DWARVES
The dwarves are a short, stocky, bearded race of humanoids, distantly related the humans, halflings, the Old Ones and Neanderthals. They are noted for their secrecy, incredible skill at manufacture and sometimes their greed. For a long age, the dwarves had been absent and forgotten by the men of the surface world. They had built a mighty civilization under the earth. However, as part of their plan to conquer the surface world, the Old Ones discovered and plundered the great dwarf mansions beneath ground. The dwarves have returned to the surface during the last few centuries and have attempted to find homes in the ruins of the Ardean Empire. They have an abiding hatred of Orcs and the Old Ones especially, but also of goblins and all things chaotic. While most dwarves had worshiped their own ancestral gods (likely the pagan neutral gods under different names) for most of their history, nowadays around half of them have converted to the Lawful Church, because of its strong opposition to Chaos. Dwarves are very secretive about their personal names, usually using a pseudonym when dealing with non-dwarves. A surprising number of them use the pseudonym “Jack”, presumably in honor of St. Jack the Good, apostle to the Dwarves.