The Lore of Dragon Age - The Dwarven Empires

I'm actually kind of ashamed that this video is so late. I made one on each of the other major factions. Ferelden, Tevinter, even the bloody cowards. But none on the dwarves. I mean come on, the cowards, but not the dwarves. That has to change. Before we start, I just want to say that I'll only tell about the official, known history of the dwarves. For the origin of them, see this While it isn't exactly proven to be the real origin, it seems too damn likely not to be. With that out of the way, the history of the dwarves is about as vague as you'd expect for a race that has been around almost as long as the elves. They record everything that is known in the memories, an ancient archive in Orzammar. It dates back a good few thousand years, back to the founding of the first tyke. But even then, some others claim that their empire is older than the The earliest of those memories is of a time where Thedas was entirely devoid of human life. The elves ruled above, and the dwarves below. In Minus 4600 Ancient, the elves are said to make first contact with the dwarves. For those that watched the Origins video, we all know how that first contact transpired. Which is handy, since the memories don't. According to Valta, the dwarven race fell and broke in two when the titan was killed by Mithal, which is cryptic at best. The Dalish also tell a story of how the dwarves feared the sun because of Elgar'nan's fire, which could mean that the elves drove them underground. Or you know, big daddy anger issues, just burning some of them alive. Either way, since then, the dwarves mostly stayed underground. There are exceptions of course, even back then. Paragon Faeral was one of them. He was a dwarven paragon that lived long before the First Blight. Faeral was a smith and shaper of runes, who was responsible for inventing runes for weapons. But when the dwarves started to use his invention to fight each other, he took his own house and several others and left. While the memories claim that he died in the Deep Roads, he actually did so in the Hissing Wastes. Faeral found a rock surface under the sands and established the only known surface tyke, Kalrapartha, which translates to a place where we may meet in peace. After he died, he left the tyke to his sons, each of them ruling one half for a while. But as is common for some reason, they argued and dueled each other, resulting in the death of one. The surviving sole ruler of the tyke built tombs in the wastes for his father and brother. But Kalrapartha isn't the only anomaly when it comes to tykes. The primeval tyke beneath the Three Marches is equally strange, being the only known one that contains statues of Dwarves aren't worshipping any form of pantheon, and yet this tyke contains a temple to worship someone. Again, if you want to find out whom and why, check the origins video. All of this was before the First Blight, the sort of Golden Age of the Dwarven Empire. While Tevinter expanded on the surface, the dwarves did the same underground, rivaling their surface allies. This alliance between Tevinter and the dwarves didn't come naturally, however. It was only to the work of Archon Darinius that this alliance began in the first place, which still lasts to this day. Darinius became the first Archon of the Tevinter Imperium after a series of events, more of that in my Tevinter video, which for some reason people still watch. Anyway, after he secured the kingdoms of Tevinter and Nieromania, he turned his attention to the dwarves. Conquering them would never work, since sending armies into the deep roads would be a suicide mission, so he decided to go there himself. After they encountered dwarven guards, Darinius offered himself as hostage, but asked to be taken to their king in order to negotiate. After arriving in Karsharok, the dwarves explained to him that he had to fight in the Proving to, well, prove that he was worthy of meeting their king. Given that he was the future Archon and not some backwater hillbilly, he defeated the champions that faced him one after the other, until only one was left. A dwarf with magnificent armor and a warhammer forged from pure lyrium. The remaining dwarf also not being a cave-billy, I guess, but the king himself wasn't so easily defeated. Actually, he wasn't defeated at all, neither of them were. After hours of fighting, Endrin suddenly called a stop to the fight and declared that Darinius possessed Valos Atredum, the favor of the ancestors. He revealed his identity to Darinius, and the two forged a As a symbol of their friendship, he gave the future Archon a set of rings, Dawn and Dusk, as well as attending the first match of the Grand Proving Arena in Minrathas. But Darinius didn't live forever, so in minus 1170 Ancient, a good 10 years after he died, Endrin moved the capital of the dwarven empire to Orzammar. A decision based on Karsharok's proximity to the Turbulent Imperium following the Archon's death. Orzammar