Races - Chapter 1 - Dwarf
The Creation of Dwarves
--Recorded by Marak, Golden-Hammer, son of Jardak, Hammer of the Orcs
In the age before the beginning of time there were no dwarves, elves, or humans and the world was not yet made. Only the Eternal Forge existed, in the Home of the Maker, in the Caverns of the Everlasting Flame. Into the Eternal Forge the Maker placed stone and fire. As the fire heated the stone it expanded, and rivers of molten ore ran from the interior of the stone, flowing along its sides. With tongs and hammer the Maker forged the world. He struck and titanic mountains rose from the surface; again, and hills formed, leaving deep valleys and great hollows.
When he was pleased with its shape and form, he quenched the world in the Trough of Life. As the water struck the surface, clouds of steam rose to form the sky. The waters of the Trough settled in valleys and flowed into the hollows to become seas.
The Maker held up his work and saw that it was fitting. He set the world upon a great pinnacle of the finest mithril, and there it remains until this day. The Maker laughed and decided to test his world. He would make a race of miners and forgers and they would strive to find the mithril pinnacle upon which the world rests, deep in its heart.
And so the Maker returned to the Eternal Forge in the Caverns of the Everlasting Flame. Taking water from the Trough of Life and stone from the earth he held them together. When he was satisfied, he added molten iron to strengthen it. He gathered this fine alloy and shaped it on the Anvil of Spirit. To assist him, the Maker created the gods. He beat them into their shapes. Like him, the gods were broad and stocky, with fine, long beards of rusty-red iron or shimmering mithral.
Then he quenched them in the Trough of Life so that they, like the world, could take part of its life-giving waters. One by one he lifted them up and blew on them. Their eyes opened and they lived.
The Maker had forged the gods from the elements of the earth, but his work was not yet finished. He took the Gods of Crafts and taught them how to make things that would please him; he taught the God of Fire to burn and to fan the flames of life. He taught the Gods of the Elements the use of their powers. He revealed to them all the place of the gods in the world.
Then the Maker took rock and iron and heated them in the Eternal Forge. He forged the most pleasing shapes. These he took and quenched in the Trough of Life, and so the first dwarves were created.
Each of the gods then took one of the dwarves and revealed to him the secrets imparted by the Maker. But to Frar, the Father of Dwarves, the first King, the Maker himself spoke. He told Frar of the mithril pinnacle and gave him the gift of wisdom to rule his people. And so the First Dwarves came into the world in full knowledge of their arts and crafts.
Once the First Dwarves had learned these things, the Maker placed them in a land he had chosen for them on the earth, into the mines and caverns he had created for their entertainment and their joy. In these sacred caverns the First Dwarves multiplied and prospered, but some became restless and went in search of greater riches. These were Glordin Anvil Forger, son of Bardin Hammer Beater. . .
The original text continues with a catalog of genealogies. As we resume the narrative, a thousand years have passed, and dwarfkind has expanded through the valleys and mountains of the land.
After the First Dwarves had been laid in their tombs, Blight came into the world. The god of Evil nursed a dark and ancient envy of the Maker's creation of the dwarves. In cheerless caverns, which knew not the glow of dwarves' hearts, he labored to imitate the maker. Goblins, hobgoblins, evil giants, and other monsters he made, and dreamed that they would destroy the dwarves. In imitation of the Maker he labored, but he lacked the true water from the Trough of Life to mix with the stone and to make clean clay. And so they were tainted with his impurities.
Not content to work his own will, his twisted tongue sowed discontent among the gods. A few began, like him, to imitate the Maker. So it was that elves, gnomes, halflings, and humans came into the world. But these races lacked the iron that had been forged into every dwarf's soul, they were sickly and pale to behold. To compensate for their deficiencies, the god of Evil bestowed magic. He had overlooked dwarven resistance to his evil, so it was used by other races against themselves.
Then did the god of Evil send his creatures against the dwarves. The monsters were driven back many times, yet they bred quickly and returned again and again in ever increasing numbers.
