by Terry Brooks
When the lands were partitioned after the First War of the Races, the Dwarves were given the Eastland, along with the Gnomes. The Druids, including the Dwarves within their number, believed the vast forests of the Anar would be more than adequate for both Races. Unfortunately, the decision laid the groundwork for territorial conflicts that have continued throughout the history of the Eastland.
Dwarves have managed to hold the Central and Southern Anar, as well as large portions of the Ravenshorn, for most of their history. It was in the years just prior to the Second War of the Races, during the reign of King Raybur, that the Dwarf nation reached its greatest extension. Before the war, Raybur controlled all the territory from the edge of the Lower Anar forests south of the Silver River to the Rabb River in the north, as well as all but the northernmost sections of the Ravenshorn and all of the High Bens. Only the Wolfsktaag, which belonged solely to the creatures of old magic, remained outside his rule. Unfortunately, King Raybur was also forced to watch his entire kingdom disappear beneath the conquering armies of the Warlock Lord. His people were driven into exile in the forests and deep mountains. All the Dwarf settlements were destroyed, including the capital of Culhaven and the Fortress of Stedden Keep.
Raybur and his people had been overrun, but not defeated. It was not in their nature to give up. Despite their losses, the Dwarves rallied behind Raybur and the Dwarf Druid Risca to go to the aid of the Elves. They arrived in time to trap the Northland army on the Streleheim Plains as the Elves closed from behind. Without the Dwarves, Jerle Shannara would not have been able to defeat the Warlock Lord that day.
The Dwarves never regained all the territory they had lost, but they did rebuild a thriving nation. Gnome tribes moved into regions conquered by the Northland army, and had to be driven back. Some say the new Dwarf kingdom was made stronger because of being constantly tested by Gnome incursions. For outlying areas, Gnomes were a constant threat. In most cases, the better-prepared Dwarf Hunters were superior fighters to their Gnome counterparts. Raiders caused damage, but rarely managed to take and hold Dwarf lands. The skills of battle, honed while fighting the Raiders, proved invaluable to the other Races in the wars that followed. Dwarf Hunters and Sappers helped hold the line at the battle for Tyrsis during the War of the Warlock Lord. Sixty years later, they fought side by side with the other Races against the Demons of the Forbidding in the Battle for Arborlon.
Raybur, Warrior King
Honored as the greatest ruler in the history of the Dwarf nation, Raybur was a warrior who was chosen to rule. As a boy, he had fought against the Gnome tribes in the constant battles to drive them back from Dwarf lands. As king, he continued the fight, pushing the Gnomes back and extending the boundaries of his kingdom till it was twice its previous size. During his reign, Dwarves held all of the Central and Lower Anar, all the way to the Rabb River and beyond.
When the Warlock Lord attacked the Eastland, Raybur marshaled the Dwarves in a brilliant series of defensive battles. Aided by the Warrior Druid Risca, Raybur managed to hold off the Northland army while evacuating most of his population to the comparative safety of the deep forests. Even after his son was killed, he still led his forces at the final battle on the Streleheim Plains. The Druid Risca was killed in that final battle of the war.
After the war, Raybur began a massive reconstruction of the Dwarf lands. All the towns and villages had to be rebuilt, but Raybur wanted them improved. He approved the design and construction of the famous Meade Garden in Culhaven, rather than simply rebuilding the existing garden, and had Risca buried there. But his greatest legacy was the dams of Capaal. Determined to protect the lands that the Trolls had destroyed, Raybur spearheaded the plans for the most ambitious project ever undertaken by the Dwarf nation—a series of dams and locks on the Silver River Gorge that would control and regulate the flow of waters into the Anar, protected by a massive fortress that would also serve to protect the Dwarf lands. His fortress of Capaal still stands, and has allowed the lands of the Lower Anar to flourish.
He was buried in the Meade Garden in Culhaven, near his dear friend Risca.
Raybur, warrior king of the Dwarves.
