(The ‘folk’ of each of the Seven Tribes is not consistent. Think of this as one people having more than one name. Someone from the UK can be English and British for example.)

Dwarves: (Kh. Khazâd) Although fashioned by the Vala Aule before the awakening of Men, this hardy but short race came into Endor after the Second born. Long-lived yet mortal, they remain apart from both Elves and Men. The seven tribes of Dwarves have spread across Endor yet have remained close and spread a reputation for ruggedness, practicality and loyalty. Most favor the rocky highlands and deep caverns of the mountains, for Dwarves more than any other race remember their origin and heritage. Superb miners and craftsmen they live in tight knit groups in underground cities. Their demeanor is sober, quiet, possessive, suspicious, pugnacious, introspective and sometimes greedy. Tenacious warriors, their blood is thick and their bonds deep. Though Dwarves and Elves can be distrustful of each other, strong bonds occur between some Dwarf Holds and Elf Havens.

The Seven Tribes

Rough guide to which tribe lives where:

• Blue Mountains – Firebeards, Broadbeams, Longbeards,
• Iron Hills - Longbeards
• The Lonely Mountain – Longbeards and Others
• Grey Mountains - Longbeards
• White Mountains – Any of the above

The Iron Fists, Stiffbeards, Blacklocks and Stonefoots were not of “Middle Earth”, being in the further reaches of Endor. But to allow for some variation, no reason why you have not travelled West or North to Eriador.

Longbeards

Longbeards (Kh. Sigin-Tarâg)
Durin’s Folk

The Longbeards, or Mountain-Dwarfs are Dúrin the Deathless´ Folk. Their Ancestral Place of Awakening is the City of Gundabad , which long ago was sacked by the Orcs. After the Fall of Gundabad, the City of Khazad-dûm became their Chief Settlement, where they discovered the magical Ore Mithril. The Longbeards were great Merchants and Craftsmen and, which is seldom among Dwarfs, were relatively friendly with Elves, especially the Noldor of Eregion. After the Balrog Dúrin´s Bane, appeared in Khazad-Dûm, or Moria, the Longbeards established several smaller Cities and Colonies, chief amongst was Erebor the Lonely Mountain.

The Longbeards are typical Dwarves, Strong and Stout and are especially known for their extremely long, often Forked Beards and their extraordinary (even for Dwarves) long lives. Several Longbeards lived beyond 220 years.

Dwarf-holds:

• Thorin’s Gate in the Blue Mountains (From the LotR MMO)
• Erebor, the Lonely Mountain
• Barukkhizdín in the Iron Hills
• The Mines of the Grey Mountains: Mahalkukhizdín, Thakalgund, Zeleg-ubraz, and Danuk-khizdín
• They have returned to the City of Khazad-dûm (In the LotR MMO)

Firebeards

Firebeards (Kh. Sigin-Baruzim)
Bighâl´s Folk

(In the game Dwalin is a Longbeard. I would play that Dwalin is the Longbeard King of Thorins gate, while Asaghal (VI?) is King of Belegost.)

They awoke together with their Kinsmen the Broadbeams at Mallost in the Northern Blue Mountains and soon after founded the large City of Tumunzahar (Kh."Deep-Fortress"). They were famous Dragon-Warriors and fine Smiths. Most prominent among the Firebeards was King Azaghâl who wounded Glaurung the Dragon. After the Drowning of Beleriand and the destruction of Belegost they spread into southern Eriador and made sucessful trading connections with their Kinsmen of Moria and the Men of Enedhwaith.

The Firebeards are known for their often fire-red Hair and their Horrible Mask-shaped Helmets. Unusual for Dwarfs they sometimes fight with short Stabbing-Swords. Firebeards are known to live beyond 150 years. Sometimes called “The Ore Dwarves.”

