Extracts from ‘The Anthropology of the Elder Races’ by Solin’De’Teinde.
The Grûndén are smaller in stature. The dwarves, as they are known to men and in the common tongue. They are miners at heart, delvers of the earth. They are seekers of hidden natural treasures. They evolved to be shorter in their height because of their continual delving into tunnels beneath the earth.
But unlike the Pnook they did not fade in strength, in fact quite the opposite, they became a powerfully built people, strong in arm and strong in war, they fared better. The invading Ognods died in great numbers at the hands of the Grûndén armies and in the end instead of trying to overcome and subdue the Grûndén, the Ognods simply went round them, leaving the Grûndén locked in their underground halls. To this day the dwarves, although a friendly people, keep themselves to themselves within their subterranean domains. Content to remain hidden in their mountain realm, concerning themselves with their own existence.