DAGGERSPINE MOUNTAINS

The major mountain range running almost the length of Alastari. Though not excessively high (the tallest peak is no more than 7,000 feet) they are very rugged and treacherous. The only safe pass across the Daggerspines goes through Khalhums. A number of dangerous critters (wolves, bears, wild rocs, the occasional troll) inhabit the Daggerspines. The dragon who once lived here was killed in Zukal in the year 503.

DAIFAN JAHALLI

High-placed member of the Andorian Assassins' Guild, head of the Free Blades branch of the King's Ears. He is Raltuman, red-haired, about 35, and easily passes as a Harkeny; unmarried. He is based in Murska and poses as a merchant with wide trading interests and a cooperative conscience. Though this has not yet been discovered, he is no longer loyal to the Andorian League and has accepted bribes from both the Karnhorns and the Bandit Princes of Zukal.

DARIEN, CAPTAIN

The commanding officer of the small squad of pegasus riders stationed on the Isle of the Eye. They are used to ferry messages from Sheila to the Crown Council, and for scouting missions. They are also on call to take Lord Protectors anywhere necessary. He and his men are mainly from Sibikhas and Cliffhome. Darien is a conscientious, tough commander. He has little to do with the arenas unless they are called up for duty.

DARKHOLM

The regional arena for the Delarquan Federation. Any warrior invited to the Isle who is from a Delarquan city is eligible to fight here, unless inducted into Primus.

Like the other ADM arenas, it is on the Isle of the Eye. The construction of the Darkholm arena was accomplished with Delarquan Federation funds, in the little village of Willow Beach, on the south shore of the Isle of the Eye.

The original inhabitants of Willow Beach were (and are) primarily fishermen, whose ancestors moved to the Isle many generations ago to escape the frequent wars on the mainland. They are good sailors and fairly tough fighters (they have to be, to deal with some of the creatures found in the Lake of Mists), and are quite tolerant of magic and other strange things because of the colony of wizards that has formed around the Grey Tower. Though proud that their village has been chosen as the site of an arena, they are not particularly happy about that arena's dark reputation. Anyone referring to the community as "Darkholm" is likely to be forcibly reminded by a villager that Darkholm is just the name of the arena; the town is named for the beautiful willow trees that grow along the shore, trailing their graceful fronds into the swirling gray waters. There is an actual beach, near the docks, but it is small and rather rocky.

Willow Beach is growing rapidly, as tradesmen move in to serve the gladiators and the crowds they attract. The new construction includes guildhouses, two bordellos, several taverns (the Goodeve is the one the fishermen go to), three inns (the Krakenholm is by far the largest, a brooding stone edifice, surrounded by dark pines, on a bluff overlooking the mist-shrouded lake), two nightclubs (the Black Chalice and Eve's Palace Casino), and two armorers (in addition to the old smithy).

DESIREE

Ex-spymaster for Darkholm. Desiree is about 26 years old, 5'7" tall, leggy and athletic, with a nice figure, and--when she remembers to use it--a very sexy walk. Her hair is very dark brown, not quite black, and hangs in curls and ringlets to her waist when not pulled into a soft bun. Her large eyes are a clear and beautiful brown, with rather emphatic eyebrows. Her complexion is creamy, and her full lips are the color of peaches. She has a nasty laugh, but a rather sweet smile. She is usually seen in a tunic and pants, with high-heeled boots; she wears a lot of green and brown. She has an oversized hooded cloak of black velvet that she often wears at night (with a dress).

She was trained in Mordant (her home town) as a professional spy, originally working for King Tarall, the monarch of that city-state. She was later promoted into the intelligence forces of the united Delarquan Federation. Though still loyal to Mordant and to the Delarquan Federation, she is quite impressed with Sheila Greywand. After all, the Delarquan Federation did not make her immortal; Sheila did. Her assignment in Darkholm was to keep an eye on the Lord Protectors, and report on which ones were loyal to the Federation and which were loyal to Sheila Greywand; and, of course, to relay any other tidbits of information she picked up on the Isle.