Dwarf-holds:

• Belegost / Gabilgathol (Mighty Fortress) - Now destroyed
• Gondamon (From the LotR MMO)
• Some have gone with their brothers to the City of Khazad-dûm (In the LotR MMO)

Broadbeams

Broadbeams (Kh. Findu-Nahâb)
Telphor´s Folk

The Proud and Warlike Broadbeams or Anvil-Dwarves are the Clan of Telphor the Cold. Telphor awoke along with his friend Bighâl at Mallost, in the northern Ered Luin. Later his Clan founded the great cities of Nogrod and Gabilgathol (Mighty Fortress). The Broadbeams were great Artisans and even greater smiths than their Brothers from Belegost. Two of the Greatest Dwarf Smiths of all times, Telchar and Gamil Zîrak (Kh.:"Silver the Old") were Broadbeams. However the Broadbeams for all times are brandmarked for their cruel and coward murder of Thingol and their ravenging of the Elven City of Menegroth. After the Drowning of Beleriand the Broadbeams expanded into Northern Eriador and Forodwaith on the search for Riches and founded the City of Baraz-Dûm later called Carn-Dûm.

The Broadbeams, as their name implies in general are especially heavy and stout. They are known to achieve a common Age of beyond 170 years.

Dwarf-holds:

• Nogrod / Tumunzahar (Kh."Deep-Fortress") – Now destroyed
• Nogland (from the LotR MMO)
• Some have gone with their brothers to the City of Khazad-dûm (In the LotR MMO)

Iron Fists

(If you play one of these, maybe a reformed one would be best rather than an agent of Sauron )

They awoke in central Middle-earth, where they have contact with Easterlings. So injured had Sindri´s folk grown to acting purely of self-interest, and sustained by no other principle than martial prowess, that they felt no shame in accepting gold from Mordor in payment for arming his minions to make war against the Westlands. When Sauron and Durin´s heir summoned them for the battle of Dagorlard, few were willing to take the field against Durin´s heir. Fewer still could conceive of alliance against Sauron as a matter of common honour to the Khazâd, so most of them remained aloof from the war. But their king and many warriors fight for Sauron.

In the aftermath of the Last Alliance, the Dwarves of the Westlands universally branded them as renegades and turncoats. The cataclysm of Númenor Downfall had ruined their chief city, and the exile of their king (which founded Nurunkhizdín, near the Inland Sea of Rhûn) had left them leaderless

Actually, they live scattered in the East as shamans and fortune-tellers among the superstitious Easterlings. The Ironfists or Earth-Dwarves are an extremely war-like and xenophobic Tribe of Dwarfs from central Middle-Earth. They are the Tribe of Mabûn the Rich and are even by dwarfen standarts extremely greedy and mistrustful. The Ironfist Tribe always suffered from terrible inner Strifes and enemities among the different Ironfist Lords. After the Dwarfes forsake the Mirror-Halls of the Barl Syrnac Mountains, the Place of Mabûn´s awakening, they moved southwards and founded the Large City of Namagalûz.

The Ironfists are very broad and strong in built and by dwarfen standarts quite tall. They are known to reach an average Age of 150 years.

One of the most tragic tales. For a time they lived in Mount Gundabad (northern Misty Mountains) but a conflict with Durin’s folk and repeated attacks by the Orcs of the North drove them eastward. They settled in the Mountains of Rhûn, where they prospered for almost 7 centuries. However, once again, intra-Dwarven strife ended their peace. An argument between King Thelor XIV and his brother Thulin resulted in a brief, bloody civil war. Thulin slew his overly-proud (even by Dwarven standards) lord and laid claim to the throne. He was, in turn, murdered by Thelor’s daughter Thris, whose son Threlin became King. Threlin moved the remnants of Thelor’s folk further south in early TA. He established a domain centered at the delving called Namagaluz. Located in the Ered Harmal, the gate to this rich hold opened eastward, above the waters of Heb Aaraan and not far from the Chey lands. It was the greatest Dwarf city in central Endor.

The bloody strife could happen because of the alliance with Sauron. Thulin could be the King who favoured the alliance with Sauron, and Thelor’s last supporters would have to flee the followers of Thulin, more numerous.

