Dwarves

The dwarves are short, stubborn creatures that live deep underground in massive mines and strongholds. They are very isolationist, rarely leaving or letting others in. Their long lives and zeal for digging have lead to them carving out immense spaces underground. They have built many massive cities underground and have a surprisingly large population. Each city is ruled by a king, and every 50 years, the dwarven kings meet to elect a high king that rules from the capital. These votes can often take years of tie breakers in order to get down to just one candidate. Due to their isolationist tendencies, dwarven trade relies more on exports than imports. Dwarven tunneling is typically done by hand, but the large tunnels are drilled by immense magic and alchemical machines, designed to both dig and reinforce the tunnels. In times of war, these machines can be easily used to dig through a cities walls. Dwarven geomancers focus on manipulating metal rather than stone, which aids them in their work. Dwarven homes are often sparse in decoration, save for a few pieces passed down through the family. They take many things to seriously, and insulting a single dwarf risks angering the entire family or clan. They will record any names of individuals who have angered them in a book, which has several copies, and send letters to other clans about the action you took, possibly angering them against you as well.
Dwarves increase their number through a long and difficult process. In order to get more dwarves, they are carved out of stone over a period of months if not years, throughout which they are covered in runes. At the end they perform a ritual that brings the dwarf to life. Traditionally this is done to one dwarf at a time, but in emergencies it can be done up to a thousand dwarves at once. Each dwarf knows how to do this ritual, as the knowledge of how is carved into them as they are created.