After the creation of the known world, as the elements battled for superiority, the element of Earth created the essence of Life. Life, however, reveling in its new existence, created many new creatures and plants and, in order to help fight Death, it created man. While Life and Death played their petty games, though, Earth watched and suffered with the rest of the elements. Earth decided it had suffered enough and brought a new race into creation to tend it and protect it: Dwarves.

Earth created dwarves the same way it created Life. But unlike Life's creation of man, dwarves were closely tied to the essence of Earth. They learned to tend, shape, and protect the Earth. In return, the Earth became their home, and the dwarves moved under the surface and formed vast under cities.

Because Fire took refuge in the Earth when it was weak, Earth was aware of how to harness it. It taught this art to the dwarves, who then used the Fire to forge the mined ore into weapons to better protect themselves. They practiced this art for many generations, honing their skills and become masters craftsmen of weapons.

Over time, the dwarves became so obsessed with mining and creating works of the Earth that they lost track of their original duty. They were overcome by greed and pride, and instead of protecting the Earth, they simply used it as their tool. They shunned the surface races for not realizing the potential of the Earth and their unwillingness to exploit it. This greatly angered the essence of the Earth. Thus, when the evil goblinoid races came to steal the dwarves' wealth, the Earth did nothing to warn or protect the dwarves.

A great battle erupted in the under cities, and the great race of the dwarves suffered many losses. The dwarves realized why the Earth did nothing to help them and wanted to regain its favor, but first they had the problem of the goblinoid races.

Death was attracted by the blood war beneath the Earth. It came and offered the dwarves a quick and easy way to defeat their enemies, but it involved dark and evil magic. Most of the dwarves realized that Death's offer would corrupt them with the greed and pride that had lost them Earth's favor. They refused vehemently any help from Death. One clan of dwarves, however, harbored a dark desire for the power that was offered them. They made a secret alliance with Death in order to gain the ability to crush their enemies.

Not to be outdone by the treachery of Death, the essence of Life informed another clan of dwarves with the details of Death's bargain. This clan confronted their dark kin with this information, but the dark clan assured them it was only a temporary alliance in order to protect their race as a whole. The clan was not so easily convinced of their kin's simple and innocent answer, and struck a deal with Life to gain the power needed to control their darker kin if the need arose. Both clans, enhanced and changed by the raw powers granted by Life and Death, joined the rest of the dwarves in the undercity to crush and repel the goblinoid races invading their homes.

The long blood war between the dwarves and the goblinoid races ended, and the rebuilding of the under cities began. All was well until the clan of "dark" dwarves that accepted Death's offer wanted the most power in the city, because they felt they played the influential role in the war. The clan enhanced by the powers of Life confronted the other dwarves, and they tried to help the clan before they were utterly corrupted. Unfortunately, it was too late. The dwarves had no choice but to banish their evil kin, still refusing to raise a weapon against their own flesh and blood. The dark clan of dwarves left without a fight.

That night, however, members of the dark clan sneaked into the undercity and slaughtered many of the dwarves. The first blows had been struck, and the dwarves had no other choice but to attack their own kin. Appalled by the treachery of their kin, the combined clans of all the dwarves tore into the evil clan with a vengeance. While the evil dwarves were stronger because of their pact with death, they were still badly outnumbered and were forced to flee further underground. This evil clan of dwarves became known as the dark dwarves.

The dwarves of the under cities, greatly weakened by their battle with the goblinoids and with their own kin, once again began the task of rebuilding of their once-mighty civilization. The clan that agreed to Life's bargain, however, realized that they had truly changed by the power granted to them. They were annoyed at living in the dank subterranean undercity, and they no longer had many of the same interests in weaponsmithing. The lack of life and open spaces made them uneasy, until finally they had to leave the undercity. They traveled upward to inhabit the forests and plains of the surface world. This clan, calling themselves Gnomes, formed little villages and developed trades of their own.

The gnomes and the dwarves, still on friendly terms despite the split in their societies, traded goods with each other, with both societies prospering from the agreement. So it was that when the humans encountered the gnomes and dwarves, men found craftsmanship far exceeding any they had previously encountered. Not all men could control the elements, so the use of the fine dwarven-crafted weapons enabled the rest of the humans to take part in the fight against Death. Perhaps if they had not encountered the gnomes and dwarves, the race of men would never have been able to unite itself and survive.

The dwarves had learned much through their history, and they are careful to reveal exactly how prosperous their society grew. Thus, the amount of their wealth is usually either greatly exaggerated or underestimated by surface dwellers.

Their great under cities were far from rebuilt, though, and the dwarves were also careful to remember the purpose of their existence. Being humbled by their experiences and once again associating with the surface races, the dwarves began the slow process of trying to regain Earth's favor.

The Dwarves are a secretive race and have thus kept their largest civilization from the rest of the world. This city is known to the Dwarves as Mount Laveenin. (Lav-EEE-nin) It is not surprising that few of the other humanoid races know of its existence for the Dwarves use many measures to keep it secret. The networks of loyal Dwarves in the realms do much to plant misinformation and even some tidbits of truth to the point that few can distinguish between the two. Most believe that the mountain city is near the Dwarven town of Tankard. Tankard serves as a marketplace and a political center for Dwarves in the mountains, but the true power comes from Laveenin.