Dwarf-holds:

• Awoken in the Mirror-Halls of the Barl Syrnac Mountains, in central Middle-earth
• Large City of Namagalûz (south of central Middle-earth)
• Gamil-nâla under Mt. Bundushar, in central Middle-earth (collapsed home at the Downfall of Númenor, S.A. 3319)
• Nurunkhizdín (near the Inland Sea of Rhûn, funded after the Last Alliance. An unknown evil fall upon them in T.A. 58)

Stiffbeards

Stiffbeards (Kh. Sigin-Mablâd)
Thúlin´s Folk or Bávor´s Folk (the swift) or Khadîn the Swift

They first established in Kibil-tarag, in the far north and they remained there until the invasion of Dragons, when they had to flee and their king was killed. The survivors went this way and that, seeking more modest hearths hidden as best as they can from Dragons. They live an stoic existence of hunting and weapon-crafting until the longing for dragonslaying overtook them. They keep some forgotten lore of their own race about carvings runes which they use against dragons.

The Stiffbeards are one of the two Dwarf-Tribes that awoke in Central Middle-Earth. The Unsteady Tribe is the people of Khadîn the Swift, who along with his friend Mabûn of the Ironfists awoke at the Mirror Halls (Kh.:"Kheledkhizdin") in the Barl Syrnac Mountains. The Stiffbeards or Cave-Dwarfs are relatively peaceful and clever Merchants. After the Dwarves had to leave the Mirror-Halls because of the Invasions of Evil Humans into the surrounding Lands many Stiffbeards, after a great Wandering, founded the Cities of Mablâd-Dûm and Barazimabûl in the South. The Stiffbeards are known for their strange way of wearing their Beards as long and pointed thorn-like knots. The Stiffbeards are a long-lived Dwarf-kindred, Stiffbeards are known to commonly reach the 200th year of Life.

Bavor’s folk were the first to leave the homelands. They went into the south and built their homes in the Yellow Mountains. Quickly sundering after the murder of Bavor, they split into three factions. The largest group constructed the vast delving at Baruzimabûl, the great hold that the Men of the South call Blackflame In the far South, Dwarves have dwelt in the Mabûl Mountains since the early Third Age. Nar’s Folk – originally part of Bavor’s people. Nar was the second son of Bavor, and left with a few followers and friends after the murder of his father. The first hold, Mablad-dûm, was occupied by Bavor’s people in the Second Age. Early in Third Age, strife & contention caused a rift among the Mablad. One faction moved to the SW portion of the Yellow Mountains, and another founded Narad-dum in the eastern peaks, the Tûr Betark. The 'official' dwarvish name for the tribe living in the Ered Laranor is Stiffbeards, although today it is rarely used. Most people know them as Bávors Folk. Their tale is a sad one. First they arrived in the South around the middle of the First Age. Here they carved out the city of Mablâd-dûm in the central Yellow Mountains. In S.A. 1092 however, strife arose and the king was killed in the fray. After this, the main host of the Mablâd wandered south to settle in the city of Blackflame (Kh. Baruzimabûl), a mining colony founded three centuries earlier. Later, part of the remaining Dwarves of Mablâd-dûm left the city for the east, and they founded holds at Bar Falin and Nárad-dûm. The former was later taken by the forces of Darkness, and so three principal Dwarven holds in the Ered Laranor remain by the middle of the Third Age. Most Dwarves however live in the city of Blackflame and it is here that the High King of Bávor's Folk resides. Mablâd-dûm is second in prestige and Nár's Folk in Nárad-dûm south of the Sára Bask in the eastern part of the Yellow Mountains comes third. Drùhar’s Folk are a branch of Bàavor’s Folk, that before the First Age separated from their people travelling in the East, and settled in the Ered Engrin. They were eventually joined by a small group of Drùin’s Folk, coming from Ruurik: they founded Kheledh-dûm, and in a few generation were absorbed by the locals.

