Kingdom of Undermountain

"Human coins are like their words: never trust them. Use your weighing scales and keep your axe handy!"

=== An ancient race as mysterious as the earth itself, it is unclear when the clans saw fit to elect a king. Notoriously private about the running of their society, some scholars believe laws exist forbidding dwarves to speak to outsiders on such matters, on pain of death to themselves and their clans! Whilst the truth is unknown, these rumours serve their purpose and the secrets of the hierarchy remain deep underground. ===

History:
''"The dwarves have mined the earth as long as the earth has been there to be mined". Whilst the old saying may be an exaggeration it is a generally held fact that the dwarves have always been there, in the dark places of the world, the origin of the kingdom remains shrouded in this same shadows, It is know for a very long time the dwarves formed clans based off mutually beneficial relationships between families, in time these clans grew, consumed smaller clans until only a handful remained, each powerful enough to stave off the others. This period of dwarven history is documented in the rather dwarven sounding "A History Of The Dwarven Clans" by Bofrick Whitebeard, explaining that for a time an uneasy alliance settled over his people, neither clan wishing to upset the balance for fear of collapsing the whole of society.''

''The clans dug deeper, grew wealthy and built cities of wonder. They were content to remain largely oblivious to the happenings of the continent until one fateful day, when in their own words "They dug too deep."''

''The Calamity as it became known, awoke a long dormant power beneath the country the dwarves had called their own since time immemorial. This ancient force drew into its maw most of the nation, dragging ocean from the 'Pale Beyond' and drowning the majority of the dwarven folk. In its wake the event left dwarven society shattered, once a proud nation they now found their home split asunder and divided into what we now know as 'The Anvil Islands'. The effects of this event still linger, the waters at the center of the islands still claim any ship foolish enough to venture too close and it's mysteries lay buried beneath the remnants of the dwarves ancient lands.''

''A hardy and resourceful people the dwarves adapted, they continued to mine but with much stricter controls, never again would avarice bring them to their knees. The clans that had survived had been torn apart but in time also rebuilt. They remained hidden with only a minor presence above the surface. They would have remained that way but for a foolish attack by the Hexan Confederacy in 904, forcing the dwarves into war under the banner of this new leader and the title 'Kingdom of Undermountain'. The attack was thwarted with ease and once more the world knew the very real might of this proud and ancient people.''