Dwarven religion question

I’m interested in RPing a Dwarven Paladin. I’m a little confused about what exactly Dwarves worship, specifically Bronzebeards. Did they just pick up faith in the Light from human allies? Do they worship the Titans in some manner? Do they practice ancestor worship?

I’m pretty new to the lore so I don’t know if anything has been officially said, just looking for an RP hook for my character.

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I can’t recall the Dwarves having any central religion. After a brief search I was reminded that some worship the Titans, but it’s unclear to me how far or deep that faith goes. Going from the Wowpedia page, early Dwarves used to worship Khaz’goroth in particular; not sure if that’s since been refuted by anything. Some class quests more or less confirm that Light worship was adopted from Humans.

From Consecrated Rune:

" The humans have taught us a great deal about the Holy Light and how important their order is to them… and to protecting all of Azeroth. We have a great respect for how it is steeped in tradition, and how just one figure, one sacrifice, can make the difference between pain and salvation."

From Simple Rune:

“If you look around, you’ll see a few interesting things: dwarves using magic in a fight instead of a rifle. Some of us have taken to worshipping the Holy Light like some of the humans, and, last but not least, troggs. You’ll learn more about them later, but what you need to know is that I’m here to help you.”

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Focus primarily on the worship of alcoholic beverages and you cant go far wrong.

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Dwarves don’t have churches or chapels. What Ironforge does have is the Hall of Mysteries, with an ornate facade overlooking what appears to be a functional arcane font of about the same order of magnitude as a Night Elf moonwell.

Not a lot is set down about Dwarven belief, but Paladins share this ward with Priests and Mages. My impression is that they are aware that magic is real, and seek a technical understanding, without the charismatic elements of the human Church of the Holy Light, and more a matter of “these techniques can fortify us to heal and defend”. More of a pragmatic observation of what is, than a metaphysical explanation of why it is so.

I’d look around the Mystic Ward and see what themes you see, that tie it together. What your individual Dwarf believes is of course up to you.

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Sounds more like Gnomes to me there @Tymberlea. They are the technological ones.

Now I mainly speak for the Wildhammer Clan as my Bronzebeard knowledge isn’t quite up to par. However, from what I recall from back in Vanila Quests (and maybe some BC Wrath) in relation to the Explorers League, the Titans or rather a single Titan was central to their research/faith. Some research suggests that Great Grandfather Winter was one of the Titans/watchers. They believed he created them.

So if you don’t want your Dwarf Paladin to follow under the Church of Holy Light, that could be a route to take.

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The dwarves tend to be quite elemental and seem to have a mixed spiritual practice like the night elves. Where night elves have druid/priest combo, dwarves have shaman/pally/priest. The dwarves took up the vague human ideology of the Light, but they also recognize and honor the powers of Elune.

I’m not sure they worship the Titans, but they definitely seek to know how their fates were created/interwoven by them. Dwarves were supposedly descended from the earthen, which is why they have such a deep love for Azeroth & desire to protect the energy that runs through her. They do seem to honor their ancestors and clans.

Two of the things paladins & dwarves often share in common are the desire to protect and the desire to cleanse/purge corruption. Though, interestingly dwarves can be shadow priests, DKs and warlocks. I haven’t really found any memorable info about how or why some dwarves were drawn to the dark arts/magics.

Because of their kinship with the element of earth, the are excellent miners, treasure hunters & accomplished engineers and smiths. Metal and stone seemingly talk to them in ways which few other races can comprehend. Clearly Magni speaking to wounded Azeroth was the clearest depiction we have of this.

Sorry, it’s not much - but I do hope it helps.

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So, I am going to presume you are lumping all Dwarves together in this explanation of yours. While I could get behind it from a Wildhammer perspective, I have to ask where ye are getting your lore.

Dwarves descended from the Earthen, titan constructs of Earth and Stone, but not actually elementals. Prior to the War of Three Hammers all three major clans (Bronzebeard, Wildhammer, Dark Iron) lived on/in Khaz Modan. The Bronzebeard living in what is now Old Ironforge, the Dark Irons deeper in the mountain, and the Wildhammer on the surface.

Eh… Not exactly. The closest you might get are the Wildhammer’s worship of the Earthmother. Even still, that is an old RPG characteristic of them along with the idea of Dwarven Druids.
((Side Bar: I am really looking forward to the idea that Dwarven Druids may one day be a thing.))

You hit the nail pretty close on the head with this one. All 3 of the major clans have a great respect for their ancestors. The Explorers League was created by the Dwarves to delve deeper into their Titan heritage and learn more about the Pantheon.

Dwarf Religion/Faith prior to their interactions with the Human kingdoms revolved around their ancestors and the Titans. Full stop. When they first emerged after the curse of Flesh, some retained their memories of their time as Earthen.

