Tentative Dwarven Lore
Dwarven Lore
Although closely resembling small humans or even smaller elves, dwarves are a thoroughly distinct race with a long history. They primarily hail from the mountainous regions that separate northern Encarnia from southern Encarnia, especially from Mount Jushin, the tallest mountain in the known world. For thousands of years they kept to themselves, often warring against the barbarous half-sentient races found beyond the mountains, against creatures from the darkness below or engaged in wars of succession against each other.
After the fall of the Old Elven Empire, the emergence of dark elves provided the Dwarven race with new enemies and new opportunities. On the one hand, the dark elves proved to be implacable foes who were able to wrestle away many of their mountain strongholds and penetrate into the dangerous underdark, an area that other surface races had never made effective use of. On the other hand, the disintegration of the old empire meant that dwarves were now free to leave the mountains and the underdark if they so wished. While many dwarves stayed in the lands of their birth, others viewed this situation as a fair trade; they had no interest in defending mountain strongholds that had changed hands many times throughout history, or staying in the sometimes gloomy and fetid underdark which was often no better than a bunker or a hiding place.
All Dwarves have a strong constitution compared to other races, despite their smaller size; but being smaller, they often have to expend more stamina to complete certain tasks and their reach and agility suffer for the same reason.
The following dwarven types can be found in the lands of Encarnia today:
Mountain Dwarves: Having greater strength than the average dwarf, these dwarves often trace their lineages back to times rivaling that of the Old Elven Empire. They are proud and prone to feuding.
Urbanized Dwarves: Possessing better agility than most dwarves, these people have mixed into human cities and the territories of the Tower. They effectively “went native” among the other races of Encarnia and tend to resemble them more closely in terms of behavior.
Countryside Dwarves: These people are somewhat of a mix between the Mountain Dwarves and the Urbanized Dwarves. They no longer live in the mountains or the bunkers and tunnels of the Underdark but they have also not fully acclimated to non-Dwarven culture. They are sometimes called “hobbits” by other dwarves because they haven't truly chosen either side, although most take great offense to this.
Underdark Dwarves: These dwarves have lived for so long underground that they are visually distinct from their Mountain Dwarf cousins, although the two are typically quite familiar with each other and there is some overlap. Surviving in the Underdark requires a fair amount of magic and these dwarves are naturals when it comes to employing the reality-bending powers of the Fae or other dark arts.
Subject: The Dwarves 
