Dwarven Origins

The first dwarves arrived in the Lost Lands just under 15,000 years ago from their homeland of Niðavellir, part of the same plane of existence as the elven Alfheim and the drow Svartalfheim. They were in the midst of a war with the drow when they discovered the secrets of the gates to Boros originally created by the elven god Wayland the Smith. The dwarves opened multiple new gates between the worlds, and soon the conflict between the two races spilled through. The dwarves soon found themselves embroiled in the Gods’ War and allied with the gods of good against the gods of evil (with whom the drow joined).
Over the ensuing centuries, the dwarves spread throughout many lands of Boros (or, as they still call it, Midgard). The planar gates were eventually all destroyed or forgotten, until the dwarves lost contact with their homeland. Yet in their new world, the dwarves began to acclimate to their new homes and divided into distinct groups based on where they settled. Those who came to live amid the peaks of Akados became the mountain dwarves; those who settled in the hills became hill dwarves. The Ankhurans of far western Akados are certainly dwarves, though their origin seems unconnected to any of their cousins throughout the world. There are also the sand dwarves of Libynos, the gray dwarves (also known as duergar), and the deep dwarves of the Under Realms, as well as certain more recently-recognized groups such as the street dwarves of Bard’s Gate.
All dwarves, however, are known for their stolid resilience, stubbornness, and sheer tenacity in the face of trial and hardship. As they say, better to chip at a granite boulder than to try to change the mind of a dwarf.