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HORN DWARVES ( Horrth-Dûmak / Hòrrdoomath / Horthadawn )
The horn dwarven’s natural grown, dark and very rigid, chitin like body armour - which covers their whole body, or also single body parts in some certain cases, ( and is like some very light worn plate armour, grown to the body flesh as like an exo-skeleton ) is said to have a very special background of it’s own.
This old legend tells us, that this phenomenon was result of the ancient, centuries-long war of the gods in the underground, underneath of the place, now called 'The Shattered Mountain'.
When a high earth god of the Dawnae, master of earthly fire
( and favourite child of the first oldest original dragon god Wyrm, the world dragon and loaf of the earth itself ) slayed Wyrm, in a state of panic, confusion and in a personal dark hour, and fell.
The old dwarves, who loved Wyrm more than anything else in the world to these times, and were absolutely true, devoted and loyal to him, considering themselves and their kind as his children as well, were full of mourn, repentance, wail and humility, now.
Bathed then in Wyrm’s dragon blood in shame and in order to show their deep and shocked remorse, and as sign for their unbroken reverence and love, and will for repentance.
According to this old legend, the dwarves gained their - now common and nromal - special kind of bodyown dragon skin armour, by this long ago bath of theirs in Wyrm's fresh dragon blood.
Dwarves are one of the oldest races of the world, once being all Dawnae.
Then later - over creation and appearing of the Mystra’ell - they split into light alfar ( elves ) and black alfar
( dwarves ).
So they are somehow related to the elven, and came from the same spring, but always had be and will probably also always stay children of the earth and underground.
It is still said - especially amongst the dwarves of Worvaughn in their crest citadel, high on top of the Eternal Mountains - that there is also at least still one other single, DIFFERENT species of dwarves in the world, being direct brothers and cousins of the horn dwarves. And located in the far east of the middle continent of Mystradawn.
Being in this other variation hornless, darker, with leathery skin, being almost deep brown, having got dark, black or deep brown eyes and unhorned beards.
They are wether gnomes nor gnolls, no, they are said to be dwarves through and through, just like the dwarves of Worvaughn ( = Horrthûmak ).
But they once lived in a far away own dwarven citadel, called ‚Knightoomak‘ somewhere around the Land of Lightning and probably in the Scaled Mountains there.
Near to the present land of Scythenbane, and the orc deserts, and towering over them, looking towards the coast of the Crazed Sea in the east.
If this breathren of the horn dwarves are really existent is not really recorded or known.
Some say that they exist, at one hand, but that their realm once fell and got abandoned, darkened and emptied to a depopulated ghost city.
Some say, their species died and became extinct. ( By disease, starving, an awful war of kinds or mysterious lack of further descendants and children being born healthily, by their few women. )
Others insist, that they wandered off, took exodus or left this world.
But there are also other numerous, much bolder theories about that:
That Knightoomak’s dwarves for example committed mass suicide, that their city was swallowed by the great eastern naught, that evil dragons destroyed Knightoomak and wiped out their inhabitants, or that the dwarves there began to be corrupted and to deal with occult, evil or chaotic / demonic gods, once long ago. And thus turned into resteless, haunting ghosts, undead shadows or phantoms, erring lost and cursed and painful for eternity in their once so flourishing, lively and proud, and so honourable high culture of glory, before their golden era came to such a horrible and fateful end.
In fact, some horn-dwarves from Worvaughn still are by strongly convinced belief, that this other dwarven kind still exists somewhere – and some even set out to look for them in the world, and to find them.
While some of these dwarves also believe in another part of this old myth and legend, related to this special dwarven kind: Claiming, that there would be some kind of GRAIL, and sacred treasure, the dwarven from Knightoomak left behind as heritage for the afterworld!
This myth tells us that the Knightoomakil were once betrayed and toppled by a trick and ploy of the near night elves.
Serving the dwarves to older times as wizards, consultants and advicers, as part of their realm.
