"Solve et coagula."
When the dwarfkind had to resort to returning to the caves, a renowned interest in the art of alchemy has been re-ignited. Many o' dwarves had been lost to the exploration of herbs unknown before.
Charlatans of all kinds have taken up this opportunity to part fools with their gold, for what more noble an alchemist can do than produce such a rare metal out of thin air! However foolhardy it is to trust them, some are in fact useful to dwarven expeditions, for to them any problem is one potion away from being solved.
A topic so complex warranted many schisms: while some had decided to study the fundamentals of the new reality, others have insisted on perfecting well-known recipes, yet others still have found a peculiar interest in a certain kind of mutating glig - "berries".
For all we know, the best advancement of all this research has been all the spirits that have been re-invented! From plump helmet vodka to sweetheart gin - anything to drown the sorrows of the old world away!