If she has to fight, Desiree is fairly good (adept quality) with a dagger, a shortsword, or a bow; she carries at least one dagger at all times. Her weapons are usually poisoned.

Desiree isn't quite the hard case she pretends to be. Though she has killed men (and slept with them) (not the same ones she killed) in the line of duty, she is neither a killer by nature, nor promiscuous. Her relationship with the Bandit Prince (a truly strange individual) made her uneasy.

Desiree was recalled from Spymaster duty to take up her original job when the Rirorni war began. She was assigned to seduce and assassinate a key Rirorni general; it is not known if she succeeded or not, or if she is alive today.

DESTRUCTION MAGIC

A powerful spell producing a many-colored ray of light which, on hitting its target, produces an explosion and lightning storm of force equal to a small nuclear bomb. The effective range is five to ten miles (though casts of several hundred miles are possible if one is not picky about aim) making it an extremely dangerous spell for the caster as well as the target. In addition, the spell usually sucks the life energy of the caster out in the process of casting, killing them even if fallout from the strike itself does not.

Destruction magic fallout causes the death and/or stunting of all plant and animal life within range of the blast, the dissolution of all buildings and structures, and mental instability and disease in any unfortunate survivors. The "fallout" can remain in the soil for years, blighting the area permanently. The site of a blast attracts "chaos creatures" which arrive to munch on the survivors.

DIRK CHOLERA

"Dirk Cholera" is not the Bandit Prince's real name; it is a stage name like that of many gladiators. His real name is known only to Sheila Greywand, who took him prisoner many generations ago, along with other heroes of the army that had just lost its bid for world domination. A wizard of that army had already made the Bandit Prince and others immortal. Thus, it is a different type of immortality than that of the Lord Protectors. When the Bandit Prince is killed, his flesh will gradually pull itself together and regenerate without the aid of Sheila's wand. He languished in prison for centuries, until someone found a use for him, putting him and his compatriots into the Dark Arena. For awhile he had free run of the Isle (since Sheila believed many Lord Protectors could beat him if need be).

He is 5'11" tall, with blue-black hair (in a ponytail) and a thin mustache. His eyes are as black and emotionless as those of a shark. He is attractive in a sinister way, with swarthy olive skin, very white teeth, and a muscular build. He wears black leather, and although he bathes regularly, there is always a whiff of death about him, perhaps because he has died so many times. He is a wall of steel fighter who uses two scimitars.

He is a much better fighter than anyone knows. For some time Cholera used his relationship with Desiree, and the aura of legitimacy it gave him, to test the Lord Protectors of Darkholm. He wanted to know which ones were corruptible. Then, naturally, he planned to corrupt them. His ultimate motives are a deep, dark secret. Several years ago one of Dirk's schemes went too far, and Sheila Greywand "killed" his body and entrapped his spirit in the Runeblade of Darkholm as a punishment.

DODDER MOSS

Dodder moss is a hanging parasitic plant which attacks several varieties of cypress and willow trees in the Syrinwald. When the plant is ready to undergo its reproductive stage it drops onto unsuspecting vertebrates and sends mycelia into their brainstem, gaining control of their pleasure center. Victims are coerced into providing transportation for the moss, wandering around the swamp spreading spores as the plant feeds off them. Eventually both plant and host die.

DRAGON

(See also Mere Dragon)

Dragons are one of the oldest races on Ghea in several senses. They first arrived on Ghea tens of thousands of years ago, when the race that would one day be known as "the First Gods" was still living in caves. These first dragons were a group of explorers from an alien dimension; unfortunately, they found out too late that the magical vibrations of Ghea's universe were radically different from their own. In their native universe, the dragons had been telepathic and telekinetic, but on Ghea their telekinesis simply didn't work. They were unable to operate the controls for their dimensional-travel machine with only claws to work with, and were stranded on an unfamiliar world.

Stripped of most of their technological capability, the dragons retreated as humanity expanded, hiding in remote mountain and desert fastnesses. Slow to breed, their numbers did not increase with any speed. As the eldest of them died due to accident or conflict with humans, the true story of their origins was forgotten. Ghea's native humans eventually rose to civilization and control of both magic and technology. Very little is known about how the dragons survived this period of Ghean history. However, the very incompatibility with Ghean magic which had been the source of their downfall was also a boon: if they could not use Ghean magic, neither could it affect them.