Hendel, a Dwarf hero, nemesis of the Gnomes. He died at the battle for Tyrsis.
Fifty years after the War of the Forbidding, however, the Dwarves discovered they had trouble in their own lands. The Gnomes escalated their attacks on the Dwarf outposts, and the Dwarves were no longer able to keep the usually inferior Gnome Raiders at bay. Somehow, the Gnomes actually began to push the Dwarves back toward the Silver River, taking over lands that had belonged to the Dwarves for centuries. At first, no one knew that the Gnomes were controlled by the Mord Wraiths and aided by the dark magic of the Ildatch. By the time the Dwarves realized the extent of their peril, the dark magic was firmly entrenched within the Ravenshorn Mountains, and the Silver River, key to the survival of the Lower Anar, began to turn foul from Mord Wraith poison. Before the war was over, the Gnomes and Wraiths managed to capture all the Dwarf strongholds and settlements within the Ravenshorn and throughout most of the Upper and Central Anar. Even the great fortress at Capaal fell to the Mord Wraiths and their Gnome army.
The Ohmsfords managed to destroy the Ildatch and cleanse the Silver River, bringing an abrupt end to the war, but at the cost of many lives. Once the Gnomes were no longer driven by the Mord Wraiths, the Dwarves were able to regain their lost lands and drive the weakened raiders back toward the Upper Anar.
Peace, or its closest Eastland equivalent, lasted for several generations before it was shattered. This time the threat came not from Gnomes, Trolls, or Demons, but from the very people whose borders the Dwarves had protected—the Race of Man. The Federation claimed the Dwarves were enemies of the Southland that had to be neutralized. The Dwarves found themselves facing the might of a well-trained Southland army, with no allies. The Borderlands had already succumbed, the Elves were gone, and there were no Druids. But Dwarves, being who they were, could not surrender simply because the odds were too great. They were driven from their cities, but they continued to fight. They were harried in the forests and wildlands, but they continued to fight. Their families and any prisoners were rounded up and sent to the mines at Dechtera, there to face the nightmare of the dark, cold earth. Thousands died in the mining tunnels, locked away from the sun. The Dwarves fought on.
For five long years the remnants of the Dwarf army held off the Federation juggernaut, always just managing to deprive the larger force of victory as they drew them deeper into the unforgiving wilderness of the Anar. But after five years, the Federation decided to put a stop to the Dwarves once and for all. They brought in creepers and Seekers. The creepers were unstoppable. The wilderness did not even give them pause as they relentlessly hunted the Dwarves, brutally killing all they caught. The Eastland surrendered soon after the creepers appeared, the only time in the history of the Dwarf nation that they ever surrendered to anyone.
Unfortunately, capitulation did not save the Dwarves. The Federation occupied their cities, destroyed their gardens, and used the citizens as slave labor. Unlike the Borderlands, where there was at least a pretense of a protectorate government, the Federation rulers of the Eastland made little attempt to disguise the fact that they intended to wipe out the Dwarf Race. Most of the major construction projects built in the Southland during those years were built with Dwarf blood.
The few Dwarves who escaped created a resistance movement. It was small and poorly provisioned, capable only of harassing the occupation force. It was not until the Federation Army was defeated in the Westland that new life was instilled in the Dwarf resistance. With the destruction of the Shadowen and the support of the Free Born resistance in the Borderlands, the Dwarves rallied behind Morgan Leah and eventually expelled the Federation from their lands.
The scars left by the Shadowen-controlled Southland did not heal easily. Everyone knew someone who had died in the mines. Everyone had seen what Federation control could do to a proud people; the
y had seen the squalor and poverty it brought to their tidy communities. In many ways, it was much worse than the destruction wrought by the Warlock Lord centuries before. Years later, when the Federation once again decided to attempt to control the Borderlands, the Dwarves were among the first to join with the Free Born against the Southlanders, determined to ensure that the holocaust perpetrated on their Race would not happen again.
