Shield dwarf Shield dwarves , also known as mountain dwarves , are among the most common of the dwarven peoples . Once the rulers of mighty kingdoms across Faerûn , the shield dwarves have since fallen by the wayside after centuries of warfare with their goblinoid enemies . Since then , shield dwarves have been less commonly seen throughout Faerûn , though during the Era of Upheaval the subrace , spurred on by the Thunder Blessing , began to retake an important role in local politics . Physical characteristics . The shield dwarves are on average half a foot taller than other dwarves . They are the most common dwarf in the north of Faerûn . They have light skin that is fair or lightly tanned and green or silvery blue eyes with long light brown or red hair , growing white or gray with age . Most males and even some females have large beards and mustaches . The females are slightly shorter and less heavy than the males . Psychology . Shield dwarves are a cynical and gruff people , but they are , despite a reputation to the contrary , fatalistic , still possessing some hope for the future . Typically , shield dwarves take time to trust and even longer to forgive but the dwindling of their race has led many to be more open to other ways of thinking . Shield dwarven attitudes have in the past been typically divided between the Hidden and the Wanderers , two separate schools of thought amongst the race , though since the Thunder Blessing this separation has begun to erode . The Hidden , like the gold dwarves , believed it best to take an isolationist policy towards other races , fortifying their mountain homes and continuing their ancient ways , while the Wanderers have been more adventurous , seeking their fortunes on the surface world . However , while shield dwarves have not always been as open - minded as they are today , there is a long tradition of adventurism in the race and many young dwarves , particularly since the Thunder Blessing , have hoped to find glory in doing great deeds in distant lands . Less self - interested shield dwarves have also taken to the adventuring life to reclaim ancient strongholds or treasures long lost . Whatever the case , most shield dwarves who venture beyond their homes are fighter s or cleric s trained in personal combat , leaning on the strong martial traditions of their people against the orc s , goblin s , troll s , and giant s that threaten the race . Experienced dwarven adventurer s might well go on to become battlerager s or dwarven defender s , while clerics might become runecaster s . Arcane spellcaster s are fairly rare , however , among shield dwarves , who distrust magic . Culture . Traditionally , clan allegiance and caste placement meant everything among the shield dwarves but as their civilization has declined so has the importance of these identity constructs . Although bloodline is still a mark of pride for a dwarf from a particularly strong clan , personal accomplishments have come to mean more practically than the old ways , which seem increasingly irrelevant . Among the Hidden , traditions remain strong , but there is an increasing number of shield dwarves willing to leave the mountains for a life as adventurers or craftsmen among human s . Family life remains a prime concern for dwarves , however , and while elders play a diminishing role in childrearing , the relationships between parent and child or siblings remain as strong as ever . Most dwarves are literate and are taught to read at an early age , before being handed off to an apprenticeship appropriate to their caste . In the workplace , shield dwarves are taught to work both for not only themselves and their family but for the greater whole of their clan and most shield dwarves are , while proud of their work , fairly humble and avoid ostentatious displays of decadence . After a shield dwarf has expired his or her ability to work physically , they remain a valued part of the community for their experience and wisdom and when they die they are honored with funeral rites appropriate to their legacy . Shield dwarves speak a number of Dwarven dialects , the most common of them being the Shanatan language , which is spoken along the Sword Coast from the Shining Sea to the Spine of the World . Further inland , a number of shield dwarves speak Galenan , which is heavily influenced by Damaran . Most shield dwarves are also fluent in Common and the extensive trading contacts of the race has encouraged many to learn Chondathan , Damaran , and Illuskan and even Elven and Gnome as well . Shield dwarf warriors might also be encouraged to learn the languages of their enemies , such as Draconic , Giant , Orc , or Goblin . Art and leisure . Shield dwarves are fine craftsmen but more than among other dwarven races , their craft tends to be war . Shield dwarves accumulate a wide variety of weaponry in the fight to defend their homelands and unlike many dwarves do not limit themselves simply to hammer s or pick s , drawing upon axe s , urgrosh es , spear s , sword s , and maul s as well . Shield dwarves typically equip themselves in heavy armor fashioned from mithral , which they favor over the adamantine of gold dwarves . For pets , shield dwarves favor bat s , canaries , or small lizard s such as the spitting crawler . Like other dwarves they use larger lizard s or mule s as beasts of burden and employ ponies as their war steeds , except in Iltkazar , where many ride upon riding lizard s . Shield dwarven ponies are most commonly Island , Nether , or Whiteshield ponies . In the Far Hills , dwarves have been known to ride dire bat s , navigating the underground tunnels that make up their home upon the flying mammals ' backs . Other , more adventurous shield dwarves might also try to mount dire boar s . Magic and religion . While shield dwarves are openly dismissive of magic , they nonetheless rely on it to a significant degree in the defense of their homelands . Among the Hidden , illusion ists and abjure rs are immensely valued , since they can hide or