The Dwarf Campaign

In this sample world, the elves have been nearly exterminated by the orcs and their humanoid allies. They fought a good fight, struggling mightily and nearly holding the orcs back. In the end, however, the sheer numbers of the orc hordes spelled disaster for the elves.

However, the elf resistance managed to severely weaken the evil humanoids, making them easy pickings for the dwarves from the mountains, who finally marched a little too late to aid the elves. However, they banished the last of the orc hordes from the elf woods and offered assistance to help the elves rebuild their cities.

Although the elves accepted the dwarves' generous offer, they remained suspicious of the dwarves' timing. When the dwarves began lumbering operations in the forests, cutting down the very trees the elves had once protected against orc hordes, they felt their worst suspicions regarding the dwarves were confirmed. These elves watched in shocked outrage as the dwarves grew wealthy off the trees, living lives of luxury once paid for by the blood of elves.

There were other elves beyond those who had survived the Battle of the Woods. Those who were off adventuring or acting as merchants returned home now to find the forests devastated and the dwarves lumbering the remains, with little regard for the sacred and valued places of the elves.

The elves joined together and swore an oath that they would not rest until they had repaid the dwarves for their monstrous deed.

These elves began harrying dwarf loggers, firing arrows at the miscreants and disrupting dwarven trade in general. The dwarves retaliated against these "ungrateful elves" by increasing their logging efforts and killing the renegade elves who were killing precious dwarves. They also rounded up the few remaining elf villagers and enclosed them in closely guarded camps, using the threat of violence against the innocents as a cold-hearted means of quelling the elf rebels' actions.

The PCs have the option of trying to discover who was responsible for the delay in the march of the dwarf army and who is ultimately responsible for the rape of the forests. Since dwarves are essentially good beings, there should be some mystery and intrigue involved in this campaign as well as the expected out-and-out fighting against the oppressive dwarf forces.

Perhaps the fault lies in the messenger system that ran between the elven and dwarven civilizations, or maybe a corrupt dwarf general accepted bribes from an oily extortionist to begin the dwarf army's march so late. If the player characters discover the mystery behind the late arrival of the army and manage to restore relations between the elves and the dwarves, they will still have their hands full trying to rebuild the elf race to its former glory. Considering the years of culture destroyed by the battles, it would not be an easy task.

This world, too, is probably either without humans (set at some point before the time when they came into power) or has very few humans (perhaps set sometime after their influence had waned). Remaining humans could be either on the dwarves' side, on the side of the elves, or hanging on the brink of extinction themselves. Whatever their role, they will need some clearly defined relationship to the elves.

This is not, of course, the only scenario that could be played in this world. The dwarves could simply be the dominant race because the world is situated so that every forest is ringed by mountains. The dwarves thus keep the elf population from growing too large, although they may not be entirely conscious of this fact. Regardless of the circumstances, the elves are likely to be resentful that the dwarves prosper while the elves suffer. Although they will not necessarily be filled with venom when dwarves are mentioned, they will certainly not go out of their way to befriend the little runts.

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