was the ancestral seat of the mining and smith caste, so it made sense to move the capital there if you intended to increase trade. Endrin renovated the place a bit, expanding and improving the city, creating the Stonehammer Hall, and of course enlarging the proving grounds to allow for bigger tournaments, because forcefully making someone eat porridge for the rest of a life is a fun hobby. The man responsible for this golden age of the dwarves sadly died in minus 1131 Ancient, being named Paragon on his deathbed. His first, and only, act as Paragon was to name his late friend Horsac Garal one as well. What a trooper. Turns out boosting trade with the surface makes your people rich, which the dwarves used to their advantage, and built tykes under every human kingdom, as well as improving on the already quite impressive Deep Roads. The most important of those cities were the kingdoms of Kalsharok, Orzammar, Gundal, and Hormag. But peace and prosperity never lasts, obviously. The First Blight happened, which was arguably the most devastating event in dwarven history. The First Blight caught the dwarves in the middle of an inter-house war. When word of attacks poured in, each great house demanded that the army be sent to defend their tyke, and no house was willing to sacrifice their soldiers to defend another's. The assembly got so caught up in this hissy fit, that the darkspawn had free reign to spread, and one tyke after the other fell, until eventually the horde made it to the gates of the capital of Orzammar. Amidst the chaos, a duken, a warrior-caste dwarf that, until then usually kept to himself, grudgingly took command of the armies. He got the mining-caste to collapse overrun tunnels, and the smith-caste to supply them with weapons, completely foregoing and ignoring the noble-caste and the assembly. His leadership and willingness to piss off the higher-ups gained the dwarves much needed victories, and even today he is still regarded as the quintessential paragon of the dwarves. He is the only paragon in history that was unanimously voted up, with only a single dasher abstaining the vote. But despite all his great efforts and achievements, the First Blight was still raging when he died. The dwarves, however, were far from finished, and another of their great minds was born while the Blights still ravaged the world. Caridin was the product of a love affair between a noblewoman of House Orton and a worker of the smith-caste. As is tradition within the dwarven society, being born a boy, he took on his father's caste and became a smith himself. His mother, however, came up with a plan that would allow them to work exclusively for House Orton, keeping the two of them close to her. It turned out that By the time he was a young man, he took over many of his father's commissions and was tasked with equipping the best and proudest members of House Orton, many of them being his close friends. But while all of this went on, so did the Blight. The dwarves began to be desperate, but there was an idea in Caridin's mind that sparked the years before. He sought the solitude of his workshop and didn't emerge until years later. When he did, he presented the assembly with a creation that would turn the tide of war. The Anvil of the Void, as he called it, was a device that combined both blacksmithing and lyrium enchantment in one. It allowed them to forge golems, who were fearless in the battle for the survival of their race and unaffected by the taint. And while it was the anvil that granted Caridin the title of Paragon, it didn't come without a catch. As he later said So he had to take it from somewhere else. To forge a golem, a dwarf had to sacrifice themselves to be molded into immortal guardians. They won many victories for the dwarves, both in driving ragspawn off lost tykes and defending those that hadn't fallen. While Caridin initially only took volunteers, of which there were plenty, King Valtor demanded he make more, forcing castellers, criminals and political enemies to be made into golems. His conscience wouldn't allow him to force this agony on people, and he refused to make more. For defying the king, he ordered Caridin's apprentices to make the man himself into a golem, but he never taught them how to make a control rod, allowing Caridin to retain his free will. Having undergone the agonizing procedure himself, he swore that no one would ever undergo it again, took the anvil and vanished into the deep roads in Minus 248 Ancient, only being rediscovered a good 1077 years after his disappearance. It took another 45 years after his disappearance that the First Blight ended in the Battle of the Silent Plains, for the surface at least. By Minus 195 Ancient, 8 years after the fall of Dumat, the darkspawn were forced underground, ending the threat for the surface, while the battle continued for the dwarves. To keep the constant onslaught of darkspawn from destroying them completely, they sealed most of the deep