The Dwarves are one of the oldest races on Oceana. They arrived on Oceana in 800 BCE, at the same time as the Egyptians and Elves.
Dwarves were slow to adopt magic or the gods of Oceana. It wasn't so much that the Dwarves kept onto their old gods, as they weren't really believers in any gods. It wasn't until almost 75 years after arriving that the Dwarves started to use magic. To this day they are one of the races that use magic the least, and have the fewest clerics.
The Dwarves encountered the Kobolds on the island of Bernaca. The war against the Kobolds last for 350 years and spanned battles on some 19 major islands. The Dwarves were at a disadvantage on the strategic level since Dwarves do not like to travel by water. This antipathy of sea travel is due to Dwarves being unable to swim. The Dwarves rarely try to settle on smaller islands