Kazhadan

Creation story of the Dwarves
Records from the ancient times, carved in ancient stone by the first children of the Grand Smith tell of Kazhadan, father to all dwarves - The First and greatest of all Dwarves. It is written that he participated in the creation of the world alongside the other gods.

Kazhadan decided during the creation of the world and its inhabitants to forge his own creation in his own image - his children, the Dwarves. Forged from the stone of the heart of the mountan, he forged the first dwarves and breathed life into them by his divine hammer and anvil. To be more in his image he gifted them:

- A great sense of stonework and mining, carving great halls within the rick they call their home and decorating these with several jewels, gems and metals from the deep below.

- A natural affinity towards the art of forging, having taught the the first dwarves himself how to handle hammer and anvil.

- An undying need to improve for not only oneself but for all dwarves.

- The secrets of runemagic

After being satisfied with his creation, he sent the first dwarves alongside the other first races to Eldham.

Religious symbol
The religious symbols of Kazhadan is depicted as an anvil with a hammer laying over it. This symbol represents the magic rune hammer and anvil of their god Kazhadan.

Statues
When the Dwarves create statues of Kazhadan, they usually depict him with his hammer and anvil to represent the origin and artisanry of the dwarves. There is also a variant of statues that shows him holding a massive boulder above his head or how he supports a cave ceiling to show the strength and endurance of the Dwarves.

Beliefs and rituals
Most Dwarves believe that the true path of a Dwarf is to lead an honorable an hardworking life as their god intended and also is the true way to return to the stone. Should a Dwarf adopt a different faith or violate the true Dwarven ways, they are usually viewed as a traitor and are believed to be barred from returning to stone. Dwarves which seem to enjoy living on the surface more than underground are looked at with disdain.

Most dwarves pray to their god for reasons. Be it for:


 * The family, hold and health
 * Protection and strength before and during a fight
 * Before starting work to ensure a good outcome
 * For luck and riches

In most prayers, an offering is made from of food, metal, or jewelry.

Each and every Dwarf is permitted to offer simple prayers to their god, and only in the case of funerals, creation of powerful artifacts or war is a rune priest needed. A rune priest is usually chosen by the king of a hold or by Kazhadan himself (mostly in form of signs) if the faith of the dwarf is in question is pure and grand enough un their eyes.

Afterlife and burial traditions
In Dwarven religion it is believed the if they die, they will go back to the stone and to the cavern hall of Kazhadan and take their place with the their ancestors.

After the death of a Dwarf they are usually given a grave underground (mostly under a large rock formations or under a mountain) to lead them back to the stone from which they were made., depending on the status of the Dwarf, the size and decoration of the tomb.

For example: a normal miner is layed down to his kin in a big underground cemetery, where as a dwarven king, aristocrat, priest or hero would get his own great tomb.

Relationship to other gods and faiths
The Dwarves, despite their beliefs, are well aware that there are other deities. This is of little interest to them, however, and they are usually faithfully committed to their god.