Exandria Lore -  White Mammoth Party (translated from the original dwarvish)

Have ye ever heard of a Dwarven White Mammoth Party? Oh, Its great fun. The clan gets together and we all dress up in motley, and feast, and everyone takes turns giving each other the most horrible gifts. Garish and elaborate outfits, brightly painted armour, harlequin hats, mammoth masks. Oh its a grand day! Held on the winter solstice every year.

See it comes from an ancient dwarven legend. In times long forgotten, we dwarves t'wer a greedy and selfish bunch. Ye never gave anythin' without expecting somethin' of equal or grander value back. There t'was a particularly nasty ol' king who used to give other nobles gifts when he was displeased with 'em. He'd give 'em these pure white, tame mammoths that he had bred special. Things were gentle as a new born pup an twice as happy. The beasts were basically a one way ticket to the poor house. Mammoths are expensive to keep and even more expensive to feed. But ye dinna reject a gift from the king. Many a dwarven family fell into poverty after being given the “gift” of a white mammoth.

Then one day, another dwarven king from a far away land arrived. He had a great white beard, rosy cheeks and belly like a keg of mead. He admired the white mammoths and thought them darling. But once he found out what the white mammoths were actually used for, and after sein' how the other dwarves were treatin' each other, he shouted that he'd “HAD JUST 'BOUT ENOUGH”. He was sick of the selfishness and greedy hearts of his fellow dwarves. He told the lot of em, “Follow me to me kingdom. I'm richer than the whole of you all combined many times over. Come with me and me-and-mine will provide everything for ye. Homes, food, and good dwarven jobs working in my mithral and diamond mines. I'll give ye soo much that ye'll have narry a choice but ta be generous to each other!!!!”

Those that followed found the kind white bearded dwarf king to be true to his word. They lived in happiness and joy and abundance the rest of their long lives. As did their children, and their children's-children. And so forth.

The other kingdoms all fell. Greed and strife and war among themselves and other dwarven steads. They wiped themselves off the face of Exandria. The kind white bearded king's kingdom was all that was left and where all modern dwarves come from. Tis why we value home and community so much. The individual dwarf thinks of em'selves last cuz they know the whole rest of the clan is thinking of 'em first. Everybody gives all they have to everyone else so that the whole community can prosper.

On the winter solstice, which is the longest night of the year if ya dinna be knowin', we hold a “White Mammoth Party”. The longest night represents the darkness that was in our selfish hearts. We eat and celebrate an give out terrible joke gifts to friends and family. That night as we sleep, we say the spirit of the “Good King” or “Father Wynter” comes and chases away the selfishness by generously giving gifts to everyone. He uses the same white mammoths to pull his sled through the night. The sled which is stuffed full of gifts and food and alcohol and gold. We wake up the next morn to find gifts and we spend the week celebratin' our family and community. That next day also marks when the nights become shorter an shorter. Symbolizing our ancestors moving farther and farther away from the darkness and greed. The lesson is retold every year so that ye know that even a simple idea can change the world. Even one as simple as “ye can give without expectin' anything in return. Ye can be kind, just for the joy o' bein' kind”. Plus we get ta dress up silly and drink mead an put on mammoth costumes and chase the kids. Ya know, somethin' fer everyone.