Dwarves

**Subraces**
One of the older races of Tal dwarves come in many varieties.

* Mountain Dwarves,
* Hill Dwarves,
* Pit Dwarves,

**Physiology**

Dwarves tend to be short between a stride and a stride and a half and stocky. Often well muscled and with a low centre of gravity. Dwarves grow a lot of body hair similar to how humans do just more prolific. Dwarves bodies are incredibly tough and resilient both to damage, bruising, and disease. Indeed a dwarves body heals much quicker and more completely than a humans would. Their minds are harder to assault and break and mental disease is unknown to them. It is difficult to poison a dwarf as they are immune to many things that are toxic to humans and even elves. Due to this robust constitution dwarves are known for being able to drink heavily with little effect.

**History**

Dwarves were made/forged by Talon the smith god to preserve his creation and improve on it. They honour Avatar of Knowledge and the Avatar of Justice as well.

Dwarves cover the surface of Karandia in its early years living in the hills and mountains. They had the Undying or Eternal Alliance with the other wide spread ancient race, the elves. This alliance was so strong it survives to this day, millenia later.

The end of the dwarves, and their allies was spelled in the rise of human kind. They pitied the humans, especially during the years of ogre and orc dominance and so taught them refinement. They introduced them to crafts, wood working, building, stone working and finally alloys and metal work. Most important of all the dwarves showed humans how to apply these crafts to build cities, an economy and weaponry with which they could expand their power and civilisation.

The humans then proceeded to out breed the dwarves. With their short life spans and huge families the humans needed increased space to live in and no patience to wait for nature’s will. They cut away at existing town and building their own quick growing cities. As kindly parents to misled children the dwarves tried to counsel their human apprentices from such action but to little avail. When the humans killed dwarves to take their lands and the dwarves leveled stronger centuries, the humans began to threaten the dwarves themselves as a race. Only then did they realise their peril. The humans had become capable of organising their entire race into manifest action.

Wars, consisting of invasions followed by mass settlement, raged and little by little the dwarves and their allies the elves were forced back into their final retreats. The dwarves retreated primarily to Barkarin, their greatest underground city. these dwarves are the mountain dwarves.

However many dwarves refused to go underground and instead strove to survive in small villages and hamlets beneath the humans’ notice or too far out for them to reach to… yet. These dwarves became known as the hill dwarves and many of them died in the relentless Wars of Betrayal. However some dwarvern settlements survived and some were able to outlive the Wars and eventually in places like Saracan and the city states live among humans.

In the final retreat of Barkarin the dwarves became utterly secure here they were able to concentrate enough of their population in one place to grievously punish any human attempt to invade. The defences were well organised and the dwarves angry and ready for the war on their terms at last. The Battle of Farmount when the humans tried to break through to Barkarin before the fort could be completed is one example. The humans were unprepared for dwarves who were unprepared to give way and try to preserve their falling numbers. They were also unprepared for the dwarvern use of walled defenses and dwarves who had no refugees to protect. All warriors the dwarves drove the human raiders like cattle and no serious attempt on Barkarin was been made by humans since. After all the humans now dominated most of the continent, so they relented and built up their own kingdoms and countries.

Years after these wars during the rise of the Aurian Empire, Hill Dwarves fled from the expanding human Empire and were protected not by dwarves but by the mix matched races of Saracan. This act pulled the doors of Barkarin wide and once again a true dwarvern army marched. This began the interaction of Barkarin with the outside world once more.

When the Wargak War occurred and the savage races of Wargak invaded Saracan the dwarves held them at bay alone until the alliances of Saracan rode to their aid. This act along with the then founding of Battlerock is what truly broke the policy of Barkarin’s isolation. Over the centuries this trade first with Battlerock and then officially joining Saracan to turn back the ‘Aurian Invasion’ led to Barkarin sending out more and more of its people into the open world. These days Mountain dwarves are often seen, at least in Saracan. Hill Dwarves live in almost every country on Karandia in some form or another.

**Game Mechanics**

See individual sub races. For quick ref use regular dwarf from Players Handbook..