The Runes of the Dwarfs are the ancient magical glyphs with which the Dwarfen Mountain Holds work their sorcery — not by casting spells into the air, as men and elves do, but by binding power permanently into metal and stone. The dwarfs distrust the Winds of Magic and the wizards who ride them; theirs is a craft of patience, precision, and unbreakable tradition.
The masters of this art are the runesmiths, a secretive guild who serve long and gruelling apprenticeships and guard their knowledge jealously. Each rune is inscribed into a weapon, a suit of gromril armour, or a standard through a rite of forging and will, granting effects both mighty and reliable: runes of fire and cutting for blades, runes of warding and iron for armour, runes of luck, speed, and slaying. The greatest are the Master Runes, of which only one of each may exist in all the world at any time.
Runecraft is bound by iron law. A rune must be perfect, for a flawed inscription can prove catastrophic, and no two runes of the same kind may be placed upon a single item lest their power turn destructive. Runic items are treasures beyond price, hoarded for generations and inscribed in the Great Book of Grudges when lost. In an age when dwarf glory fades, each surviving rune is a link to the mightier smiths of old, whose deepest secrets have died with them and can never be recovered.