On Dwarves: A Brief Treatise for Merchants

I have written this treatment of the Dwarven people to educate my fellow Watersedgians on the particulars of that people. I have many years of research to offer and count many acquaintances among the Dwarves as my friends.

It is my hope that by the study of this pamphlet a more prosperous relationship may result between the two races. This tract has a companion which I have offered to the Dwarves of the nearby nation of Dynkyr so that they may learn of the ways and lives of men. I consider myself to be the foremost ambassador between our nations.

The Dwarven race subsists largely on rocks. In fact, it is by the method of chewing and digesting that they are able to make such prodigious progress in their tunnelings and mines. Only the ores and precious metals that they prize are spared from the uncommonly strong acids of their stomachs. This accounts for the sulfurous and acrid smell which lingers over many of the surface operations in that Southern peninsula.

Now it is not to be assumed that they won't eat anything other than rocks, for they have been witnessed in taverns and inns dining prodigiously on the usual fare. This leads me to conclude that the consumption of rocks is a delicate subject -- a highly private, if preferred penchant.

Not surprisingly then, it is considered very impolite to offer a Dwarf a rock to eat. When faced with such an invitation these dour people often effect clenched grins and reddened faces, as if their greatest secrets have been lain bare. By this reaction, I have surmised that Rock Eating is a private affair for that race and that they prefer to select their own morsels in keeping with the strength of their own teeth and stomachs.


The Dwarven race is made up of strong and sturdy men who have no need of women to procreate. In fact, their name for themselves is perfectly translated Stoneborn. When their populations need replenishing, they simply carve more of themselves from the rock and by means of the terrible curse which originally bound them to teh face of Erenth, a new Dwarf is thus produced.

This Curse of Dwarves is a subject about which it is hard to get reliable information. At some point in the distant past, Dwarves are believed to have ruled Erenth. But they came to conflict over matters long forgotten. A great war between the Dwarves and Elves had much to do with their fall from grace.

For this reason, their humbling defeat in battle, most Dwarves dislike Elves and dislike answering questions about their military defeats at their hands.