roads. While this bought them some time, it put a heavy blow on communications between the tykes, resulting in each kingdom to elect their own king, while maintaining allegiance to the High King in Orzammar. With the darkspawn only pressing the attack, the High King in Minus 40 Ancient ordered the remaining deep roads that led to the major tykes closed as well. It took another 25 years, until in Minus 15 Ancient, Kalsharok was cut off as well, which was believed lost. Not much of dwarven history is known after that, but there are some bits and pieces that were worth recording the memories, or to be passed down by other means. For example the story of Astyth the Grey. Ancient dwarven tradition had it that women weren't able to become soldiers. Astyth however was born into the warrior caste, and strictly opposed to this tradition. Her arguments with the elders of the warrior caste were pointless however, as everything she said went ignored. To further protest the elders, she answered their silence with more silence, by cutting out her own tongue, which is pretty metal. Not being able to talk anymore, she dedicated herself to training, to the point where she, years later, won in the grand proving, using nothing but her bare fists. So impressed with her display, the dwarves granted women the right to become soldiers. Astyth herself was far from done however, as she was called upon by the king himself, to serve as his second and bodyguard, which she did, until she died, protecting him from an assassin in 195 Divine. In reward for her service to the king, her caste, and womankind, she was named Paragon Postmortem. To honor her memory, the Silent Sisters were founded, and like their Paragon, all members of this women exclusive order, cut out their tongues. Aside from the constant battle against the darkspawn and the blights, there isn't much to talk about until 912 Dragon, when Orzammar learns that Kalsharok actually survived, ever since they cut them off 952 years ago. King Endrin Idukkon is responsible for restoring contact, but the relations between the two great tykes are more or less ----. Much like in Warhammer, dwarves like to hold a grudge, and Kalsharok still hasn't forgiven Orzammar for what they did almost a millennium ago. The separation caused Kalsharok to have some major differences to their southern covens. Their manner of speech, while still the same base language, is beset by a regional dialect, that draws on an older manner of speech, which is natural, given that Kalsharok didn't have any contact with the outside world for a long time. They also don't employ the same strict caste system that Orzammar has, shown by members of their assembly being able to come from any family. And as mentioned before, the relations are unstable, as the assembly of Kalsharok doesn't recognize the king of Orzammar in any official capacity. The king that passed away in 930 Dragon from grief over the loss of his oldest and middle child. That leaves the youngest child, Balin, to inherit the throne, which sparks a conflict of succession in the capital, when Lord Pyrell Harrowman accuses Balin of murdering his father. The assembly is torn between the two candidates, and only the voice of the Paragon could be used to overrule them. In an effort to do exactly that, the Warden, no matter which side they support, is sent into the Deep Roads to find the Paragon Branka, who left in search of the Anvil of the Void only two years before. Branka was named Paragon in 910 Dragon for her invention of smokeless coal. The travel through the Deep Roads led to the discovery that Branka has gone completely mental in her search for the Anvil, condemning members of her She sacrificed her followers to test Karin's defenses, even going so far to let the women of her house be turned into brood mothers to have an endless supply of genlocks to throw at the gauntlet. Whether you support Karin or Branka in their quest, the former wanting the Anvil to be destroyed so no one will ever suffer the procedure of being turned into a golem again, and the latter wanting to keep it to strengthen the dwarves against the darkspawn, the Warden will end up with a crown that will decide who will become the new king. Branka, should she survive, will remain in the Deep Roads to study the process of forging a golem. Should you side with Karadin, he will forge you a crown and then take his own life in the knowledge that no one will ever make another golem, with the Anvil destroyed at the hands of the Warden. The almost civil war is resolved by the choice of the Warden and the King, no matter who it may be, pledges the aid of the dwarves against the Fifth Blight, which is eventually defeated in 931 Dragon, with the dwarves of Orzammar playing a vital role in the war. Ten years later, Kul Tjarok made contact with the surface for the first time in a long while. While they are slow to trust outsiders, they are beginning to let them closer to them. One such example would be their involvement