With the collapse of the First Gods' civilization, the dragons came into their own. They were well able to survive the catastrophe and during this period many dragons established themselves as rulers of vast territories. The rise of the Folstrom (see Folstrom) and their discovery of the spells which could penetrate the dragons' magical immunity was the greatest tragedy in draconic history. Thousands of dragons were enslaved by the Folstrom, and thousands were killed in their wars or lost in Chaos Gates before the counterspells were discovered. Most of the oldest and most powerful dragons were among the dead and missing, and so a large part of the history of the dragon race was lost with them. Modern dragons have only a limited knowledge of their past.

Since the Folstrom defeat, the dragons have once again lain low, allowing humans to kill each other off in their periodic wars. Dragons are not affected by Chaos madness, and so can live in blighted areas like the Twisted Lands without problems.

Ghean dragons run from twenty to fifty feet in length, with a wingspan of approximately twice their length. They breathe fire and hoard treasure in the usual way of dragons. They have a tough, supple hide which is highly valued for its beauty and durability. Young dragons are green. As they grow older they acquire a more golden sheen, and fully mature beasts (age 100 or greater) are completely gold. Dragons who live to be 500 or more develop silver patterns, and some individuals turn completely silver. The average life-span of a dragon is unknown; though they are susceptible to disease and injury, they do not seem to age much. They may be near-immortal if not killed. Dragons reach physical maturity at the age of 100 or so, but they often do not mate for centuries; when they do, it is generally for life. They are warm-blooded and, depending upon the availability of food, may bear either live young or eggs. Only one or two dragonets are born at a time; the second of a litter is usually killed unless food is extremely plentiful--dragons require a very large hunting range. (This is done to ensure that at least one dragonet will survive healthy; the parents are very protective of the remaining hatchling. The female will not conceive again until the dragonet is at least 50 years of age.)

Dragons are extremely clever and dangerous in a fight, using their flaming breath, teeth, claws, tail, and a multitude of dirty tricks. An average dragon can breathe a jet of flame from fifty to a hundred feet long; the fire is magically generated and does not "run out." (Though injury, shock, etc. might well force a stop.) Few living Alastarians have spoken to one, but it is rumored that they can speak human languages if they choose (they are telepathic; their mouths are not at all suited for forming speech). The legendary draconic persuasiveness is a reflection of their mental talents; an adult dragon is capable of influencing or (in the case of gullible or weak-willed persons, or most animals) controlling the thoughts of up to a dozen people. (The more people they try to influence at once, the weaker the control will be.) It is possible to overcome a dragon's influence--indeed, there are many legends of heroes or villains bending a dragon's will to their own and forcing it into serving them, as the Folstrom did.

Dragons may be found alone or with a mate; larger gatherings are rare and usually portend trouble for someone. They prefer mountainous terrain for their lairs and seldom venture onto the plains because they have difficulty in taking off from level ground. Dragons are exceedingly light for their size, and far more fragile than they want people to believe, having hollow bones and other weight-saving adaptations that allow them to fly.

Dragons seem to enjoy the craftsmanship of mortals. Young dragons may be indiscriminate in what they steal, but older ones often have exquisite taste and may be induced to trade lesser items for one of greater artistic worth. Not all dragons hoard what humans would consider "treasure"--Zyllix, the dragon of Aradi, was discovered after his death to have a collection made up entirely of lamps. (Some of them were valuable, of course, but by no means all of them.) Dragons attach great social importance to hoards, and the condition, variety, scarcity or difficulty of preservation of a hoard may count more than actual cash value.

Despite their solitary natures on the physical level, dragons are social mentally, and carry on long-distance mental conversations, debates, arguments, gossip, and for all humans know, plays and art critiques. Dragon society might be compared to a huge telepathic computer network, where the individual users rarely meet in person but nonetheless know each other quite well. Dragons often seem to crave conversation with someone physically present; this may account for their propensity towards trying to trick intruders into their lairs into riddle-games, contests, and whathaveyou before eating them.

