two towering warriors appeared before the dwarven clans speaking their fluent language and offered them a better way and to give them a way to extract revenge upon the elves. The warrior gods Tempus and Helm bestowed upon the dwarves much knowledge and beliefs. The underground began booming with the sound of digging implements and hammers. What trees stood along the edge of the mountains were cut down and brought back to the mountain home to fuel the furnaces to provide shelters, and other materials. Over the course of a few years the dwarves had jumped countless generations of knowledge passed to them by the gods who were tuning them forging them past the tribal race that they had first set eyes on. The divine intervention threw the dwarves into covering many aspects such as Stoneworking, Siegeworks, and Metalworking. The embers stroked hot as the dwarves founded their first city fortress of New Nordoar.


The gods left their boot heavily upon the dwarves, creating tactful warriors, with skill awakened and unseen but by the gods themselves. Their faith true and hearts burning with hate they stuck out across the lands they once stepped upon freeing, their past neighbors and began destroying and pillaging the towns they past, Sparing the unarmed and women and children as they marched on to war.
Joining forces with other subjugated races they forced back the elves as fast as the land was
taken.

After the second war with the elves was over the dwarves returned to their newly founded city of Nordoar with the god of Cyus giving way to adventure and the wealth that resided underground. Only to eventually turn into greed and the lust for more wealth, and the ambition of exploring deeper into the earth. The forgotten ties of the “overworld” the dwarves remained secluded for two thousand years with their warrior code, chivalry and their Greed and ambition  for more wealth and prosperity they expanded into four different fortress cities. The capital of Nordoar, Silverborne, Freystone and Merriborough. Four massive cities containing tens of thousands of dwarves and ever expanding underground.


The date is 790 MOP and its a time of war and a great crusade has been called forth by the dwarven king, as the city of Merriborough fell to the hordes of goblins in the sanctimonia mountain range. The dwarves are leaving their mountain homes on the march to war, as some have left home and have began exploring the “overworld” looking to make even more riches off the civilizations that they have cut themselves off of for thousands of years.