Dwarf History
Long before the coming of the elf lords, the Dwarfs had forged a wealthy and populous
empire that was spread across much of Arcana. While the humans, halflings, centaurs
and the other early races lived in primitive wood and mud settlements and fought
with stone or bronze weapons, the dwarfs had built stone fortresses and were experts
at forging iron. For the most part, the dwarfs were not a naturally aggressive or
warlike race and so traded peacefully with most other races, resorting to war and
conquest only when required. The early dwarf people were divided into dozens of
kings all of whom ruled their kingdoms with relative independence. Despite being
divided among many different kings, the Dwarf people had a strong, natural kinship
with those of their own race. Wars between the dwarf kings were unheard of as the
act of killing a fellow dwarf went strongly against their code of beliefs. Much
of the dwarf peoples’ energy was poured into building and maintaining lucrative
trade routes throughout the mountains, forests and plains of Arcana. These routes
connected the dwarf kingdoms to one other and to the permanent settlements of allied
nations. When forced to wage war, the dwarfs usually preferred to build fortifications
and engage in protracted siege warfare rather than open battle. Masters of siege
craft, they rarely lost such campaigns.
When the elf lords set foot on Arcana, the initial contact was reasonably peaceful.
The first elves to arrive posed as traders and spent much of their time trading
with the dwarfs. In truth, they were spies who collected detailed information on
the dwarf trade routes and location of major settlements and fortifications. When
the first elf armies arrived, their generals used this information to launch vicious
assaults on dwarf trade caravans and more vulnerable dwarf settlements. Though the
dwarf kings fought bravely against the elf armies, their iron-clad warriors were
poorly matched against the steel-clad elves. The dwarf armies knew nothing of cavalry
or the skill of taming wild monsters whereas the elves were masters of both disciplines.
Whenever the dwarf kings faced the elves on the open field, the elven knights supported
by swarms of trained manticores, hydras, wyrms, and dragons devastated the long
shield walls of dwarf infantry. The dwarfs also had no answer to the wildly destructive
magic that the elf sorcerers were able to harness. Despite the one sided nature
of the early conflicts, the dwarfs were still able to slow the progress of the elf
armies. If defeated on the open field, they withdrew to their fortresses, leaving
the elves with little option but bloody assaults. Many dwarf kings such as Ledrin
the Iron Hand, Maarn the Hammer, and Tomarc the Eagle fought to the death along
with their people in such assaults, as dwarf tradition forbids a king from surrendering
to an enemy.
As the Elf lords continued their conquest of Arcana, many began to unleash their
orc war slaves on those that opposed them. One such general was Erisharn, known
among his people as the Orc-Lord, as he fielded many orcs in his campaign to conquer
the region known today as Eberia. On the Battle of Tomin’s Hill, his army faced
a coalition of humans, halflings, dwarfs and centaurs led by the dwarf king Denmir
Iron-Helm. Erisharn assembled his war orcs to the forefront of his army and threw
them against king Denmir’s army. Clad in steel armour, the powerful orcs withstood
the hail of iron and bronze arrows fired at them and threw themselves at their enemies
with berserker fury. The elf sorcerers under Erisharn’s command cast powerful enchantments
on the orcs that bolstered their strength, drove them to a wild fury and even allowed
them to breath fire. As the orcs smashed into the king Denmir’s army, they inflicted
horrific casualties. As the two sides fought bitterly, Erisharn ordered his archers
to fire into the melee. Erisharn’s elven cavalry supported by four powerful dragon
riders engaged the Centaur host and drove them from the field. The human tribes,
the Lidhe and Donelmen, broke under the force of the orc assault and were run down
by the elf cavalry, who then proceeded to encircle King Denmir’s army. Although
the King’s army was eventually able to break the orc force, many of its warriors
had been killed or brutally wounded by the assault. Even the King’s son, Denvarr
lay dead surrounded by a mere handful of his guard. Seeing that the enemy’s army
was largely defeated, Erisharn ordered the advance of his infantry. Rank upon rank
of steel-plated elven warriors assaulted the battered dwarf and halfling line. The
halflings broke in the face of the elven advance and most were able to flee to safety.
The encircling elven cavalry had decided that they were not worthy sport. The elves
had little problem shattering the remaining dwarf shield wall and proceeded to butcher
the dwarfs. An elf noble took the head of King Denmir, ending his royal line, and
presented it to Erisharn after the battle. Following the battle of Tomin’s Hill,
resistance to the Elves in Eberia collapsed and Erisharn took the whole of the region
as his domain. Many battles played out in the same manner during the elven conquest
of Arcana. Eventually the dwarfs had little choice but to retreat to mountain strongholds
that were of little interest to the elf lords.
The dwarf people retreated to the inhospitable mountain ranges of Arcana and there
built new cities and mountain pathways. The bitter memories of their loss and the
harsh climate hardened the dwarfs considerably. From captured elves they discovered
the secrets of forging steel and harnessing the currents of magic that permeated
the mountain tops. They learned to trap and tame the fierce mountain bears, rams
and boars to use as mounts for their warriors. Fighting a constant battle for survival
with the goblin tribes, giants, dragons, ogres and other monsters, the dwarfs perfected
their methods of warfare.
When the elven civil war broke out, the dwarf kings chose at first to remain neutral.
As the war intensified, the elven cities began to bleed themselves dry in bitter
warfare. Seeing this, many dwarf kings descended from the mountains and seized lowland
areas the elves could no longer hold. Their confidence bolstered by their initial
success, they launched full scale attacks on the weakened elf cities themselves.
In these battles, it was the dwarfs that had the advantages and few of the beleaguered
elf cities were able to stand against them. The cities of Tel’mir, Ashran, and Fia’mir
fell after brief sieges and are occupied by dwarf kings to this day. The dwarfs
further developed their mastery of magic through secrets unearthed from the ruined
elf citadels. It was during this time that the royal engineers of king Harald Oak-heart
developed the first gun powder weapons. Whether they discovered this secret from
the elves or if they developed it themselves is unclear.
As the elven civil war came to an end, the dwarfs worked hard to hold onto their
new gains. The dwarf kings faced not only the vengeful elves and greedy human tribes
but also clans of orcs that had won their freedom and the ferocious armies of beast
men, undead and demons that were born in the war. After centuries of warfare, the
dwarf armies are well equipped to face such threats.