The Coldain Dwarves: Why are they blue?

[kelvmor]

<p>They definitely weren't blue in EqI, if I remember right.</p>

[Jait]

<p>They were always blue in EQ1.  Some of the random text in Thurgadin mentioned that it's from adapting to Velious.</p>

[Kirsten]

<p>LoL!  I thought they were just cold.</p>

[thephantomposter]

<p>When I was traveling through Halas, I thought I heard '<strong>la la</strong> lalalala <strong>la la</strong> l al laaaaaa' being sung by extra short blue dwarfs ... I could be wrong :0)</p>

[Cusashorn]

<p>The Coldain used to be regular dwarves. I forget the reason why they moved to Velious, but it wasn't their own choice. They ended up being stranded there, so they got to work and built settlements there. Drinking the water on Velious eventually drained the skin pigmentation out of them, as the water was rich in velium minerals. In EQlive they were more white than blue, and the Ry'Gorr orcs were more purple than white, but you can still see a little purpleish hue in them.</p>

[kelvmor]

<p><cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>The Coldain used to be regular dwarves. I forget the reason why they moved to Velious, but it wasn't their own choice. They ended up being stranded there, so they got to work and built settlements there. Drinking the water on Velious eventually drained the skin pigmentation out of them, as the water was rich in velium minerals. In EQlive they were more white than blue, and the Ry'Gorr orcs were more purple than white, but you can still see a little purpleish hue in them.</p></blockquote><p>I thought they were frost dwarves put there by Brell to keep an eye on the dragons?</p>

[teddyboy4]

<p><cite>kelvmor wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>The Coldain used to be regular dwarves. I forget the reason why they moved to Velious, but it wasn't their own choice. They ended up being stranded there, so they got to work and built settlements there. Drinking the water on Velious eventually drained the skin pigmentation out of them, as the water was rich in velium minerals. In EQlive they were more white than blue, and the Ry'Gorr orcs were more purple than white, but you can still see a little purpleish hue in them.</p></blockquote><p>I thought they were frost dwarves put there by Brell to keep an eye on the dragons?</p></blockquote><p>No, from what I remember Cusa's relation hit's closest. I can't remember the exact story, and a quick flip through the EQ Atlas doesn't reinforce my memory, but from what I seem to remember, and for some reason I think I remember the story being printed in the Velious manual, but the Coldain were originally an expedition, one of many, sent out from Kaladim to seek new mines and metals to expand the Dwarven kingdom.</p><p>edit: Ok, I found the origin story of the Coldain in my copy of the original Velious manual, which I will now paraphrase for you....</p><p>Before I do though, I will say that you are partially correct Kelvmor...the Coldain believe they are the chosen of Brell and that, without his aid they never would have survived. And, I suppose it is possible that Brell did have a hand in them finding their way to Velious, but it is never explicity stated that he did.</p><p>Back in the day, during construction of the first dwarven city (doesn't say Kaladim by name btw) the Dwarves sent out many expeditions to expand their kingdom and find more resources for the project. One such expedition, led by a Dwarf named Colin Dain, went by ship around the southern tip of Antonica on the way to Odus where they were caught in a horrendous storm. The storm rages for days, and when it ended, the Dwarves were totally lost, they didn't recognize any of the stars above them, so they decided to point the ship in a direction and sail til they hit land. They sailed for months in such a manner until they eventually hit an unkown, frozen wasteland, which of course turned out to be Velious. Their ships were all torn apart trying to make landfall, so they then had no way to communicate with the rest of the world and decided to take what remained and try to eke out a living. So they found a spot, and started mining, a camp natually sprung up around the mind, which eventually grew into a  town they named Frostone. One day, the Velious giants invaded, and although the Dwarves fought fiercly, they were eventually chased out. Colin Dain eventually led an ambush on the giants, sacrificing himself in the process so that the rest of the Dwarves could escape. A miner named Glight Snowchipper recieved a vision from Brell, which led them to the Crystal Caverns, where they lived for a while until they were eventually chased out of there by the Ry'Gorr orcs. When they left the CC, they eventually found their way to a hidden place where they built their new home, which was named Thurgadin, and it's ruled took the title of "Dain" in honor of their first leader.</p><p>It's really much longer,  I shortened it out a bit, but the story retains all the major points of Coldain history for the most part.</p><p>As a side note, I had put a little conjecture here about the origin of the Ry'Gorr and Coldain on the iceburg that became New Halas, but that's best left for it's own thread methinks.</p>

[Cusashorn]

<p><cite>kelvmor wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>The Coldain used to be regular dwarves. I forget the reason why they moved to Velious, but it wasn't their own choice. They ended up being stranded there, so they got to work and built settlements there. Drinking the water on Velious eventually drained the skin pigmentation out of them, as the water was rich in velium minerals. In EQlive they were more white than blue, and the Ry'Gorr orcs were more purple than white, but you can still see a little purpleish hue in them.</p></blockquote><p>I thought they were frost dwarves put there by Brell to keep an eye on the dragons?</p></blockquote><p>There were various Orc settlements in the Eastern Wastes outside of Ry'Gorr Keep. Same for the Coldain. Since the Coldain on Erollis came from a hunting party who were just about to strike at some Ry'Gorr, it's reasonable to assume it was one of those small settlements. In Norrath, one or two huts in the game could represent an entire village in the lore, and 2 or 3 NPCs could represent hundreds.</p>

[SisterTheresa]

<p><cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>The Coldain used to be regular dwarves. I forget the reason why they moved to Velious, but it wasn't their own choice. They ended up being stranded there, so they got to work and built settlements there. Drinking the water on Velious eventually drained the skin pigmentation out of them, as the water was rich in velium minerals. In EQlive they were more white than blue, and the Ry'Gorr orcs were more purple than white, but you can still see a little purpleish hue in them.</p></blockquote><p>Huh, same reasoning as why flamingoes are pink .. normally they are white but turn pink from the shrimp they eat.</p><p>Nice question!  I wondered that too.</p>

[Gungo]

<p><cite>kelvmor wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><a name="5336088">The Coldain Dwarves: Why are they blue?</a> </p></blockquote><p>Bad Circulation.Actually its the velium enriched waters.Same reason the Rime giants are blue.</p>

[Cusashorn]

<p><cite>Gungo wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>kelvmor wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><a name="5336088">The Coldain Dwarves: Why are they blue?</a> </p></blockquote><p>Bad Circulation.Actually its the velium enriched waters.Same reason the Rime giants are blue.</p></blockquote><p>Except that with the Rime and Kromise giants, it's not actually explained why they look the way they do. The Coldain actually do have an explanation.</p>

[Meirril]

<p><cite>Gungo wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>kelvmor wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><a name="5336088">The Coldain Dwarves: Why are they blue?</a> </p></blockquote><p>Bad Circulation.Actually its the velium enriched waters.Same reason the Rime giants are blue.</p></blockquote><p>That's kinda like saying the giants in Soulsek's Eye are red because they live in Soulsek's Eye. It might not be just the water in the giant's case.</p><p>Also we're not 100% sure that the Rime are from Velious. Sure it is very likely but AFAIK not confirmed yet.</p>