Dwarves

After the Magical Collapse and the fall of elven civilization, a substance known as Godsblood was discovered by dwarven miners.

The dwarves, along with their gnomish cousins, discovered that Godsblood had great technological and magical potential. Wonderous machines were created, golems were powered by Godsblood to keep their cities and strongholds safe, and great railroads were built through the Underdark to connect the kingdoms of the Dwarves.

Thus the Dwarven Empire was born and the Second Era began. The Dwarven Empire, ironically, dwarfed even the modern Novan Empire at its height, though it was far less centralized.

However, the collapse of the Dwarven Empire was as long and painful as it was inevitable. Fewer and fewer deposits of Godsblood were found, and eventually, endless wars broke out between the city-states and clans of the Empire.

In the Third Era, most Mountain Dwarf clans remained a shadow of their former selves, while Hill dwarves abandoned their reliance on technology all together to live in small villages and tribes.

A few city states remain, but usually cannot survive on their own with Godsblood all but extinct, so they swear fealty to the Novan Empire or other human kingdoms.

Dwarven names are usually written as "first name" Gar (meaning "of") "clan name". So a dwarf might be named Gimli Gar Moria. Traditionally, their names were much longer, including their sub-clan, chief clan and city state, but nowadays, most just go by their clan name. Dwarves live around 200 years on average.