Warhammer Dwarves

• Little is known about early Dwarf history but Dawi as they were known were probably assisted in their development by the mysterious and enigmatic Old Ones. It is said that the Dwarfs were foretold of the great catastrophe that befell the Warhammer world by their patron god, Grungni. After the catastrophe of the Coming of Chaos, the Dwarfs emerged to find their world changed and warped. Mutated Beastmen roamed freely throughout the land, slaying everyone in their path. Warriors of the Chaos Gods murdered and pillaged at will, and Daemons created nightmare realms, enslaving entire tribes and peoples. It was Grungni himself that forged the first weapons and armour, while teaching the Dwarfs to do the same. Then after he forged the first magical runes, capturing the wild winds of magic and harnessing their power into them, creating even more potent weapons, axes and hammers, as well as runes that gave runic protection into armour and talismans. He armed the Ancestor God Grimnir with two axes and armour harder than the bones of mountains, and he and his first Runesmiths armed the rest of the Dwarfs to do battle. Soon after their re-emergence the Dwarfs first encountered the High Elves from Ulthuan, both chasing a maurauder warband. The two races had a period of prosperous development but a disastrous war known to the Elves as the 'War of the Beard' and to the Dwarfs as the 'War of Vengeance' almost completely destroyed the two races. The Dwarfs now live in isolated strongholds, their once proud empire lies in tatters.

• Dwarfs are on average a good deal shorter than either men or elves of the Warhammer world making them ideally suited to the tunnels in which they live and work (the average dwarf being estimated to be at approximately 4'5"-5'0"). Their bodies seem purpose-built for manual labour, solidly muscled, broad-shouldered and large thick fingered hands that belie considerable manual dexterity. Dwarfs are a very long-lived race with life-spans that can run into centuries, or rare occasions even into a millennium. As a dwarf becomes older so his beard becomes longer and thicker. Since dwarfs have a deep inbuilt respect for age it would be unthinkable for a dwarf to cut off or even trim their beards. Like the Orcs, dwarfs appear to become stronger the older they get, but unlike the Orcs, there appears to be a "Breaking Point" where the dwarf's health declines rapidly, always happening just a few years before the dwarf dies of old age. Female dwarfs are very rarely seen outside dwarf realms which has led many people to believe that dwarf males can have babies or that dwarf women have beards. However Games Workshop has released several models in the past depicting female dwarfs, such as Blood Bowl cheerleaders and Queen Helgar, which is still available from Mail Order. These models, like their male counterparts, are heavily built, armed and armoured; are muscular and grim, but instead of long beards have long hair wound into similar braids, worn beneath the helmet which they treasure as greatly as males do their beard. Even the online game Age of Reckoning allows player to play female dwarfs

• Magic in its usual forms is distrusted, and even loathed, by a great many of the Dwarfen population. The general consensus is that magic is too erratic and volatile to fool around with, let alone rely on in battle. However, Dwarfs do place considerable emphasis on embedding magic within certain items e.g. axes, hammers, shields, and armour suits through Runesmithing (in the same manner other races create talismans). Aspiring Runesmiths will spend years and years as an apprentice to a Runelord who will gradually teach them to inscribe items with symbols that have great magical power. Runes are often expensive and take years to make, even for the most experienced Runesmiths.

• For some unknown reasons, dwarfs have a strong attraction to gold. Dwarfs will seek to amass gold, even to the point of acting unreasonably (such as refusing to abandon gold in order to save their lives). The exception to this refusal to leave gold is any gold that is going to be buried (such as by a cave in). As far as a Dwarf is concerned, any gold that is "lost" underground is as easy to regain as a coin dropped in the street. This addiction is sometimes called "gold lust."

Warhammer's depiction of dwarves is one of my favorite. It clear highlights their short stocky physic, whilst highlighting their natural affinity for stone and crafting. I think these are all things that are very important to the basic understanding of dwarves, however the description becomes much more interesting when describing their magical abilities. Unlike most games, it states that dwarves have no magical ability other than that of runesmithing. This is something I'm going to have to look at when concepting my characters as magic could be an important game mechanic, especially in battle.