Dwarves

Skills and Trade

In a world where steam and metal rule the everyday lives of the working and upper classes, the work of harvesting the metals from the earth is highly needed, yet dangerous work. Miners are abundant, but dwarves seem to be the most skilled miners. 
One must not be fooled by the cold, hard exteriors most common to dwarves. Their skill in mining actually comes from their intense care, caution, and attention to detail. They never overlook any small bit of mineral, and the hard-to-find veins of precious metal or gems never go unnoticed by their trained eyes. Several generations of skilled miners have given dwarves a reputation (borderline stereotype) that makes them highly sought out, especially by the wealthy who want to lavish themselves in fine and rare materials. This makes larger colonies of dwarves very wealthy, and they are often seen decorating their bodies and homes with intricate trinkets and jewels. 
They are very close allies and trade partners with gnomes, many of which make their careers as tinkers and inventors by using their small hands to their advantage when working with small or intricate gears. It is not uncommon to see gnomes living and working in dwarven kingdoms. Dwarves highly value the skills of gnomes as clockmakers, jewelers, and repair workers. 

Cultural Mores

Their cold exteriors and glittering appearances may make an outsider quick to assume that the wealthiest dwarven miners are greedy and look down on those that are not as wealthy, but that is not true. Since their main sources of income and trade come from such dangerous work, it is a wide belief that everyone must work together. Therefore, their work environments are often very convivial, with the mines and halls echoing with song. Everyone does their share or manual labor--even the leaders are in the mines working alongside their employees--and the wealth is evenly distributed. Equality and responsibility are valued over everything else in the work environment in order to keep a positive, safe, and motivational atmosphere.