Dwarves

The dwarves are an old and powerful race. Known worldwide for their metalworking, diminutive stature, beards, and love for beer, the dwarves have had an irreversible impact on the world. While not too fond of straying far from their ancestral lands, the dwarves have still spread far and wide, and have as a result developed a great variety of distinct cultures, most, but not all of which draw upon aspects of their ancestral culture and religion.

## History

The dwarves originated in a rather humnle fashion. Following the supposed death of the Khiiric gods, the mountain that would become the birthplace of the dwarven race was deemed the sacred tomb of Kerabar, the god of fire and metalworking, and the mountain's namesake.

In the year -600 of the Dwarven calendar, a group of priests settled on the mountain's foot, carving a temple into the mountain itself in which they would spend their days paying homage to the dead god, with Khiir pilgrims often coming from their homeland of Ker'heir to do the same. Over six centuries, what started as a mere temple grew into a village, a town, and eventually a city. For reasons unknown, they grew increasingly diminutive and as the generations passed by, and eventually, they declared themselves their own people and renamed themselves Dwarves, marking year 0 of the Dwarven calendar.

Scholars debate as to the exact time, but sometime during their first century, the dwarves started domesticating the great boars of their native regions, breeding them for size to use them as pack animals and eventually mounts.

The city began to expand rapidly, and small groups began breaking off to form their own clans in the surrounding regions. 200 years passed by, and the dwarven race quickly came to encompass more than a hundred clans spread throughout the lands surrounding Mount Kerabar. It was around this time that they first began to encounter the other races native to the continent on a more regular basis- the enchroaching Ghushic Orc tribes from the south, and their ancestors' ancient enemies, the Fhomors from the west. While conflicts were limited to skirmishes between outlying dwarf clans and Ghushic warbands, some still considered it a cause for concern, and many of the dwarven clans began forging alliances in case of an invasion from either of the foreign groups.

In year 258, one of the larger dwarven clans left their homeland with the intent of settling Kal'Modhrun, another mountain-tomb dedicated to the Khiiric god of commerce, wealth, good luck and craftsmanship- a mission on which they were joined by 3 other clans willing to seek fortune in distant lands. Two years later in 260, they finally reached the mountain and settled down, only to ultimately come into conflict with the native Orc population, the Orkisians.

Following another 27 years of unease, in the year 285, a major Ghushic incursion struck the dwarven people hard, leading to a decade-long war for the lands south of Mount Kerabar in which about a fouth of the Kerabian clans were wiped out entirely.

In 294 in Kal'modhrun, the now self-proclaimed Modhric dwarves signed a peace-treaty with the Orkisians, allowing them to freely explore the lands to the southwest without worrying about war with their comperatively savage neighbours.

5 years after the end of the war, in year 300, the most powerful of the Dwarven clans, the Stonehammer clan of Mount Kerabar itself, began a long and bloody campaign to unite the Kerabian peoples. Several clans willingly confederated with the Stonehammer clan, forming the first kingdom in dwarven history, deemed the Kingdom of Kerabar. They quickly declared war against clans that opposed the notion of a united Kerabar, beginning the long and arduous process of consolidating the clans.

By 334, the Modhric dwarves experienced an economic boom as they began mastering the natural resources around them, as well as having multiple innovations in craftsmanship and engineering that revolutionized dwarven society. Now more than ever, the original Modhric clans began branching into newer clans, and the significance and nature of clans itself began to shift dramatically as their mindset turned from one of tradition and honor to one of industry and commerce. In spite of their newly developed outlook however, they still held their Kerabian cousins in high regard, and decided to send both reinforcements and supplies to the newly formed kerabian kingdom to aid them in the war to unite the clans, speeding up the process dramatically.

In 352, the process of uniting the Kerabian clans was finally complete, and their societies saw dramatic reforms and cultural development initiated by the ruling king to remove incompatibility between the beliefs and social customs of the various clans to ensure the longevity of the kingdom. Once the kingdom was in a solid state, the Kerabian dwarves began expanding and exploring the content more than ever before, discovering the Borric Orc tribes, as well as the primitive, and at the time, unremarkable humans inhabiting the southern portions of the Telibrian peninsula.

More notable was the discovery of the mountain goblins to the north in 356, which proved to be far more aggressive and numerous than the far less threatening hill goblins the dwarves had previously dealt with, and quickly became the second greatest threat the Kerabian dwarves had faced, matched only by the Ghushic invasion over half a century prior. While not a direc existensial threat, the goblins still proved a constant danger to towns and villages in the north, running the risk of being tunneled into and overrun by marauding goblin warbands.

