Dwarves

Dwarves can rarely live to be more than 400 years old, so the oldest living dwarves often grew up in a very different world. For example, the handfull of Dwarfs over 420 may remember the early years of the first few human settlements on Therin. This longevity grants them a perspective on the world that shorter-lived races such as humans and halflings lack.
Dwarves are solid and enduring like the mountains they love, weathering the passage of centuries with stoic endurance and little change. They respect the traditions of their clans, tracing their ancestry back to the founding of their most ancient strongholds in the youth of the world, and don’t abandon those traditions lightly. Part of those traditions is devotion to the gods of the dwarves, who uphold the dwarven ideals of industrious labor, skill in battle, and devotion to the forge. Dwarfs hold ancestors that kept true to the dwarven traditions in very high regards, second only to the gods themselves. The most influencial of Dwarfs, upon their passing may be labeled an 'Exalt' and achieve godlike status. Their image is immortalized in stone in the 'Hall of the Exalted' which is considered the largest place of worship anywhere on the continent. Dwarven societies are divided into clans built along family ties. Ancestry is one of the most important standards determining the standing of each clan. For example the current King of the Dwarfs (called the Paradigm) Thitharlum Oakensunder, is descended from an exalt named Vastok Oakensunder, who achieved his reputation by defeating Achazar the Pillar of Wrath, an ancient fire primordial.
Individual dwarves are determined and loyal, true to their word and decisive in action, sometimes to the point of stubbornness. Many dwarves have a strong sense of justice, and they are slow to forget wrongs they have suffered. A wrong, done to one dwarf is a wrong done to the dwarf’s entire clan, so what begins as one dwarf’s hunt for vengeance can become a full-blown clan feud.

Mountain Dwarves

Mountain Dwarfs are larger and more accustomed to rugged, underground terrain. In Therin they are seen as 'True' Dwarfs. They make up most of the important clans and live primarily in the largest, deepest Dwarf cities such as the center of the dwarven kingdom, Dhonfarum. They can also be found commonly along the Shale Cliffs in SouthWestern Therin though they are more closely associated with the ruling class of the Empire.
The Dhonfarum Dwarves and the Ile Thalas Elves are in a pseudo war over territorial disputes. The Dwarves were there first, by thousands of years. Elves only encroached on their lands after the humans kicked them out of Alvenloch a few hundred yearts ago. The previous Dwarven King Barirmaed Coinhead (who Dwarves grew to hate) signed away land to the Elves, but this act was deamed illigitimate by the other clans and Barirmaed was exiled. Still though, the Ile Thalas Elves treat their claim as ligitimate.

Hill Dwarves

Although Hill Dwarfs are seen more as outlanders and 2nd class citizens in the larger cities, they tend to me more inteligent and intuitive. They live closer to the surface along more shallow mountains and rolling hills. They share some similar terrains to Halflings and often trade with halfling villages. While Mountain Dwarfs specialise solely in stonework, Hill Dwarfs mix stone and wood in their architecture. Hill Dwarfs are found mostly in the outskirts of larger cities and in the foothills of the Dhonfarum range in the Vortarum valley, where they often come into conflict with the Elvish expansionists from Ile Thalas. They can also be found in the Empire along the Marbled Hills and the lowlands of the Shale Cliffs.

Gray Dwarves (Duergar)

The gray dwarves, or duergar, live deep in the Underdark. After delving deeper than any other dwarves, they were enslaved by mind flayers for eons. Although they eventually won their freedom, these grim, ashen-skinned dwarves now take slaves wherever they can find them and are as tyrannical as their former masters.
Physically similar to other dwarves in some ways, duergar are wiry and lean, with black eyes and bald heads, with the males growing long, unkempt, gray beards.
Duergar value toil above all else. Showing emotions other than grim determination or wrath is frowned on in their culture, but they can sometimes seem joyful when at work. They have the typical dwarven appreciation for order, tradition, and impeccable craftsmanship, but their goods are purely utilitarian, disdaining aesthetic or artistic value.
A Duergar may occasionally be born with something resembling a moral compass. These Duergar may seek to skip town. Because of the duergar tendancy to take slaves, few races are willing to house or show them any kindness. At worst they are killed on sight if entering a dwarven or Svirfneblin settlement. Duergar can rarely be found living alongside dwarfs but they will always be the first accused of a crime.