Falcon wrote:Brief History of Dasarian Dwarves
The Origin of the Torinvhork Clan, and other Dwarven Clans within Dasaria
Illuminator Grejah of Dasar
Dasar, Dasaria
Empire of Varana
The Torinvhorks are a clan of Dasarian dwarves, known predominately for their presence in and around the village of Daris. They enjoyed a powerful renaissance when Torinvhork Hall was established in the Forest of Daris.
With the destruction and desecration of Torinvhork Hall in 583 M.A. (the year of the sacking of Daris), a vast amount of history and knowledge on this family of courageous dwarves was lost. Recent expeditions into the hallowed halls of the Torinvhorks have unearthed several stone fragments and tomes that illuminate much of Torinvhork history, but much of it remains a mystery.
The Torinvhorks are a unique line of dwarves in Dasaria—the name Torinvhork is, in itself, unlike any other family of dwarves that called Dasaria home. The regions in and around Daris, Lendose and Dasar hosted several clans of dwarves, including the Beerbellies, Flamefists, Hearthstones, Phantlens and Torinvhorks. Save the Phantlens, of which only two dwarves are known, dwarven surnames were compound words, a popular, yet corrupted version of the clan’s original designation.
In the days of old, far before the formation of the Throne of Siril, and even in the Kingdom of Dasaria’s infancy, dwarven clans were known for their exotic names. The tribes of Men—who were busily developing their own tongue (known as common)—had difficulty dealing with the dwarves of the Arrithian Planes and Lendosian foothills. The growing relationship between men and dwarves necessitated a shortening, or corrupting, of original dwarven surnames. Clan names, when once difficult to pronounce and lofty in length, became shorter and understandable to the growing population of men. The Dhéalüen’gaukz became the Ironholt, or the Tzhaurk’ro’dün became the Redbeards. These two clan names are all but unknown to contemporary historians, and really are only mentioned in passing in ancient tablets.
And so, the evolution of dwarven clans resulted in compound surnames, such as Beerbelly, Flamefist, and Hearthstone. It is important to note that the meaning or symbolism cherished in such names survived unscathed. The Beerbellies were closely attached to the Torinvhorks—Lord Bleveck Torinvhork's high-priest was none other than Bognar Beerbelly, a powerful cleric of the Daris region. Bognar Beerbelly was murdered by a rogue family of drow, the G'Elle, which provoked a violent and vengeful response from the Torinvhork Thane.
That is why the Torinvhorks remain unique—there is no compound word here, but the name is most certainly not original dwarven nomenclature. Stone fragments recovered from the dark depths of Torinvhork Hall illuminate the history of the name to some degree. The Torinvhorks, before their renaissance in the Forest of Daris, trace their lineage to the foothills of the Arrithian Planes, and further still to the Khinaor Mountain ranges that divide those expansive wastelands. The Khinaor Mountains are famously known, of course, for the massive and numbered dwarven ruins that dot its peaks, valleys and depths. The name Dün’khüvan, an ancient and kingly clan of dwarves, originates from these mountain ranges.
The Dün’khüvan enjoyed its golden age nearly a millennia before the foundation of the Kingdom of Dasaria, and existed in such prominence for seven hundred years. The clan built a massive kingdom of halls, great-halls and underways that extended from the coasts of Cear to the mountains of Kor. Ruins north of Cear, and within the Planes of Arrith, are still accessible to adventurers to this day. Unfortunately any great relics and treasures that remain have long been pilfered and looted.
It is believed that the Dün’khüvan, the ancient dwarven empire of Dasarian pre-history, are the ancestors of the many dwarven clans that now exist within the province of Dasaria. The Torinvhorks, in particular, are linked powerfully to the majestic and ancient Dün’khüvan Lords, the imperial battle-champions of the great-halls that spanned the dwarven kingdom. Stone fragments and tablets mention the Dün’khüvan line in the ruins of Torinvhork Hall, and partial genealogical research has been unearthed from Torinvhork tombs across the Daris River region that claim many ties to the Dün’khüvan line, specifically the Dün’khüvan Lords.
Unfortunately, concrete information on such ties remains lost to Varanite and Dasarian historians. A century prior to the fall of the Kingdom of Dasaria, the Torinvhork Clan suffered a major blow to their numbers and settlements after a duergar excursion that claimed many dwarven lives. Lord Bleveck Torinvhork, Thane of Torinvhork Hall, fell himself in a great battle below the halls of Torinvhork Hall against a duergar uprising. The sacking of Daris, and the desecration of Torinvhork Hall one year later, all but destroyed any further evidence that would otherwise illuminate the mysterious history of this ancient and noble line of dwarves.
Every Dasarian dwarf is somehow linked to the Dün'khüvan. The Torinvhork's in particular may be linked to the Lords of the Dün'khüvan, a dynasty of dwarven rulers that were renowned for their battle prowess (and in particular, a very large dwarven maul, a weapon the size and weight of a fully grown dwarf—no such maul has ever been recovered. They were believed destroyed at the collapse of the empire).