Dragons have no formal government, but they definitely have a hierarchy of command. An older dragon is able to impose his or her will upon younger relatives and descendants through a combination of mental ability and tradition. Dragon society is therefore a web of interconnected family groups, led by the oldest and most powerful members of the family. A family's status is dependent upon the number of dragons in it, the extent and condition of the members' hoards, the amount of physical territory its members hold, and the cunning and persuasiveness of the leaders. There are about a dozen important dragon families of fifteen to twenty members each, and several dozen smaller families of three to fourteen members each, plus a number of solitary, clanless dragons. Older dragons in a family will usually arrange matings for their offspring in order to form alliances with another powerful family. A mated pair may, after the terms of their mating contract are fulfilled, choose to start their own family line--if they can secure their own territory. This may be difficult, as most of the prime dragon real estate is already inhabited by other dragons. Territory may be bought, sold and traded between families, but it may also be fought over.

There are few dragons in Alastari proper. Alastari is the physical site of the greatest tragedy in draconic history (their enslavement and slaughter by the Folstrom) and dragons tend to avoid it even yet; they have a long memory and most definitely hold grudges.

The largest population of nearby dragons is in the Twisted Lands, which is inhabited by two dragon families of moderate means who have allied. The next nearest dragon community is in the Drakenfell Mountains on the Rirorni/Ratan border, which is inhabited by several small families of only a few members each. Gryzash and Araminth came from this area; their parents, Feriale and Yrioth, still live there. Feriale is a comparatively young dragon, beautiful and ambitious, who wishes to make their small family more important and who is not pleased that both of her drakelings have chosen to involve themselves in human affairs. Yrioth is an ancient and powerful dragon, one of the few older dragons to survive the Folstrom. His plans and ambitions are far more long-term and inscrutable than his mate's, and he has been known to have dealings with Sheila Greywand.

Dragons may be successfully killed in a number of ways--however, dragons themselves have spread much misinformation about their vulnerabilities or the lack thereof. Given their scarcity in modern Alastari, much of what people think they know about them is likely to be mere fantasy. Above all, a dragon is intelligent and devious--many a dragon-hunter has been foiled or killed without even catching a glimpse of the beast he pursued. Dragons are naturally resistant to most magic and poisons, and can fry most short-range weapons before they can be brought into play. They are most vulnerable to long-range weapons like catapults. Note that a dragon's resistance to magic can be a liability as well as an asset; combat spells won't affect them, but neither would a healing spell.

The only spells that work reliably on dragons are those based on the old Folstrom control spells. These spells are virtually unknown in Alastari (the humanoid races of Alastari were also enslaved by the Folstrom, and when the Folstrom Empire fell, all trace of their works was destroyed by the vengeful rebels). The knowledge does survive in the far southern kingdoms, where dragons are more common, but of course, the dragons themselves have kept the counterspells as their most closely guarded secret.

There are several known dragons in Alastari, the most famous being the Dragon of Tobir, which, according to legend, last showed itself a hundred years or so ago and carried off the Lord of the city's eldest son. This dragon's name is not known to the public (she was Zarmiris). Zarmiris was killed in 502 when the manager\priest Barthanes Gallandrian persuaded her to help him attack the city of Zukal; she was slain in an attack on the Zukalite Mage's Guild. Jytaren Yshli, the master of the Guild, sold her carcass piecemeal to pay for repairs to the Guild and the city (authentic dragon parts cost a fortune). Her skeleton was sold entire to the necromancer Lerk of Valamantis, who made it into a zombie of sorts. The dragon-zombie was later destroyed. The dragon whose bones were found on Aradi is also unidentified (he was Zylleix).

