Terrified by the bloodshed of the Holderhold Revolution, the Dwarven Empire declared it would no longer sell any military gear, notably weapons, to non-dwarven peoples.

Historical Context

In 63 OW, the human state of Archea underwent a civil war between the conservative rulers and various reformers, including the liberal feminist Holderhold movement. Gunpowder played a major role in this conflict, as small numbers of relatively unskilled insurgents could make use of explosives and firearms (circumventing standard magical wards) to cause great damage. The Dwarves feared that if they let their monopoly on advanced military and overall technology fall, they would not be safe from small groups of discontent insurgents with great destructive potential, or a full-scale and extremely destructive war against modern belligerents. Thus, the moratorium was intended to "limit non-Dwarven warfare technology insofar as possible, that is, not to aid them in any way; and to make sure there is a gap of at least ten years between our research and human mastering thereof".

Content

In contrast to what is often believed, the moratorium did not extend solely to firearms, or even actually to military gear. Though handing over any military material was formally forbidden (this included previously military material, such as old tanks with disabled firing systems, or ships intended for military use but not equipped as such), there was also a strong social stigma to limit human access to the most advanced technology. Accordingly, dwarven engineers - very prized among the technologically lagging humans - usually concerned themselves with already old matters, such as building modern arsenals or the like. This was one reason why the human development of engines for motor vehicles took so long.

Intending the moratorium to be a self-preserving measure, the Dwarves had no wish for fine-print abuse such as selling to dwarven intermediaries in a non-dwarven sale. Any recipients of Dwarven weapons had to be either Dwarven citizens or pure dwarven societies, such as dwarf-only enclaves.