Origins
Children of earth, the dwarves evolved underground, and came to rule an extensive realm beneath the mountains in the west of the continent, with great tunnel-highways connecting the dwarven undercities.

Toward the end of the Elven Wars, a series of earthquakes led to the creation of the Inner Sea. Many tunnel-highways collapsed, and others were flooded. The dwarven realm was broken two parts: the hill dwarves to the south and west of the Inner sea, and the snow dwarves to the north and east.

The Hill Dwarves
The hill dwarves have changed little in the intervening millennia. They still live mostly underground, and their skills in working stone and metal are legendary.

Numerous inventions have been developed to make life easier and improve the quality of dwarven crafts: not least among them are the great pumps that emptied the flooded tunnel-highways and continue to keep them dry.

The Snow Dwarves
Cut off from the rest of the dwarven realm, the snow dwarves adapted to survive and thrive in their harsh, frigid environment. While still a predominantly underground people, the snow dwarves spend more time above ground, hunting and trapping food and prospecting for minerals. They have developed considerable outdoor survival skills as a result, perhaps, becoming even coarser and rougher in the process.

The Cataclysm and After
The Cataclysm further devastated the hill dwarf kingdom. Ancient enchantments had kept two great volcanoes dormant for uncounted ages, but as mana drained from the land in the aftermath of the Cataclysm, the protections were broken.

Countless lives were lost to earthquakes and lava, and more to flooding as the Inner Sea claimed more of the land. Whole settlements were destroyed, and the hill dwarf lands were cut in two by a new volcanic wasteland. The northern and southern kingdoms survived thanks in part to some expansion on the surface, as many of the deeper tunnels were still unsafe.

The snow dwarves fared better, being far from any active volcanoes. They were affected by the loss of mana from the land, but having been among the first to welcome human refugees, they profited greatly from their divine magic.

Enjoying the wilderness and the simplicity of life in the wilds, the snow dwarves also forged an alliance with the like-minded sylvan elves living in their territory, and the Snow Alliance, as it was named, has enjoyed prosperity and peace with its neighbors. Its people remain vigilant, though, as the time since the Cataclysm has not been without strife.

Appearance
Dwarves are shorter than humans by a head or so. However, their broad and muscular build means that they weigh about the same.

Snow dwarves are a little taller and slimmer on average, but still significantly shorter and stockier than humans. Their overall range of skin tone is similar to that of humans, although snow dwarves often have a slight blue-gray tint, almost the color of slate. Dwarven hair color varies from black through chestnut brown and red-brown to gray. The hair is most often bound up in a braid or a ponytail. Their eyes are generally on the dark side.

Clothing usually reflects the colors of a dwarf’s clan. Hill dwarves favor sashes in their clan colors, while snow dwarves wear clan emblems embroidered into the trim of their cuffs and collars.
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