Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)

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Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves. - Confucious

The Dwarfs (never "Dwarves", always "Dwarfs") of Warhammer Fantasy are the typical bearded mining alcoholic grumbling race you'd expect them to be (although in all fairness, Warhammer was the third ever setting to use that archtype after Tolkien invented it and Dungeons & Dragons was the first to steal appropriate it). But Warhammer Dwarfs have a more elaborate culture than the preceding Dwarfs which were based on real life history and a generic template respectively.

Dwarfs are the Roman Empire of the setting in the sense that they were the original masters of the Old World AKA Warhammer Europe. Having a major Hold in every mountain, the Dwarfs easily repelled any invading race and traded with every friendly one. The language of humanity as well as the scientific progress of the setting all come from the Dwarfs, and although they didn't have anything to do with the first banishing of Chaos they are responsible for the strength of the forces of Order repelling Chaos for most of the rest of the setting.

History

Prehistory (Golden Age before Chaos)

In the beginning of the Warhammer World (named "Mallus" unofficially for its solid core, because "The Warhammer World" is a rather uncreative name for a planet) a race of beings from another place and/or time called the Old Ones descended on a primitive world (which as of the End Times was revealed to already have Isha, Asuryan, Kurnous, and Ereth Khial among unknown other Elf gods on it thanks to them surviving the end of the preceding universe). The Old Ones discovered there were primitive races on the verge of sapience, and began experimenting on them to create a race capable of defeating Chaos. To achieve this end they created the Lizardmen as assistants and built the Warp Gates to draw magic and use as tools (accidentally drawing the very attention of Chaos they were trying to avoid). They first made the races civilized and planted the seeds of their culture, placed them in an environment perfectly formed to aid their development, and put them in proximity to fight Chaos.

First uplifted were the High Elves (Warhammer Fantasy|Elves]], gifted in magic and longevity. But the Elves were too frail, too corruptible. Chaos could tug at their emotions and draw them into conflict with themselves, lure them to its side with promises of power and pride, and were loyal to themselves before their race and their race before anything else.

So the Old Ones took the Dwarfs and uplifted them, tweaking the formula to still have long life but making the Dwarfs entirely unable to be corrupted by Chaos by making their bodies resist magic and giving them personalities that Chaos could not twist. While Elves are arrogant and act on emotion, Dwarfs are prideful but act on duty before all else. Inherent loyalty to each other prevents them from being manipulated into infighting easily, but the Dwarfs have a cultural emphasis on Oaths and pursuit of gold which allows them to deal with other races fairly. Refusal to allow insult and sleight lie unavenged make them more than willing to fight any threat, although Dwarfs lack the desire for war and bloodlust that lay deep in the hearts the Elves. Sadly, the Old Ones rejected the Dwarfs due to their easily predictable nature and the inability to use magic being a disadvantage more than a strength. So the Old Ones moved on, creating the human race next then the Halflings, Giants, and finally Ogres with miscellaneous races inbetween.

Dwarfs remember their history differently however. They claim to have been born from the stone of the first mountains, a story that doesn't involve Elves or Lizardmen or any other race. They believe the first Dwarfs to be their gods, the Ancestor Gods. Valaya was the first queen, who invented almost all aspects of Dwarf culture. Her husbands were Grungni and Grimnir, with Grungni taking the language his wife created and inventing the ability to forge them into objects using specific rituals to trap magic inside without the corruption or destruction inherent to magic. Grimnir on the other hand became a war god, destroying the enemies of the Dwarfs. In reality, these three were only the leaders of the first Dwarfs that were given gifts by the Old Ones, guided by the hands of the mysterious beings (its not clear if seen or unseen, although since the Slann directly taught magic to the Elves its possibly the first three royals were guided by the Old Ones themselves). The three did indeed become gods, possibly through the Old Ones or possibly through other means. Dwarfs claim that Valaya invented all aspects of Dwarf culture from Grudge-keeping to brewing to the language of the Dwarfs (called "Khazalid"), while the lore that isn't told through the Dwarf perspective claims these were the gifts of the Old Ones meaning that Valaya likely just spread the knowledge and as a goddess was the patron rather than was the inventor. What is true is that Valaya was the one who established the primary Dwarf Holds (called "Karaks" or Fortress) including Karaz-a-Karak which became her holy city and the capital of the Dwarf race, although she left her sons in charge of each Karak and Dwarfs consider said sons as the first ruler of each.

