Dwarven History
"...and as Sonn'Donnar hit the rock with his great hammer the might of the blow could be felt through the entire world as the very earth shook and wringed. So mighty was his swing, so hard was the blow and so sturdy was the hammer that the mountain cracked forming a deep chasm into the earth.
From this stone we were made and Sonn'Donnar had shown us the path we must take..."
- Gamber O'Rune son of Gumnar; son of Breddur; son of Rune
Excerpts from Khaz'Thuun'Rune:
"So it began.
Rune the Fatherless, first and only king of the dwarves, led our people deep down inside the earth, exploring the great chasm Sonn'Donnar had created. The riches of the mountain lay uncovered on our path. Metals, crystals, liquids. It was a harsch journey and many had already fallen to the dangers of the mountain when Rune decided it was time to build a stronghold from which further attempts could be made to reach down the great chasm.
The Khaz'O'Rune, or the Halls of Rune was built around the deep chasm that led seemingly endlessly down towards the bowls of the earth."
The handwriting changes becoming faded and hard to read...
"Rune was a great leader to our people but he did not know how to continue the journey and a great depression came over him. Times were bad, the construction of Khaz'O'Rune was difficult and the stone resisted our crude picks.
Worse yet, the first son with a father was born a poor image of a dwarf. He had but one leg, a big unshaped head and a small body...
...we sprung from stone and we are stone! There is meaning to all things, as long as we work hard Sonn'Donnar will show us the way."
"The first son with a father has revealed his purpose! Much grief has his disfigurement caused our people but now it would seem we were wrong to think he had no purpose.
He has been sent by Sonn'Donnar to warn, guide and humble us. We call him Stonesinger for he does not talk, but he humms and the stone answers. He has shown us that we must complete many tests before it shall be revealed to us how to follow the deep chasm down. We shall not know what the tests are but every dwarf will know what to do in his heart."
The handwriting changes once again...
"It is not possible to find all we need to dig deep tunnels in this part of the mountain. Some families have volunteered to journey the caves and find new metals that can make our picks stronger and more durable. Many have left and many have we not heard from since but some come with great new discoveries."
"...as Runes spirit soon is to be absorbed by the very stone it came from he has one last wisdom to share with us.
The heavy burdens of leadership shall not be placed on any one dwarf, but a council where a member from each clan will sit.
The council of the twenty was formed with one Sage from every clan."
On Dwarven culture and religion:
Dwarves live to work. Their work is who they are, both individually and as a race. This has created certain characteristics and they value honour, longlasting relationships and skill. Since all these three characteristics either come with age or are gained in time the older a dwarf is, the more is he respected.
Having spent so much time in and around the mountains, their natural and most hated enemies are orcs and goblins. Dwarves are not a warlike race, much less than the humans, but they will defend their mines with a fury and determination that is seldom seen. All male dwarves are trained in the arts of war and can be summoned when they are at war.
A wellkept dwarven secret is the dwarven woman. A major reason why dwarves never expand as quickly as many other races is the fact that their women often have miscarriages, there are also large risks for the females during childbirth and many die as a result of it. Therefor dwarven females never leave the mountains, they are treated with the outmost respect and protected at all costs. No outsider has ever seen one.
One might sometimes be mislead to believe the dwarves are a greedy race who charge unnaturally high prices for their crafts. They are skilled merchants but it is not out of greed they are so reluctant to part with their wares. They put their heart and soul in every singel item they create. A truly masterfully crafted item is a long religious process for a dwarven master craftsman. It is his way of praying, coming closer to Sonn'Donnar. The trader respects this by not selling until he thinks he has gotten the absolute maximum he can for that item.
The dwarven religion is unlike any other, it is not represented by the traditional clergy. It's woven into everyday life and doesn't involve sacral rites but instead is performed at all times in manners that may seem awkward to the outsider.
As an example a miner might work hard all his life to become an expert, a truly skilled and invaluable member of the dwarven society. His religious status is also raised since he has learned to master the stone, he has learned how to mine metals, how to build safe passages and thus must he also be closer Sonn'Donnar. He would go about his work so carefully and detailed that it may seem tedious and unnecessary. This is his way of paying respect to his god, his ritual.
The dwarven cleric is called a Stonesinger for the low humming he produces when casting a blessing. It is said the stone itself reacts to this humming.
The Stonesingers are many times skilled craftsmen who has detected a closer bound to Sonn'Donnar and can produce marvelous items.