Interesting Stuff - to me.

Originally, I was going to have this entry on dragons. Except that dragons don't do much in GW (or at least GW 1). Glint says a few woo-woo things, but other than that, dragons so far are just very good at sleeping and foreshadowing.

Dwarves in Guild Wars are pivotal in both Prophecies and Eye of the North. They fill the fantasy archetype of the dying/doomed race. They also have two clear groups - the evil, enslaving Stone Summit and the friendly, self sacrificing Deldrimor.

The Stone Summit, like the charr I like because they make challenging enemies. In hard mode Slaver's Exile , the Stone Summit are truly nasty, with a balanced group it takes judicious pulling, decent builds and a wee bit of luck to win.



Of course, Dagnar Stonepate took out Rurik, to my eternal confusion since the prince somehow still had his head in Hell's Precipice (granted that it was a skull by that time). Maybe it was someone else's skull or sewed on.... Poor Rurik



I also like that in Eye of the North, the Stone Summit have yurts, because they do seem much more nomadic, especially in prophecies where they are found in very remote parts of the Shiverpeaks. I've always attributed the wood and verdigris-metal battlements to the Deldrimor.



And they have a nice banner. After the fall of Duncan the Black, it is believed the Stone Summit are broken and never recover.



Beacon's Perch, the refuge of the Deldrimor dwarves and the place of safety Rurik was trying to reach when he was slain. It's also the first place in GW where running became something you did. These days not so important, because maximum armor in Cantha is so easy to get, but there is still a classic appeal to the 1k armor in Droknar's Forge.



The dwarves love their Dolyaks - the Stone Summit armor theirs and the Deldrimor appear to dote on them. I think it was probably the dwarves that domesticated the dolyak, selling them to the humans, or perhaps they are gifts to the worthy.



In the end, the Deldrimor become stone to fight the Destroyers, fulfilling a prophecy and effectively insuring their demise as a living race. A few dwarves remain behind, but I can only imagine what will happen to these places in the Shiverpeaks -



- the empty palaces of the heights, where perhaps their lonely spirits will dwell when the last dwarf shatters itself against the destroyers.



I wonder what will happen to Ogden, he refused the gift of the Great Dwarf, preferring to remain flesh. In a few decades, what will he feel, loneliness? Will he choose to join the others in stone and is that possible?



The great Anvil Rock where the dwarves believe they were forged by the Great Dwarf.

- Kali