Now at this time the lesser races spread over the world above, and they learned of the wealth of the dwarves. And so, men and elves began to covet the dwarves' jewels and mineral wealth. Some sought to trade, others lied and used treachery to acquire dwarven treasures. An alliance of men and elves formed against the dwarves and they brought war to the mountain homes. Thus were the great gates of the dwarf kingdoms closed and the stone halls sealed from the evil of those beneath the sun.
The lesser races, not content to leave the dwarves in peace, began to dig into the earth, but knew naught of its ways. Their folly awakened the dragons.
The dragons rose in the fury of broken sleep demanding tribute, but the lesser races could not satisfy their greed. They appeased the dragons with tales of dwarven gold, and told them that the mining of the dwarves had disturbed their slumber. Those who had traded with dwarves told what they had learned of the secrets of their realms. And so the dragons came to our ancestral halls and blew in the gates. Spitting fire, they slew many. Those who survived fled their inheritance into the world above.
Since that day new homes have been created and we give thanks to the Maker for our increased wealth. But prophecy says that one day the caverns of the First Dwarves will be reclaimed. Then will we be free from the attacks of monsters and the ways of elves and humans.
-- I, Marak Golden-Hammer, son of Jardak, Hammer of the Orcs, son of Makktat Elf- Slayer. . .
The text again is given over to genealogies before ending with Marak Golden- Hammer's seal.
The Creation of the World
Dwarves are a long-lived race, 350 years on average, and so they are closer to the creation of the world than shorter lived races, such as humans. Dwarves have a clear idea of how they and the world came into existence and this in turn affects how they see themselves, the world, and other races. Many are the myths of creation. The Scrolls of Narvil, much debated, describe creation as an accident.
After the Creator had forged the world and made the dwarves, he became weary and slept. Some Lesser Gods, jealous of the Creator's skill, bound him as he slept. They heated the Great Forge to make races in their own likenesses, men, and elves. These they placed upon the world.
But they fell to arguing among themselves over which part of the world should be given to their peoples. The clamor of dispute woke the Creator who saw what they had done and became angry. But they laughed at him and bound him fast and swore he would never be released.
They fueled the fire of the Eternal Forge and continued to work. However, they did not know how to control the Great Forge and it became too hot. Great globules of molten stone flew into the air and fell to the earth. As they fell, the Creator breathed on them to cool them so that his people would not be injured. The force of his breath gave life to the molten fragments and these became dragons.
''And so, of all the creatures of the earth, only the dwarves and the dragons were made by the Creator. Dwarves by the skill of his hands, and dragons by the power of his breath.
The idea of a forge to create the world and its people is a typical dwarven myth. Marak and Narvil share the myth, though they name it differently. Marak speaks of a Maker and Narvil of a Creator. Dwarves in different parts of the world will have contrasting views of the creation myth, in far kingdoms even contradictory views.
Some might believe the world was an accident, a piece of rock that was chipped away from a greater one by the blow of a hammer or other force, and became separated from it, and developed on its own.
The creation story is normally part of a greater cycle of creation, in which the world is created only to be ravaged, but ultimately saved, as Narvil foretold:
The Creator tried to break his bonds, but they were too secure. He argued with the Lesser Gods but they would not listen. "You cannot rule the world unless you can work the forge," he warned.
Sometimes when the forge became too hot or too cold, he gave the Lesser Gods advice, "add more air", "use less fuel". They laughed at him for his weakness in telling the secrets of the forge. Again he warned: "One day, the forge will burn beyond your control and the world will be seared by the heat of its flames. Then you shall free me or all will perish, even we. Then will I bring justice to the world you have abused. And my people shall be saved from your waging of war."
Other myths exist. Gully dwarf priests believe the world was swallowed by a giant monster, digested, and later reformed.
Many foretell the destruction of all within the world. Some tell of a world ravaged by dragons who burned away all life with their fiery breaths. Only the races living deep within the world survived. Dwarves, orcs, and goblins, protected in their subterranean homes, escaped the wrath of the dragons.
Different mythical beliefs may cause friction between dwarves and other races and even among the dwarves themselves. Most mountain dwarves shun humans and believe in the quest for mithral, the metal of unconquerable weapons. Irvak, a mountain dwarf teacher, tells children why.
