Of the Free Races

 After the war with the elves the free races began looking for lands to settle, each according to their nature.
     The orcs went north past the central mountains and found there a vast plain populated with elk and oxen. While a few small groups began to clear land and build farmsteads the majority began to follow the herds and organized themselves into nomadic tribes. In time the farmsteads would grow into communities and it would be here that the dwarves would come to trade.
The orcs ranged far and began mapping out the northern plains.
To the west they found the northern reaches of the elven forest and the great barrier range as it drove north. Following the range they came in time to a secondary range of mountains running south and east from the barrier. This range was dotted with the smoke of geysers and volcanoes. Several days travel brought the tribes to the foothills of the range and they continued their drive north. The vast plains slowly gave way to tundra and the orcs interest gave out as they reach the northernmost limits of the herds range.
Eastward they ran into the great river and a great lake that extended from the northern ice fields that were its source.
The nomadic life of the orcs shaped their culture and they developed a deep strain of independence, not building cities or recognizing a central chieftain or king until well into the Age of Great Magics.
The dwarves were drawn to the central mountains and it was here they made a major discovery. Following the natural caves into the depths they came into a vast complex of halls and vaults built by some unknown hand.
The scale of the construction suggested that the unknown builders were themselves huge as the smallest of the passages rose almost 100 feet to its peak. Exploring the passages gave the dwarves no clue to the builders but did confirm that, whoever they were, they were long departed.
The dwarves began settling into these halls and as they delved downward they came to the remains of ancient excavations. Most of these were long since collapsed but the dwarves began the long task of clearing the mines and eventually discovered that most led to rich veins of metals and gemstones.
The dwarves overjoyed at these discoveries were faced with a problem, as rich as their new home was, other than some fungus growing in some of the caves and the occasional bats and such they had no way to feed themselves.
Emissaries were sent north and south to speak with the other races. They found that their neighbors had settled into much more pastoral pursuits and a solution presented itself. The dwarves turned their efforts to the making of those tools that they could trade for food from their friends. So began a cycle of trade that would sustain the three races through much of history. Eventually the dwarves learned to cultivate the various fungi that populated the depths and would discover other animals in the depths but the majority of their diet would continue to come from above ground.
The dwarves began to group themselves according to the resources that they found in the various mines and in time three major centers of activity began to develop.
The western mines were rich in gemstones and copper; this region that came to be called Krasnia drew gem cutters and coppersmiths.
Iron was the principle resource of the central mines and to this community came the blacksmiths. In an unimaginative bent this region became known as Ironhome.
The easternmost mines were rich in gold and silver but as they began to delve deeper the dwarves found something much more precious, mithriel. Only the most skilled miners could draw the ore from the depths and the smelting was a secret that very few of the dwarves had been entrusted with by the elves. Those who had the skill rushed to bring forth this new treasure regardless of clan alliegence. So it was that Kanathar, as this settlement came to be named was less ruled by clan politics than their cousins.
The last dwarven kingdom grew not out of resources or skill but of hate, hatred of their former masters the elves. After the Eld-Nar passed over the river the dwarves who had gone forth to drive them out set up an encampment on the shore of the river to watch against their return. In an example of the determination, and some say downright stubbornness, which has come to be the hallmark of their race the settlement remained long after anyone else would have concluded that the elves were not coming back across.
This encampment became a fortification. Then farms were started to feed the fort. Step by step the fort became a settlement and eventually, as the it became evident that they had grown into a true city, the military commander took the title of king and the last dwarven realm came into being, Zirkast, named for the first king.
     The dwarves of Zirkast not having the vast resources of their cousins turned their talents to the task of engineering. In the years that followed marvel after marvel came out of the workshops of Zirkast. Keeping an eye always on the possibility of a return of the elves and the need to defend themselves the dwarves of this realm developed bigger and better fortifications and siege engines until, in the latter days before the Age of Magics most of the other races were commissioning them to build castles and engines for them. They were also the first ones to seriously begin designing boats to ply the river. After several abortive attempts to land an army on the far shore ended in disaster the dwarven shipwrights began teaching their art to those humans willing to learn the trade and aside from a small group of traders gave up on the enterprise.
     Of the three great races humans had the hardest time settling into their new lands. While the land was fertile and game plentiful there was one major problem that did not become apparent until several years after war. The central plains were subject to seasons of what came to be called “changestorms” after the effects they wrecked on the human settlements. Seeming to originate mainly in the great swamp to the south these massive storms would sweep the central lands sweeping anything not rooted down away and leaving people and things from other worlds in their wake. As it turned out the elves had known of these storms from the times after the movement and had placed enchantments about their forests to protect them. But that protection did not extend to the central lands and so about every 15 to 25 years a season of storms would come. The immediate effect of this was that after each season more humans would head south seeking safer lands. Those that remained tended to be stronger and eventually began to find means to safeguard themselves from the storms. Since solidly rooted fortifications seemed to be immune to the effects this caused humanity to go into a building frenzy and those who could build the biggest fortification became the leaders and eventually the nobility of the region. To a real extent the lord’s ability to protect his people from the storms was a bigger factor than his skill at arms. In time these settlements needed goods they could not grow or make for themselves and trade began with the dwarves for those items. For a time there was also a trade route north through the region that would become Zirkast trading horses for oxen to the orcs. As the dwarven king began to expand his influence the trade dwindled until it was given up rather than paying a tax to the king to continue.
     This was how things remained for the most part for many long years, each race growing in population and skill until they gradually came into that age of history commonly known as the Age of Great Magics, that is the next topic to be covered.
     But not today.