Y'rgathal

History
Thousands of years before the Common Calendar was created, Dwarves lived in Level 2 of the Underdark and were constantly combating with Goblins and Drow. They eventually ventured out into the surface and came out in the Southern Region of the continent Afria, where there were hundreds of extremely tall frozen mountains. The whole Dwarven Region was named Frostpike Glaciers, and it's capital city was called Y'rgathal. Frostpike Glaciers is surrounded by a giant impenetrable wall of ice that cannot be climbed either. To pass through the wall, you must venture through a complex maze system that has prevented outsiders from entering dwarven culture for thousands of years. The largest mountain is the location of the city Y'rgathol, and it's extremely large and the design is based around being inside a mountain that goes from the inner peak of the mountain, to level 1 of the underdark. For thousands of years, Dwarves have isolated themselves from the rest of the world, any Orcs that tried to enter were either killed off quickly, or couldn't take the harsh cold environments of the land. During the Lothorian Revolution, many Lothorians died off in the large mazes and didn't know of the Dwarves existence, until 5865 when they ventured out and populated the rest of the world. Dwarves today, are still fighting off constant encounters with creatures of the underdark, mainly Drows and Goblins.

Philosophy
Dwarves believe in Isolation and often extreme Xenophobia, as they spent most of their time in the Underdark regions of the world. They are often called a race frozen in time, never changing something if isn't broken. Often preffering to fix something rather than start a new as well, reffering both to physical objects and their ideals and social customs. When it comes to mining and building interesting crafts, Dwarves are the most well-known for that, being creative and suprising logical when it comes to most things. They are also known as the best ale producers in the land, as drinking ale is very common in their society. A lot of their customs and traditions are based on War Heroes, one of which being Redna StormRider who led The Battle of the Dark (2456-2478), where the Dwarves fought off the Drow and ventured up to the Outer World, where Redna established the Dwarven Capital, Y'rgathol. Dwarves honor Strength and the Forge above all else.

The High Council and Families
Y'rgathal is ruled by a High Council which is composed of 4 powerful families, each family taking up 4 seats. The 4 Families are The ForgeBreakers, Stonebeards, Maulhusks, and the ThornBearers. The Forge Breakers have control over almost all crafts in the city aside from ale production and magical equipment. The StoneBeards control all mined exports from in and outside the city. Many higher ups though that are on good terms with the Stonebeard family can get some of the rarer materials that are found; or so it is rumored. The Maulhusks have produced the finest fighters and warriors that the dwarven realm can offer. The ThornBearers are the final family of the council and they hold immense knowledge of the whole word, and mainly deal with the discovery of special magic Dwarven Runes and Enchantments. For a change in the society to occur, 3 of the 4 Families must all agree on something or 10 of the 16 votes, if the families are individually torn on something. The 5th most powerful family that refused to be on the Council, even though offered a position were the Grindlebacks, who produced the finest ale in the country and mapping out areas of the Dwarven region and Underdark. There is a 6th family, that is attempting to join the council, but it's undecided whether they should be members, and that is the Valeforge family. Their main objective is to expand the Dwarven region out and make alliances with other countries, which is usually frowned upon by Dwarven society. They're in a sense, political masterminds, except in their own country coincidentally.