The Dwarves

Apart from the Isle of Punt, the Rhiphaen Mountains may be the dwarves' last great stronghold. They live here in large numbers, mostly in underground complexes 100 to 800 feet down and some deeper still, and are famed as the finest miners, smiths and gem experts in the world. Their arms and armor are superbly made, as is the jewelry their women wear, and foreign craftsmen have rarely matched their work.

Since settling here some centuries ago they have fought the Rock Trolls, the mountains' original owners, without pause. Though the trolls are bigger and sometimes more numerous, the dwarven army has repeatedly driven the slow-witted brutes back, pushing them ever deeper; no major troll assault has come in years, but the dwarves see this as temporary and stay alert. Their realm is well ordered around the great fortress of Ironhold, home of the king, his court and most of the army, from which a network of tunnels reaches many smaller outposts, mines and caverns. Chainmailed patrols of 10 to 20, bearing shields and axes or warhammers, walk the main corridors, and smaller squads guard the mines against troll raiders, changing every eight hours with the work shifts.

Each mine has 10 to 200 workers with a foreman for every 20, working eight-hour shifts broken for meals, rest and now and then a good strong drink. Ore and iron-boxed gems travel by wagon entirely underground to Ironhold, taking 2 to 8 weeks from the remotest outposts, and the wagons return with food and supplies. At Ironhold the ore is smelted and the ingots forged into tools, weapons, armor and devices, while the best gems and surplus gold and silver go into closely guarded vaults.

Reclusive by nature, the dwarves must still surface for food, wood and supplies, and sometimes trade iron and tin ingots to nearby Cimmerian tribes for furs and hides. They deal with Mediterranean merchants only when their own ale and liquor, brewed in huge wooden casks below ground, run low. They refuse to trade with the Vanir, whom they greatly dislike, but always extend hospitality to visiting dwarves and to the Aesir, whom they count as trusted allies. They have no single patron god but revere several True Earth Elementals, setting aside especially beautiful caverns and grottos as shrines where they meditate and give thanks.