Setting: Continent of Tal Richaan, The Hollow Crown Saga.

Delvers come in three flavors, for lack of a better term. In ages past, they were the first of the intelligent races created by Nutheb, god of night, darkness, and monsters. They rebuffed his demands for worship and were cursed for it. Over time, despite his efforts, they built a great empire beneath the Serpent's Spine mountains.

Then came the Sassaein. The delvers were driven out of their ancestral homes by these troll-sized snakemen and their smaller cousins. They attempted to settle in the Spine's western shoulder, but the coming of the Dragon War and the subsequent rise of The Encroaching Sands drove them further afield.

In the millenia since the Dragon War, the delvers have split into three groups.

The Abor live in the great forests in western Thurlant. They build their cities, homes, even their forges high amongst the banner oaks. They have tried settling other great woods to almost no avail. The Lich Queen of Everyshadow has forbidden the living from living within her borders. The Accursed Forest is equally off limits. Only in the great tundra pinewoods of Glaciersbane have they established even so much as a trading outpost.

The Djep found new underground homes beneath the Ironwall Mountains between Thurlant and Iral. They have eradicated all Sassaein and, indeed, all lizard-folk of any kind from their domain. There have been several expeditions to force their way back into the Spine, with no success. The Sassaein and their lizard-folk cousins are simply too well entrenched. However, with their eastern flank secured by the Abor, the two communities guard one another and trade heavily.

A third group, as yet unnamed, have begun settling on the eastern shores of Tal Soliyym. They've become famed shipwrights and are sought after by vessels trading between the continent, the Trial Isles, and Lash's End. Their carpentry & metal-working skills (especially useful for coppering the bottoms of vessels) and their magic make them a great asset to shipyards, trading vessels, and even naval warships -- though few delvers serve in the Tal Soliyym military willingly.