Fall of the Underneath

And as his golden blood spilled out across his earth, he looked to us with tears in his eyes, and begged our forgiveness. Such were the final words of our dying god.

— Gatekeeper Farid Greymail, reciting the Creed of the Gatekeepers

During the Third Age, Saema, God of Elemental Earth, defied the Divine Accord and secretly returned to Lume. He sought to create a safe haven for his favored creations, the Dwarves, and so carved out a world beneath the world - The Underneath. However, his indiscretion was discovered by his brother, Anduru, who grew jealous and plotted to ruin all that Saema had built.

Creation of the Underneath

After the events of the Second Age, Lume was in turmoil. The Divine Accord had removed the gods from the world, but one among them chose to secretly return - Saema, God of Elemental Earth. Saema feared for the well-being of the Dwarven race, which he himself had created during the Second Age. This fear led him to undertake a grand project: the creation of a home deep below the surface world, far from the sight of mortals and gods alike, which he dubbed the Underneath.

Anduru's Discovery

Saema's work went unnoticed for many centuries, but was eventually discovered by his brother Anduru, God of Fate. Anduru was a jealous god, believing that their mother, Mava, Grand Goddess of Time, preferred Saema over him. When he discovered that Saema had been defying the Divine Accord, Anduru assumed that it was simply evidence of this favoritism and so kept the knowledge to himself. But as time passed, and as Saema continued to visit Lume without consequence, Anduru's jealousy turned to resentment, and then to hatred. It was then that Anduru vowed to take Saema's punishment into his own hands, and destroy all that he held dear.

Curse of the Underdark

One day as Saema walked among the dwarves nearer to the surface, Anduru secretly traveled to the depths of the Underneath, and from there unleashed a curse of darkness and hatred upon all who lived there. This curse twisted those it touched, altering mind, body, and soul. As it ravaged its way throughout the Underneath, Saema took notice and rushed to halt its spread. But as he struggled to drive back the darkness, Anduru snuck up behind him and struck him a fatal blow across the back.
As Saema fell, he turned to strike back at his attacker with all his remaining strength. Upon seeing it was his brother, he hesitated, and in that moment Anduru made his escape. As Saema lay dying he took what strength he had left to stop the curse from spreading further, but the damage had been done - the Underneath had become The Underdark.

Saema's Plea

Knowing that he had little time left, Saema turned to the dwarves who now crowded around his fallen form, and spoke thus:

Forgive me my children, for what I am about to ask of you. I sought to build you a home everlasting, but in doing so I have created a prison. Your lost brothers and sisters remain below, and they carry with them the curse of darkness. I beg of you, let not the rest of the world suffer from my mistakes. Seal the gates that lead below and guard them forevermore so that no others will suffer as you have. Stand strong, and forgive me.

As Saema finished speaking, his body sank into the earth, his physical form becoming a vast range of mountains. But as his divine form began to dissipate, time suddenly stopped - his mother, Mava, had intervened.

Aftermath

Saema's Fate

Mava could slow Saema's death, but not prevent it. Reina, Grand Goddess of the Sun, offered to save him, but Mava refused. She considered it a just punishment for his violation of the Divine Accord, and so to this day Saema persists as a dying god.
Anduru's betrayal led Mava to exile him from her pantheon. Mava stripped him of his position as God of Fate and declared him God of Curses. However, Anduru could not be found, having hidden himself somewhere away from the sight of the other gods.

Saema's Rest

The mountains that sprung up around Saema's form eventually became known as the Godfall Peaks, and at the spot where he fell the dwarven city of Saema's Rest was founded. Built atop one of the entrances to The Underdark, it was the first major dwarven settlement to devote itself to Saema's last request.

A Race Divided

Saema's final request caused a schism amongst the dwarves. Some chose to follow the will of thier creator, while others refused. Those who followed Saema believed that Saema's actions were born of love and that just as he sought to aid them, they too should aid him. They took it upon themselves to seal away many of the entrances to the Underdark and settled above the largest entrances, crafting enormous gates to seal them off from the world above. These dwarves eventually became the Mountain Dwarf clans of today, with their clan leaders taking the title of The Gatekeepers of the Underneath.
Those who would not follow Saema's will left the caves they once called home, believing Saema's hubris to have led to the near-demise of their race. They took to the hills and plains, joining the civilizations of elf and man, and eventually became the Hill Dwarf communities of today.