with the Inquisition in 941 Dragon. After learning that the Venatori were keeping dwarven slaves, which did not come from Orzammar, the Inquisition sends agents to rescue them. Upon arrival, they discover that the camp had already been torched, but it wasn't the Venatori themselves in an attempt to destroy evidence, as they suspected. When they return to their camps, they find a note from a dwarf of Kul Tjarok next to a new sinkhole. After that, they contact the Inquisition directly, telling them the location of an enemy camp in the Deep Roads. While they don't care for the breach, they do care about the man that supposedly brought the darkspawn and the blights upon them, Corypheus. They give very specific instructions on what to do. If your Inquisitor is a dwarf, and you follow their instructions, they will send you a letter saying that while you're not kin, there may be trade. If you're not a dwarf, but still do as they say, they will see what comes of this. If you don't do what they say, they're pretty pissed off, telling you that next time you should do as they say, if there ever will be a next turn. In dwarven society, the caste is everything. It determines basically the whole life of the dwarf, the opportunities they will have in their lives, and how others will treat them. A caste is always inherited from the same sex parent. A girl will inherit the mother's caste, and the boy will inherit the father's. Not everyone is as lucky to be born into one, however. There are those that are born without. The casteless, or dusters, as they are also called, named after their ghetto home in Dusttown. Casteless are worthless in the eyes of society, forbidden from performing any work that a dwarf of a recognized caste may do. Since they are often with little choice, many of them become members of the carter, beggars, or noble hunters. Noble hunters are a group consisting mainly of women that are metaphorically hunting for members of the noble caste to sire a child with them, which hopefully will be the same as the gender of the noble parent. Including the casteless, there are eight castes in total. Casteless, servant caste, artisan caste, smith caste, miner caste, merchant caste, warrior caste, noble caste. The servant caste is the lowest of them, and by far the largest, as the bulk of Orzammar's population make up the servants. Among them are people such as washwomen, maids, cooks, barkeeps, and, well, every position that serves, really. The artisan and smith caste often work closely together, although the smith caste usually enjoy greater respect for their work. Smiths, as you can imagine, are responsible for equipping soldiers with arms and armor, as well as creating tools for the other castes. Artisans ornament exactly those, or create works of art purely for their own sake. Much like any other profession, smiths are rather competitive, shown by the existence of regular competitions, some form of smith-proving, if you will, that determines the best smith in Orzammar. Still, many smiths lack artistic skill, and so a master swordsmith may hand over a sword he made to an equally renowned engraver to make sure the sword will have an appearance that befits its craftsmanship. But artisans aren't exclusively engravers, they also take over the role of producing cloth and leather goods. Together with the smith caste, the miner caste also have their traditional seat in Orzammar, due to the richness of minerals and ore in the Frostback Mountains. The miners are the essential pillar of Orzammar, and they know that perfectly well. They have the ability to shut down ore production completely, a tactic they rarely use, but effectively when they do. Knowing exactly how far they can push before the noble caste would lose their ----, the miners always get what they want when it's within reason. While most castes are male-dominated, that is not the case within the miner caste. Lyrium is finicky, and it requires both finesse and strength to mine it. It's actually the case that women work many of the most productive veins and shafts. The merchant castes are responsible for commerce both in and outside Orzammar. Most goods go through the hands of merchants, to be sold in the city itself, or go through middlemen, topside to the other races. Given that Orzammar is underground, space is not something they have in abundance, so most merchants have temporary stands in the city. Good spots are highly sought after and expensive as a result, requiring a good amount of favors, or, you know, a fat sack of bribe money. They are dwarves after all. Only the very old and highly respected merchant families, or the unusually charming, have permanent shops. While the artisans and smiths are responsible for equipping them, the warrior caste is the reason the others are alive in the first place. For centuries they have fought, and still are, fighting the darkspawn, and there is not a single family in the warrior caste that hasn't lost sons or daughters to