Dwarf/Gnome Timeline

[Havard]

Yeah there's a bunch of things about the Izmer write up that echo what was later written for the DAB books and could be seen as the "west coast" details of the same events and trends. (izmer being west of the Goblin Kush) No time now but I want to work up a post about it.

Here is what I have been able to find so far:

The dwarves, driven by their greed, destroyed the city of Antius by mining under the entire area. Rather than take proper precautions in their many tunnels, the very earth was honeycombed and weakened in their quest for magical ore. Only then when it was too late the city was warned.

A few mages in their towers were able to reinforce their foundations enough to prevent themselves from being drawn into the sinkhole that was once Antius. Many of the citizens were thus saved by the foresight and benevolence of those ancient mages. With the ore gone the dwarves moved on, leaving proud Antius to become one of the most disreputable places within the Empire.

[Now nobody likes those smelly, dirty dwarves less than I do. All that they’re good for is digging holes for outhouses. But I heard that they got a bum rap on the Antius deal. It’s said that they had no choice but to get that ore out. Whoever was in charge around there a thousand years ago said to get it all out right away. Rumor has it that if dwarves didn’t do what they were told, then they dwarves would have been turned into rocks themselves. --C.]

The dwarves hid in their underground fortresses to avoid fighting in the Great War. Even abandoning their fellows in their haste to make themselves safe.

[Tough to figure. Them dwarves are always getting into fights. And it usually doesn’t matter what the odds are -- they’re just stupid that way. Can’t hardly imagine what sort of threat would have made them hide away like that. --C.]

In the wake of the Great War, dwarves were recruited to fight the hordes of orcs and other humanoids that sought to destroy what was left of civilization. Fighting in small groups, the dwarves proved to be quite useful as the Empire sought to return peace to the land. Today only a few of these creatures remain to wander about outside the mining camps. Some of these creatures are rumored to posses inherent magical abilities, although they seem to show no inclination to use them. It is not known what the dwarves, if indeed any still exist, do beneath the mountains.

[Magical abilities? Nah. The only magic I ever seen a dwarf do was eat more food than ten grown men! --C.]

All know that the dwarves are a contentious and aggressive folk. The amount of damage that dwarves have done within the city of Sumdall from their frequent fights in the local taverns is quite high.It is fortunate for the remaining dwarves, and society in general, that they were gathered together in camps to work the Empire’s mines. Only the benevolent rule of the Empire has kept them in check, else they would be in a constant conflict with some portion of the Empire.

The above is taken from Dave Arneson's article Society of Sumdal and Izmer original appearing on wizards.com (ca 2000). Passages in italics are by "Charlie the Cutpurse" a thief living in the Empire.

Now I am less inclined to treat the movie setting as part of Blackmoor, but I think it can be seen on par with the other settings that Blackmoor has been connected with to be discussed in the Beyond the Veil Forum. However, since Arneson wrote these articles, it is not unreasonable to assume that he inserted his own views on Dwarves, just like he did with the elves. Now it might not be apparent in the quoted paragraphs, but the article depicts the dwarves as seen by the wizards, so should not necessarily be taken at face value.

-Havard