1 GM: On the way back to Footcrag, you come across a dwarf fighting for his life against some orcs!
2 Lambert: A dwarf! We have to help him! He'll know about the secret dwarven passage!
2 Draak: You think?
3 Alvissa: No. The elves and dwarves share the Five-Thousand Year Grudge. To render assistance would be to betray my people.
4 Lambert: Curse your strict adherence to character...
4 Mordekai: I steal the dwarf's gold!
4 Kyros: I throw a fireball!
4 Draak: Draak fight!

Elves and dwarves are well known for sharing a long-standing mutual grudge, at least in fantasy fiction and gaming circles. The usual story is that many generations ago they fought a terrible war over some misunderstanding that neither side can nowadays quite remember exactly, but whatever it was, it was pretty dire, and whichever side the current speaker is on was clearly the one that was wronged and betrayed by the other.

So who am I to ignore an integral part of fantasy fiction?

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2015-09-02 Rerun commentary: And as with any long-standing fantasy fiction tradition, there's a trope for that.

I made it the Five-Thousand Year Grudge, because that really is a ridiculously long time to hold a grudge.

(Though in the real world there are certain people who seem to hold onto grudges at least a couple of thousand years old. I'll just say again that that is a ridiculously long time.)