Gryzash the Golden, ruler of Sibikhas, is a dragon who has taken on human form--so far, this is unknown to anyone except Gryzash, and presumably, a few other dragons. This shapechanging ability is not common to all dragons. It is the result of a Folstrom-derived spell Gryzash obtained from a Ratani wizard several hundred years ago. The spell is specifically tailored for Gryzash; if another dragon attempts to use it, it will work for awhile and then cease due to the dragon's innate magic resistance. How long it takes for the spell to break down depends on how closely the dragon is related to Gryzash. His sister was able to use it for approximately seventy-five years before it began to stop working; a less closely related dragon might only be able to use it successfully for ten or twenty years--not long for a creature so long-lived. In human terms Gryzash is an extremely old and cunning being, and it is not likely that he has shared his secret with very many others.

Gryzash's younger sister, Araminth Goldeneye, was for several years the spy reporter in the Free Blades arena. She was attempting to escape the mating alliance her parents had planned by stealing Gryzash's shapechanging spell and hiding in human form. Though she kept her true nature secret for some time, it was eventually discovered by the arena warriors when the spell began to break down. Araminth and the Free Blades Lord Protectors were instrumental in ending the Rirorni War, undertaking a mission deep into the heart of the Rirorni Empire and assassinating the Rirorni Leader Zefrax Khan. Araminth's current whereabouts are not known. Unbeknownst to her, Sheila Greywand had made a deal with her parents to return her to their custody in exchange for the help of the dragons in the Rirorni war, and she was taken off the Isle of the Eye by her father and has not been seen since.

Another solitary dragon lives to the north of Alastari. Tyrexisloc was one of the dragons who was enslaved by the Folstrom as a mount during the period of the Folstrom Empire, several thousand years ago. The Folstrom were engaged in exploring the Gates and often sent their dragons in first to make sure that a particular Gate was safe. When the sorcerers of Alfhame finally came up with a counterspell which would break the Folstrom's control of the dragons, a number of the freed dragons simply stayed in the Gates they'd been sent into. Tyrexisloc was one of these. When Tyrex returned to Ghea, he had a large number of creatures under his command. When Tyrex exited the Gate on the other side he gained a following among the beings living in the world there. Although he began his conquest of these creatures through his mental abilities, his servants now believe in his cause and serve him willingly--he only has to use his powers on the occasional trouble-maker or rebel. Once back on Ghea, Tyrex used his army to conquer the dwarven kingdom of Ikhazdur.

It is not known whether Tyrex is still in contact with the world on the other side of his Gate or not. It could be that he rules the whole planet there, but it's equally possible that he left that world and returned to Alastari because he was defeated there. Or he may simply have returned to Alastari for revenge. No one knows for certain.

Most human beings would assume that someone who has conquered a whole race is after power. However, dragons don't think that way. A dragon would only consider himself powerful if he ruled over other dragons--mere humanoids don't count. Tyrex has other motivations: First, revenge. Dragons hold grudges FOREVER. Tyrex wants revenge against the Folstrom. The Folstrom have been extinct on Ghea for thousands of years, but Tyrex has only been back in Ghea for a few hundred years, and isolated under the mountain. Tyrex may be looking for information about them. If he can't get the Folstrom, he'll get the next best thing, whoever happens to be living where the Folstrom used to be. Or he may be looking for clues to where the Folstrom who escaped Ghea went. The second reason is simple practicality. It's very useful to have a couple thousand devoted slaves who will protect you. Third, hoarding instinct. While many dragons hoard gold or precious gems, a good number of them hoard other items. Tyrex considers the chaos creatures and the dwarves his "hoard." This means that while he may not value his subjects as people, he does value them as objects. He could get annoyed and eat one for lunch and think nothing of it, but if anyone else messed with them, it wouldn't be a pretty sight.

Since dragons are very long-lived if not outright immortal, and see time differently than humans do, they are not subject to the "chaos madness" which can strike a human who's been in a Gate too long. However, spending several thousand years in a Gate is bound to make anyone a little strange. Any normal dragon who met Tyrex would probably find him a little weird. It is not known whether or not Tyrex has gotten in contact with any other dragons since returning to Ghea.

Until recently a dragon called Rhazigg lived in an abandoned gold mine near Arvat; he was slain by a group of Free Blades Lord Protectors when he tried to capture and kill them. Very little is known of Rhazigg's history before this event.

