One of the oldest races in the Warhammer universe is the Dwarves. The World’s Edge Mountains is the place they call home, a range east of the Empire that stretches from the very south to the very north. It is within these mountains that resides an extensive labyrinth of tunnels carved out by Dwarves.
These tunnels connect Dwarven strongholds, the centers of their civilizations. It has been a while since the height of their civilization and some of their strongholds have been abandoned, overrun by evils that also call the mountains their home.
Within a stronghold, the Dwarf people are ruled by a King, who unites the clans - the central social structure of the Dwarfs. The social ladder is more or less dependent upon the heritage of the clan itself.
Dwarves are incredibly proud of their beards. Their relative age can be figured out by looking at the length of the beards - the longest beard most likely belongs to the oldest Dwarf.
The Dwarves have a knack for holding a grudge that could span past many ages of man. More specifically, there even exists a Book of Grudges, called Karaz-a-Karak, in which great breaches of faith against the Dwarf people have been recorded. Even in combat, this is evident as ammunition for the Dwarf Stone Thrower is carefully inscribed with runes, retelling the injustice to be fired upon the enemy.
The Dwarf people are also sought after for their finely crafted armor and weapons. They have little understanding of magic as practiced by Humans and Elves, but rather create magical weapons by an ancient practice of rune lore. It is this practice by which Dwarf runesmiths make magical devices, weapons and armor.
The most powerful of runes are only known to a few Runelords, who pass the tradition down through generations. These great weapons have protected the Dwarf strongholds against many invaders and have served them in their ever enterprising nature of attaining wealth.