them. Still, they are one of the most populated castes in the city, aside from the servants of course. They lead lives of drill and practice, always ready to fight for their home, and it shows in them being notably stoic and public. Each house in the warrior caste is sworn to a house in the noble caste. Even the lowest of the noble houses have at least a few warrior houses, and the biggest of them have a dozen or more. However, those that serve the royal family are the elite amongst their fellows. They have access to the best arms, armor, smiths, and, of course, brothels. Can't forget the banging. Should a royal house fall, the warrior houses fall with them. However, even if the result sometimes is bloodshed, a respected warrior in the caste remains respected, and it shows through the tactful treatment of one another in the caste. Women in the warrior caste are often expected to raise the next generation and tend to the needs of the fighters. Many of them become skilled battlefield medics, but those that want to fight often follow in the footsteps of Esteth and become silent sisters. As such, they enjoy a great deal of respect amongst their peers, both for their abilities and the daggers they wield with which they cut their own tongues. At the top, how could it be otherwise, is the noble caste. A noble house is a collection of noble families related to each other by blood, and most of them trace their founding to a paragon who gave name to their house. But there are some that were from the smith or warrior caste originally. Noble houses in need of money often marry their children into lower caste families that possess great wealth in order to elevate them into nobility and in turn get the money. This money is often used to sponsor promising individuals like proving champions or famous artists. When the sponsored prosper, the house that sponsors gains honor in equal parts. Many of the nobles are from the warrior caste, however, and thus are skilled fighters, which is an important skill to have in the political climate of Orzammar, especially if your political enemy is called Balan. But there are those that are above caste and even crown. Paragons are the absolute elite of dwarven culture, those that every dwarf aspires to be. Their words are regarded higher than even that of the king, which is why they are able to resolve a deadlock in the assembly. To be named a paragon, one must accomplish an achievement of such magnitude that there is nothing equal to it in the memories. Examples of that include alongside his friend and predecessor Orzac Garal for their work in bringing the dwarven race into peace and prosperity unlike any other. Paragon Idukun for his service to his race when the assembly and nobles were squabbling amongst themselves while the blight knocked on their doors. Karadin for inventing the Anvil of the Void, allowing dwarves to forge golems, which are responsible for many victories over the darkspawn. To be named a paragon, the assembly has to vote on is often harder than to actually accomplish something worthy of paragonhood. The reason for that is that the assembly loses power when a paragon is named, since the elected dwarf immediately forms a new noble house in their name and elevates everyone related to them into nobility. Politics in the dwarven culture are just as stoic and harsh as the people. There are two main bodies of legislation, the king or queen of the empire and the assembly of the clans. The assembly is the central legislative body of a dwarven kingdom. Members of the assembly are known as dashers, which roughly translates to assembly lord. These eight dashers come from the most influential noble houses in the city. The rank of dasher is one for life, as such the average age is rather high, just like in real politics. Any of the eight dashers may submit a proposal for a law, which is then debated and voted on. This proposal must be voted on with majority vote for it to become a law, and those debates can probably last as long as some of them are old. But they are also called upon to decide the fate of a criminal that committed a serious crime, such as kinslaying. As the capital of the dwarven empire, Orzammar has been home to the king and queen of the empire ever since they moved there in minus 1170 ancient. Now, one would think that being the ruler means you have some decent amount of power, but that isn't really the case While you have some, this power is still kept in check by the assembly, who can, in extreme cases, even elect a new ruler. A king or queen who wish to put a new law into place must submit a proposal to the assembly, who will then debate it and vote on it in the normal manner. However, should the assembly vote on a law, by any margin other than unanimity, the king or queen may send this law back to the assembly for reconsideration and another vote before it is put into the memories. There is also nothing stopping the ruler from doing that an endless amount of