Or – in another version of the same myth: That mighty and destructive giants of frost, darkness, fire and disaster, and dragons of the same elements ( as also other evil creatures ) and especially nordic Dhoolnorne’s ( = evil undead spirits, ghostly creatures sprung from black sorcery, wraithes or dragons of darkness ) took Knightoomak by storm and drove it to ruin and death.
While a holy kind of godly artefact, a weapon, drinking goblet or magical item of special meaning and purpose, was still hidden and preserved for a time, when the world was again in need, and it’s dwarves kingless, threatened and about to cease away, completely.
This artefact shall once - at least said in this legend - be discovered back by some simple heroic dwarven. And then bring him to arise to a new great king, who leads all dwarves back into a new time of salvation, as saviour of their souls, and unites all the dwarven then finally - if now dead or undead - in order to guide them into a whole new golden epoch, when the dwarves again lead a high culture in it’s bloom and blossom - Following the old, traditional way of living style again, just as they did in the old times, once. Honouring the old traditional gods and values. And being proud, revenged and having gained back their harmed and weakened own dignity again.
The Dark Prince of Horrors, Lord Darkspawn is most hated and feared by the dwarves and called ‚The Black Sandman‘ in their own tongue. - About the crest citadel of Worvaughn and the realm of the horn dwarves: The horn-dwarvish citadel 'Worvaughn', is part of a dwarven settlement, immediately near to Madrumah, built UPON, INSIDE and ALONG of the most northern mountain chains, and the high mountain ranges of the Eternal Mountains. This strong and proud crest citadel, of very special dwarven way, and built on top of the mountains' highest point, on a very high rock crest ( = ‚Awecrest‘ ) is looking from out of a dizzy height - encircled by cool and moist humid clouds - and opens an amazing outlook over the whole northern, endless woods of Madrumah, also a look over the lake of Valorrn in the east, the waste marches in the west, and even the lifeless, vast and dreadful empty barrenlands in the - yet even farther east, by clear sky, and by good weather conditions. The most important part of their and realm located here, is conistent in this crest citadel itself, being shaped like some very massive and well protected, mighty and massive fortress of stone and steel, crowning the mountain, on which it is built upon, in very gothic, bulky and round shape, with towers on each side, outer city walls, an extra reinforced system of concentric rings of palisades and guarded stone walls - also reaching across the whole realm and running and winding thorughout the whole mountains, so extensive that it ressembles a kind of world wonder. This underground part of Worvaughn is also owning a table hall of warriors, a king’s hall, a hall of ancestors, a giant huge weapon and armour chamber, a treasure chamber, a so called ‚Dangerdoom‘ ( = 'Dunjeadûma' ), undergound water mills, an underground river ( with artificially built gravel lake to draw from ), a holy secret horn well, as it is at least claimed, a place where gigantic, burrowing / digging stone and rock eating cave worms, or dragons, create new tunnelsystems, caves and cavern complexes ( mines and chambers ) building sites / construction areas where huge steely or iron, technologicall Along with oldest, very holy and meaningful fresco images, hieroglyphs, runes and pictures depicting the entire mythology, creation myth and history of the horn dwarves exactly, extensively, and with high sense for minimality, love to detail, and artistic skill. A special other part belonging to the dwarven territory OUTSIDE of their walls, are also the moon forest of Sîlumah, the lake of dark glazed mirror glass, the meadows and arable lands around the mountains, wherever the ground is fertile, several village-like settlements in Worvaughn’s immediate vicinity... The grave places of dead glorious dwarven in form of burial mounds outside of their city, is then again part of the holy burial place, whereto the dwarves partly also bring the dead corpses of certain dwarves to leavetake from them by fire funerals or place them preserved on piled up altars, upon a bier carried by posts or piles of wood, to prevent that their sacred bodies are touched or disgraced by wild and hungry animals, or beasts from the wilderness