Dwarves
The dwarven people are unique among the sentient species on the material plane in several ways. Dwarves are effectivly immortal, immune to most common diseases and unable to age bodily. Dwarves do not reproduce sexually, and are unable to have children. As far as anyone knows all existing dwarves were made millenia ago. Once, long ago the dwarven people were the leading civilization in Adar. But they have been in decline for thousands of years, slowly fading out of the world as they die off, one by one. Dwarven minds are no more robust than human ones. Over the course of their seemingly eternal lifespans a dwarf will forget most of their past and reinvent themselves, several times over. Many human religions preach that dwarves are in fact not truly alive at all; that they are more like skillfully made automata, useful and intelligent but lacking a soul.
In the modern world Dwarves can be found scattered across the world in small number. The only large dwarven population center remaining is Valammar, their one remaining kingdom.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Since many dwarves tend to re-invent themselves over time dwarven names can vary wildly. Dwarves who live outside Valammar tend to take names inspired by the culture they live within. Other dwarves take names associated with their chosen profession, or something they are passionate about. A few dwarves have kept (they assume) their original names throughout the long centuries, clinging to them in the hopes of retaining something of their old personality and scraps of old memories over the long years.
Major Organizations
The Dwarven kingdom of Valammar is the only large country which remains to the dwarves. While there is no organized church to their god the dwarves tend to build temples to the Sculptor in those places they inhabit.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Dwarves are intensely religious, worshipping an unnamed god they call the Sculptor. Most dwarves believe that this God created them at the dawn of creation; chiseling them out of the stone itself, and breathed souls into their bodies from his own essence. They believe they will join with this entity upon death, and that all which will remain of them as individuals will be the works they leave behind in the Material Plane. Many dwarves are obsessed with their legacy. They design and construct great monument, or beautiful statues. Dwarves tend to create art in stone or other permanent materials, since they believe such works will last longer and thus make for a more enduring legacy.
Related Organizations
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