Legends of Belariath

Dwarves Clans

A History of the Origin of Dwarvish Clans from Legends, Myths, Facts, and the words of that nymph I ran across so many years ago...

Presented by Liasina *the last name is smudged beyond recognition* for her acceptance into the High Elven Academy of History

When the Worldsmith finally brought to life the various races, he crafted a race of Smiths short in stature like himself. This race of Smiths was known as the Dwarves. At the onset of the world they were few, forming but a single Clan, which all others split from, and that Clan was The Metal Clan. While others now have taken the place of most important clan in Dwarven Society, none can claim the longevity of the Metal Clan, though that name has changed through the ages, the core of The Metal Clan has remained the same.

There are no written histories of any of the Clans from before the fall of the Elven race and the Reuniting of the Clans, but the Metal Clan holds an anvil sacred to them, it has not seemed to age in all of that time, and on it is carved one word, one name, Lokchar.

Believed to be the first chief of The Metal Clan, he set into place many of rituals and traditions that are still seen today in Dwarvish culture. The ritual now used to determine the clan that a young Dwarf will thrive in was used in the time of One Clan to determine the job the dwarf would be most suited for. In fact it is Lokchar (as the anvil is now called) which is used in those ceremonies. The Clan was first divided into sects based off of the different metals that the clan forged; the other professions finding refuge within these large sects, but after millenniums of growth the clan was huge and unwieldy, spread through several mountains, and impossible to organize and oversee by a single Dwarf. It was then that The Clan split.

The Metal Clan

The metal workers are the largest and most diverse clan of among the dwarven people, divided up into numerous sub sects that range about the various types of metals, excluding that of mithril. Iron, silver, gold, platinum, copper, bronze, and several other metals all fall within this clan, and are divided into the numerous differing sects that make up the clan.

Within each sect is the mastery of a single type of metals, and from those sects come works of great power and beauty.

The Clan of Life, and The Clan of Earth

After 7 thousand years of unity, the first split came over something rather simple, the materials that one chose to craft with. It wasn't until the 6th millennium that dwarves began to use something other than the non living materials of metal and stone to craft from. It was a combination of things that led to this, the first being Neserva's first interest in the Dwarves. Before she had kept herself to the valleys, working as the Worldsmith commanded, she nurtured the plants and animals there, slowly encouraging their growth, and extending their reach up the sides of the mountains. It happened that she finally got to the level where the Dwarves had made their openings to the outside world, and her interest in this, the favored race of the Worldsmith, grew.

She lured Dancar Woodtouch, it is unclear if his name came before or after the encounter, into the woods and to the fallen body of a massive oak. Bringing Dancar a mug of ale, nearly as large as himself, the goddess gifted him with the vision of what the tree could become. Dancar spent several weeks above ground as he worked on the tree, creating a small hut from it, near the entrance to the Dwarven caves, and over that time a small group had joined him. It was by no means even a fraction of the Dwarven population, but they all had the same love for wood as Dancar did.

Over the next millennium, the numbers grew, and the materials used were diversified; anything of the living world was harvested in their works, and soon they were almost a quarter of the dwarvish population. It was at a meeting of elders when the fight broke out, though what the fight was over, no one now knows for certain, but the end result was that The Clan was split in twain: The Clan of Life, and The Clan of Earth.

The Wood Clan and The Naturalist Clan

The split of The Clan of Life was slow, and uneventful, and it is hard to pinpoint the exact point at which it happened. All members of The Clan of Life now resided separate from The Clan of Earth, but even in the beginning the two clans seemed to remain separate yet together. The Difference between the two groups was once again the materials they worked with; The Wood Clan were faithful to their patron Neserva, who showed Dancar the First Tree, while The Naturalist were those that were attracted to the bones and skins left behind by the animals of the land. Over the years, The Naturalist grew more and more separate from The Wood Clan, until they once more descended into the earth and caves of the dwarves, though remaining close to the surface where they could harvest the materials they used for their work. It was here that Sernaka found them, and seeing what they did with the life around them, she adopted them as her children.

The Wood Clan

While this may not seem to be a likely material for dwarven hands to craft, it is in fact a clan, the smallest of clans, but a clan nonetheless. They make their homes mainly in the hills surrounding the monolithic mountains and are generally a more sociable breed than their mountain cousins. From the various woods of the world, they craft furniture, chests and ornaments of beautiful detail and artistry.

The Naturalist Clan

If you want armor made out of dragon scales, or a weapon made from the bones of a great beast, they are the ones you would turn to. They make use of the remains of animals and breasts, their bones, skins, scales and other such parts of their body. This way, they infuse the power of the beast into their work.

By way of this, the Naturalists tend to be much more ornate in their creations, attempting to honor the might of the creature from which they crafted their items. This does not however mean that they hold these creatures in any high regard. Like many dwarves, they can be greedy and prideful, willing to make use of any materials that could make their work even greater or are paid to use. This even includes the sacred remnants of unicorns.

The Great Schism

Morcal and Ryasak, Sons of a sort of The Worldsmith were the Deities of The Clan of Earth. It was around the 9th millennium that something happened between the two brothers, a fight ensued, and the mountains trembled for days with its wrath. The followers of Morcal were more numerous than those of Ryasak, but it was not by much, and as the mountains shook, each blamed the other for the Chaos and destruction that ensued.

It was during The Great Schism that the dwarves would be the closest to a Clan War, and it was only through the intervention of Ryasak, unwilling to see his children killed, that he took them deeper into the mountains, to the vaults of stone where the precious gems could be found. His Children saw the beauty in those gems, and saw the potential for each, their skilled fingers deft enough to work them into objects that were practically alive. Morcal took his children deeper into the mountain after it was clear that Ryasak had backed down, back to the Forges of the Earth, large caverns filled with forges that took their heat from the earth itself, molten lava flowing like rivers through parts of them, while crystal clear streams flowed through others, providing everything the Metal Clan needed to work.