The Wildhammer had a greater connection to the land and the sky than their cousins. Part of the reason they didn’t live under the mountain like the Bronzebeard and Dark Irons. They also practiced a simpler version of Shamanism prior to the War of Three Hammers.

While I could agree with this to an extent, Using Magni as a prime example of this doesn’t quite track. While the Curse/Spell used that turned the once proud King of Ironforge into the King of Diamonds was Dwarven in nature, technically anyone could have fell to it.

He didn’t become the speaker for Azeroth until after he was revived. Even then there is still the possibility he wasn’t talking to the Earth Mother herself, but rather an Old God of some kind.

Well the lore doesn’t exactly explain the worship or religion of dwarves super clearly. So most of my comments are very general, yes. We know that dwarves have the power to call on the Light in that they can weild it with their priests and paladins, and also void and shadow. We don’t really see a deity they attribute it to (unlike the Draenei who more closely attune some of their ideology of the Light to worship or serving the Naaru; Night elves to Elune) this to and make it a generalized “Light” which gloopily holds together as almost a higher elemental idea like Spirit for humans, gnomes, and now dwarves.

Dwarves don’t worship Elune, but they honor and understand that she’s a source of the Night Elves ability to tap into the Light. It would be cool if they could become druids because they very much are attuned with Azeroth. The only thing that prevents them is they’ve no real connection with the Emerald Dream (which is ironic seeing as how 1. Dwarven were a race that slumbered quite some time. 2. Dwarven shamans ASTRAL shift - and astral bodies/powers are typically associated with dream walking :expressionless: but I digress.)

I hadn’t really considered that Magni was actually talking to an Old God, which is a really interesting take on what Azeroth might actually uh… be. That’s a leap my brain hadn’t made, but it’s exciting to consider. However, mushy lore stuffs right now don’t give me a lot of faith they’ll get that far into the writing to do it justice.

If Azeroth is an Old God and can be a source of the Light, that’d actually loop around and tie up some of the straggling threads beautifully.

That’s not what I’m implying from this post. The old gods are masters of deception, and it’s possible that one was talking to Magni instead of Azeroth herself, is more what I was reading.

Classical Dwarves worship family Casts. Their chief deity is stone/onyx.

Depends where ye look lass. Dwarven Lore is all over the place. From their Belief in Winterveil, the Titan Keepers, the titans themselves.

Aye, that too. I think ye mean Thane by the way Orc. It’s out Clan 'r family Leader. Like ya Warchief. We don’t actually worship 'em like a deity but we do offer great respect ta our Thane(s).

Cause we don’t… Dwarves learned about the Light from the Humans. Before that we did nae worship the Light. Mind ya I nae know much on Human Lore when compared to my Wildhammer, but don’t ever remember hearing anything about the Church o’ Holy Light worshiping a named deity like Elune or even the Naru. The Light is its own deity.

I will have ta get back to ya on da Void & Shadow Aspect. Bein’ underground it’s possible some o’ the Dwarves (Dark Iron most likely) dabbled in the Void 'n Shadow. Zalatath the Dagger was owned by the Queen way back during the War of Three Hammers. She used her dark magic ta curse our new Home of Grim Batol. After it ended, we moved ta Aerie Peak.

Aye lass. but that depends on if ye want ta carry over aspects of the RPG. Back then us Wildhammer could be druids. Not all druids are associated wit’ the dream either. Originally it was only the Elves whom did that. Though the first Druid students in Lore were the ancestors of the Tauren, they turned away from the teachings fer a time. Didn’t make it into the Dream 'til later.

Here’s how Wowpedia describes Druids.

It doesn’t mention anything about the Emerald Dream until later when describing the Background. It mentions how the first to follow Cenarius into the Dream was an Elf. Ye may know his name; Malfurion Stormrage.

I’ve heard rumors that the Class restrictions may be lifted in the future. I too am hoping to get to run a Dwarven Druid. Several of my characters(Dwarves) have connections to druidism. My Dwarf Hunter whom was raised by Kaldorei wanted to become a druid, but instead followed the path of the Elven Ranger. My Warrior’s mother was a Wildhammer Druid. She lost her life protecting her from Deathwing when he flew over Aerie.

Well, to an extent. We shift into the Astral or Elemental planes, not really the Emerald Dream.

It wasn’t so much that Azeroth is an Old God, but several whispers from the puzzle box elude to a few things.
“Her Heat is a Crater and we have filled it.”
“The King of Diamonds has been made a Pawn.”
“He draws strength from the Earth, our Strength.” (Not sure on the actual wording on the last one.)

Aye lad. Was what I was gettin’ at.

Paladins at the very least came from long term association with the Alliance and humans so I’d imagine the Light exists as something of a minority faith among the Dwarves - multicultural connections and all.

Paladins in warcraft are more like Jedi than Arthurian Knights. The only requirement is a connection to and faith in the Light, but not necessarily worship of it.

Aye lad, Dwarven Holy water is not for the weak.

I brings one closer to God!

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