Dwarven Legends and Myths

The Creation of the Six Brothers:
The Dwarf race of Amadonia came into being as many of the other races came into being: Through the will of a patron deity. As the Elves were created by Marin, so his brother Lanzo created the short, squat race of bearded miners that he designated the Dwarves. In bid to seem as opposite of his brother as possible, the tall, slender Elves were contrasted by the Dwarves being short enough to enter small caves from which they would mine the stones they came to value highly. Also, whereas the Elves only had a full head of hair that was rather luxurious, the Dwarves were gifted with not only course manes atop their heads, but thick and full beards as well. These came to be seen as a symbol of pride amongst later generations of the stout species, and often the most highly decorated of beards was possessed by the rulers of what would become the Dwarf clan system. To begin, Lanzo took some of the soil from which his father, Ambriel the Winged Protector, created the world on which the Dwarves would live. From this earth Lanzo, who had a tendency to lose himself in projects of an architectural nature, infused that love of building and creation into the sculptures he made, for Lanzo knew that the new creation his father had provided would require builders of extreme skill and quality in the times to come. Yet to keep the contrast of his brother’s creation, the Elves, alive, he made them especially good with stone and mortar, so that their creations would last through the ages. After the work on the stone figures was complete, Lanzo placed them on Amadonia’s surface to see how they responded to the infusion of his knowledge of craftsmanship when he realized he had neglected to provide them with a place to live. Yet he need not have worried, for the Dwarves he created had as an unintended side effect a natural affinity for finding the best stone, and so it was that they came upon a mountain range that had been created during his father’s initial battle with Dysasthenia, the exiled deity of Ke’Ten who destroyed the world that had come before Amadonia was formed. Using the skills that Lanzo had given them, the first six Dwarves set down in the smallest of the mountains and fashioned their first tools from wood and rock, and thus hammers and pickaxes were invented. Using these new tools, the 6 dwarves carved out individual caves for themselves to live in, and each took up a different aspect of stonecraft, which became the traditional method for which each clan would be known. When pressed for what they should call such tasks, Lanzo spoke in to each of their minds a name, which would in addition to the profession of their choice, also become the name of their clan. The oldest of the Dwarves (that is the one that was first carved by Lanzo) was given the name Harrobia, which in the language of the gods meant “one who works with stone” or ”quarry”. It was he who used his knowledge of the craft of stone splitting to give symmetry to the cave he lived in, until the angles of the walls meshed perfectly with the natural makeup of the mountain.

The next oldest was given the name of Zerra, which translated simply to “sawyer” in the common tongue. It was he who was gifted with the ability to craft the stones lifted out of the mountains by his brother Harrobia, and using that gift he crafted more tools for his other brothers to use in their own work with the stone.

The third oldest of the six brothers was named Hargin, who found that with the help of Zerra’s tools, was able to craft art and statues that his brothers could admire and copy with their own skills. So great was Hargin’s skill that he was bid by Lanzo to teach his brothers his skill, and from that the brothers filled their caves with statues of varying sizes. So impressed was Lanzo with this development that he breathed life into the statues to reward the six brothers with more company, and thus the Dwarf race as a whole came into being. The Fourth Brother,

The Fifth brother, Mortero, created the great meeting hall at the very core of the largest mountain in the range known as the Hall of Remembrance, where each of the six brothers sat and acted as chiefs of their various clans. It was Mortero’s purpose to remind the brothers that they came from the stone and to the stone they would return, for Mortero was granted, in addition to the stone crafting skills his brothers all had, he was granted the knowledge first that all of their lives were only temporary on this world. To avoid being forgotten by the ages, Mortero prayed to Lanzo for guidance, and a simple message came to the dwarf as he prayed:  From the stone you were birthed, and to the stone you shall return. The message was accompanied by a vision of statues of the six brothers, on display in the hall that he had built, with the words Lanzo had spoken engraved in the arched doorway that served as the room’s entrance. The sixth dwarf was named Memor. It was his idea to name the Hall of Remembrance and declare it a landmark to their history, and it was her who inspired his brother Mortero to declare that descendants of the clans who proved themselves heroic or especially honored would be put on display to serve as a reminder to the Dwarven clans that they must always act as one and pool their talents to keep the Dwarven clans strong. She also devised the funerary rituals and ceremonies that went along with declaring a dwarf honored and worthy of display in the Hall.

