ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

There were seven clans of Dwarves, originally. One (Durin's) in the Misty Mountains, two in the Blue Mountains (these later combined with Durin's folk when Beleriand was drowned), and four ... in the far east.

So there's room in canon for a dwarf hall in the far east. Maybe they're shut off from the world (oh, those isolationist dwarves), but with a bit of questing you can open them up. Heck, some dwarven allies could be handy for dealing with the prides

We could also come up with some dwarven sub races that only unlock after you discover them

Good idea indeed!
Let's brainstorm about those poor eastern dwarves, what's their story, how do they fare, how are they special ?

The four eastern clans were the Ironfists, the Stiffbeards, the Blacklocks, and the Stonefoots (recall Durin's folk were the Longbeards). The Stonefoots apparently had very hard feet

The LotR wiki I linked to placed the Ironfists and Stiffbeards together in the north east, and the Blacklocks and Stonefoots in the central east (not far from Cuivienen, at least originally).

Perhaps they've shut themselves off because of the orc presence, but the player can convince them by slaying any one of the pride leaders.

I'm not sure where you'd put them, though -- you'd need a mountain range. I'm sure they wouldn't be living in the sunwall Maybe you can replace some of the great sea along the west edge with mountains.

Maybe there is an isolated island on the western cost of the far east where they live, they have been cut off from the mainland by the changing of arda into a round world during the second age.

hummm, maybe, but dwarves are generally not sea faring, maybe they built a tunnel under the sea?

and to see the tunnel on the world map you would need to find a place where a group of orcs are attacking a group of dwarves, and if any of the dwarves live they tell you of the tunnel and where it is.

http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Orocarni

It's presumed (by the the wiki author anyway) that all four of those clans come from different parts of that mountain range.

Maybe present petty-dwarves unlock quest after you've unlocked Chronomancers? Would have a -100 faction relation to Eryn Lasgen and any other elf or elf-friend faction.

How do the factions even work, and what do they mean?

Npcs that are not just critters or foul monsters belong to a given faction; each faction can be either friendly, neutral or hostile towards other factions. Members of the same faction are always friendly between each other. This changes how npcs react to you: hostile will attack, neutral will be watching at you being slaughtered eating popcorn, friendly will join the fight in your aid.

(Note: actually, critters and various monsters belong to a faction, too, the generic hostile "Enemies" one)

Perhaps one of the clans established an outpost in some other mountains in the second (or even first) age. Then when the seas were bent, the land changed and they found themselves cut off -- giving them 30 generations or so of isolation from the other dwarves (assuming a dwarf generation length of 100 years). You could put them in some mountains in the south-west of the island.

Maybe they used to have trade contact with the sun paladins, but were cut off as the orcs multiplied, and now they only send raiding/foraging parties as needed. The sun paladins could tell you: "There used to be a dwarf hall in the south-west, but with the increase of the orcs, we lost contact, and its location is now forgotten."

Remember, since we don't know what happened to them there's no need for them to all be friendly. You could have an evil clan that's attacking some humans/elves in the east, or even have two unfriendly dwarf clans that are fighting a war with each other, and you could take a side (good or bad) and help them in their war.

EpicMan wrote:Remember, since we don't know what happened to them there's no need for them to all be friendly. You could have an evil clan that's attacking some humans/elves in the east, or even have two unfriendly dwarf clans that are fighting a war with each other, and you could take a side (good or bad) and help them in their war.

This sounds like fun

Maybe which ever side you help gets unlocked as a playable race (along with other awards).

Since DG will be adding racial classes maybe some dwarf only racial classes would be cool too. I'm picturing a mage class for one side that focuses on earth spells and manipulation and a warrior class for the other side that blends stone based alchemy and a hammer/shield fighting style (think tome 2 hafted masters with some stone alchemy tossed into the mix).

Or maybe an earth based wilder instead of a mage? Earth-Caller.

No idea what to call the other one.

Yeah more like wilders IMO

Graveller?

I don't think dwarves would be evil -- they were designed not to be. But certainly selfish, greedy, warlike..

We do know a very little about them: all seven families are said to have sent warriors to the goblin wars outside moria, when Azog was slain. So there must have been some contact, probably through messengers travelling around the north of Middle Earth (follow the Iron Hills east, and then turn south). And Sauron gave the leader of each clan a ring of power, so he knew where they lived, out beyond the Easterlings' lands.

Perhaps mithril is discovered in a mountain claimed by two different clans? Previously the mountain was thought to hold nothing of interest, so the dispute smouldered without significant effect, but now it's a whole lot more important.

That could be all you need, or maybe one of the clans is willing to trade with the Easterlings, but the other is not, because the Easterlings in turn trade with the orc prides.