Szalzgar the Salt-Beards

The Sea is the finest of trade roads   When the Golden age brought new trade and propsperity to the Dwarven Empire of old it became sudden very apparent that to keep up with demands for import and export the dwarves would need to venture into an area they had never fully embraced as a people, The Ocean. The Dhargar who have a surprising number of hydrophobics and the Duergar who had a distinct trust for large bodies of water were not up to the task. The Hargar whose valley homes often boasted massive gorgeous lakes, flowing rivers and fine supplies of wood scoffed at their kin and were all to eager to take up the challenge.   Szalagant Rockchewer a dwarven ferry builder took his clan and a number of their allies and traveled to the small rocky coast of the Hargar lands. Upon a high hill he slammed his staff into the ground and proclaimed we are going to learn the ways of the sea or die trying! In a short period of time the first dwarven port city of Cliff-Castle was built and early dwarven ships (Coast Hugging sturdy boats) were launched. With so few other dwarves comfortable with the open ocean or even the lakes and rivers the Szalgar earned more then enough and learned more then enough to be granted the honor of being named their own small nation in the dwarven Empire by the Hargar king Hargoth Silverbeard who declared that Szalagant Rockchewer embodied the forge fire spark in every dwarven heart.   The Sea is fickle and so is life   For much of their early history the Szalzgar followed the Hargar even as they devloped new ships and became the backbone of dwarven trade and Navel operations they retained a strong connection to the Hargar whom they considered closer kin than the other dwarven folk. When the war of my brothers Axe came the Hargar and Szalzgar stood together and were defeated together. Yet it was this unity that allowed most of the Hargar to flee Dhargar rule in the fleets of the Szalgar as both went west following the Te'ra Alfar and Borda Elsa and spread far and wide along the North Coast of the Terrigoth. Even now in the Hargar nation of Thordukar it is agreed upon that the Szalgar and their Thane Captain are equals and that they alone may claim Thordukars north eastern coastline and the Vistaghast straight as their own.   Dwarves Apart   Many dwarves (especially Dhargar) consider the Szalgar unsettling and undwarven, their love for salt water, swimming and sailing is known to make Dhargar cringe. Worse yet Szalzgar are rather laid back dwarves easy to smile and laugh or burst into a sea shanty on a whim. Their preference for light armors and flamboyant hats and symbols of office also leave the more stern and stoic followers of the "Dwarven Way" (The Dhargars book on all proper dwarven philosophy as they see it) with mouths agape. However none can deny the Szalzgar are inventive and good at making money. Their trading guilds are among the most wealthy and they are contenders for some of the worlds best engineers and inventors with some claiming it was not the gnomes who first weaponized black powder but the Szalzgar who merrily laugh as their ships bombards hail down ruin on orc and goblinoid pirates.