or the woods. These burial places are more part of the older, more shamanic part of dwarven burial culture. Protected with magic, fetish in form of feathers, treasury and pearls, also festooning the branch-works of special old, holy willow trees there, and tangeling them up in form of chains and attached items; These willows and their own special wood is said to be taking up the souls of the dead, in peace and eternal salvation, becoming then ‚Katchinas‘ onlasting in the inside of the trees - especially souls of children who died, innocent souls and women, holy men and those who died painfully, under very specific circumstances and therefore running in danger to turn into restless souls, undeads, wiedergangers, ghosts or haunted cursed one’s, also attracting evil, black fairies, banshees or catastrophy, plague or disaster for the whole entire dwarven community and the people of Worvaughn. These dying circumstances are mostly death by disease, murder, violent, hostile death magic, harm magic, or curses, brother murder, murder of a blood relative of the same tribe, clan or family. These are all dwarvens who died by own sin or by being going astray towards black magic, evil powers or occult, themselves. Being now considered as honourless, unworthy and shameful / ignominious, for such deeds. Other few burial ways used to bury dwarves in special positions is lying in embryo body pose, burying them in ‚scrat holes‘ in hidden pits or caves in the flat wasteland, party sealed by round stones, bowl-shaped rock blocks or megalith stones, in hill graves in the woods, partly moss or flower covered, buried in squatting position or also mummified and preserved. - Social / political system and caste’s / stands: The structure of social / political order in Worvaughn is very simple. Being similar to some kingdom, ruled by a so called King and Lord, and being practically a mix of native, shamanistic stamped nature- and warrior-cultur Their culture include warriors ( Wrathboar, Wyrmclaw or Hauberk ) the same as shamen ( Maayas ), practising ancestor cult, ritual magic, ceremonial healing / laying on hands and divination in trance, ecstasis, contemplation or rythmical joined rapture. And then there are as well also the ‚Dungeamath', being dwarvish masters of dungeons, oubliettes and underground prisons / vaults and their keepers... The kings of the dwarven ( The kingly houses / dynasties of Aargalen, Majestuîs, Côr or Doomydiad ) are their worldy political leaders, just the same as the highest war generals in battle, own the role as mightiest leader, head and monarch. The warriors obey to him and try to bring honour, glory and grace to him and the dwarves as whole nation, the ancestors and the gods. While the druids, mages, shamen, sages and wise women work as spiritual guiders, healers, seers and important mouthes of the gods, the spiritual plane and the will of the ancestors. The words and opinions of this special stand is also having much political weight, so that the war chieftains always have to consult a shaman, before any action, enterprise or battle. One who comes from the common people, the warriors and civilists, representing the main opinion of the whole dwarvenkind itself, two worldly martial leaders, as the king and a highest warlord, and one shamen. They have to use eloquence of speech, diplomacy and rhetorical skillfulness, to intersperse their own opinions here. Dwarven Riding Animals in Battle: Special armoured War Boars / Demonic Horn Boars Preferred Dwarven Weapons: Sword, Axe, Twohandweapons Dwarven speech: Hîrzaagen / Heirword Dwarven way of combat: Dwarven fight as solitary warriors in own initiative and without any required rear cover or numerous gathered legion unity They use heavy weapons, protected by their naturally grown dark or black shell like body armour, of rigid chitin consistence ( exo-skeletonli Preferring fair man to man combat, or even make attack against more then one foe at the same time alone Berserks: naked, without armour, purely offensive and partly blindly > ritual blue body war paint Partly also weilding two-handed weapons as one handed weapon Tactics: Confuse, intimid and rout the enemy, scatter his rows and drive Schneisen into the denser soldier concentrations Dwarves hate horses and ships, boats and water. And everything that have got to do with them. They hate creatures of the chaos and the general evil in the world, defined as agressive, invasoric, honourless, or even soulless users of black