times, effectively giving them the power of a legislative veto. On the other hand, the assembly also has the power to just vote out the king and queen and appoint a new one. While that is exceedingly rare and almost never happens because of the need for a two-third vote, it happened twice during Orzammar's history. Felben the Mad, but only after he went so far into dementia that he spoke nothing but bullshit, and the Lost King, who no one knows what happened since the Shaper erased all memories of him, leaving only a suspicious gap of thirty years. In theory, the king or queen are the war leaders of Orzammar, but actually they only hold command over those houses that are sworn to them. They expand their armies by appointing high generals from allied houses and adding their own soldiers to their command. Usually, the position of ruler is hereditary, but that is not illegally binding, as we see in the case of Baden, who, as the only remaining heir of Endrin, should have become king, but it was disputed by Harrowmont. While it is not officially a legislative body of the city, the Shaperoot still has some authority over certain aspects of Orzammar. Their official role is to record events, laws, and everything worth noting on the Wall of Memories, but they are also responsible for deciding whether or not they sanction the place of worship to seen in The Chant in the Deeps, a side quest in Origins. In addition to that, a new king or queen is coronated in a special ceremony by the Shaper of Memories in the Chamber of the Assembly, where they are also sometimes called upon to advise the Assembly on matters of procedure and precedent, giving them a hand in governance. But of course they don't use that to anyone's advantage, since the Shaperoot is an apolitical organization. Other than filling in politics, like half the goddamn city at this point, they send Shapers far and wide into the world to retrieve and record information for their memories. That includes venturing the Deep Roads, and even fighting Darkspawn should it come to that, as seen in The Descent with Volta accompanying Ren. My god, it's like reading an essay at this point. Unlike the other races of Thedas, the Dwarves do not worship anthropomorphic gods, like Elves and Humans. Instead, they have an almost intimate connection to the Stone, capital S. They are born of her, respect, fear and cherish her, but they do not worship her as a god. When they die, they return to the Stone, giving the strength they had in life back to her. Those that lived noble lives are returned to the Stone, where they become part of the ancestors who guide and care for the descendants. Those that didn't, meaning those that abandoned her, such as Castles and Surfacers, are rejected, so that they don't weaken the Stone. Those rejected by the Stone are said to become restless spirits, such as Rockwraiths. The Stone, however, isn't pure, as it is said to bear a corruption as orders balance. The waste and unstable rock that must be removed. Every Dwarf must carve the worst of them away, but only a fully adorned member of the Legion of the Dead can cut away at its darkness that The Legion of the Dead is perhaps the most fearsome branch of the Dwarven military, because, as the name implies, they have nothing left to lose. Those that brought shame or dishonor on their family and house may go through a voluntary ceremonial funeral and join the Legion. Doing so will clear their name and all debt they may have, as well as restoring the family honor. They are equipped with heavy armor and fine weapons, adorn their faces with grim tattoos and leave for the Deep Roads, never to return. Those that join are recorded in the memories as having died an honorable death against the Darkspawn, and they go out into the Deep Roads to make that effect. When a Legionnaire dies, they have a second funeral, where their bodies are returned to the Stone and entombed in stone sarcophagi to keep the Darkspawn from defiling them. However, as the numbers of the Legion go down, it means that the very last of them won't have one of their own and will not be given their return to the Stone. It's unknown whether non-Dwarf Legionnaires are returned to the Stone as well, as they accept literally everyone. A Nevarran by the name of Aurelion Pantagast, who attempted to assume the throne of Nevarra in 860 B.C. before it came out that he wasn't a Pantagast at all, is the only known human in history to join the Legion. Rather than spending the rest of his life in disgrace and dishonor, he went into the Deep Roads a Dwarven hero. Some pieces of his enchanted armor turned up on the surface, however, making people wonder if he actually returned Topside and sold it or if it was scavenged of his body. The answer, however, only the Legion knows and, as they always say, our secrets die with us. Given their nature of fighting Darkspawn to the bitter end, the Legion often bumps into the Grey Wardens and is on rare occasions even accompanied by one on