Dwarves

The dwarves of Midgard live in three great realms: the Northern clan halls such as Tanserhall and Wolfeim, the free cantons of the Ironcrags, and the southern realms of Nuria Natal and Sebbek Sobor. Te dwarves of the three realms are distinct in their culture, strengths, and style.

Dwarves and Men

The tale of men and dwarves is punctuated by feuds and battles, but they are allies more ofen than not. At first the dwarves mistook humans for a degenerate subrace of elf, and later grouped them among the many “lesser races” of Midgard. Gifts, familiarity, and common ground eventually forged an alliance between the two races, a concord that grew stronger as the old gods gave way to the new, but it was hardly an equal partnership. The dwarves raided into human lands at the least provocation, and their kingdoms claimed huge tracks of land occupied by other races, which the dwarves either drove out or enslaved. Those who proved too troublesome were exterminated.
In the Northlands, dwarven rule required those who submited to supply tribute in the form of gold and slaves. The human tributes worked hard labor in mines or on lowland farms. These client races first gave their masters the nickname “reaver dwarf.” As time passed and more dwarves were lost each generation to southern emigration, war, and vendeta, humanity gained a more even footing. Dwarf culture was adopted by (or forced upon) humanity and the other races of the North and later the Ironcrags, but humans taught the dwarves the arts of restrained diplomacy, cooperation, and peaceful trade. Some say that the dwarves have mellowed over the years, but others claim that humans have simply learned to weather the dwarves’ pride and temper. Certainly the dwarves haven’t belied the “reaver dwarf ” name.

 

Ring and Rune Magic

These two schools of magic embed spells into rings of power and create carved runes that make magic visible and available to even nonspellcasters. The dwarves are particularly adept at these kinds of magic, since they are said to have invented ring magic, and to have learned rune magic at Wotan’s knee


Cover image: by Doug Wohlfeil

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