They guarded the gate way to Girdlegard from the Perished Land. The fifthlings The dwarves of the fifthling kingdom were divided into nine clans. Tundgil and Gandogar then set out to forge Keenfire for the fifth challenge that was taken out by chance by Bislipur in the draw. Gandogar has been convinced by his evil advisor, Bislipur Surestroke, who is secretly a thirdling (an evil race of dwarves who throughout history have tried to end the lives of all other dwarves) that the elves betrayed the fifthlings and want to create a war with them while they're weak from the constant battles with the Perished Land. Tungdil is also involved in a plot to delegitimize Gandogar's claim to the throne. They meet Andôkai, the last surviving maga, and her bodyguard, Djerůn. They decapitate Nudin, but he survives thanks to the dark power of the spirit of the Perished Land possessing him. Tungdil owns the books that explain the only way to defeat Nudin: forge a magical axe called Keenfire that needs to have a steel blade, a hilt made of the extinct tree known as the sidguredaisy, and runes engraved with a combination of all the known metals. Whoever dies on the Perished Land is raised as a revenant in service of the Perished Land's spirit however, if the revenant's spirit is strong enough, it can resist the Perished Land's influence.

The Perished Land attempted and succeeded in infiltrating Girdlegard and defeating the dwarves' fifthling kingdom eleven hundred cycles ago. Nudin betrays the magi, kills them, and corrupts the forcefields so that he alone can use them.

They slaughter orcs and avoid Nudin the Knowledge-Lusty (Nôdʼonn the Doublefold), a magus who has fallen under the spell of The Perished Land (the evil spirit of Girdlegard). Along the way he meets Boïndil Doubleblade and Boëndal Hookhand, two secondling twins, who lead him to Ogreʼs Death, a fortress in their kingdom. Tungdil's 'foster father', the venerable magus Lot-Ionan, sends him on an errand to return some artifacts to one of his former pupils and travel to the secondling dwarf kingdom. These realms, rich in magical energy forcefields, are ruled by magi, while other lands are ruled by the kings and queens of Girdlegard. Tungdil Goldhand, a young blacksmith, is the only dwarf in Ionandar, one of Girdlegard's five enchanted realms. A video game named The Dwarves, developed by King Art Games, is based on the first book it was funded through Kickstarter. The book was originally written in English and German. The story follows an orphan dwarf by the name of Tungdil Goldhand who is raised by humans. The Dwarves (German: Die Zwerge) is the first novel in the eponymous high fantasy series The Dwarves by German fantasy author Markus Heitz.

The dwarves markus heitz series