Dwarves
Contents
The Coming of the Dwarves
No one is certain of the age of the Khars. They are both ancient and ageless, untouched by time and impervious to known magic. They were creations of stone and glass, no metal has been seen in the halls.
What is known is that Durin's folk came from the sky in search of the old halls, and that they were rebuked by the Elven Lords in the time before. The Dwarves fought their way to Khar Effol and repelled the elves until a truce was made. Neither side came away pleased but the genocide was ended and the Dwarves attempted to resettle the Khars.
All of this happened before the coming of Man, and the Dwarven hatred of the Elves has been far eclipsed by their hatred of the Orc. The Dwarves tell of the Hill people who once numbered many but no Dwarf survived the Orc Blight save those of the five Khars who set the ancient doors and went to the dark.
When the Empire of Man ended the Blight, men found the old doors but it was not until an enterprising old wizard used the “friendly knock” to prove to the dwarves that he was no Orc that the door of Khar Effol was opened and Dwarves began to return to the surface.
Dwarves now populate the land above but they hold their traditions from their time below. They dislike the Sun but fear the stars and many will not willingly sleep outdoors. Dwarf children are raised to believe that the Elves are watching from the sky and that they will come down in the night to steal Dwarves and leave them to die in the black and become stars.
They are very superstitious and untrusting by nature and they all possess a weak antimagic field that will cause arcane effects to fail 10% of the time. Mages are feared because of this and although a Dwarf Mage is not impossible, they are likely to be insane.
Dwarves are notoriously infertile and for whatever reason are only 30% likely to conceive a girl, so females are both treasured and repressed to an extreme degree. The Dwarf term of affection for a female lover is Shinjenta, which best translates to Slave-Goddess or Mine-to-Protect. Females are given few duties and never risked on any level, and this oppression can lead to runaways being hunted down by the entire extended family.
Dwarves are squat and heavy, some as wide as they are tall. They have skin from brown to ebony black and great ropes of braided hair that runs the gamut of the earth from fiery red to brown or grey or even occasionally rich amethyst for the Dwarves of Khar Deep.
Daen Kharis (Mountain Dwarf)
The Dwarves of the Khars adhere to a strict caste system. Each Dwarf knows his station and knows it will never change without formal adjustment by their Jarl. This prospect is what drives many young Dwarves, especially secondborn, to the life of an adventurer. Of course, common adventurers are automatically part of the lowest caste, so they are prone to reckless heroics to impress their kin and buy back their lost honor.
Mountain Dwarves are known to be somewhat haughty (even the lowest Bonepicker is of a higher caste than any non-Dwarf) and incredibly slow to trust. They do not believe in forgiving slights of any measure. For example, despite the fact that the Genocides took place over ten thousand years ago, any Elf wishing to have any dealings with a Dwarf must pay a Weregild before speaking.
Daen Huris (Hill Dwarf)
The bulk of the Hill Dwarves were lost in the Orc Blight. Some few managed to gain protection of the Khars but most were too proud to beg refuge and had no hope of withstanding the sheer numbers of the Orcs. Their numbers still have not recovered but travelers occasionally find small clans in the badlands tending to sheep and goats. They are taller than their Mountain cousins, fairer, and more free to trust and to laugh. They are not generally known as great smiths but primarily survive as herdsmen.
It was their friendly nature that brought them into close contact with the humans and it is a frequent sight to see one of them take a day-bride, or human wife. Such an arrangement is not generally questioned but it is not encouraged as humans are not believed welcome in the Dwurhallen but even a temporary companion is preferable to a cold hearth. This tolerance ends should a day-bride bear children, as Half-Dwarf sons not only cannot pass on to the Dwurhallen but the father of them is unwelcome as well. Still, some Hill Dwarves are willing to give up eternity for their day-brides.
Daen Trathor (Grey Dwarf)
The legend of the Grey Dwarves is told with equal parts sorrow and hatred. The Dwarf Lord Trath Greyfist was a knight of great deeds who claimed to have found a relic that would lead him to the fabled Sixth Khar. He set out with an expedition force and hope of his return had been lost when he arrived in Khar Effol alone, partially maimed, but also claiming success. Hundreds followed his resettlement banner as he promised riches and glory for all.
Only one dwarf was ever heard from again. A rogue who had followed Greyfist hoping to escape hanging made it back to Khar Effol. He had strange scars on his head and a hole bored into his skull that left his brain exposed. He told stories of monsters of the old world who set upon the entire force, eating many and enslaving the rest. The rogue told of a horrible tentacled thing who broke his mind before eating his head, and how he was only saved because the thing spat him out like a sour raspberry. The rogue later died from a strange growth in his brain.
Centuries later, rumors have reached the Khars of grey skinned dwarves living in the deepest reaches of the earth. These Grey Dwarves supposedly are aggressive and cruel, claiming to have fought free of enslavement by alien brain-eating abominations and blaming the Dwarves of the surface for abandoning them to their fate.
Daen Eris (Riva)
The Riva were at one point thought to be a story to scare children. Now the bodies of their victims tell the truth of their horrible existence.
The Dwarves warn their children not to go too deep into the heart of the mountain or linger too long. They talk of a strange purple glow, a sign of twisted earth that burns away the soul. Deep in the earth there are places where the veil is thin and the Far Realm reaches through, and it changes you. This is what makes the Riva.
The Riva are small, almost as small as a Gnome, and sickly pale. Some report that their eyes have no iris or pupil, others claim that they scoop out their eyes and replace them with silvery white stones. They speak an incoherent tongue that resembles the sound of a Gibbering Mouther more than anything else. They are depraved, sadistic lunatics with no ties of love or loyalty for even their own kind. Their villages are little more than huge termite mounds constructed from the corpses of their victims dotted with shrines to terrible beings of the Far Realm.