their calling, as seen with Ser Ruth in Inquisition. Provings are duels between Dwarves, representing honor and duty amongst their race. They're held in massive arenas, such as the Proving Crowns in Orzammar. It is believed that the Ancestors watch over the Provings and that only Dwarves with their favor can win them. As such, Provings are used to settle conflict between noble houses, debates in the Assembly and honorable challenges that can only be resolved by bashing someone's head in. While many of the Provings aren't actually fought to the death, many still die in them and it's accepted to be better for one Dwarf to die in a Proving than dozens of them in an open conflict between two houses. But they also have entertaining value, as the warrior caste hosts regular tournaments where outsiders with unusual fighting abilities are invited and sometimes even paid. Lower caste Dwarves, however, typically aren't allowed to fight for the sake of spectacle, only to defend their honor or innocence. Casteless, unsurprisingly, aren't even allowed to stand on the Proving Grounds, as it is believed they would dishonor the Ancestors with their presence. Despite this sanctity of Provings, some still attempt to rig them in someone's favor for the sake of coin. Examples of that include House Tethras, Varric's family, whose punishment was exile, as manipulating Provings isn't just a felony, it's blasphemy. Dwarves had several languages back in the day, but none of them are spoken in modern days, only some phrases and words remain in common use. The main Dwarven tongues were cast away in favor of the Common Tongue, which is actually an invention of the Dwarves. They introduced this common language, as well as currency, to the humans in order to easily trade with them. There are some that can still read the old language, like Shapers, as seen with Valtar, translating Ancient Dwarven into Descent. But most of the modern Dwarves know only a few words and phrases. Examples of that include Salrokar, a friend, literally one at my side, Atrastunsha, a formal farewell, Atrastvala, a formal but very common greeting, Isana, lyrium, also called singing stone. Despite their invention of a language that eases the interaction between the races and their obvious need for help against the darkspawn, the Dwarves believe there is little worth in those that live outside their halls. They're not racists, as they can be convinced that anyone is worthy of respect by their deeds, but nonetheless, they think of their own as the most formidable race on Thedas. And even those outsiders they deem worthy, they argue to be unusual exceptions. Despite all of this, however, they maintain good relationships with a lot of nations and groups. Their oldest, and perhaps best, ally is the Tevinter Imperium. This relationship started more than 2000 years ago, when Endrin Stonehammer forged a trade alliance with Darinius. This alliance still stands to this day, and is by no means in danger, as the Imperium depends on their Dwarven allies to meet the immense need of lyrium in the Imperium. The influence of their long-standing alliance can be seen quite clearly in Tevinter culture. The earliest example is right when one would enter Manrathas, the capital of the Imperium, whose entrance is guarded by three golems called Juggernauts. Another example would be the Imperial Proving Ground in the capital, inspired of course by the Proving Grounds of the Dwarves. But perhaps the biggest sign of are the Dwarven embassies in Manrathas, Nerumanian, and Karinus, which are all entirely subterranean, so all Dwarves that serve there may retain their caste. The Ambassadoria is less of a parliament and more of a lobby group. Lyrium is the reason they maintain a relationship of that caliber, and the Dwarves, as suppliers of lyrium, have a decent amount of political influence, because without it, the Imperium is in pretty bad shape. Another very good relationship they of course maintain is with the Grey Wardens. Through their shared, continuous struggle against the Darkspawn, the two factions have since been in good standing. Wardens are also the only surface group to care about the endless war the Dwarves fight every day, something that many people above ground forget easily. Their shared struggle is represented in a long-standing agreement between the two, that when a Warden's calling draws near, they spend a year fighting Darkspawn and Deep Roads together with the Dwarves. Dwarves are a proud, but due to their low birth rates, dwindling race, that are responsible for many great feats of engineering and warfare. Nonetheless, I doubt they will vanish anytime soon, as long as they have the will to fight, and if there is one thing Dwarves have, it's the will to fight. If you enjoyed it, subscribe, or leave a comment. If for some reason you want to contact me, send me a PM on Reddit or Twitter, where you can also follow me for news, updates on future videos, fun facts, and other random ----.