The Northern Skulls Dwarves, called the Grozakki in their own language, are the mountain Dwarves who dwell in the northern Skulls. The Northern Skulls Dwarves are a dour people, who rarely find mirth in anything - their existence is based solely on survival, both from within and without.
Expert Smiths
Like their cousins in the south, the Northern Skulls Dwarves are expert miners and smiths. Unlike their southern cousins, the Grozakki don't focus on ostentatious designs and jewelry; they focus on good, hard arms and armor. Northern Skulls Dwarven weapons and armor are some of the most sought after in all of Morgrave. They pride themselves on a "no muss, no fuss" style of design - everything is crafted in a way to improve tangible results in combat, none of this "unquantifiable advantage" stuff like fear. The design pays off in a real way - it's not armor that a noble can hang on their wall, but it is armor that a real soldier can appreciate, and that's the way the Northern Skulls Dwarves like
A Tough Lot in Life
There are not many Northern Skulls Dwarves, there simply cannot be, at least not any more. Existing mostly within the nation of Hymbra, most of their trade routes necessarily crossed Hymbran territory. Ever since the Hymbrans found
Ambrosia, the Hymbrans grew as artisans, no longer relying on expert Northern Skulls Dwarven smiths to outfit them with arms and armor. The Grozakki economy began to crumble, they had relied on Hymbran imports for hundreds of years.
Without that income, the Northern Skulls Dwarves had trouble affording imports of their own. This resulted in a slow collapse of Dwarven strongholds in the north. The northern Skulls is not an easy place to live. Most areas are high altitude and rarely see more than a few months of green in the entire year, making farming impossible. Bears, deer, foxes, and other small animals make their homes in the mountains and foothills near the Dwarven strongholds of the north, but in nearly enough numbers to sustain the once massive, densely populated underground complexes. When food ran short, people had to sell their belongings to purchase sustenance, resulting in a poor population.
The Hymbrans, always opportunists, declared a war on the Northern Skulls Dwarves, attempting to steal the riches from their strongholds before they imploded from within, but they underestimated the Dwarves' zeal. The Hymbrans were repulsed and the Grozakki lived another day. But even worse than the war, once
The Scourge arrived trade through Hymbra was all but impossible. The Northern Skulls Dwarves were completely cut off. Entire strongholds starved, leaving only a handful of Dwarves living off the land in small, sparse colonies. Many left rather than starve. Some found kindred spirits in the Elves of the Wuthering Wights, who were also ousted from their homeland by the Hymbrans, while others turned to becoming mercenaries, fighting for anyone who paid, sometimes even the Hymbrans - these Dwarves grimly enjoyed the cosmic irony that the Hymbrans were choking on their own divine retribution and enjoyed the thought of Hymbran gold in their pockets once more.
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