By Dwarf reckoning the first stone gave birth to the three, then the three created the others from it; thus making the three the "parents" of all Dwarfs. But Valaya gave birth to children of both of her husbands, and the lineage of many Dwarfs can be traced directly to them which lends them legitimacy and credence in society, which is why the same lore can have a Dwarf say they are all sons of Valaya while their king is considered a direct son of Valaya.

Grungni one day made a prophesy that a great disaster would befall the Dwarfs. Valaya and him created a special rune, her own rune, that protected from magic and Chaos while Grimnir prepared for a great war by slaying the monsters already in the world including "Urmskaladrak" AKA the father of all Dragons (according to the Elves, this dragon was a benevolent being killed by one of their own gods who's body formed Ulthuan meaning which story is true is unknown).

Chaos

When the Warp Gates collapsed into portals to the Warp and the Old Ones vanished, Valaya made a home in Karaz-a-Karak and blessed the first two great pillars within. Both Dwarfs and Elves in Warhammer mark this time as the start of recorded history.

One hundred and two years later Grungni created the Throne Of Power which is the property of the High King of the Dwarfs, giving it to his son Snorri Whitebeard. Grimnir met the Elf Aenarion during his travels as an explorer and the two races began diplomacy as the only other civilized people they had encountered (Dwarfs had met the humans of Nehekhara, but the relations were not exactly friendly and the not-Egyptians were fairly primitive compared to the Dwarfs at the time).

One year after that, Grimnir marched into the Chaos Wastes to defeat the Daemons and human Chaos-worshipers and wound up alone in a fortress inside the Warp where he fought the united forces of Chaos for the rest of time. Valaya hid in a forgotten Vault called Valaya's Gate where she could pool her magic and create a magical device to brings Dwarfs back to a golden age if they ever faltered. Grungni's fate is unknown, although he didn't die.

Snorri Whitebeard

In the absence of the mother and fathers Snorri became the supreme leader of his siblings, the Dwarf kings. After the sacrifice of Aenarion and the construction of the Vortex by the Elves, Chaos had subsided a great deal and the races began to explore the world again. In the year 404, Aenarion's son Malekith contacted Snorri and spent time with their race, learning a great deal about them and sending messages about the amiable race he had discovered back to the homeland. The two destroyed the last remaining armies from the first invasion of Chaos and settled the world, Elves creating colonies and Dwarfs new Karaks and even the odd above-ground settlements. Trade between the two created a new golden age vastly different than what came before, with Dwarfs refining their magical runes with the aid of the Elf masters of magic while the Elves learned the secrets of engineering.

Sometime between year 500 and 600 the Dwarfs of a Hold called Zorn Uzkul swore itself to the Chaos entity Hashut and became Chaos Dwarfs (Dwarfs cannot be corrupted against their will, but the Old Ones hadn't predicted willingly falling to what has little to offer), called "Uzkul-Dhrazh-Zharr" or just "Dawi Zharr". Chaos Dwarfs became Wizards by forcing magic into their bodies via runes, but thanks to the magic-resisting nature of the Dwarfs the Chaos Dwarf Wizards slowly turn to stone. Knowledge of how it happened and who exactly Hashut is are lost even to the Chaos Dwarfs themselves, with all that is known for sure being that they felt abandoned by the trinity gods after Chaos isolated them from the rest of the race. Hashut may be an ancestor god, but he could also merely be a Daemon using the Chaos Dwarfs to increase his own power. Either way the knowledge of the Chaos Dwarfs is ignored by most of the rest of the Dwarfs as they are generally unwilling to admit to anything that diminishes them.

In 1684 the second Phoenix King Bel Shanaar visited Karaz-a-Karak, swearing an Oath of eternal friendship with the elderly Snorri. At some point Elf artisans worked on the ceiling of the great hall of Karaz-a-Karak, which had since grown to house thousands of pillars added to Valaya's first two with each belonging to a Dwarf clan upon which each year their history is chronicled. The roof is now covered in sapphires that glimmer and glow, showing the constellations in the sky above the mountain.

Gotrek Starbreaker

Snorri passed the position of High King to his son Gotrek, as well as the Throne Of Power.

Not long after Malekith began the great civil war between the Elves, letting his mother Morathi twist him and the more wicked of the Elves to become Dark Elves and fall into evil and kill Bel Shanaar. Dwarfs heard little of the war and barely understood it as knowledge of the Chaos Dwarfs were not yet commonplace and those who were aware chocked it up to Chaos rather than inherent wickedness. The war went on for many years under Phoenix King Caledor I, with the Dwarfs being understanding of the weakened and financially strained Elves and producing more weapons and armor for them.