The Chief of Chiefs:
The time of the Scindens, or Sundering, was brought about when the six tribes were turned against one another and plunged into a state of war that continues even to the present day. Intervals where peace existed between the beginning of the sundering and the present time amounted in retrospect to simply periods wherein the fighting warriors of each clan were not numerous enough to throw away on internal squabbles of one sort or another. Yet it was not always this way. Before the Sundering, the Dwarf clans did well to follow Lanzo’s directive of working in concert with each other and providing a strong foundation of leadership for the newly created Dwarvish race.

For a period known now by historians as the Construction, each clan did their part to create the great underground society that they came to call Darferesuma, and many great things were accomplished during this time, including the discovery of the other races of Amadonia, the Elves, created by the water god Marin, the Gnomes and their sister race the Halflings, created by Shula, the fire god, and the Shifters, created by the wind god Rurac. Given that the kingdom of Darferesuma eventually came to encompass three quarters of the entire continent of Fedea, and even parts of Karatetea as well, leading them to come into contact with every other race in existence which resulted in their architectural influence gaining notoriety in all corners of the world. It was the Dwarves, in fact, who were commissioned to build each of the holy temples devoted to each of the Primal Four, as well as their parents, aunt and uncle. Every other race soon was practically begging the Dwarves to teach them their almost divine techniques in construction, and their influence can be seen both in ancient ruins throughout the world as well as newer construction projects still being completed now.

It was this pride of accomplishment that proved to be the Dwarf Kingdom’s downfall.

The dark entity known as Dysasthenia, imprisoned deep in the center of the world by Ambriel, The Winged Protector, sensed the growing pride within the clan chiefs and, through her subtle means of touching the world mentally without being able to physically leave her prison, manipulated each of the six brothers and insisted that it was they who were the real reason the Dwarf kingdom was so strong and expansive. At first nothing came of it, yet little by little the six brothers each began to resent each other for perceived shortcomings. Conflict began to brew and simmer, and Dysasthenia grinned wickedly from within her prison as she sensed her plans coming to fruition.

Yet a Dwarf is not so easily corrupted from its purpose, their hearts being as solid and unyielding as the very stone from which the race was carved. This first attempt by Dysasthenia to sunder the clans was thwarted by none other than the patron god of the race, Lanzo. Unaware of Dys’s influence on his creations, the god at first did nothing. Yet when it became apparent that many of his creations were being turned to stone without his knowledge until after the fact, he investigated. Disguising himself as a Dwarf Clanless so that he could easily move about Dwarf society unnoticed, Lanzo learned that strange creatures from beneath the earth, resembling Dwarves but possessing deformities of the face and skin either black as coal or white as marble, were attacking the expedition parties and either capturing or killing those involved.

Getting involved with the latest expedition, Lanzo traveled and discovered that the mysterious attackers were a heretofore unknown race of Dwarves, a seventh “not-clan” that came to be known as the Deurgar. Investigating further, he found traces of the dark infection that permeated the patch of No Man’s Land named after the deity whose powers affected it: That of Dysasthenia herself. Concerned, Lanzo came to each of the six brothers in a dream. In that dream he showed the six of them working together to create a hero. One who could unify the six under one banner and purge this threat from the caverns of the Dwarf kingdom for good and all.

