Shield Back Dwarves

The largest concentration of Dwarves outside of the Anvil Mountains are on the rolling hills of Sebya, near these mountains. The centre of their power is located in Goganraund, a city in an area known as Shieldridge in the common tongue. While not a purely Dwarven settlement the Lord Mayor of the town has been a Shield Back Dwarf from the House Gloryhammer since before the fall. Many great Shield Back houses call this city their homestead, as such their influence is biggest in this region of the land. Outside of this area they are often found as very productive members of mixed communities, usually taking up traditional Dwarvish trades as blacksmiths, miners and innkeepers.
To get to the true meaning of the name Shield Back one would have to reach back to the armies that marched from Goganraund in defense of the realms during the Demonic wars. The Dwarven battalions in these armies carried their shields on their backs. Their forward infantry, known in Dwarven as Rondkhauzi, used these shields to great effect in formations of up to 300 footmen protecting themselves from incoming attacks. Choosing the right environment, or choke point, these formations evened the scales where the oncoming demon hordes were seemingly endless. It is the visual of these disciplined, orchestrated, units that survives to this day in art and poetry.
One particularly famous battle is almost universally known and immortalised in the epic poem ‘Rast Ald Khaz’ (or The Mountain Pass of Battle in the Common tongue).
The Shield Back Dwarves are more open to equal trade and have been influenced more heavily by the surrounding human cultures they have integrated into. Despite this assimilation Dwarven clans that marched on the demon armies still remain boastful and proud of their heritage, proudly displaying their house colours in clothing and banners. This practice is causing a small divide between the old and new houses within these communities.
A common Shield Back hair colour is red, with other hair colours usually confined to darker shades, including fully black seen predominently in the Nightbeard clan. Their skin is a lot more tan than that of Anvil Hearts, more easily coloured by the sun in their open, hilltop, settlements.