magic and occult or actually beliefless warriors fighting in their name, only striving for destructive, slaving and distorting kind of power on cost of the earth, and other more noble cultures than them, in exploitation and pure cruelty and in corruption of their own eternal spirits; They are suspicious towards humanoid strangers of dubious look or approach; except orcs, wolfknights or humans from countries bordering directly against their own realm in Worvaughn, being in peace with the dwarves or even allies; or also brothers in belief or bloodline. They are loyal towards elves, but are not really familiar with their kind and nature. For their character is alien to them in many ways, and incomprehensib They look at the elves in a mixture of ‚superstitious Dwarven battle cry as opening of an attack: Dwarven: By Vaughn and – insert war god – Outcall of surprise and marvel: By Tardok-Wyrm! Cultic dwarven berserks, 'death seekers' and giant slayers of Ax-Skoolba in ecstasis: Silent and with foaming mouthes, growling, rowling and biting / gnawing in their own shields, roaring, grumbeling, muttering and mumbling and calling out loud wolvish, boarlike, staglike or bearlike sounds ( depending on their personal cultic warrior totem animal ) Main Dwarvish Gods: - Tardok, The Lord of Earth As also various aspects of Dawnae earth and war gods, giant-, dwarven- and dragonform,( Mystra'ell and elven related gods ), ancestor-, shamanic-, elemenal- fey and animal sprirts / Totem, the old Religion and the traditional, native Madrumahnian main religion of the seven pathes of yonder light... Typical, common names for dwarven persons out of the dwarven tongue - soon to be posted here -
They look at him at least with a light shade of awe and respect, while they also consider him as evil creator and master of that so called 'Dhoolnorne’s'
While Terromage, and it’s menacing war intentions, is mentioned by the name ‚The Phantom’s Rage‘ sometimes, among dwarves.
Another important part of the dwarven realm, is consistent in an underground part.
Being not really mines, for the horn dwarves of Worvaughn are not priorily miners, as the gnolls and older dwarves have been.
But still being complexes of caves, tunnels, halls and vaults, cryptas, bone houses, ceremonial rooms and underground gardens / plantages.
And then there are also the cisterns, aqueduct‘s, fountains, wells and springs, delivering the dwarvenkind with freshwater ( sometimes sililar to little, fruitful oasisses ), and filly as well the holy ceremonial groves, the burial mounds and sacred hill graves of some of the dwarven's oldest, most noble and important kings, heroes, warriors, shamen and druids – all of them, who have not been buried in the underground, and the tombs, vaults, cryptas, bone houses and catacombs of the special dwarven necropolis of 'Wise Talking Skulls', where the spirits of the ancestors shall be present,
hidden in the innerest core of the mountain where Worvaughn is built upon.
The willows being a special own breeding with pure oakish, dark or even black - and steelhard - consistence, developping special gnarled ‚cork screw growth‘.
While it is tradition to bury those dwarven, who acted shamefully in such ways of honourless sins and crimes, themselves, by burying them unmarked and along with special magic runes, spells, items and ways to treat their corpses, to keep them in their graves – and not allow them to rise, resurrect and stand up again in any evil or unnatural form.
( As example by the practise to remove their eyes or hearts or other body parts / organs, cutting off special extremeties as certain toes, mostly the left, crossing their arms, or burying them prone to the ground and face down into the mud )
Desecrated holy places, destroyed items or artefacts of high cultural meaning, acted sacrilegious or acted versus the will of the gods, spoke or acted blaphemous in holy places
( cussed, cursed or spat out ), used forbidden magic or words, practised occult rites or sacrificial black magic, worshipped forbidden gods or idols or insulted / offended the dwarves belief, traditions or rules of moral, warrior honour, the ancestors or disturbed their peace in death.
( Moore graves are as good as not used, for there is none such landform in the reach of the dwarven realm )
Cave fighters, smithes, treasuremaster
Hunters and bringers of shot game and animals, hunting in the near forests of Tarasqua ( which actually belong to the enchanted woods of Madrumah )...