Land of the Dwarves
Nurtured by the Silver River that tumbles out of the eastern mountains, the vast woodlands of the Lower Anar contain the largest concentration of Dwarf communities. Most of the larger villages and towns, including the capital of Culhaven, are built within easy traveling distance of the river as it flows west through the forest and lowlands to end in the Rainbow Lake.
The Eastland territory controlled by the Dwarves begins at the Battlemound Lowlands, just east of the Mist Marsh. The Battlemound cuts a bleak, uneven swath through the grasslands that stretch between the massive trees of the Black Oaks and the forest of the Lower Anar. Local farmers avoid the area, and even the Dwarves are cautious when crossing it. Things born of old magic reside within the hills and trenches of the Battlemound. Sirens, wights, and wraiths are known to prey on unwary travelers. Most people wishing to reach the Eastland attempt to avoid the Battlemound, either using the Silver River or passing to the south of the lowlands.
The Siren Tree of the Battlemound Lowlands, beautiful but deadly.
CULHAVEN
The capital of the Dwarf nation, Culhaven, lies east of the Battlemound, within the forest of the Lower Anar. Located just south of the banks of the Silver River, the town is the center of Dwarf culture and commerce. Founded in the early days of the Four Lands as the center of Dwarf government, Culhaven grew to be the largest town within the entire Eastland. In the days of the First and Second Wars of the Races, it was the home of the main garrison of the Dwarf Hunters, an elite unit of warriors that made up the backbone of the Dwarf army. The Northland army burned the original village to the ground during the Second War of the Races. Fortunately, due to King Raybur’s foresight, most of its citizens had been evacuated and hidden deep in the Anar. Those families who insisted on remaining in the village were annihilated.
Siren Tree
The Siren Tree uses illusion and music to attract its prey. Found only in the lowlands of the Battlemound, it resembles a normal tree except for the long needles upon the tips of its branches. Those who have survived an encounter with the tree tell of being drawn by the sweet sound of a woman’s voice, her song bright and irresistibly seductive. The source of the enchanting music usually appears as a young girl, seated beneath the tree, though other illusions may be used to draw animals or other prey. The girl encourages travelers to approach and join her beneath the tree. Gnarled prehensile roots emerge from the loose soil around the tree, immediately snaring those who do. The girl vanishes, and the last sight most victims see are the poison-laden needles on the tips of the tree’s branches as the previously immobile plant reaches to drive the needles into its victims. The poison renders the victim unconscious, making it easy for the Siren to feed on the paralyzed prey.
The poison itself is deadly only if left untreated. There are several potions developed by the Dwarves that have proven effective against the Siren’s toxin. The carnivorous Siren Tree is not truly a plant, as its nervous system more closely resembles that of an animal. It is not truly an animal, either, but rather a little of both, shaped by the ancient magic that gave birth to it.
Culhaven was rebuilt after the war, but with improvements in design and materials. As a symbol of the rebirth of the town, the Dwarves planted a garden, now known as the Meade Garden, which is still considered by many to be the most beautiful garden in the Four Lands.
Though Culhaven has changed in size several times over the centuries, it has always served as the center of government for the Dwarves. Near the Meade Garden, across the main street, the Assembly Hall contains all government offices as well as the meeting hall where the council gathers to decide issues of importance to the Dwarf community.
Most matters of day-to-day policy are left up to the individual towns and settlements. Since many Dwarves are trappers, traders, and hunters, they tend to live in far-flung communities that preclude any attempt at truly centralized control. The council mainly rules on matters of national importance and on grievances that cannot be solved by the local elders.
The Meade Garden of the Dwarves.
Meade Garden of the Dwarves
After the Second War of the Races, the Dwarves decided to build something special in honor of those who died in that war, especially those who were killed when the first town of Culhaven was burned. Because they were Dwarves, the memorial was not to be a statue or a building of cold stone, but rather something that spoke to the thing they cherished most—life. They decided to build a garden. They chose the rocky slope near Culhaven’s town center, where the dead ground was permanently scarred from the ravages of the fire. It did not matter that the soil was barren or that nothing had ever grown there. They were determined to bring life out of death—to make the damaged land bloom as a symbol of their own perseverance in the face of adversity.
