Dwarves

Stout, strong and sober when things get serious, the Dwarves have a history of surviving terrible catastrophes and conflicts where other races would be crippled. The Dwarves were once one kingdom, united and strong against the Troggs and other strange creatures underground, but following the War of Three Hammers, the race was split into the three major clans. Masters of the smith and of brewing strong drinks, the Dwarves of Ironforge and Aerie Peak remain distant allies with the Humans of Stormwind and the protectors for the Gnome survivors of the Gnomeregan Fallout.

Characteristics
The Dwarves of Ironforge in Khaz Modan and Aerie Peak in the Hinterlands share many physical attributes; stout, as all dwarves are, with fair-to-flushed skin and hair and eyes the colors of rock and ore and mountains. The Dark Iron Dwarves, on the other hand, have ashen skin tones and equally blackened hair and eyes. Shorter than humans, coming to three to four feet in height, and stout with physiques ranging from muscled and fit for extreme combat to flabby and ready for the next meal. Despite their lack of height compared to the Humans and Elves they've dealt with in the past, the Dwarves are a physically strong, martial-focused people with a history for appreciating a good fight and a good drink afterwards. Though Dwarves share a strong hatred for Trolls and the undead, they are generally a good-natured and high-spirited people and steadfast allies.

Racial Aspect : [Stoneform] - Dwarves have long been attuned to the rock and ore, to mountain and stone, regardless of location. As such, Dwarves have a natural affinity for working with stone and metals, as well as the ability to purge their bodies of impurities, a feat as equally useful for removing poisons on the battlefield as sobering up after a barfight in the pub.

History
There is no recorded history that any Dwarves can find for their whereabouts prior to migrating to Dun Morogh, but rumors claim ancestry from the south, "in lands of darkened light, with stone halls and towering guardians." For as long as Dwarves can remember, dating back to nearly two and a half millennia ago, they have resided in Dun Morogh, either in the various stone settlements at the bottom of Khaz Modan, or within Ironforge in the heart of the mountain, in stone-carved homes surrounding their great forge of lava and ore. Determined to keep to themselves and hone their craft of blacksmithing and masonry of stone, the Dwarves made no efforts to expand beyond the domain of Khaz Modan, containing Dun Morogh, Loch Modan, the Wetlands, the Badlands, the Searing Gorge and the Wetland Highlands.

For more than two millennia, the Dwarves slowly expanded as necessary, but mostly fortified their homes and improved their craft. Over that time, the Dwarves gradually formed three distinct clans; the Bronzebeard Clan, who made their home in the great Ironforge within the Khaz Mountains; the Wildhammer Clan, who raised and fortified the massive fortress of Grim Batol in the Wetland Highlands; and the Dark Iron Clan, who claimed the broken, but rich lands of the Searing Gorge and Red Ridge Mountains for their underground tunnels and mountain cities. A tenuous peace was kept between the three clans by the ill King Anvilmar, but following his untimely death, a vicious civil war erupted between the Dwarven people.

The Dark Iron Clan, which had long conspired against the Bronzebeards and Wildhammers, but held back out of respect for King Anvilmar, quickly and ruthlessly launched a two-pronged assault on both its rival clans. Led by Sorcerer-Thane Thaurissan and his dark sorceress wife, Modgud, the Dark Iron forces assaulted Dun Morogh and the Wetlands simultaneously. Though Thaurissan's forces fought hard to the gates of Ironforge, Madoran Bronzebeard, leader of the Bronzebeard Clan, soundly repelled the sorcerous forces and quickly charged and chased the retreating Dark Irons out of Dun Morogh. Modgud's Dark Iron forces managed to successfully take Grim Batol for a short while, but the dark sorceress was eventually cut down by Khardros Wildhammer, forcing her remaining Dark Irons to retreat from the vengeful Wildhammer forces.

