There are three major Dwarven cities in west Highland. The Dwarves most commonly seen among humans are travelers from the underground halls of Hitarn in the mountains north of Biblyon.
Most humans have seen nothing more of Dwarves than the huge coins they use for barter. But travelers who do meet Dwarves on the road may be surprised by the Dwarves they meet in the underground halls. Those Dwarves who choose to leave the great underground halls are friendlier and more open to meeting new people. But the Dwarf in general is quiet around strangers, taciturn, gruff, and inclined to isolation.
The folk etymology for Hitarn is that it derives as southern halls. Dwarven mythology says that there is a greater Dwarven hall far north in the huge mountains of the great Dwarf-lord Oberon. The Dwarves of Hitarn will say that their halls were started as the last, most southern outpost of these legendary forebears.
The Dwarves of Hitarn have a great affinity and affection for the Celts. Of Celtic assistance in their battles with the giants, they will say “wila verae iklo aeyraer.” “That is a debt we do not forget.”
According to the legends of the Mentarn clan, the silver-studded halls of Mentarn were first excavated not by Dwarves but by a great silvery dragon. Thousands of years ago, the Dwarven prince Obeag lead an army of Dwarves to end the depredations of the dragon, defeated it, and took the halls for their own.
There is a strong bond between the Dwarves of Mentarn and the Elves of the Long Lakes which, while rarely needed, has never been broken.
The deep center of the Halls of Mentarn, to which all caverns lead, is the great clear lake of Megrion, where the bones of the dragon sank on its defeat. Great silver and crystal arches encircle the lake, leading both up and down to the various halls of Mentarn, and a deep white light infuses cavern reflecting the silvery roof in the still waters of the lake.
The dour and taciturn southern Dwarves are renowned among even the Dwarves for their ore-lust and deep-delving. The great halls of Feltarn wind completely through the mountains, providing a Dwarven pass from the River Valley to the Deep Forest. The Dwarves of Feltarn keep the location of their eastern entrance a secret known only to themselves.
Among the tales the Dwarves tell of the Cataclysm, are that it tore asunder the mountain home of Dwarf and Giant. Where once the Dwarves and Giants battled for control of the mountains, each now lived in mountains hundreds of miles apart, separated by the Celtic valley.
The Dwarves use two written languages: reckoning is a simple means of tracking trades and shipments. They use a variation on Celtic runes for more detailed records, though they don’t keep a lot of them.
+ar: plural
+klo: does not, do not, will not
ke+: gerund (turn a verb into a noun)
ti (tee): we, of a large group
wila (weel): this is, this is a
aeraer: forget, discharge, let slide
rifel: live
adro: steel
Ergandion: goddess of ancient wisdom
fel: a pass through mountains
fest: cavern
gri: world, the lands
hi: southern
Kerifelfestar: the living caverns
meen: beard
Men: Dragon
Obeag: the messenger of the Dwarven gods
Oberon: chief of the Dwarf gods
ona: ending, finish
ro: metal
tarn: town (in the mountains)
teng: strong
tengro: mithril
toro: silver
verae: debt, favor
dri: northern