Beware the ways of man. He is greedy and avaricious beyond understanding. He seeks to possess wealth and riches, but most of all power over others. It is our duty to resist the mad lust of humankind to dominate other races. Not all men are evil, but the worst are their leaders who lead them into wars against us. It is written that only through the power of mithral can we protect our halls.
This mountain dwarf credo is rejected by Yakir, a gully dwarf priest.
Learn to accept the ways of humans, we have no other choice. If a man kicks you, keep out of reach of his boot. If he spits at you, it will not break your bones. We breed slowly and must protect our numbers. If we fight mankind, they will eventually kill us all. Avoid wealth and riches, but if you must have treasure, hide it well in a filthy place where none would guess to look. Always avoid mithril and those who bear it. It is so precious that men are driven crazy with desire.
What is the World?
To most dwarves the world is made up of the dark places underground. The lands above are strange and remote. Almost certainly they would have been formed or shaped by the gods of other lands. Most dwarves believe that the world is made up of a number of parts created for different peoples. Dwarves were given the deep earth as their own, elves the forests, halflings the fields; each in their own place.
Many believe that the whole world was originally given to the dwarves. Their legends contain tales of how parts of the world were taken away by other gods when they created the other races.
Few dwarves could have any real knowledge of the shape of the surface of the world and their subterranean lives have caused them to develop some very strange beliefs: worlds shaped like a globe, an egg, a flattened disk, a jagged rock with a central pinnacle and even a great depression in the earth, among them.
Many legends are concerned with the depth of the earth. Many deep dwarves believe that it is possible to tunnel so far down that the diggers emerge through the bottom of the world. Their priests and sages argue incessantly as to what lies at the bottom of the word. Some claim that only empty space exists beneath the world. Most deep dwarf miners believe that the world rests on a spike of gold that will one day make them rich beyond even dwarven dreams of avarice. Some duergar religions proclaim that the world rests on their dwarvish equivalent of hell and, if they dug through to it, they would gain the aid of the evil creatures who dwell there. With the aid of these allies, the duergar would destroy all who oppose them.
Some think the world is a living organism or an intricate machine that needs careful maintenance if it is to continue. They believe each race was created to look after its part of the world, the dwarves caring for the underground realms.
What Are the Celestial Lamps?
Dwarves may have been created underground, but sooner or later they emerged into the world above. At that point they wondered about the lights moving in the sky, and what the sun was. The dwarves compared these celestial bodies to fire beetles or bright gems rather than natural phenomena. Narvil's scrolls equate the sun with the blazing flames shooting from the chimney of the Great Forge.
After their arguments, the Lesser Gods grew weary and slept. The Creator, bound and tied, remained vigilant. Through the night he watched the Great Forge slowly cool. When the flames were almost extinguished, and all was dark, he blew on the embers to light the fire. Red embers and fresh flames blew up the chimney of the forge and created the First Dawn.
The heavens are interpreted differently by Or-Kazil, the gem-master and mystic who caught the light of the sun and placed it in the gems of Arbir. On the stone of his hall is an inscription. The difficult text is a masterpiece of dwarven poetry.
Fear is the sun. The light. Carried by the watchman in daily traverse. Great is the light of his torch. It conceals his presence.
Fear is the moon. Its ghostly light. Gray scarred surface, a spoiled gem.
Bring me a jewel from the night sky. One that twinkles in the watchman's light as he walks behind the world.
Set it upon my tomb.
The Dwarven Gods
In one creation myth the gods were made by the Maker into shapes he found pleasing.
In other creation tales all gods descend from a common ancestor, and have since multiplied. Each god, at his birth, chose his own form to be superior, then created a race in his own image. The gods mated with their creations to make other gods, which then took their place in the pantheon.
Tales abound of racial heroes elevated to godhood for great deeds or leading exemplary lives. Ancestor worship thrives among these heroes' descendants.
The Dwarven Afterlife
Like humans and other races, dwarves have their own view of the afterlife. The majority of dwarf warriors and priests expect to journey to some great hall of heroes to wait for the day when they will be called upon to fight their enemies once again. Craft oriented dwarves look forward to an afterlife of hard work and other pleasures. The more pessimistic religions even claim that no afterlife exists. They do, however, say that a dwarf can gain immortality by leaving stories of his deeds, or by creating superior artifacts.