Convening the six together in a Conclave, the debate raged about what to do. Harrobia insisted that Lanzo’s word be heeded for no better reason than it was his will. Memor warned of the dangers of forgetting their true heritage and came out in favor of carrying out Lanzo’s wishes. Bankari, whose greed had become something of a hindrance due to his making a great deal of coin off of various ventures, suggested they do nothing. The clans could handle such a threat themselves. After all, had they not survived this long with nothing standing against them? Memor, ever the historian, countered that the threats they had faced before would be nothing compared to a horde of Duergar overwhelming each clan one by one. The remaining brothers each gave their opinion as well, yet Bankari stubbornly proved unable to be swayed. Fortunately a unanimous vote was not required to carry out the wishes of Lanzo, and he was overruled. Thus began the work on what would become known as the Chief of Chiefs, or Buru Burura.

Each of the six brothers worked tirelessly on the new project assigned to them. Working in concert for six days and six nights, using all manner of stone carving techniques, the six of them were astonished to discover that, upon completion, the statue before them looked almost alive. Even as they stood around gawking, admiring their own work and feeling an immense sense of pride of accomplishment, a voice was heard behind them. “You have all done well.” Turning to address the speaker, all six were dumbfounded to find the mysterious dwarf who had accompanied the last tunnel expedition. “You have done well.” The dwarf said to them, and so saying stood straighter, grew taller and thinner, and adopted a radiant hue of light. The brothers then knew that it was Lanzo before them, and each bowed in reverence. Bankari saw his foolishness in opposing the other five now, and repented.

Even as the six brothers were still struggling to comprehend Lanzo’s presence among them, the god himself was walking up to the newly carved statue. The work held a resemblance to all six of the brothers, as if by working together each of them had become a part of the masterpiece. Touching his hand to its forehead, Lanzo breathed life into this statue just as he had breathed life into the six brothers when they were first carved. Upon stone becoming flesh, Lanzo disappeared, heading back to his home of Angelium now that he had done all he could to help the Dwarves deal with this latest threat to their kingdom.

The newly carved Dwarf was aware of the threat even before #|the brothers told him, for Lanzo had given the new Chief of Chiefs all the knowledge and experience he would need to help the brothers defeat the deurgar. Acting as his generals, the six brothers massed each of their clan’s warrior castes, and took the fight to the enemy for the first time. Death occurred on both sides, for there has never been a war where only one side bled, and a war this certainly was. Nevertheless, the brothers persevered, and soon the Deurgar were driven so far deep underground that it was thought they were lost forever. It was at this time that Dysasthenia realized that her nephew’s creations were at their most vulnerable

Though the six brothers were victorious in their struggle, it was not without cost. Three of the six brothers were severely injured in the fighting, and Bankari had actually given his life in defense of his clan when desperate action was called for. This left his clan leaderless for a time, during which internal power struggles weakened not only the Bankari clan, but the Dwarf economy as a whole, for no one had Bankari's head for numbers or nose for gold. Yet event through this the Dwarves managed to strengthen themselves, with the first election of a new chief held by Clan Bankari, setting a precedent for generations to come.

The Sundering:
The Scindens (sundering) was, and remains to this day, the single most devastating event in the history of the Dwarven peoples. Before this event nearly tore the entirety of Darferesuma apart, the clans acted as one entity with six parts, united for their mutual protection, yet separate for their individual pursuits. During this time the kingdom of the Dwarves expanded to encompass nearly all of one of the world's three continents, and even parts of the other two. largely having the underground to themselves thanks to the other races' penchant for staying out of dark caves, their expansion met no resistance beyond the dark creatures that Dysasthenia's corruption created in her attempts to drive the six clans apart.

Only one of those attempts were successful, yet it was so successful that the day it began was and forever will be a day that will live in infamy among the annals of Dwarven history.

The problems arose shortly after the Buru Burura returned to the stone, his purpose in leading the Dwarves against their Deurgar enemies fulfilled. Left without the guiding purpose given to them by their temporary leader, the five brothers and the new chief of Clan Bankari debated heatedly about how to rebuild their society. After weeks of intense argument, it was decided that the focus would be on military expenditures and fortifications, to better prepare against subterranean attacks from Dysasthenia.