Special soils and plants of all varieties were brought from across the lands and placed in a carefully terraced pattern of stones and soil reminiscent of a waterfall. Painstakingly nurtured, the resulting Meade Garden became one of the wonders of the Four Lands. Flowers and plants from many different regions flourished in the garden year round, the varieties changing with the seasons in an ongoing kaleidoscope of color and texture. Everyone passed the gardens while going to and from the interior of the town. It was the pride of Culhaven and the entire Dwarf nation.
In an attempt to permanently demoralize the Dwarves, the Federation destroyed the garden during their occupation. A defeated Race could not be allowed to keep something so closely tied to their pride as a people. The Dwarves were helpless to prevent its destruction, but the daughter of the King of the Silver River was not, and used her magic to restore the garden to its full glory with one touch. Her gift made it even more precious to the Dwarves, who have carefully maintained it ever after—for her as well as for themselves.
Culhaven also contains shops and trading centers filled with the products of Dwarf artisans. Fine metalwork and jewelry, carved furniture, and elegant sculptures are interspersed with produce markets, leather workers’ shops, and, of course, the workshops of armor makers. There are also furriers, though most furs are traded to outland cities for manufactured goods and specialty foods.
CAPAAL
Four days’ march upriver from Culhaven, the Silver River spills from the mountains into the Lower Anar from a massive gorge, known as the Wedge. Spanned by a single bridge, the Wedge marks the beginning of the rugged Ravenshorn Mountains of the far Eastland. Upstream from the Wedge lies the fortress of Capaal, its dams and locks all that prevent the fury of the raging waters of the Silver River from flooding the lands below.
Capaal was built by edict of King Raybur as part of the massive restoration campaign that followed the end of the Second War of the Races. The intricate series of locks and dams was the most extensive engineering project ever attempted by the Dwarves. Before the dams were built, the lands below the Wedge were subject to seasonal flooding that often wiped out whole villages, including Culhaven, as well as seasonal droughts that left some areas low on water for weeks at a time. The dams of Capaal allowed the Dwarves to control the majority of the water supply for the lands between the Ravenshorn and the Rainbow Lake, thus ensuring an even supply year round. The locks enabled boats to pass through the river in both directions, a feat previously impossible. Trappers and hunters were able to transport their goods by boat instead of having to pack them down through the mountain trails. The lake formed by the dams, called the Cillidellan, became a valuable habitat for fish and waterfowl.
Once the dams were in place, permanent settlements could be constructed in areas of the river
valley that previously had been unusable because of flooding. Hunters and trappers could get supplies more often and could get their catch to market much faster. Because of its importance to the survival of the communities it served, Capaal was also designed as a fortress, able to protect its locks and dams from almost any attack.
Built to span the natural canyon between the mountains, Capaal consists of three dams, one below the other, with the main fortress built atop the highest dam and spanning the entire distance between the cliffs, making external access to the lower dams impossible. A forbidding structure of white stone with battlements and watchtowers along its length, Capaal is considered the guardian of the Dwarf lands.
The machinery that regulates the locks and dams is concealed within the lower levels of the dams and the fortress. The Dwarves who work within the lower levels to keep the machinery running do so only because of the supreme importance of the dam to their communities. None can stay in the dark, cramped quarters for very long, so duty shifts for those who must tend the machines are shorter than for those atop the battlements or in the upper chambers. It is a tribute to the fortitude of the Eastlanders that they have managed the dams so long and so well despite their natural abhorrence for the confined spaces of the building’s cramped interior. To soothe the souls of those who must work within Capaal’s cold stone walls, the Dwarves brought a little bit of the Meade Garden with them. Located in an atrium high on the northern watch is a flourishing garden area filled with transplanted plants and trees set beneath glass and open sky.