Dwarfs
Dwarfs are a race of hardy and very strong creatures. A rare dwarf is covered with a fair layer of fat, but almost all of them have wide waists. That, coupled with a powerful stature, makes them look like boulders or thickset tree stumps — whichever comparison you like better. Dwarfs live a very long life, up to several hundred years, only elves can boast of greater longevity. Dwarfs are a race of toilers and defenders. Dwarf society cherishes the cult of the artisan-creator and his faithful friend, the warrior-protector.
Thunderhand, the chosen royal guard, keeps order in the kingdom. The number of guards cannot exceed 1000 members. The first hundred — the richest and most powerful members of Thunderhand — receive the status of emissaries and can represent the dwarf people in other kingdoms of the world, hold local court, conduct investigations and engage in intelligence and counterintelligence. All Thunderhand members receive a generous salary directly from the royal treasury.
Although the dwarfs are divided into clans, they have a united kingdom. There are eight dwarf clans: Nun, Roh, Jard, Waz, Ud, Mit, Fur and Ir. Waz has been a royal clan for many thousands of years. The king and the princes rule their clan directly and control other clans through the barons — hereditary rulers of the clans. Every year, the king gathers all barons at the dwarfsting to discuss all the royal matters, unless of course there is an urgent need to gather for another occasion before that.
Each clan has its excellent warriors and fine artisans in various crafts: blacksmiths, engineers, masons, carpenters — in all professions, in general. But each clan has particularly skilled craftsmen in some business, or mines some rare resources.
The Roh clan has always been famous for two things: rich diamond deposits and unrivalled architects. That’s why their clan city is honoured to bear the name "Diamond Stronghold": an impregnable fortress city, immensely rich and beautiful. It is also the capital of the Lunar mountains and the entire dwarven kingdom. But the Roh clan owes its greatness not only to its wealth and the best architects. Two reasons served as a determining factor: the charisma and nobility of the Roh Baron Thror the Copper–eyed and the new vein of radgrill found on the territory of the clan — the rarest metal, as malleable as copper, but several times stronger than the best steel. However, the metal is so rare that weapons and armour made of it are an incredibly rare thing and are valued at triple the weight of diamonds. And no one will sell for a triple — it's just rumoured that someone very lucky once bought it from someone very foolish. They say Gariot's armour is made of radgrill and therefore he is nearly invulnerable. On the other hand, what prevents you from making a nice radgrill crossbow bolt? However, that’s a question dwarfs have been asking themselves over a keg of beer for decades now.
The Ir clan is famous for its armourers. They are considered the most skilled ones and are constantly working on improving all types of weapons, whether it is a new shape of a cross-guard of a sword, a new mechanism for stretching a crossbow or a new way of hardening. The Ir clan was the first to find radgrill deposits and the first to forge weapons from it. But now this radgrill mine is almost depleted, which makes manufactured weapons even more expensive and precious.
Legends has it that the first king of the dwarfs was Darun the Iron of the Ir kin when the kins had not yet turned into clans. It is believed that he was the first to learn how to process the first-star iron, which fell from the sky. He didn’t hide his newfound knowledge from other dwarven kins, but shared it with them. Encouraged by new opportunities, the heads of the kins gathered the first dwarfsting and elected Darun as the supreme chief — only later the title was renamed into "The Supreme King, the Father of all Dwarves". However, other clans consider thesetales to be blatant nonsense, and regard clan members themselves as narrow-minded stupid blacksmiths fixated on the endless improvement of cutting edges and inventing new hilts.
The Nun clan is renowned for its armour masters and foundrymen. In the capital of the clan, the city of Nundun, located at the entrance to the Diamond Valley, there are many streets where armour masters live: Chain Mail, Corslet, Helm, Lamellar, Plate, etc. In a word, it is the capital of the armour business of the Lunar Mountains, most of the armour that goes for export is manufactured here. In the Great Hall of the Nundun Yarls, the main relic of the clan is kept— a chain mail made of radgrill, which once belonged to the legendary hero and baron Bori "The Brave". The name of that chain mail is "Ringing". But Bori also had a ragdrill axe – the "Bloody Bride", which is considered to be lost and all dwarfs of the Nun clan are ready to give up everything they have for an opportunity to return the legendary axe back to its place in the Great Hall.
Bori did many heroic things, but the most glorified feat took place during the battle on Thorn Hill, which lies between Twilight Hill and Crimsonwood. The dwarven army was returning after the battle with elves with a victory but drained of blood. On the way back, scouts reported that a myriad of goblins was marching quickly towards them. It was clear that wounded and tired dwarves would not be able to defeat the horde. Then Baron Bori himself suggested to King Noorlin "Elven Ear" to leave him with a squad of warriors to hold off the goblins while the others take away the badly wounded ones and call for help. The king was against it and wanted to fight himself, but other barons managed to convince him. Only a few hundred warriors remained with Bori, but they were the best — the flower of the dwarven army — they were given all the best armour and weapons. They had a day and a half left, so they managed to fortify on the hill and even put up a palisade and install several arrow launchers. Six times waves of goblin troops rolled over the impregnable hill. And six times they rolled back, leaving a trail of bloody corpses in their wake. For the seventh time, goblin shamans also joined the battle. With the help of vile magic they sent a terrible infirmity on the valiant dwarfs — a rare dwarf could raise at least a hand — and only Bori stood in front of them. He clutched the “Bloody Bride” in one hand and the ancient Bartong curved horn in the other. Having blown into it as hard as he could, he rushed at greenskins and smashed dozens of them. The sound of the Bartong began to bring the dwarfs to their senses. And after a while, the battle cries of the dwarfs cut through the heavens. The warriors charged on ahead, overthrowing goblin regiments and putting them to flight. But Bori didn’t make it. All wounded, he lay under a pile of mangled green bodies. His last words were “Where is my bride?”, but vile goblins took his famed axe with them.
The Dwarven Council assembles the best males of the dwarf breed. The elected hundred from the Thunderhand of Gariot, the best engineers, warriors, and the oldest dwarfs, endowed with the wisdom of time. They deal with the most important and pressing issues which arise in the dwarf state, whether this is the initiation of war, the conclusion of peace, or the passing of new laws. Only members from within the council can decide on the admission of new members to their ranks. The only exception is the hundred from the Thunderhand whose members are approved by the Thunderhand and cannot be changed by anyone other than the Thunderhand itself. All members of the council are elected for life, apart from the hundred of the Thunderhand. There have been times when a member of the council has grown so old that he just sat there like a senile stump, not contributing a word, but he cannot be expelled. A dwarf can only be expelled from the council if he has committed an unprecedented crime: betrayed the king, stolen war secrets and passed them onto the enemy, or eaten the last Zyzyabky leg from the king's table.