Dwarf
The dwarves are very similar to the dwarves of D&D 5e physically speaking. Culturally they are very isolated. Dwarves spend most of their lives underground, many never see the sky. While the Kriege see the night sky daily, Kleru are forbidden the maze and most halberman never bother, some suffering from agoraphobia, feeling that without a ceiling they will fall up into the sky. Strangely most of the dwarves the outside world meets are the few halberman who make their living as merchants, since halberman are forbidden beards they are often shaved clean or covered in short scruff while in the outside world. This also gives most of the world the idea that all the dwarves are craftsmen or merchants. For whatever reason more dwarves are born female than male. This has lead them to form a polygamist society.
The Caste System
Dwarven society is separated into 3 castes, the priest caste of Kleru, the warrior caste of Krieger, and the lower caste of halberman who are the merchants and craftsmen. Each of the castes has their own way to get into heaven. The Kleru may gain entrance through wisdom and leadership. The Krieger are judged on bravery and how many drachen they have killed. The Halberman have the greatest trouble getting in, their crafts must be of such high quality as to merit entrance to heaven, this is why so many dwarven craftmen reach for perfection, their chance at heaven depends on it.Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
The name of a dwarf has 4 components, a first name which can actually be up to two words, the name of their father unless their father was Halberman in which case it is left out, and the clan that they come from. For example Sven ausLeon vonRancor vonDankil, if Sven is the son of Leon, whose family name was Rancor, of the Dankil clan.
Gender Ideals
The men of the dwarven clans are dominant. They take many wives and are expected to keep them all with child. Wives are usually paid for with a dower to the woman's father or eldest brother if the father is deceased. Men dream of being warriors most of all, some want to be priests, nobody wants to be a merchant or tradesman unless their father is one of great renown. Women all aspire to be brides to wealthy and powerful husbands, most dream of being Gattin-erst but most will end up as Gattin-sek.
Common Etiquette Rules
Bowing is the primary show of respect in the dwarf clans. The depth, duration, and angle of your head all effect the meaning of a bow. This system allows dwarves to show respect, deference, bitterness, and even mocking all without saying a word. Kneeling is seen as extreme bowing, they place both hands on the floor with their forehead between them. This is rarely done unless there are 2 steps of status between you and the recipient. A Krieger will bow to his Uberkrieger of Kleru, but he will often kneel before the Kaiser, Krieger-erst, or UberKleru. Otherwise it is used to beg, if a group of Krieger is caught by their Uberkrieger at some illicit or prohibited activity they may kneel before him in utter submission.
Common Dress Code
The men of the dwarf clans wear colors based on their caste. White robes for Kleru, black armor for Krieger, and tan vest for Halberman. The woman are only separated into two castes, the Kleru-frau who wear white, and the others who wear black. All women must wear a headscarf to cover their hair, those who are married must also wear a face veil. Because Kleru-frau are considered to be Gott's brides they are veiled even if they have no mortal husband. The female dress code drastically changes at home, they wear bright flowing silks. To appear dressed this way in front of anyone other than your family is considered scandalous and may often lead to arrest.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
Lebensweg
Every few years a clan will gather all of the boys older than 8 years taking them from their parents and bringing them to the clan's drillyard many of the more prominent Kleru will observe the boys, picking some of them out for Kleru training within the first 3 weeks. The rest are trained to be warriors. There are a myriad of reasons a boy might wash out of training, he might be fat, lazy, unathletic, deaf, need glasses, or be crippled in the rough training. Those that wash out return to their families in shame doomed to be Halberman forever. The rest come out the other side as krieger. There is no formal amount of time a boy must spend in training, when the drillmasters think he is ready they will raise him to the black. Then he must go into the underdark and slay his first Drachen after which a Kleru-frau will read his future, if the Kleru-frau permits the Nigh-kreiger becomes a full Kreiger.For girls Lebensweg is far more simple. Their fortunes are told by a Kleru-frau and the Kleru-frua makes one of four calls. The girl is most often returned to her family so that they may find a suitable match when she comes of age, the girl is returned to her family but the Kleru-frau will leave instructions on who she is to wed, the girl is taken to a palace where she is taught pillow dancing and will serve in the warriors harem to be bed by any Kreiger who wants her whenever they want, or most rarely the Kleru-frau will take the girl to a palace where she will learn to be a Kleru-frau.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Dwarves don't believe in racial superiority, just cultural superiority. They believe that those who don't follow Gott are inferior to those who do. In addition a larger percentage of humans aren't warriors meaning that any dwarven warrior sees themselves as above them.
Mechanical Differences
Instead of Hill Dwarves and Mountain Dwarves their are those who were trained as Kleru and those who were trained as Krieger, respectfully. The modifications are to the dwarf trait Dwarven Combat Training. and the Hill Dwarf(Kleru) trait Ability Score Increase. The Hill Dwarf(Kleru) also will gain the Unarmored defense trait from the monk class.Dwarven Combat Training. shall be moved to the Mountain Dwarf(Krieger) and read thus; "You have proficiency in Javelins, Spears, Longspears*, Pikes, and Shields". *Longspear is a new weapon that does 1d8 piercing damage and has the reach and heavy properties.
The Hill Dwarf(Kleru) Ability Score Increase. trait shall read thus; "Your Wisdom and Dexterity Scores each increase by 1".
Geographic Distribution
Related Organizations
