The First Dwarven Invasion

The First Dwarven Invasion was a conflict fought between the Dwarves of the Endless Peaks and the free races of Baelor. It marked the first prolonged contact between the dwarves and the other races, who had previously lived in secluded cities within the mountains. Though the war ended in peace, with dwarves eventually becoming a mainstay in Gaian society, many dwarves elected to stay within the mountains, where dwarven cities continue to dominate.

The Invasion
Around 2000 years after the Celestial War, civilization had begun to flourish on Baelor. Humans and halflings - the two most common of the humanoid races on Baelor at the time - had begun to establish cities across the continent, with various kingdoms and city-states rising to power. Meanwhile, the dwarves had established dominion over the Endless Peaks, with most of the dwarves falling under the rule of the First King Dagg Thorbane. He had united the disparate dwarven clans under his banner, and under his rule, the dwarves seeked to rule Baelor.

Starting in approximately 8000 BFA, dwarven armies marched into western and eastern Baelor, attacking the various settlements that they found. Unprepared for such an onslaught, and still largely fighting amongst themselves, the human and halfling settlements were largely unprepared for conflict on this scale, and the dwarves earned many victories. However, facing annihilation, many of the human and halfling kingdoms began signing pacts with one another, combining their forces to destroy the dwarven armies. Marching further and further from their homes within the Endless Peaks, the dwarves found themselves with too few resources to sustain prolonged invasions into the mainland.

For a hundred years, the First King marched his armies down from the mountains, and for a hundred years the combined forces of the humans and halflings repelled them. Growing weary of the endless wars, a delegation of dwarven nobles killed the First King in his own hall, effectively ending the war. The new dwarven king signed a pact with several of the human and halfling kingdoms, establishing peace across Baelor.

The Fallout
Peace between the humans and halflings was short-lived, as soon after the kingdoms began to fight amongst themselves once more. However, the newfound peace between races saw unprecedented levels of mixing within cities and settlements, and soon many of the larger cities on Baelor contained both humans and halflings. Dwarves soon followed, as many left the Endless Peaks to explore, find riches and generally leave a society that had lead them to war for a century.

Within the Dwarven city-states, squabbles over the true line of succession fractured what was once a united kingdom across the Endless Peaks. The First King's many children all vied for the throne, with many dwarves swearing their allegiance to different rulers. No longer united, the individual Dwarven city-states would remain divided for thousands of years, before King Roark Stoneshield united them in 500 BFA.