DUSKBLOOD RIVER

The river which flows through Morya, Lapur, and Monuntial.

DWARVES

A race of short, stocky, powerful humanoids who prefer to live underground. Dwarves are great miners and trade metals (worked and unworked) and mining expertise for agricultural products. They were transported to Ghea in the First Age by the beings who created the Gates. The dwarven realm in Alastari extends beneath most of the Daggerspine Mountains, with above-ground outposts scattered throughout the hills. Their main trading outposts are in Khalhums and Murska. The dwarves are on good terms with the Andorian League, but are not part of it. The great dwarven kingdom of Ikhazdur lies beneath the Molen-Tei Mountains to the north of Alastari. There is little contact between them and the Daggerspine dwarves. Humans do not know why the two kingdoms split, and the dwarves don't discuss it.

Dwarves range from about 4'6" to about 5'6" in height and are quite heavily built (150-250 lbs.). They are not all bearded, some tribes are almost uniformly clean-shaven. Priests of Gurtarg, the dwarven god and patron of miners and smiths, may pluck out all their hair as a sign of devotion. This may have originated to prevent forge sparks from setting hair and beard alight. Dwarven females are not bearded. Female dwarves are seldom seen above ground. It is said that they have considerable say in government, but there is a powerful taboo against their leaving the dwarven realm. Dwarves have a low birth rate and are very protective of a woman of child-bearing years. Dwarves live for 80-100 years, but suffer less frailty in old age than humans do. Dwarves and humans have occasionally produced offspring, but these half-breeds are rare and always sterile.

A Dwarven History in the Lands of Alastari:
An Overview of Dwarven Origins

Like many of the intelligent races of Alastari, the dwarves were originally brought to Ghea by the First Gods through a chaos gate. The home world of the dwarves is no longer known. The dwarves served the First Gods as miners and metal workers. In exchange for their service, the Gods provided all the necessities of life; food, shelter, clothing.

More than ten thousand years ago, the First Gods left Ghea. The dwarves call this "The Abandonment." The races of Ghea, left to fend for themselves, began to fight each other. Many races became extinct with only the strongest and most isolated surviving. The dwarves survived this period by withdrawing to their realm under the Molen-Tei Mountains. This was also when the great glaciers began to advance to the south, beginning the current Ice Age.

The dwarves were leaderless and the unity of the One Clan (the dwarves collective name for themselves) was threatened. Fortunately, before the dwarven clans began a full-scale civil war, the first great dwarven leader emerged. Thorgin Stonesheer, later known as Thorgin the Great, was able to unite the various factions under his rule. He created a system of fair and just governance. Under his rule, the dwarves and their realm prospered. Thorgin named his new kingdom Ikhazdur after a mythical dwarven hero who was said to have forged the sword Godcleaver and driven off the original gods.

For the next 5,000 years, Ikhazdur remained isolated. The kingdom continued to prosper under the rulership of Thorgin's descendants. Dwarven metalworking was refined to such a degree that dwarven weapons were considered the best in Ghea. Many people traveled north, hoping to acquire a dwarven crafted weapon, but few actually returned with such a weapon. Through its excellence and rarity, dwarven smithing gave the Ikhazdurians wealth, power, and some leverage against the surface dwellers.

Dwarven settlements to the north had been reporting the advance of the glaciers for generations, but it was believed the ice would stop before reaching the Molen-Tei Mountains. As the ice showed little sign of halting, some of the dwarves became uneasy. Most, including the current king, Nurgitt the Third, were confident they would be delivered by Gurtarg.

It was the younger dwarves who believed otherwise. This was one of the first times open dissent between elder and younger dwarves was recorded. Previously, the word of the king or of an elder was all but sacred. Even now, the eldest dwarves are held in great respect. The years passed, and the dwarves were still unable to reach agreement, though the older generation prevailed.

In the year -1553, a young dwarf named Jurget Stonesheer, a direct descendant of Thorgin the Great, left Ikhazdur and traveled south. He hoped to find a new home for the dwarves away from the encroaching ice. Jurget remained on the surface for thirty-eight years (this amazing length of time on the surface earned him the name "The Sunwalker"). In -1515, he returned home to announce his discovery of a place to which the dwarves could relocate.