The Stone Clan

The second largest of the clans, the Stone clan is not exactly restricted to rock such as marble or granite, but extends into valuable gems and crystals. While a good portion of these skills can be done by earth mages, but, there are a large number that work by hand, infusing the stones shape with their heart and soul, their masters bringing about such an essence of life that cannot truly be duplicated by even an earth mage.

The gem mages, specialize and cutting and shaping gems, as well and enchanting them with strange, and often mischievous magic’s.

The Gatherings

Feichsim was the first of the Elemental Clan. It was not on purpose that he started the clan, but he was always one that bucked under the rule of the Metal Clan, and being stubborn, as all dwarves are wont to be, he finally found himself a large cavern, long abandoned to begin his school. A school dedicated to the teaching of the magic’s of Fire and Earth. The school did not last long, only four centuries, but it gathered members from all of the other Clans, and grew to be even more numerous than the Naturalist clan.

Not all of those that joined the Clan could work magic, and thus slowly was the infrastructure developed that was common in all of the clans. The members of the school took their knowledge of the magical arts back to their own clan's, using them to further their own work, making great wonders of armor and weapons imbued with those elements. It was not long before they felt out of place, and they all gathered once more in around the once school of Feichsim.

The Elemental Clan

These are the dwarves the delve into the powers of the elements, while predominately working with earth and fire magic’s due to their nature as smiths and their affinity for earth and fire, there are some few that take the path of water and air. This clan works primarily in the creation of elemental weapons and items, though they are able to refine materials to an extreme degree, making their help in forging highly sought after.

In fact, within the clan is the master fire mage and master smith, Flameforger.

Along the same time, My People met theirs. Now it was not the High Elves of today, but rather, The Elves. The Dwarves did not know what to think of us, and we found out very little before they all but drew away from our reach. This led to an important event; the second gathering, the gathering of Clerics, and Priests. From every Clan, the Clerics and Priests gathered to discuss this "Strange New Race of Trees" as they called us initially, and what to do about us. Initially perceived as a threat, the Clerics and Priests took out those that showed potentials as healers, and began to train them in the arts, in case a war broke out. These training and preparations continued, believing war always on the verge of the next millennium, they found themselves growing more and more distant from their original clans, until they considered themselves to be clan of their own, priests sent to each of the clans to guide them along their spiritual paths, and healers sent where needed.

The Cleric Clan

Not all the clans are based up on the physical craft. The clans of Clerics see to their people's aspects that are more mystical. Also, as a result of their nigh constant practice due in part to mining and crafting accidents, to the near constant drunk brawling, Dwarven clerics are among the best healers in all of Belariath.

All Dwarven clerics follow the path of the Dwarf's chief god the Worldsmith, but beyond that, there are numerous different

The Ascension

The Mithril Clan came directly from The Metal Clan. It was soon after the gatherings that Morcal gave his next gift to his children, the gift of Mithril. None knew what it was or how to forge it when it was initially given to them, found by a young apprentice in one of the ancient mines. But that Apprentice kept the metal, even after his masters told him to leave it alone as it was clearly not meant to taint the anvil and hammer that they used. but that young apprentice, Arclach kept it with him, studying the material every free moment he got. It was during one of these times, it is said, that he was visited by an elderly dwarf, who asked him what he had, he replied simply, a bit of metal, frustrating, because he could see the beauty it held, but could not draw it out. The old dwarf patted him on the back, a twinkle in his eyes as he spoke, "It will come...eventually" he said, and turned, walking away, even as Arclach felt dazed by the touch. After that Arclach’s skill grew with every day, within a matter of months, he learned and perfected skills that had taken the master’s decades to begin to grasp, his works constantly outshone his peers as his hammer struck with disturbing accuracy. He kept that nugget of metal, studying it through out the entire time, never forgetting it, even as he began to grow older, and began to raise a family of his own. It was nearly seven centuries later that he took the metal to the forge again, looking at it as he saw that pendent of Morcal that he always saw when he looked into it, and then he knew what to do with it.

He was the first to forge the metal, Arclach Mithriltouch, and he made it into that pendent of Morcal. Over the next few years, the masters of the various Clans were drawn to Arclach's forge, none knowing why until they saw that pendent, and then they understood as if the wool was finally drawn off their eyes. Each had their own specialty with the metal; those from the Stone Clan were able to incorporate their gems into the mithril with a delicate touch that brought out the beauty in each. The Naturalist were able to weave the mithril into their Dragon scale armor, and the like, making them even stronger than before. The Wood Clan spun the mithril in delicate accents on their carvings enhancing the grace of each. The Elementalist found the inner power that was lacking in their weapons and armor from before, drawing out the purest form of the elements through the mithril, and the metal clan used Mithril in everything.

It was this Clan that began the work on "The Broken table" that united the Dwarves for the first time, and it is this clan that is held as a step above all the others because of their skills which they have proven before all dwarves, and the Deities above.

The Mithril Clan

This is the clan of masters. There is no other way to define it. When a dwarf finally reaches a certain level of skill, he is allowed to take the test to prove his worthiness to join this clan, the only clan allowed to work with Mithril. Should the dwarf fail they may try again twice more, after a decade between each attempt. The members of this clan may come from any of the other clans, and are a diverse and often quarrelsome lot.

Of them only the great smith Masek preferred to use materials beyond Mithril after joining the clan.