protect a clan from enemy attack , layering their defenses with protective spell s and ritual s . Shield dwarves also make extensive used of magic item s , though the Hidden and Wanderers differ over which type of items are best employed ( armor and weaponry respectively ) . A few magic items unique to the shield dwarves include " doorbreaker s " , " hammers of staggering blows " , " stonereaver s " , and " foesplitter ax es " . In general , shield dwarves are more open to divine magic and clerics , paladin s , runecasters , and runesmith s are all fairly common . Shield dwarf clerics have even fashioned a few prayer s of their own , such as " mindless rage " and " shape metal " . Shield dwarf clerics most commonly worshiped Dumathoin before the Spellplague , who was chosen as the chief god of Shanatar during the first election for the high king of the Wyrmskull Throne , for whom Moradin selected the high priest of Dumathoin , Ultoksamrin , though this eventually led Clan Duergar , the worshipers of Laduguer , to pull away from the other kingdoms of Shanatar , each of whom had their own patron deity but all of whom , except for Clan Duergar , recognized Ultoksamrin . For the most part , shield dwarves venerate all the Morndinsamman and even before Dumathoin perished nearly all of the pantheon besides Laduguer and Deep Duerra had followers among the race . In practice , however , where Dumathoin did not dominate , Moradin and Berronar , the patrons of Alatorin , or Marthammor Duin , the patron of adventurers and explorers , did . Most prominent were Dumathoin ' s priests , who oversaw all burials among the race before the god ' s demise . Relations with other races . Shield dwarves , while gruff , are not acidic in personality and generally enjoy the company of others , even if they are not of their own kind . Most of all , shield dwarves get along with other dwarves , even for gold dwarves , who they believe naive and overconfident . Although shield dwarves lay claim to a long history of disputes with the Tel - quessir races , most among both peoples are tolerant and even fond of the other . For gnome s , shield dwarves have nothing but fondness , particularly the rock gnome s and deep gnome s , and dwarves have a long tradition of friendship with most of their human neighbors . There are exceptions to the shield dwarves ' tolerance , however , and the race is openly hostile with their kin the duergar , who blame the shield dwarves for their enslavement by the mind flayers . Shield dwarves also have little tolerance for either half - orc s or planetouched , who are either too alien to their experiences to understand or too much like previous enemies . Earthsoul genasi are the only planetouched shield dwarves will easily trust and are in fact welcomed into most delves across the North . History . Although the shield dwarves came into being as they are in present - day Faerûn when a large dwarven migration headed north after the fall of Shanatar , their history goes back much further than this . Circa - 12 , 000 DR , Taark Shanat led a migration of dwarves west from Bhaerynden , entering them into the Cloaker Wars with the inhabitants of Rringlor Noroth . When Taark killed four blue dragons the dwarves were victorious and settled the Rift of Dhalnadar as their new home , founding the realm of Alatorin . The lair of the dragons was renamed Brightaxe Hall and the Wyrmskull Throne was formed from the dragons ' skulls . Taark ' s eight sons spread beneath the areas now known as Tethyr and Amn to build kingdoms of their own and each adopted a child of Moradin as their deity , but fighting over territory broke out between these kingdoms around - 9000 DR . This allowed the drow of Guallidurth to attack and capture Alatorin in the First Spider War , but it was later reclaimed by all eight kingdoms during the Second Spider War when they allied against the invaders . Although unrest between the allied kingdoms began to increase , the Mindstalker Wars were initiated by the illithids of Oryndoll around - 8100 DR . This conflict lasted around twenty years with the dwarves emerging victorious , but Clan Duergar in the caverns of Barakuir had been destroyed . The Third Spider War began around - 6150 DR when the Guallidurth drow attacked once again . After around thirty years , the dwarves were forced out of Brightaxe Hall although they took the Wyrmskull Throne with them . Moving to the Surface . When the dwarves moved to the surface in search of new territory , an initial early allegiance with the humans against the djinni ended when the rulers of Coramshan turned to evil gods . The dwarves established the kingdom of High Shanatar north of the Marching Mountains around - 5960 DR . A looted tomb started a bitter conflict between the dwarves and the humans which ended with the fall of High Shantar around - 2600 DR , after a long period of expansion for Calimshan . Fall of the empires . More and more dwarves migrated north , leaving behind their old kingdoms and forming Oghrann , Haunghdannar , Ammarindar and Delzoun . Eventually , all these dwarven settlements fell , the last of which being Ammarindar in 882 DR as a result of the Netherese . The original kingdoms of Deep Shantar were destroyed around - 1800 DR when the Duergar invaded what was once their home . This was known as the Kin Clashes and left only Iltkazar surviving . Homelands . The ancestral homelands of the shield dwarves are located primarily in the North . Shield dwarves can also be found in Damara , Vaasa , the Vast , and the Western Heartlands . Of all their strongholds , the most important is likely Citadel Adbar , formerly a part of Luruar . However , while the shield dwarves retain many homelands of their own , generations of emigration by the Wanderers has caused a vast diaspora of shield dwarves to spread across human lands . These scattered communities often form into loose approximations of a traditional dwarven clan , maintaining their own ways while integrating into the local community .