In 359, the Kerabians were disturbed by reports of newly formed settlements finding difficulty in drawing upon the fire magic of the sacred mountain, causing them to conclude that the dead god's influence has a limited reach. Following this, their expansion into new territory became far more cautious, and eventually stopped entirely, leading the dwarves to instead focus more on expanding already existing settlements, as well as reaching underground, finding ways to utilize both their deep mines and the natural caves and tunnels beneath them.

by 363, the Kerabian dwarves had secured their northern borders, constructing underground strongholds and fortifying their towns. This also gave rise to a more martial culture in the north, giving the Kerabians of the north a reputation as fighters and warriors. It was around this time that the priesthood of Kerabar began to gain significant influence with recent innovations in metalworking techniques and fire magic.

In 367, the Flame Priests formed an officially sanctioned organization seeking to consolidate the Kerabian religious practioneers under a single leadership. In the following decades, with smiths and Flame Priests from across the kingdom coming together to work as one, metalworking techniques and magic began to progress at a rapid rate. The ancient, nearly lost tradition of rune magic was reinvigorated and improved to such an extent that it lead to the creation of a Runepriest cult, which was eventually made a subsection of the main religious order specialized in the crafting and empowerment of runes.

In 369, the newly reinvented art of Runecraft quickly spread to Kal'modhrun, the population of which was happy to embrace a new form for magic not directly tied to religion, as until then, the divine fire magic of Kerabar was the only widespread form for magic at the dwarves disposal- a form for magic unavailable to the Modhric dwarves due to the nature of magic and religion in dwarven society.

By 380, the priesthood had become one of the most powerful political forces within the kingdom, rivaling the High Clans in influence, and the leader of the priesthood was elevated to a position directly beneath the king himself.

The 400th anniversary of the dwarven calendar marked the date of an exodus from the Kingdom of Kerabar. Hundreds of dwarves commited Baraz-Dum collectively, after which they formed new clans and traveled in various directions to settle new lands, creating the first clan-ruled city-states since before Kerabar was united.

In 412, the Modhric dwarves were discovered by elven explorers, and they ultimately made contact with the budding elven civilizations on the southeastern coast of the Dalic Sea. The two races quickly got along, and the elves soon began settling the region that would become modern day Dulien to more easily trade with the dwarves. The dwarves taught the elves about architecture and metalworking, and the elves in turn aided the dwarves in developing a greater understanding for agriculture and magic.

***WIP.***

## Culture

No matter where you go, dwarves are a hardy and determined people with sharp axes(or sometimes swords) and a love for ale. Despite these common characteristics however, they are still a culturally varied people, with many embracing their own derivatives of the ancient Khiiric culture, whilst a few follow traditions that are unheard of anywhere else.

### Religion

#### Neo-Khiiric Religion

The Neo-Khiiric nations include the Kingdom of Kerabar, The Modhric Free Realms and the Kingdom of Karadin. According to Khiiric legend, the ancestors of the dwarves, the Khiir, worshipped a pantheon of six gods; Karun, Kazadun, Kerabar, Karadin, Kan'baela and Kal'modhrun. The six gods, according to Khiiric beliefs, are dead, and so their spirits were put to rest within 6 mountains, each named after its respective god.

While dead, the Dwarves and Khiir do not believe they are without power; rather, each god may influence and bless those who live their lives near it. This has given rise to a tradition of localised worship, with dwarves acknowledging and revering all six gods, but only ever following the god of one's respective nation. As only three of the mountains are inhabited, only three of the gods have followers, these being Kerabar, Karadin and Kal'modhrun. Each of the mountains' peoples are heavily influenced by their native god.

#### Khazuda

Khazuda is a term refering to a group of cultures and religions followed by a number of dwarven clans that used to adhere to the Neo-Khiiric traditions. These are clans that settled too far from Kerabar to be Kerabian dwarves, and so, finding themselves without a patron god, turned to the ways of the Khiir.

While many religions are considered Khazuda, all aren't the same. Some focus on the lesser gods of ancient Khiiric traditions, some focus on nature spirits, some focus on spirits of the earth, and others look to more obscure facets of Khiiric mythology and worship the primordial godly clans that are said to have existed alongside the Khiiric pantheon. While initially rooted in traditional Khiiric beliefs, many Khazuda religions have deviated greatly, becoming entirely separate entities with their own myths and gods.

#### Kashun

The Kashun are a generally nonreligious people, instead embracing their personal brand of self-deification. They build temples dedicated to their own civilization, and draw obscene amounts of magic from the ley-lines in attempts to channel power capable of challenging even gods. Needless to say, it rarely ends well.

## The Dwarven Peoples

* Kerabians
* Modhrs
* Karadin
* Khazuda Dwarves
* Oborese Dwarves
* Dwailic Dwarves
* Ashen/Kashunic Dwarves
* Other