Dwarf-holds:

• Kibil-tarag (ancient home). It is in the island in the Sea of Utum, in the north.
• Awoken at the Mirror Halls (Kh.:"Kheledkhizdin") in the Barl Syrnac Mountains (central ME)
• Cities of Mablâd-Dûm and Barazimabûl in the South.

Blacklocks

Blacklocks (Kh. Bundin-Narâg)
Var´s Folk or Druin’s folk (the Proud) or Khom´s Folk (the Proud)

The last two tribes settled in easternmost Endor. There, after being apart for over 7 centuries, they came together once again and laid claim to the guarded, seaward land they named Ruuriik. The Dwarves of Druin’s tribe founded the Kingdom of Ruuriik in SA 700. Led by Balli the Rash, the Naugrim established their capital in the caverns of Akhuzdah (Ahulë) in the rim of the mountains on the SW side of the Great Vale. It was called Tumanahal after Mahal (Aulë). Only 7 years after the founding of Tumanahal, a second Dwarven tribe came to Ruuriik. They arrived in hope of settling in the northern part of the Walled Land, with their lord, the aged Barin, Northern King. Barin’s folk received all the lands north of the Faliodukûm. The two tribes had little trouble in prospering, despite the occasional forays from the Fale tribes and the servants of the Kank of Ruartar. 453 after the founding of Ruuriik, Muar – former warlord in Uab and Uax appeared in Ralian, and conquerred Ruuriik in SA 1157. The tragic tale of Ruuriik ended centuries later, in SA 2742 (Fulla VII crowned as King of Ruuriik, heir of Druin’s line). The city Khazad-madûr is theirs. They speak Khuzdul, and when they write use Certhar, adapted to their language (Certhar Ered, Mountain Runes).

Notes: The extremely loyal Blacklocks or Jewel-Dwarfs are one of the two tribes of Eastern Middle-Earth. Awoken in the Red Mountains along with their fellow Tribe, the Stonefoots, the Blacklocks are the Clan of Khom the Proud. The Blacklocks are especially known as great artists, skilled in the work with Marble, but they also are busy Merchants. After a Golden Fire Dragon drove the dwarfs away from their awakening Place, the great North-Hall near the Urulis Pass, the Blacklocks went Southwards and founded the Great City of Tumunamahal in Akhuzdah, later they built the Overground religious centre, the Khalarazûm. The Blacklocks, as their name implies are in general black haired and darker than other Dwarf-Kindreds. They are known to reach an Age of beyond 150 years.

Dwarf-holds:

• Awoken in the Red Mountains, in the far East of Middle-Earth
• Nargubraz (lost home) in the Far East
• Naragul (fastness of the travelling warriors of Var's folk in the Far South)
• City of Tumunamahal in Akhuzdah
• The Khalarazûm, overground religious centre

Stonefoots

Stonefoots (Kh. Azali-Dûraz)
Vigdi´s Folk Barin’s folk (the scarred) or Rúras' Folk (the scarred)

The Stonefoots, or Stone-Dwarfs, are the People of Rúras the Scarred and awoke along with the Blacklocks in the North-Hall, in the Red Mountains in the far East of Middle-Earth. After a long exile from their ancestral Home they founded the great City and kingdom of Radimbragaz, and later in the late second Age the even larger City of Khazad-Madûr (Kh.:"Dwarf-Womb"). The Stonefoots are very proud and Warlike, but circumspecting and not easily angered.

They managed to make incredible defences against the Dragons with the help of Saruman. The worms never could take their main Dwarf hold. The wizard also helped them to stop the feud between them and the Blacklocks. They developped together with the Istari some weapons he latter used when he turned to evil at what was called ‘the fire of Orthanc’.

They are very heavy and strong and after many years of wandering have become quite reclusive and silent. They are known to reach an Average Age of 180 years.

Dwarf-holds:

• Baraz-lagil (home of Vigdis's folk, the Stonefoots), in the Far East.

• North-Hall, in the Red Mountains in the far East of Middle-Earth
• City and kingdom of Radimbragaz
• City of Khazad-Madûr (Kh.:"Dwarf-Womb").

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