The Dwarven Language

The Dwarven Language in Echora is spread throughout the High Kingdom of the Dwarves as the native language of all Dwarves and is also spoken by dwarven communities outside the High Kingdom.
In linguistic scholarly circles the dwarven language is believed to be one of the oldest languages planewide and without a doubt the oldest written language. In comparison to other languages on Echora and due to their tendencies to work with sturdy materials and taking documentation very seriously, the language of the Dwarves gives reasearchers much to work with. It has been written down and passed on almost directly amd unchanged from the point of its birth and features a remarkable consistency in terms of rules and vocabulary all throughout dwarven history, which from a reasearcher's perspective should be impossible in light of the nature of most languages being ever changing and evolving through history.
With its stricts laws and unyielding structures, the languages leaves little to interpretation and reading between the lines. Its strengths are its clarity and precision. However, this must not necessarily mean that sentences are always short and conversations quick.
The language's properties place it in a unique position of it being in its own linguistic family with barely any spoken dialects and no known written variations.
There is no space for informailty in written form, yet even with the permanence of the dwarven language the people find ways to express themselves informally and outside the given rules. This is done mostly in highly familiar and friendly settings, but also gains traction among dwarves living in other nation's territories such as in the city of Dimond.

Writing

Contrary to other Echorian languages, the dwarven language utilises a runic writing system instead of an alphabetic writing system with letters. Dwarves have founded some of the oldest and longest standing archives and libraries in Echora and are generally accepted as the primary keepers of knowledge as they like documenting and archiving all different manners of historical and practical knowledge. The Dwarves seemingly have adopted their runes from an older civilization that used them to carve wood, because the symbols were largely made up of straight lines and sharp angles. These features made the runes easily adoptable for Dwarves who modfied them to suit their own phonetics and made them work for stone-carving. The same runic system is commonly used in the arcane arts and for spells that require quick writing work and carving.

The Naming of Settlements and Places

In Valorden, the two mostly known Dwarven settlements are the forttress of Dol Cadarn and Brookhill with its many villages and hamlets. While Dol Cadarn is only known by its dwarven name throughout the continent, the name Bhan Brokar for Brookhill is seldom heard or spoken by other races.
Naming settlements and places has a special and important place in dwarven language and culture. Dwarves can deduct a great deal of information about a town by its name. To the ears of a dwarf, Dol Cadarn rings full of majesty amd authority, as the prefix Dol will only ever be used for one stronghold alone: The Seat of the High King of the Dwarves. If Bhan Brokar's (Brookhill) primary feature were a grand library instead of its agriculture for example it would rather be called Var Brokar.
The prefix to any placename consist of its primary feature:

Prefix	Meaning	Notes
Dol	Seat of the High King	exists only once, see High Kingdom of the Dwarves
Kal	Seat of a lesser Dwarven Kingdom
Hal	Settlement (the Hall) of a Major Lord
Dul	Settlement (the hall) of a Minor Lord	minor lords usually don't have halls to receive guests
Dun	Mountain
Val	Valley
Vist	Lodge in the wilderness
Mark	Hinterlands / Hunting Grounds
Bhan	Agricultural Lands
Khad	Mines
Var	Archives or Libraries