The Bronzebeard and Wildhammer armies, led by their Kings, chased down the fleeing Dark Irons back to the Searing Gorge, where Thaurissan and his forces had holed up in the northern Redridge Mountains. Before they could march, however, a massive, world-shaking explosion tore through the mountain holding Blackrock City, the Dark Iron capital. Before the stunned Bronzebeard and Wildhammer eyes, a massive being of living flame and molten rock rose from the ruined mountain and began to toss deadly fireballs and exploding lava across the lands to the north and south. Fearful of this massive titan of flame, the two armies fled back to their lands, leaving the Dark Irons to be enslaved by the Firelord, Ragnaros, within their prison-city in Blackrock Mountain.

For years, the Bronzebeard and Wildhammer Dwarves simply lived out their lives as best they could after such a terrible fate met by their Dark Iron cousins. The Wildhammer home of Grim Batol, however, had been drenched in the dark magics of Modgud that twisted those within to half-dwarf, half-monstrous creatures that hungered for dwarf flesh. Forced out of their home, the Wildhammer rejected the Bronzebeard offer to house them and ventured north of the Wetlands, north through the human lands of the Arathi, into the Hinterlands. The Hinterlands, a land dominated by lesser Amani tribes in the east, was home to a great landing of the Hinterland Mountains that overlooked a freshwater lake. The Wildhammer settled there and named their new home Aerie Peak, where they, in time, would bond with the gryphons that naturally dwelled upon the mountains, as well as learn the practices of Shamanism.

Years later, Bronzebeard scouts met with a strange sight; humanoid creatures even smaller than them, nearly half their height, with strangely bright hair and bizarrely advanced technology. The Dwarves and these "Gnomes" brought their meeting back to their leaders, who met and soon forged a warm alliance with one another. The Dwarves were impressed with the technological wonders that the tiny Gnomes had made, while the Gnomes were eager to meet and trade with another race, especially from above ground. Within the year, the Bronzebeards and Gnomes were steadfast allies, sharing techniques and ideas with one another over Thunderale and Bombrew drinks.

For over one hundred years, the peaceful alliance between the Dwarves and Gnomes remained unbothered. This changed with the Second War between the Alliance of Lordaeron and the Orcish Horde. The Orcs' forces had surged up through the former Dark Iron territories without interferrence due to the Dark Iron Dwarves being slaves trapped in Blackrock City by Ragnaros. The Horde made its way through Loch Modan, cutting through every dwarf their could as they pushed west into Dun Morogh and further north through the Wetlands. With both the Bronzebeards and the Wildhammers threatened by the Orcish Horde, the Dwarves and Gnomes agreed to join the Alliance of Lordaeron, in which they provided the Alliance with ground forces and advanced technology to turn the tides of war.

During the Third War, the Dwarves housed the Gnome refugees when their capital, Gnomeregan, came under attack from vicious creatures of the world, the Troggs. While the Gnomes fought for their home, the Dwarves personally sallied forward to defend the north from the undead Scourge. The Bronzebeard dwarves marched north through the Wetlands and smashed through the Scourge's forces to clear the way for their Wildhammer brethren to join the fight. The reunited Dwarven force then formed an inpenetrable line of steel and stone in the Hillsbrad Foothills that prevented the undead from getting past them even once. Though the Dwarves were unable to prevent the destruction of Dalaran, they did rescue many survivors and safeguard them back behind the Dwarven lines, where they could join Stormwind to the south, or the Dwarven effort on the front lines.

With the Third War over, the Dwarves remain entrenched against the mixed thread of the remaining Scourge forces and the Forsaken holding Lordaeron. To the Dwarves, there is no difference between the two; undead is undead. While some of their forces joined Jaina Proudmoore over in Kalimdor, the majority of the free Dwarves continue to fight on the front lines against the undead menace in the north. An expeditionary force led by Brann Bronzebeard, brother of King Magna Bronzebeard of Ironforge, was sent south of Loch Modon to explore the Badlands. What they seek to obtain, however, is unknown, but Brann Bronzebeard has vowed to return with the origin of the Dwarves or he'll eat his beard.

Timeline
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