Life under the Mountain:

A Dwarf is born into a clan which acts as a large extended family. His clan is loyal to one of the seven Guilds. It is these guilds which determine the future occupation of the Dwarf. At he young age of 40 years, a young Dwarf will begin his apprenticeship to his Guild. If a dwarf shows a particular interest in one of the other six guilds he may be accepted as a "half-apprentice" to anyone in that guild who wants him. A half-apprentice must show twice as much determination and work twice as hard as normal apprentices do. Also, the master is the only one who will decide if the dwarf is worthy enough to change Guilds.

Changing of the Guilds is rare and when such an event does occur, the half-apprentice is usually adopted into his masters family. After 5 years of apprenticeship, a dwarf may freely roam the other shops and forges in different Guild areas. Usually by this time the Dwarf is set in the ways of his Guild (we all know how hard it is to move a dwarf once he's settled!) and shows no interest in changing his ways. Also at this time a dwarf can become a minor apprentice to a master of a different guild and learn the basics of that occupation in a small time compared to actual apprenticeship. In this way, any dwarf who wishes it can be well rounded.

During apprenticeship, training for battle takes place. This training is given to all dwarves in the case that the Dwarven mountain is ever discovered and attacked. It is also has become more important in recent years as the Drow and Dark Dwarves appear to be more concerned with the affairs of the surface world. Apprenticeship lasts between 10 and 15 years depending on how well the master thinks his pupil is doing. After Apprenticeship a dwarf can begin working for their guild.


Organization:

If the Dwarven population were not so close, they would have an extremely difficult time staying organized. Always looking for ways to expand their treasury, (which is already quite large according to rumor) Laveenin can be viewed as a very large family business firm. Every clan is depended upon by the others. The Farming Clan provides food to the city and grain for the Brewers. The Brewers in town make Dwarven ale for the city and to export. The Mining clan supplies the Weaponsmiths and Armorsmiths and Masons with the materials that they need to create their products. The Ruling Clan or Merchants Guild are the main organizers of the community. They decide what is to be shipped and what is to be produced. They also act as overseers to the other clans. Not like masters, but as fathers would look over their children.


Order of Obedience:

A Dwarf is first obedient to the Head of the Council of Seven then to his Prominent Clanmaster, then to the other 6 Clanmaster. Finally, a Dwarf is obedient to the Head of his family, then Society.

A Dwarven society is very close knit. It is a belief that what happens to one dwarf, happens to all dwarves as a whole, therefore the who culture can experience grief, anger, or celebration simultaneously.


The Seven Clans (Guilds) of the Dwarfs:

1. Zedar - The Ruling Clan

The Zedar Clan is known traditionally as the ruling clan but they have nothing to do with royal blood. More appropriately known as the Dwarven Merchant Guild, the Zedar Clanmaster is usually voted in by the council of Seven to the Head Clanmaster position. This is usually because the Zedar are more experienced with money matters and dealing with surface dwelling races that some Dwarves from other clans have never seen. The Zedar are very business like and hard for an outside race to barter with, although it is possible if you can keep them from laying down a set price. Once they say a set price it could be days before they reconsider. More often than not, it is the Zedar who adventure out into the world to create businesses in different cities. They may bring other Dwarves from different guilds to start the business, or they might learn some skills of another clan and go into business for themselves. Although they usually do not stay away from the Mountain City very long for it is an ideal society (for Dwarves).

2. Shaffear- The Mining Clan

The Miners are the Dwarves who carve out the minerals and metals from the caverns of the Mountain City. In conjunction with the Entlar, the Shaffnear also help build new homes and caverns for the growing population of the Dwarves.

3. Doichen- The Weaponsmith Clan

The Doichen are some of the finest artists in the Dwarven community. Their products not only offer some of the most sturdy and well constructed weapons in the world, but also can give them (when so desired) an almost ornamental look about them. The dwarves themselves do not see a lot of reason in making a weapon appear “nice” when you are going to be bashing heads with it, but orders come in from the surface dwellers requesting such weapons.

4. Kolben- The Armorsmith Clan

Similar in practice to the Dolchen, the Kolben spend their days in the forge. More recently the Kolben and Doichen have almost become a joint clan and have begun to concentrate on their life work together.

5. Garan- The Brewery Clan

The members of this burly clan are the reason for the much of the happiness of the Dwarves. This clan spends all its time attempting to improve the potency and vitality of the Dwarven drink- It has been rumored that these Dwarves will sacrifice anything to further their work, even barter with for strange mechanical devices that purify and intensify Dwarven Ale.

6. Endar- The Construction Clan

Well known for their talents in the art of stone work and masonry, the Entlar are the builders of the society. When not improving the structure of the homes in the Mountain City, the Entlar are often 'rented out' to dwellers who will pay top dollar to have Dwarven fortifications.

7. Feldar- The Farming Clan

The less well known clan, the Feldar provide an important service to the community which is sometimes neglected. All the food that is eaten in the Mountain City is provided by the Feldar. Not only do they work underground fields and mushroom mines, but they also house the hunters who venture out to the surface to bring back meat for the community. So it is no secret that the Feldar are the more ferocious when the fight comes around. Not ferocious in the angry sense, but skilled enough to know how to be patient and hunt down enemies.