Elves and Dwarfs have contrasting personalities and some had managed to earn enmity between them even if the races as a whole were still beloved allies and friends. Elves are arrogant and sarcastic, Dwarfs are boisterous and rude, and this harmed the politics of the two when the races spent time in constant contact. The Grudge Of Drong was an incident when a highly traditionalist and highly racist Dwarf clan began a war with a far more open (and wealthy) Dwarf clan as well as their Elf allies. At the end of a very bitter war both Holds turned against the Elves who had marched to war in defense of their trade partners and they suffered grievous losses as a result. The rest of the race refused to help, leaving the Elves bitter at the betrayal and the Dwarfs fuming over the loss of their armies. This set the stage for what was to come.

In the year 2518 when the now-evil Malekith used his knowledge of the Dwarf race to manipulate Elves and Dwarfs into being enemies forever. His Dark Elves dressed as the High Elves and attacked Dwarf caravans. Gotrek had difficulty believing the allies of the Dwarfs could ever do such a thing and sent his emissaries for an explanation from the current Phoenix King Caledor II, son of Caledor I. Unlike his father Caledor II was arrogant to a ridiculous degree, and refused to even meet with the "inferior race". Angered by this behavior, Gotrek changed his demand from an explanation to the gold value that would result in forgiveness according to the Dwarf tradition of Grudges.

Technology and Magic

Of course, the Dwarfs keep the best tech for themselves, like gyrocopters and other fun toys. Dwarfs mistrust anything new; something in their eyes must be a blueprint for multiple generations before a prototype is considered, so anything special only ever gets made in times of desperation by young and human-like Dwarf Engineers.

Dwarfs by proximity resist and disrupt magic. As such, they have no (natural) wizards and greatly distrust magic. Instead they prefer to shape magic, and bully it into lasting (and reliable) runes.

Dwarfs believe anything worth doing is worth doing right, and so that it lasts as long as possible. Dwarfs don't write often on paper, as that is the way of Humans and Elves. They inscribe on stone, or better, metal. The most important texts such as Grudges, lineage, contracts, and words of their faith are inscribed on gold. Which aside from being valuable does not rust or tarnish which is why we use gold for the records and plaques on the Voyager and pioneer space craft.

Grudges

TIME TO DO SOME AVENGEANCE!!!

The Warhammer Dwarfs' main distinguishing feature is the extreme fervor with which they pursue Oaths and Grudges. A Dwarf that breaks an Oath or does something otherwise shameful -- any Oath or offense they feel is unforgivable -- takes an Oath, gets his hair cut into a mohawk, and becomes a Slayer who seeks mighty monsters to kill until he finds one that manages to kill him. Meanwhile, any Grudge that a Dwarf experiences is written in the great Book of Grudges, and will be answered for. This actually caused a war with the Elves, when the two had a disagreement (fomented by the Dark Elves) that escalated until the Elves shaved one of the Dwarf emissaries. This was unforgivable, and the resulting war caused tremendous losses on both sides. The Dwarfs call this war the "War of Vengeance," though the Elves (and anyone else, when the Dwarfs aren't around) call it the "War of the Beard."

Sexes

Dwarfs have very few females; lore from older editions states that one in every ten Dwarfs is female, and political marriages are of far more importance than any emotional attachments. In early times, before Warhammer had much of an established setting (pre-3e), Citadel produced a few pre-slotta (as in "the base is part of the model) female Dwarf villagers and adventurers, although after that point only male Dwarfs saw any releases. The clan of a Dwarf bride recieves the bride's weight in gold upon marriage, but in order to marry her the groom must be able to wrap his beard around her waist twice creating a dynamic where plump women as relatives are good, skinny woman as desired brides good, and in reverse is considered unappealing and undesirable. Female Dwarfs braid their hair into plaits, which are their equivalent to a Dwarf man's beard. Females are rarely found in positions of power, with only the Queen Helgar Longplaits described in The Grudge Of Drong confirmed, with her entire rulership being plagued with accusations of illegitimacy due to gender. Women rarely, but more often do, end up as a king's advisor.

History

Created by the Old Ones as part of their efforts to build a race that was resistant to Chaos, the dwarves were deemed a flawed success. They were almost immune to chaotic corruption, sturdy enough to withstand a long war against chaos. However, they were too stubborn to adapt to daemon trickery, and were incapable of magic. This means dwarves are actually the third eldest race in the setting, behind elves (2nd) and lizardmen (1st).

