Dwarfs (Warhammer)

In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe, the Dwarfs are a race of short, stout humanoids very similar to the dwarves of Middle-earth and those of Dungeons & Dragons. Dwarfs in the Warhammer setting are proud warriors highly driven by honor and the making of oaths.

(This is the in-game history of the Dwarf race)

The Beginning

There are no written records of the earliest years of the Dwarfs history, though legend states that the first Dwarfs migrated northwards from their southern ancestral homes along the World Edge Mountains, following open veins of ore and tunnelling into the mountains in search of gold, iron and gemstones. As they progressed, many clans built fortified settlements and mines called holds around the richest deposits. Eventually they reached the northern most edge of the mountains - the majority turned back, while some ventured north-west into the lands that would become Norsca and others turned east and crossed the Great Skull Land (these would eventually become the Chaos Dwarves during the Coming of Chaos).

It was written in the Great Book of Grudges that a time of great calamity fell when the storms of Chaos erupted across the Old World from the far north, colouring the sky, splitting the earth and tearing apart the mountains themselves. It was also in this period that the great Ancestor Gods emerged - Grungni, Grimnir and Valaya - who helped lead the Dwarfs to safety by leading them to dig deep under the mountains to escape the storm ravaging the world above. 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. The sheer power of Chaos threatened the entire world with eventual destruction.

To battle against such enemies, Grungni forged the first weapons and armour, while teaching the Dwarfs the skills of metalworking, smelting and mining. He also 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 Grimnir with two mighty axes and armour harder than the bones of mountains, and he and his first Runesmiths armed the rest of the Dwarf race. Soon after, they marched forth from their stronghold and battled against Chaos, where Grimnir slew many deamons and Valaya protected them from the dark magics of their foes. Though they could not fully destroy the forces against them, they drove them from their mountain homes and defended them from further onslaught.

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