There are architects, miners, tunnel workers and engineers... ‚Moontalons‘ ( Moon druids ) and ‚Noon‘ ( = female witches / wise women )
‚Aum‘ / Ohm’s or Xanoomi, being male dwarven sages, related to the old Wyrm cult...
'Wyndharpen', being bards and skaldics, and Vrinweavers ( translated: 'Creators of Grace' ) working as dancers, or entertainers, or in sectors of artistic expession / artistic crafts...
'Vulfmaagu', being wolf mages, 'Bruinmystîr', being bear mages, 'Moom', being magically abled mages of high noble blood...
'Vaughngalaz', being holy warriors in the name of the god ‚Vaughn‘, Cauldron or Rune Mages ( Rûnrhymaar ), ‚Wydmaagu‘, being wood mages / druids, Warshriners, magicians that are called Arch- or Sagecrofters..
Falconers / eagle master ( the 'Falc-Rûlaar / Eaglahyrr' ) and finally there are the 'Wraathadoom' or 'Ravrágaz', being berserks, or holy shamanic ( mostly fanatic ) warriors.
The shamen throw then bones into the fire, throw teeth and bone oracles, ask the moon or the elements, the anscestors themselves or the dwarven deities.
In some gathering like that, four different persons use to meet up in a secret room, each one with a different opinion partly and in place as spokesman in different roles:
But still the shaman always has got the last word.
And it is traditionally the GODS that decide lastly. Embodying the yet downlayed future fate for all dwarven, or also the unfathomable, mystic, own moods of the gods, may it be war gods, earth gods, or other forces, who are momentarily dominant in the own world of gods in their place.
Rune / script language: Morrdrûn
Magical / ceremonial speech: Raac, Glamdraaka, Drossmaar / Trózmaar and Wyrmrim
Noble dialect of old kings: Galaadrîac / Aartiac
Fighting courageous, stoic, grim and well-aimed, with effective impact toward any foe being in their range, choose instinctively and well-skilled in such only the most vulnerable and deadly bodyparts of foes to direct their blows at.
Cultic Giant Slayers of Ax-Skoolba: Rigid leather, chain or even plate arour in additon to the natural grown body armour
Masters in fighting with two weapons, at the same time, one in each hand
Deathdefying, almost suicidally bold, in challenge of fate and demanding desire to conquer a much stronger, more numerous or otherwise superior foe in high advantage against the single dwarf
Tattoos, helmets with skulls of ancestor giant slyaers, runes, trophies of slain foes, special marks carved in wood for every giant slain ( holy ritual meaning ) wild hair-do’s, mohawks, shaved baldheads, special tonsures or also dyed, symbol shaped shaved, or hairlocks shaped to horn like locks on front of head;
Battle Formation Order in war: In little legions or in single combat of each warrior alone at own initiative and on own dependance
Typical or common dwarven traits, habits and traditions:
They also dislike any other way of travelling – except in battle and war – than by foot or via riding boar.
( otherwise silent )
Long drawn whimpering of lust, godly touched sounds of bliss and ecstasis
Terrible howl, grimacing / grinding their teeth or whinging
Noises like of long loud shrilling bird cries
With glooming fiery red, orange, yellow or green eyes emerging single sounds of wrath and anger
TURNING ALMOST WHITE IN THE FACE, EVEN IF BLACKISH HORNED
FOAMING BEFORE MOUTH!
- Vengearak, the Warrior
- Wyrm
- Morrowmoom
- Mightywrath
- Grax
- Gôz / Tardok-Wyrm
- Boarhawk
- Wolfgrim
- Eaglemoon
- Mandrûfain
- Vaughn
- Caeverymm
- Avalric
- Ushabayne
- Yôramourn
- Draaghost
- Cauldrûmak
- Gmôlem
- Clawdiak / Laclaudiac
( examples )