The dwarven youth rallied to him, prepared to leave Ikhazdur for the south. The king and the older generation continued to believe Gurtarg would save them from any danger. They attempted to silence Jurget, which almost caused a civil war. In -1500, Jurget left with a following 10,000, mostly young, dwarves. This is now known as "The Great Migration".

In -1498, after two years of travel, they arrived at the place Jurget had promised them. Much to the astonishment of his followers, this proved to be an area of grassy plains, surrounded by hills and forest, bordered on one side by a river. Jurget planned to turn his people into a surface dwelling race. Despite opposition, they did settle there, on the surface.

Lapur, city of the dwarves, grew in relative peace and prosperity for 1400 years. The city was a marvel of dwarven architecture and stone work. From their city, the dwarves traded with humans, elves, and any other races they encountered.

On the other side of the Hyorn Forest, the Aroai elves of Monuntial watched Lapur and the Sunwalkers grow in strength and prosperity. The elves resented the interlopers and felt the dwarves were overcutting the trees of the Hyorn Forest and polluting the Duskblood River with smelter waste. The dwarves disagreed with those claims and refused to limit either their cutting or their smelting. The elves bided their time for many years until elven priests from the temple on Niytyole Island called for action.

Claiming visions from Merth and Ruhor commanded them to avenge the harm done to both the forest and the river, these priests called for the destruction of the dwarves. The elves soon assembled an army and in -100, they attacked the unsuspecting dwarves. The Sunwalkers were taken totally by surprise, but still managed to kill many elves before Lapur was razed.

There were perhaps 5000 survivors of the 20,000 Lapurian dwarves. They gathered under the leadership of Graillor the Third, the king. Many of the surviving dwarves wanted revenge against the Aroai, but Graillor managed to persuade them against that suicidal course. Instead, they headed north intending to return to Ikhazdur.

On their way, they passed first the Daggerspines, which were much too close to the Aroai. Then they saw a single mountain in a range of hills all surrounded by forest. This was in the kingdom of the Shewish Giants. The Shews were happy to let the dwarves settle in their lands in exchange for dwarven craftsmanship.

The dwarves were allowed to settle in a valley later known as the Welgin-Tei Valley and under Mt. Khadizan. There were many caverns under the mountain to house the refugee Sunwalker Clan. Some of the dwarves wished to continue living above ground. They built a settlement that eventually became Murska.

Back in Ikhazdur, religious fanatics following Hartig, son of Gurtarg and a dwarven woman, plotted rebellion against the established order. In -1011, the priests and their followers overthrew the Stonesheer Clan. The new theocracy cemented their rule by having all known Stonesheers killed. Only one family of the Clan survived, by hiding further underground than dwarves usually go. Hartig and his priests remained in power for almost a thousand year.

Around -14, the seals on many of the Chaos Gates were weakening. One of the first to break open was in the Molen-Tei Mountains. Amongst the chaos creatures who came through the gate was a dragon named Tyrexisisloc. He had been one of the dragons enslaved by the Folstrom. He used his mental abilities and physical power to gain control of the other chaos creatures coming through the gate. He formed these creatures into an army and began a war against the Ikhazdurians. The dwarves were able to delay their defeat by over a decade. In the year 2, Tyrexisisloc and Hargit fought face to face and the dragon killed the demi-god. By 3, Tyrexisisloc had won and used his mental powers to control the current priest-king. In time, the dragon came to be worshipped as a god by the conquered dwarves.

Gurtarg watched these events but did not intervene as the majority of the dwarves had rejected him. He did continue to protect the hidden remnants of the Stonesheer Clan. The Stonesheers had grown from the original single family to a few hundred members. Gurtarg sent visions to the Stonesheer leader, Thorgut. These visions showed the Stonesheers regaining the rule of Ikhazdur. Prompted by his visions, Thorgut sent his people into Ikhazdur to sow the seeds of rebellion. Gurtarg's name was again heard in Ikhazdur.