Regions

Warhammer Dwarfs live in huge underground citadels called Holds (Dwarf Fortress anyone?). These Holds are spread all around the world, remnants of an ancient empire that once spanned most of the Old World, but only a few remain standing, and even less are anywhere near their former glory thanks to (unknown to the Dwarfs) Lizardmen reshaping the geography of the Old World (AKA not-Europe) thinking it would somehow aid in the Order VS Chaos conflict. Of course, the giant earthquake set off by the Skaven to try and expand their subterranean kingdom didn't help much either.

Politics

• Inter-Dwarf relations are the basis of comparison by which you can see Dwarfs at their best. Which indicates Dwarfs are by and far poor allies and illogical. Dwarf relations are marked by intense pursuit of Grudges, and a general irritability and stubborness with a self-superiority complex that leads to Grudges occurring in the first place. In White Dwarf Warhammer comics, two Dwarf holds that have warred for centuries are all but depleted, with a full-scale WAAAGH of Night Goblins at their doors which, if they break through, threatens extinction for the entire Dwarfish race. Unwilling to abandon the Grudge war even then, the armies suit the last of their non-combatants, including the last three women of one of the clans, in armor and charge into a last battle. When in a personal challenge, the patriarchs of both clans argue with each blow about who's clan slighted who, and realized neither had recorded the original Grudge; only those caused by it. Both clans set to make peace, but at the banquet of celebration Grimnir caused his statue to crush both patriarchs for the dishonor of not avenging Grudges regardless of whether or not they are remembered or even happened at all, resulting in both clans wiping each other completely out and the Goblins claiming two holds without effort.
• Dwarfs hate Beastmen. There has never been a recorded circumstance of the two working together, and they are inferior to Dwarfs.
• Dwarfs are respectful of Bretonnians, although their Elvish influence and use of horses are things Dwarfs mistrust greatly and hold against them. Regardless, Dwarfs see Bretonnians as the best of mankind due to their rigid gender roles, adherence to tradition, codes of conduct, martial strength, and mistrust of magic. Altogether, inferior to Dwarfs.
• Dwarfs have a slightly better relationship with the Empire, as they have age-old oaths of friendship due to the efforts of Sigmar. They still consider humans inferior, but unlike Bretonnians, have deigned to share some of their secrets of smithing, stonecraft and the use of gunpowder with humanity.
• Dwarfs have a Chaos counterpart, creatively called the Chaos Dwarfs, who were formed when they dug too far out into Chaos-infested land. They sell weaponry to those Chaos worshiping Vikings north of them and are insane Babylonians. Chaos Dwarfs have wizards and brute-force magic through their bodies, which turns them slowly to stone and radically alters their appearance. Other Dwarfs have no love for Chaos Dwarfs, and their official stance to pretend they don't exist, but have also have sworn an eternal grudge against all of them; in Gotrek & Felix, Dwarfs engage in the time-honored tradition of verbally bashing Elves, and the claim is made that the actions of the Druchii reflect all Elves. When Felix brings up Chaos Dwarfs, the Dwarfs simply glare at him with such ferocity he feels as much fear of his friends as he does Vampires and Daemons elsewhere in their adventures. A similar incident occurred, but with Teclis instead of Felix pointing out the Chaos Dwarfs. Only Teclis' restraint and the fact that Gotrek owed Teclis a life-debt prevented bloodshed.
• Dwarfs hate Daemons;. There has never been a recorded circumstance of the two working together (with the exception of the Chaos Dwarves), and during the first Chaos invasion of the world, Grimnir ascended to godhood by establishing a one-man hold in the Warp to oppose them making them possibly the worst enemies of the Dwarfs. They are inferior to Dwarfs, regardless of what Chaos cultists say.
• Dwarfs and elves used to be friends. Now they despise elves, due to a historical battle called the war of the beard. While the Dwarf word for elf (elgi) isn't an insult like the Dwarf word for human, elves are a byword for fickleness, subtlety, manipulation and treachery among Dwarfs.

Religion

Dwarfs worship a trinity of gods. Valaya, Grungni, and Grimnir. They are referred to as the Ancestor-Gods, as they are believed to be the deities who created the dwarfs and taught them all they needed to know. They're fairly vanilla in concept, really.

Grungni is your generic patriarch-god; a stern, all-knowing, wise all-father, responsible for teaching dwarfs everything about runes, crafting, mining, smithing, building, whatever.

Valya is, again, a fairly bogstandard matriarch-goddess; a protector, healer and nurturer.

Grimnir is the dwarf god of war and honor, founder of the Slayer cult.

Characters

• High King Thorgrim Grudgebearer
• Slayer King Ungrim Ironfist
• Josef Bugman
• Gotrek Gurnisson
• Master Engineer Burlok Dammison