Dwarf

Dwarves, sometimes called the Stout Folk, were a natural humanoid race common throughout Arbalon . Dwarves were a tough, tradition-abiding folk known for their strong martial traditions and beautiful craftsmanship.
Dwarves were a short race, as their name implied, standing from 4'3"–4'9" (1.3–1.45 meters) on average. What dwarves lacked in height they made up for in bulk; they were, on average, about as heavy as humans. A dwarf could weigh anywhere from about 160–220 lbs (73–100 kg). Dwarven males were a bit taller and heavier than their female counterparts. Like humans, dwarves had a wide variety of skin, eye, and hair colors. Hazel eyes were common throughout the race. Male dwarves were often bald and grew thick facial hair, which was sometimes used to display social status.
Dwarves were a long-lived race, though not so much as elves, and reached physical maturity somewhat later than humans. A dwarf was traditionally considered an adult once he or she reached age fifty. Dwarves aged much like humans but over a longer period of time, remaining vigorous well past 150 years. Most dwarves lived to see their bicentennial and a few lived to be over 400.
Many dwarves were difficult to like and lacked the charm of many other smaller races, such as halflings or gnomes, though this was not a trait common to all dwarves and some possessed a great deal of charismatic power. Furthermore, dwarves were not entirely unsocial and more than a few had a natural knack for bartering or judging the value of an offer, something that sat well with their legendary crafting abilities.

Basic Information

Biological Traits

Dwarves were unusually tough for humanoids, in more ways than one. Dwarven stomachs, for instance, were resistant to virtually all poisons and it took less effort for a dwarf to get back on their feet than other races. Dwarves also had dense bodies and were difficult to push around as a result, as well as having the capacity to bear loads that other races might find hindering with little ill effect. Dwarves also had a sense about them that few races did, with a preternatural awareness of their surroundings useful for a subterranean race as well as good judgment all-around in general.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Most dwarven societies were divided into clans built along family ties and political allegiances. These clans were usually led by hereditary rulers, often monarchs of a sort and descended from the founder of the clan. Dwarves strongly valued loyalty to these rulers and to the clan as a whole and even objective dwarves tended to side primarily with their kin over other races or communities
Most dwarven clans focused on one or two kinds of crafting, such as blacksmithing, jewelry, engineering, or masonry. Dwarves strove to avoid overspecialization by sending some of their youths to other clans to serve as apprentices, which also helped to foster racial unity. Because of their longevity, exhibited these apprenticeships might last decades.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Widespread across most of the habitable areas of Arbalon. Most dwarves preferred living in underground cities near the surface and above the Underdark, built around mines that provided much of their livelihood. Carved into stone, these cities might take centuries to complete but were practically ageless once finished. Though dwarves were typically a martial race by nature, these cities had civilian populations that made up about one fourth of the total population and which were made up primarily of the young, the elderly, or a few regular adults. Females typically composed as large a portion of the military as male dwarves did. These cities were usually found in mountainous or hilly areas.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Dwarves could see in the dark, out to about 60 feet (18 meters). Many dwarves had an affinity for the caverns in which they lived, possessing a knack for recognizing unusual patterns in stonework that could seem almost supernatural at times.

Civilization and Culture

Relationship Ideals

Dwarves highly valued the ties between family members and friends, weaving tightly knit clans. Dwarves particularly respected elders, from whom they expected sound leadership and the wisdom of experience, as well as ancestral heroes or clan founders. This idea carried on to relations with other races and dwarves were deferential even to the elders of another, non-dwarven race.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Dwarves did not forgive past wrongs easily and the entire race had more or less declared war on goblins and orcs as a whole, wiping them out where they found them. Many dwarves viewed these races as a foul infestation of their mountain homes and felt it was their duty to purge them. Likewise, many dwarves viewed drow and grimlocks with a similar hatred and few dwarves had forgotten their ancestral hatred of the giants who'd once enslaved them. Because of this, dwarves generally viewed related races, such as half-orcs, with distrust.
In regards to their distant cousins the azers, duergar, and galeb duhr, dwarven opinions varied. Many viewed their distant relations with sympathy for their prior enslavement. On the other hand, duergar and dwarves had long been enemies and many dwarves viewed them with little more love than they did the drow who shared the Underdark with the duergar.
Dwarves got along pretty well with gnomes, with whom they shared a love of fine crafting, and passably with humans, half-elves, and halflings. However, most dwarves commonly believed that true friendships could only be forged over long periods of time and a common saying was that "the difference between an acquaintance and a friend is about a hundred years", meaning that few members of the shorter-lived races ever forged strong bonds with dwarves. There were exceptions, however, and some of the strongest friendships were those between a dwarf and a human whose grandparents and parents were also on good terms with the dwarf.

Lifespan

350 years

Average Height

4 – 5 ft (1.2 – 1.5 m)

Average Weight

150 lb (68 kg)