Tyrexisisloc was unconcerned but his Dragon Shamans, fanatical priests of his worship, were not so sanguine. They started a counter-campaign against the worship of Gurtarg. This undercover war continued for twenty years. Eventually Thorgut, guided by another vision from Gurtarg, started an open, armed rebellion. The Stonesheers were outnumbered three to one, but they still managed to keep the fighting going for two years. In the end, Thorgut and his followers were driven back down to their original hiding place.

Gurtarg had not intervened previously because of the Compact (see Gods). With the remnants of his followers almost certain to be killed, he decided to break the rules. As Tyrexisisloc's army advanced on the cornered Stonesheers, a wall of white light formed between the two groups. Tyrexisisloc's army was blinded, but Thorgut and his people were not affected. Gurtarg opened a portal in the cavern wall, though which he led the Stonesheers. He left them on the surface at the southern base of the Molen-Tei mountains.

This was in the year 23. Approximately 8,000 dwarves, mainly Ikhazdurians with about 200 Stonesheers, headed south in search of Lapur and the Sunwalker Clan. Dwarven scholars call this even "The Second Exodus".

On finding the ruins of Lapur, the Stonesheers turned back to the north. Thorgut led his people towards a small range of mountains they had spotted on the way south. This range included Mt. Khadizan, so the Stonesheers and the Sunwalkers were reunited. It was eventually decided that the two clans would remain separate, but both by governed by Jurget the Second, king of the Sunwalker Clan.

In the hopes of fairness and balance in the governance of the two clans, a council of elders was also established. The council was composed of five elders, two Sunwalkers and three Stonesheers. In theory, all matters of state were to be ratified by the council before being brought before the king. In practice, the Sunwalkers were able to control most decisions.

Things ran smoothly for the next hundred years or so, but in 136 the mines in the area began to play out. The clans began to argue amongst themselves and many families lost everything as the mines stopped producing. The current Sunwalker King, Jurget the Third, ignored the advice of the council of elders to limit production from the mines. Instead, he consolidated all the mines under his control. This move outraged the Stonesheer Clan.

Thorgut the Second, nominal leader of the Stonesheer clan, called the clan elders together for a secret meeting. They decided to move the clan to the Daggerspine Mountains. Once there, they could form their own nation, separate from the greedy Sunwalkers. Jurget tried to stop the Stonesheers from leaving, but was unsuccessful. In 138, the Sunwalkers left, an event which was later called "The Sundering".

The Stonesheers settled in a network of caverns they discovered on the south face of the Daggerspines. Thorgut was acclaimed the first king of the Stonesheers. Rather than granting the king absolute power, however, the clan gave the real power and responsibility to the Council of the Wise, a council of seven elders. In 140, Khalhums (meaning "mine tailings" in polite dwarvish) was founded above the Stonesheer caverns. It served as a point of contact between the dwarves and the surface dwellers.

Back under Mt. Khadizan, the Sunwalkers mined deeper and found new veins of ore and metals. At about the same time, the Harkeny people discovered the Welgin-Tei valley, Murska, and the Sunwalkers. At first, the two races were wary of one another. The dwarves retreated underground and the humans settled in Murska. In 159, they two races negotiated an alliance of sorts and have lived peacefully together since.

After the death of Jurget the Third, the new Sunwalker King, Raellor the First, re-established communication with the Stonesheer Clan. Hathgar the First, then king of the Stonesheers, and the Council of the Wise rejected offers of a treaty with the Sunwalkers. After much negotiation however, they were reconciled in what is known as "The Pact of Reunification".

In 303, work was started on the Great Underground Tradeway, brainchild of Lathgar Ironbender. The two clans began tunneling from their respective kingdoms, planning to meet in the middle. After twelve years, the Tradeway was completed and the two kingdoms were joined. They still retained their separate kings and jurisdictions. Since that time, the dwarves have lived peacefully. They have traded and formed strong ties with the neighboring surface kingdoms. Despite this, the dwarves remain reclusive and are rarely seen on the surface outside of Khalhums or Murska.