The Quest for Memory

The dwarves of Terafa have no creation myth. Their earliest tales tell of their ancestors waking as if from a dreamless slumber, finding themselves on the banks of sightless seas within the earth, surrounded by the tools of their labours. What those labours were, or on whose behalf they worked is a mystery.

In the aftermath of their Awakening, most of the dwarven peoples began a great exodus, travelling ever upwards and away from their enslavement. Along the way, they established new traditions, a new history (oral first, and then written). As the generations passed, they came to venerate their ancestors, and then to worship them outright. In time, they rediscovered the gods that they had forgotten.

Finally, they reached the surface world, a shattered people but also one tempered by their great ordeal. And, alas, they promptly found themselves caught up in a battle for survival and for freedom again, the former against hordes of orcs infesting their new lands; the latter against the Sol. The dwarves won the former, but their success in the latter was certain - one of their great mountain holds remained free while the other fell into slavery.

Today, the dwarves are again free. Once again, it is no great rebellion or quest for freedom that has seen this occur, but rather the disappearance of their former masters. Regardless of the cause, the dwarves celebrate.

Dwarven society in Terafa is structured along clan lines, with identity being of paramount importance to them - the loss of their ancient history has left them sensitive to questions about who and what they are. Consequently, every dwarf expects to know his place in society - his family and his craft, his superiors and those who owe him homage. The loss of such things, and the dishonour that goes with it, is the most grevious wound a dwarf can suffer.

Dwarves are strongly associated with the number seven. They have seven gods, each of whom has an appointed time to rule (with the god of justice, Klos, currently being in the ascendency). There are seven great dwarven subraces (though they do not speak of some of these kin). There are seven great trades, and there are seven things they seek to extract from the earth in their mines (coal, diamonds, iron, salt, silver, tin, and adamantium).

Dwarven military forces are based on skirmish units and small forces rather than massed groupings. This is largely a consequence of them fighting mostly within the earth where space is at a premium, and proved a weakness against the forces that awaited them on the surface. Dwarven chiefs will have a small number of sworn warriors, each of whom will command a small squad. Dwarven sworn warriors are typically equipped with banded armour and close-faced helms. These warriors tend to favour an axe, hammer, pick, or sword, and will carry two such weapons - a larger weapon wielded in both hands, and smaller one for close-in work. Dwarven sworn warriors tend not to make use of shields, though the squads they command are skilled in forming the shield wall.