One simple question sent Throm off into a tirade: “Why don’t you like humans?” – “Why? WHY? Lemme tell you why. The humans hate us! Here’s a story for yer, lad.
“There were whisperings around, legends and tales of the origin of the dwarven race. People said we were less developed—you know, because we are smaller. Humans are simple-minded like that. One day, some whackjob decided to put an end to the debate. And you know what they done? They dared ask Alea herself about it! And boy, did they get an answer. Against all odds, Alea peered into the past for them. Here’s what she found.
“Long long ago, the humans were occupying the deepest mines of the realm. Some places down there are as narrow as a pisshole. Gets real scary down there. So, you have two options: take endless whacks on the rocks with a pickaxe to open it all up, or send a child that will fit. Naturally, the darn humans decided to send children; can you believe it? At least that’s what they done until the Great Turnabout, outlawing dangerous child labor and the like.
“Now what? Next best thing, they sent the shortest men and women they could find. The original dwarves, you might call them. Then came the World Collapse. The most brutal war known to history. They took out the resource supplies: the mines. The entrances were blown to bits. There was no gettin’ in or out. In the aftermath of the war, civilization was so gosh darn destroyed, it took centuries before anyone could even think about resuming mining operations.
“But the short ones were not dead. They were merely cut off from the tall. And so, the dwarves found a way. My ancestors built infrastructure. Initially just to survive long enough until they could be rescued. Because surely, the tall were on their way. Right? Wrong! The humans sent us down here and abandoned us! Our temporary infrastructure became more and more permanent. Generations passed. We became more and more adjusted to the conditions we were under down here.
“So, one could say the dwarves are an evolutionary branch that split off a little later. But we came from the same place. We came from humans. We are humans. Except for one little detail: we were not thrown back into the dark ages by the World Collapse like the humans. So, I ask you: Who do you think is more developed? Let me put it another way: When given the choice between a human-forged sword and a dwarven-forged sword, which one would you pick? – That’s what I thought.
“Just because our branch of the evolutionary tree emerged after the humans, they think we’re less-than. That’s called racism in my book.”