Dwarf Ecology
TL;DR: in fantasy Earth, all geological phenomena are caused by dwarf activity.
When a portion of the semi-molten rock in the earth’s mantle seeps upwards into the crust through some irregularity in the stone, a dwarf colony is born there. The heat causes chunks of rock to break off, and the intense mana concentrated in the mantle turns the chunks into crude, first-generation Dwarves. The space left behind becomes the start of the dwarves’ forge, the beating heart of the colony.
The first-generation dwarves are born programmed with one, simple goal: with blinding speed they dig upwards in all directions, spreading like ants searching for food, looking for a source of water. While a freshly-formed forge is great at making crude, mindless, and simple dwarfish prototypes, it is too hot and too unpredictable for the dwarves to work on themselves, and needs to be cooled down, and have the capacity to cool down metals. Once water is reached, it flows down the immense network of tight tunnels and reaches the forge, cooling it down enough to make it ready for the second stage. This is what surface-dwellers call a “natural cave”, and for centuries they have naively believed their formation to be spontaneously caused by the flowing water.
While caves and rock-formations may look natural to the eyes of surface-dwellers, the dwarves make them precisely to fit their own peculiar ergonomics of movement. A dwarf moves at twice their normal speed in caves or on rock-formations, and in their hands a weapon made of dwarf-shaped rock (stalactites/stalagmites, cave boulders, etc.) deal twice the damage.
The first-generation dwarves can start using the cooled-down forge to make second-generation dwarves for the colony, using finer shards of rock and the occasional piece of half-molten, misshapen metal. These are the true peak of dwarf being - at least by the dwarf’s own standard. Like the first-gen dwarves, they do not communicate, instead relying on the program they are born inscribed with to guide all their actions, as they are devoid of free will.
With the second-gen dwarves born, the colony restructures: the first-gen dwarves cease to dig caves for water, and instead report to the forge and from there start digging upwards, expanding it in direction of the earth’s surface, bringing the mantle’s magma up with them and chucking down all the metals and precious materials they find down into the forge, for the second-gen to use. These will turn the materials into dwarvish weapons of the highest order, into magic-items and spell-talismans infused with the mantle’s mana. Like the caves, they look bizarre and random to surface-dwellers, but are the true pinnacle of dwarvish tech.
When the second-gen dwarves are numerous and ready, they take on their biggest and most complex work. Carbon must be manipulated at an atomic level by their supernaturally precise hands, chemicals must be gathered from all throughout the earth’s crust, to make a third-generation dwarf.
A batch of third-gen dwarves is a gargantuan investment. They are organic, non-lithic creatures, capable of self-healing their wounds over time, of regulating their own temperature, of replenishing their energy by eating other living creatures, of keeping their internal combustive processes functioning by breathing airborne oxygen, instead of relying on the forge’s heat. And at the end of the crafting process, magma is rushed through the dwarves, imbuing them with true free will, causing what surface-dwelling scholars call a “volcanic eruption”.
Many speculate that this is how the first humans were made, and that we are all the descendants of dwarves.
The third-gen dwarves are unique, as they have a social and observant mind. They can speak to each other and to surface-dwellers, conduct trade, and craft items for clients who don’t think like dwarves do. They can inspect the world around them and build infrastructure to solve its challenges. They populate the caves with creatures to defend them (what we call monsters). They can organize armies and wage wars.
But for these reasons, the second-gen hates them. They hate crafting them, even though they are programmed to. They hate their social and empathetic mind. They hate their friendships with surface-dwellers. And thus they drive them out, to the summit of the volcano, to the fringes of the cave system surrounding their forge. And the Gods forbid they meet another colony’s caves.
Two warring colonies result in battles of gargantuan proportions. The third-gen dwarves dig trenches hundreds of miles long and thousands of meters high, separating the earth into what scholars erroneously call “tectonic plates”, and dig downwards back into the mantle, in order to make first-gen dwarves to serve as disposable soldiers, and sometimes birthing entire colonies wholly devoted to warfare. The clashes between two colonies can be so great to shake the very crust, and cause what you call “earthquakes”; sometimes so far from the original forge that the second-gen is entirely unaware it’s happening.
Plot Hooks
- Every cave, if followed deep enough, provides back-door access into a dwarven forge. Likely to contain precious metals and second-gen-made weapons and magic items.
- Every volcano has a forge at the bottom and third-gen dwarves living at the top. They fear going back there, but will support the player’s attempts to raid it.
- If a volcano erupts, a new third-gen batch has just been made. This may foretell an incoming invasion, or a new era of trade.
- If monsters are spilling out onto the surface, that means the dwarf colony producing them underground is feeling at risk and over-producing defenses.
- If the earth shakes, two dwarven colonies are clashing over territory. War-borne colonies are great places to access dwarven cave networks from within, as they are managed by amicable third-gen dwarves.
- The earth's mantle is the most intense and reliable source of mana for a high-level wizard's projects. Finding one is worth a handsome reward from them.