No living person has seen a dwarf, but everyone knows someone whose great-great-grandfather swears he did business with them. Their artifacts still turn up in markets from time to time, metalworking of unsurpassed quality.
The dwarves, who call themselves the Azhad, were created by the Ageshkir during their war with the Ditani. The Azhad were created to rip minerals from the ground. Their small stature let them reach spaces the larger races could not, and their thickly muscled limbs gave them the ability to dig for days without tiring. The Ageshkir imbued the Azhad with an insatiable desire to excavate. To them extracting the riches of the earth is as fundamental a need as food. Their skin is pallid and translucent, and they are completely hairless.
Azhad reach maturity quickly, being fully grown in the space of two years, and live for around twenty years. The Azhad do not senesce, and fall down dead in their prime.
Though physically strong, the Azhad were not permitted weapons and knew nothing of warfare. After the war with the Ditani the Azhad retreated into the mines they had dug for the Ageshkir for fear of being slaughtered in the conflicts between the other races. They excavated the mines, carving elaborate dwellings which grew into massive subterranean cities of stone, the Azhad Holds. Though they initially allowed trading caravans within their walls, the Azhad's xenophobia grew with each story of war and death from the surface. Eventually they sealed their doors and forbade any contact with the other constructed races. No Azhad has been above ground in centuries.
An Azhad Hold is composed of the manses of its clans, which meet in public spaces called fora. Each clan's manse is self-sufficient, and contact between clans within a Hold is infrequent. The lords of the clans meet only to resolve disputes or ensure that the expansion of their manses will not interfere with one another.
The Azhad carve their Holds from the living bedrock of the mountains. The Azhad found that their compulsions could be satisfied by craftsmanship as well as tunneling, and so every surface of their manses is covered with intricate carvings of exquisite quality. The Azhad record their history on these walls. To walk the halls of an Azhad manse is to read the story of its clan. The Azhad carve their furniture into their rooms as they sculpt them.
Despite their early fear of war, the Azhad have become capable warriors. Their constant excavation brings them into conflict with the expansion of other Holds, something that sparks brutal wars of extermination. The Azhad also frequently encounter natural caves and maintain a strong guard to defend the Holds from their inhabitants.
The short lifespans of the Azhad, combined with the sudden and unexpected nature of their deaths, created a culture centered around the clan. An individual dies, the clan lives. All things are done for the good and glorification of the clan. Feuds often arise as members of a clan disagree on the best course of action, and it is not uncommon for a clan to split in two.
Each clan continues to excavate its manse, retreating further and further from the fora where the clan lords of the Hold meet. The clan lives in the most recently excavated portion of its manse, abandoning their previous excavations. As a result, there are miles and miles of uninhabited Azhad city beneath the mountains. Eventually, a clan digs itself far enough from the fora of its Hold that it splits off, becoming a new Hold of its own.