The Clockwork Dwarves are a group of iron loving people who belong to the Kraken alliance. They have a passion for lighthouses and a fear of ships; they inhabit Moeens Isle.

Their leader, First Speaker Widebeard, is reknowned for his wide bushy beard. It was this beard which gained him his name and the speakerhood a few years ago.There is a a story behind this which is told below.

The Clockwork Dwarves are not expansionist by nature; they prefer to dig around on their home island and to make things. However, groups of elite fighters have been known to brave the open seas in order to support their alliance.

The story of Widebeard and his wide beard

In the world of the clockwork dwarves, a large beard is considered to be a symbol of strength and vitality. Keeping it neat and well trimmed is a sign of intellectual prowess. At certain times, beards have become a political issue.

In the society of the Clockwork Dwarves there are three houses of parliament: the Senate (elected by the entire nation), the House of Representatives (elected by each region) and the House of Corporations. The House of corporations comprises seven seats which are auctioned off each year - this provides most of the government's income and provides the other houses with dwarves to blame when things go awry. Members of all houses vote for the role of First Speaker.

A few years ago the guild of hairdressers and beard trimmers paid for one of their people to join the House of Corporations. He was eventually elected as First Speaker Cecil. It is rumoured that he was only elected because he had threatened to tell the public about which members of parliament had received beard implants.

Cecil's beard was very neat but not very long. One of his first acts was to bring in a law to limit the length of beards. His argument was that it would reduce discrimination against short bearded people, especially dwarven women; however, rumour has it that it was simply to bring in more revenue for his guild. The act was passed by all houses of parliament and became law. It is rumoured that he was again threatening to talk about beard implants.

It did not take long before people started complaining about the changes. The men said it made them feel effeminiate and it was a bother having to trim their beards more often. More importantly, the women were annoyed because it cost them twice as much to get their beards trimmed than a man had to pay.

Widebeard decided to make this an election issue. Instead of growing his beard long he used plenty of hairdressing wax to make his beard wide. Although his name was Arthur Ironside he changed it to Widebeard to emphasise the issue. He made a point of spending a lot of time with long bearded women and pointing out that their beards were longer than Cecil's.

He goaded the male politicians by saying they lacked manhood, he annoyed the female politicians by saying they enjoyed supporting the hairdressers and beard trimmers guild. The beard length law was soon repealed. Cecil lost the support of his guild and lost the next election to Widebeard.

Widebeard has won every election since and beards are now longer than ever. Curiously enough, the beard trimmers and hairdressers guild is also richer than ever before and it is rumoured that the Ironside beard transplant company has trouble keeping up with demand.

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