Dwarf

Dwarves’ long memories give them uncommon insight into the world of the past. However, this connection to the past can make their societies resistant to change, even when change is desperately needed.

Dwarves in the Dwendalian Empire

Most folk in the Dwendalian Empire think of dwarves as greedy, cave-dwelling hermits with a passion only for jewelry, drinking, and fighting. Most dwarves in the empire come from the city-state of Grimgolir and its settlements under the Dunrock Mountains, whose miners, jewelers, and warriors are some of the finest in the empire. Imperial beer, particularly smooth, sweet Trost ale from Trostenwald, is a delicacy among Grimgolir dwarves. The people who lived beneath the mountains never grew wheat or hops, and so never brewed beer. Until the dwarves began trading with humans from the long-fallen Julous Dominion, dwarven liquor was a potent, ugly-smelling spirit called rütga, distilled from heavy root vegetables.

Dwarves on the Menagerie Coast

Along the Menagerie Coast, most folk see dwarves as foreigners possessed of fiery passions and an eagerness for action. Dwarves are uncommon visitors on the coast, with most coming from the distant realms of Tal'Dorei and Marquet as sailors or travelers, as pirates from the notorious Revelry, or as soldiers from the Dwendalian Empire. Ancient legends tell of dwarves living in mountaintop citadels in the ominous Cyrios Mountains, performing strange rituals that call upon the power of the Storm Lord. Along the coast, stories of the strong passion and swift judgment of the dwarves are often a product of the legends of these religious zealots. But these beliefs have been strengthened in modern times by the clear-eyed marquis of Port Zoon, Alamads Haddou, who lays down laws in plain language and enacts swift justice by the letter of those laws.

Dwarves in Xhorhas

Dwarves are few and far between in Xhorhas, and those few who remain are known as duergar, or “deep dwarves.” Though some duergar have joined with the Kryn Dynasty and dwell on the surface, most live in the ancient tunnels of the Underdark and harbor a deep-seated enmity for the drow. Duergar insurgents, striking Kryn settlements or seeking hidden paths toward the surface from perhaps a dozen small outposts in the Underdark, are trying to carve out their own underground dominion. Kryn forces have been successful in holding onto their underground territories so far, but many generals fear that the war in the west is drawing more and more soldiers from their fortifications in the Underdark. If duergar aggression is left unchecked, territory might inevitably have to be ceded to the insurgents.

Geographic Distribution

• Grimgolir
• Gwardan
• Pride's Call