as set down by Dulagdur of Oromir,
a Sage of Dwarves
Tharmakhul
The oldest recorded Dwarf, a Regn of Old who would not taste natural death. Inventer of the forge. He toiled long before the Dwarves come to power. He learned how to make fire from the Khul Stone by Gnomes. He is the father of smiths. He died pouring his heart into the Crown of Creation. Father of Nordri, Sudri, Austri and Vestri.
Clangeddin Silverbeard
Clangeddin was the greatest of the Regns of Old and the first one of his people to establish rule of Erenth. He lived more than ten lifetimes before claiming the title of Regn of Regns and three after, for his blood was like that of all the Regns of Old, who each lived without tasting death, save by battle.
Clangeddin was a hero of many wars and fought in battles without number, yet there was neither blade nor hammer that could bring him low. He died the victim of a venomous goblin arrow. His body fell far from Arthadain and was never recovered. By this great tragedy his soul is now sentenced to wander the earth -- still with axe in each hand, still shouting the imprecations for which he was famed. It is said that Dwarves feel his spirit in battle, animating their own.
Clangeddin was said to be as bald as a stone on the day he was presented to his father and grew not one hair on that dome thereafter. But by the First War of the Goblin Sires he had a beard which stretched, when braided, to his very knees. He was the wielder of two axes: Frost Fang and Fire Tooth which he used to smite his enemies upon his right and left and which could be thrown farther than a crossbow might be fired.
Abbathor the Avaracious
Abbathor was the brother of Clangeddin and also a Regn of Old who lived without fear of natural death. He is called the Discoverer of Silver and was unnaturally fond of that ore. His life was entirely given to the aquisition of wealth and could not be bothered with the care and plight of his fellows. He did not fight in the First War of the Goblin Sires, nor in any of those that followed. It is not known if Abbathor died in battle. Though the Lawspeakers say that he did and was denied entrance to Arthadain, some Dwarves still hold that he lives on to this day and is rich beyond imagining.
Dumathoin
Dumathoin was the last of the Regns of Old -- a brother to Abbathor and Clangeddin. He lived without tasting death and ruled over all Erenth from the death of Clangeddin to the coming of the Fairy Warlocks. It was he that oversaw the digging of great shafts and the establishment of the Duns of old. For until his time, all Dwarves lived in cities upon the face of Erenth and knew not the secrets of the dark. Truly he escaped the Third Betrayal and many presume he is alive until this day. For he was the last of those born who were not able to know death by illness or age.
Mya and the Valkauna
Mya is said to have been the spirit consort of Clangeddin and the Regn Soror of Dumathoin. She was not a Dwarf but rather a being of the ancient world, perhaps a creation of Berronar Truesilver, sister of Moradin. Mya along with her Valkauna, who are called the Oathkeepers are the eternal denizens of Arvanaith and the nurses of those slain from among the Dwarves.
Roknar the Betrayer, the Pretender, the Faithless, the Deceiver
Roknar was a liar from the first. He claimed to be a brother of the Regns of Old after the deaths of Clangeddin and Dumathoin, but the truth was not in him. He spoke falsely and poured bad advice into the ears of any that would listen. For all of his scheming the Dun War was waged and the effects of that Second Betrayal are still felt today among the many Regns. Some doubt even that he was a Dwarf at all, and some rather preferred him as a creature of the Nameless Lord, an apostate of the Ere of All and a disgraced brother of Moradin.
Laduguer
Laduguer was the Regn of the Duergar who first established the Dun of the Bright Black Watch, but whose people were corrupted by their proximity to the Fairies imprisoned thereby. All but the Gnomes of Neblodi ignored their pleas for help. In time, they forsook their charge and established the Dun that bears their name. As with all the Duergar, who perish far from Arvanaith, Laduguer is doomed to wander the face of Erenth as a restless spirit. It is said that he infects those who do his will and who abandon their lawful charge.
Dugmaren Brightmantle
Dugmaren lived during the Fourth Betrayal and is credited with having stolen the Wyrmgeld. In those days, the Wyrms ruled Erenth through their terrible queens and required a high tax from all the civilized people. Often times this tax threatened to starve the people as they had not the fields and fruits to offer that the Fairies and small folk could. But the Regns of the day were proud and would not forego the payment due from the many Duns, though it caused younglings to suffer and men to grow weak.
So Dugmaren, along with his halfling friend and elven servant, snuck into the abode of the greatest of the wyrmish queens, named Tiamet. His intention was to take back the Wyrmgeld of his Dun but found in its place the Crown of Creation. In the place of that, he left only his bright blue cloak. This sent Tiamet and her kind into a great rage, but Dugmaren hid himself beyond all detection and would not return the artifact of old until the Wyrmgeld was halved to all peoples. Thus the queens relented for the Crown of Creation was worth more than all the Wyrmgeld put together.
There are many other tales regarding Dugmaren's courage and subtlety, but an entire book could be written of them and there are so many that none could tell which were true and which had grown in the telling. To this day, Dwarf younglings still hide things from friends and leave in their place a strip of bright blue cloth.
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