Firearms

Created in the late 5th age by great collaboration between both the Gnomes and the Dwarves of the Kharads, the great smiths of the Dwavikharad and the alchemists of the Gnalivar. Firearms are how the Kharads defend themselves from the Myriad of enemies that assail them each day, from the Dark races that attack the mineshafts and tunnels underneath the Kharads, to the Dark Dragon kin and all the other beasties that plague the mountains.
What it means is that the Dwarves of the Kharads are the most well defended of all the peoples, since they perfected the designs (at least as far as they are just now) they have not lost a Kharad to invasion and they have been able to keep trade caravans in the Mountains protected from all manner of enemies, meaning the Kharads have become more powerful and prosperous than ever before, hence why the sitting High King of the Dwavikharad has a permanent seat on the council of the light.

Utility

The weapons work by holding a slow burning rope match in a clamp at the end of a small curved lever known as the arkensar (named after the Arken, akin to the Terran snake but with 12 sets of legs), upon pulling the trigger at the bottom of the weapon, that the arkensar is connected, it drops to the black powder pan, which moves to ignite the main charge powder in the barrel will then fire the round metal bullet in the barrel towards the target.
Smaller versions are used in the tunnels and mines of the Kharads to defend against the many enemies that attack from the the Underlands, larger cannon like weapons are used by heavy plate armoured Ironbelchers to defend against the massive monsters that inhabit the Mountains of the Kharads. They are never used by the Kharads in attack, even during the last Great war, only in defence, which is why Ironbelchers are normally so highly trained in multiple disciplines of combat.

Manufacturing

First the metal components are created by the smiths of the Kharads, at the same time as the wooden body is being carved by the carpenters, finally the components are put together by master gunsmiths of the craft guilds.

Inventor(s)

Mountain Dwarves and Mountain Gnome clans of Kharad Hanskmyrkk

Access & Availability

The weapons are only available to the mountain Kharads, both the Dwarves and the Gnomes, or anyone who lives within the lands of the Kharads,

Complexity

The making of firearms is an extremely difficult and time consuming process, hence why they are so expensive and why the Kharads don't sell them outside their own kin, even the Hill Dwarves don't get access to the weapons because the Kharad Dwarves don't trust anyone else to use the weapons properly. They require both bullets and blackpowder and matches that are actually lit to fire, which is actually difficult to keep lit.

Discovery

Between the Mountain Kharad Dwarves and Gnomes of Kharad Hanskmyrkk, the alchemists of the Gnomes first discovered blasting powder that they would eventually refine into black powder for what would become firearms. They had created the blasting powder to help the Dwarven miners to get through rock that wasn't worth methodical work with their hammers and picks. Krorgihm Firmcave was a soldier within the Guard of the King of the Hanskmyrkk Dwarves at the time and he wondered if the blasting powder could be used as a weapon.
After many months and years of study and experiment they created the first hand cannon, which was extremely volatile and would need two Dwarves or Gnomes to fire it, and were more prone to explosion even more so than the current incarnation, the smiths and the alchemists began building bigger cannons with thicker barrels and more refined metals.
The current technology is akin to Terran Matchlock weapons