The Dwarven Option

One of the coolest things I’ve gotten to pull off when I started scribbling was being invited to take part in the ongoing Forgotten Ruin storyline.

I’d been hooked from the first pages and concepts Nick and Jason shared with me and then to be invited to write a filler story was top notch.

“We want dwarves, undead, and a character that ties it all together that has a different voice.”

Okeedokee… I know a few cats like that who might fit the bill that I can use as a template. But what about the dwarves.

When we first see them in Forgotten Ruin, the dwarves are described like an Amish Biker gang, always fiddling around with something, and the Rangers never saw them sleep… because why would they.

So in making the dwarves for Underspire, I tried to whammy up a different depiction than what we’d had from other popular media.

Everyone wants to paint them as drunken Scotts who like to build. But in the story, these are a sapper team let loose to spill destruction on an epic scale against an enemy the Rangers at large don’t have the time to address.

Cue dwarven sappers and they’re ranger escort team.

Heavily Germanic in flavor, we went with a group of dwarves burdened by the loss of their home. We see them return to the Underspire to set things right after being exiled for so long, many of them can’t remember the last time they were back.

But they remember what home is supposed to feel like and why you fight for it.

If you get a chance, check out Underspire: A Forgotten Ruin War Journal from Wargate Books!