Dwarves of Cambrium

The creation myth of Cambrium's dwarves states that all sentient beings were created from clay and a spark of magic that permeates the land. However, dwarves themselves were built from solid rock and metal, which made them superior to the races that were moulded from clay. As such, a common insult to non-dwarves is 'clayborn'. Because of this, dwarves generally believe that being created from stone gives them an unparalleled understanding of the properties of rock and metal, allowing them to more easily discover valuable veins of ore or minerals and having the knowledge to extract it.

Because dwarves are typically untrusting and sometimes outright hostile to other people they were cut off from the majority of Cambrium's other sentient races, and so when they eventually connected their allyship was considerably stunted in comparison to others. Unlike many sentient races the majority of dwarves do not overtly worship any of the known deities. Instead, they follow a caste system in which the highest stratum are considered divine, and were created with the divine right to rule over others. Cambrium dwarves have a society that relies heavily on determinism - that is, everyone is born with their destiny already preordained, and thus the caste system was born.

Beards

Beards are typically associated with dwarves. While this is still the case in Cambrium the meaning behind them are slightly different; much like many real world cases of upper class individuals flaunting wealth, so too is a well grown beard to a dwarf. Typically big, magnificent beards decorated with metal clasps and beads are the pinnacle of upper class folk, while ordinary beards or no beards at all are associated with the layfolk. Some lower class individuals may attempt to grow a large beard to appear associated with wealth. Female dwarves are also capable of growing facial hair, most commonly as mutton chops, but not every female dwarf has a beard. Dwarven skin, hair and eye colour is as varied as humans, however blue or similar cool shades of skin tone are exclusively associated with duergar, or deep dwarves. On average dwarves stand at four feet to five feet tall, however often weigh well over 150 lbs on average due to a condensed muscular system that's generally twice as dense as human muscles, making them wide shouldered and barrel chested. In Cambrium dwarves have an average lifespan of 500 years, however some (typically higher caste families) have been known to exceed well into the thousands range. A dwarf is considered a fully matured adult at age 100.

Family Book

Every dwarven family has a family book. This tome supposedly dates back to the origin of their family name and includes a records of all births, marriages and deaths in the family. Members that have been exiled from the family will have their names removed from the book permanently. The family book also helps to ensure that the current patriarch or matriarch is the correct head of the family, and their next in line cannot be disputed - for all the faults dwarven culture has to offer there is no disparity between male and female members or chosen identity. When referring to family members, especially distant members, they will often be referred to as '8th patriarch' or '10th matriarch', the number coinciding with their position in line to become head of the family. If a family book goes missing or is destroyed, it is considered a grave offense and often means the dissolution of that family name. However, most family books are magically enchanted and protected to prevent this from happening.

Naming Conventions

When a dwarven couple expect a child, they must petition the magistrate and their council to approve a name for their offspring. They can either bring a list of names they would like for the child or they can leave it entirely up to the magistrate to decide. This is to ensure that particular names don't become overused, or so that lower caste families cannot choose what's considered a higher caste name for their child, and especially cannot choose a name that's already in use by a member of the royal family. Considering how expansive the royal family lineage is, choosing a name for their child can be a tricky and time consuming process as most petitions are denied the first couple of times they are submitted.

Caste System

To other sentient races, the caste system for dwarven communities can appear complicated. Most dwarven settlements work through a determinist system, meaning that an individual is born into a role rather than being allowed to choose their own path. Below is a general explanation of how the caste system works.

Upper Caste

Royal - The dwarven royal family is the pinnacle of authority. While the Aurumruk family is immense, spanning multiple generations and well into the 100ths in line to the throne, they only account for a small percentage of the total dwarven population. Even those who are only distantly related to the current king and never have a chance of actually assuming the throne are considered of royal blood and are treated as such. Because of this expansive royal family tree, members of the royal family often find themselves in charge of a dwarven city as its magistrate - a role that is equivalent to a mayor in the real world - while the king holds charge of the dwarven capital city. In order to have laws, taxes and criminal charges to be deliberated and decided on all of the family heads of each of the royal blood line must discuss and vote on the subject at hand. Because of this, the judicial system and law changes in dwarven societies are extremely slow, sometimes even taking centuries to complete because of the fickle nature of the royal family, who may refuse to travel to the capital city in order to vote. Because of this dwarven culture has changed very little over the centuries, and many dwarves appear to be extremely stubborn and hard headed to others. Because dwarven royal family members are extremely terrified about the idea of another family marrying into the bloodline in order to usurp and establish a new royal family they very rarely marry outside of their own family, often pairing distant cousins, aunts and uncles to nieces and nephews, in order to maintain power. This is so prolific in the dwarven royal family that their family book is a series of immense tomes that detail every birth, death, marriage and exile right down to the full names, the mother and father's names, dates and times to ensure that direct family members do not end up marrying. Because of this there is often a lot of in-fighting amongst distant family members looking to marry to others closer to the current king in order to gain more political power, and assassinations and murders are commonplace. Rather than outright killing they tend to employ underhanded tactics, such as hiring (or even blackmailing) people into doing their dirty work, and to take the fall should the plot fail. It is believed that dwarves built up their resistance to poisons because of how often they tried to poison one another in the past.

Merchants - Merchant families are considered the highest caste beneath the royal caste. As such, this caste is highly regulated and controlled with three main family names - the Tulgrics, the Hafrals and the Krolgrots. In the present date the Hafrals currently have superiority over the other families but that hasn't always been the case. There is constant tension between the three big families and the hatred between them has become intergenerational, with the newer family members not quite sure why they dislike the other families but continue the 'tradition' anyway. Other merchant caste families exist but don't have the same influence or power as the main three, and often have to pay taxes or 'protection money' to them in order to survive.

Goldsmiths - Almost on the same level as merchants, goldsmith families are among the highest caste members. They are often trained from a young age on the delicate manipulation that goes into goldsmithing, of which many dwarven societies consider an extremely important skill to the survival of dwarven culture. As such, dwarven crafted items are considered among the highest quality to other sentient races, and many pay excessive amounts of money just to have dwarven items.

Stonemasons - To dwarves, stonemasons are almost like religious figures due to their creation belief. Just as someone might approach a shaman for possible curses or possessions, dwarves tend to go to stonemasons to test the stone of their houses or other buildings to determine whether or not it's 'good' or 'bad' stone that's causing a spree of bad luck or that the energy from within is affecting the person. While this negative energy can often be cleansed, sometimes particularly bad cases will have entire buildings demolished and rebuilt with new material. Stonemasons are extremely important to dwarven culture and stonemason families are often treated with respect and authority.

Lower Caste

Blacksmiths - In general dwarves tend not to show interest in participating in warfare, instead preferring to supply weapons and armour to others looking to go to war and profiting from it. As such, those that create such things aren't typically looked upon with the same reverence as stonemasons or goldsmiths. While part of the lower caste blacksmith families are generally comfortable enough not to struggle financially, but such can't be said about all blacksmith families.

Artificers - A relatively newer caste in regards to dwarven life spans, an artificer family is one that excels in the creation of and maintenance of machines and guns. It is believed that warforged were originally created by dwarves, however the blueprints were 'stolen' by another sentient race (Humans are mostly commonly blamed) which proliferated the warforged design across the globe. Due to the fact that artificers have to rely on other sentient races in order to design and build, as well as the fact that most machines are built for warfare, they are considered a lower caste.

Fishers/Hunters/Farmers/Leatherworkers/Weavers/Etc - Those that work with the earth but not to the same extent as stonemasons and goldsmiths are not looked upon with quite the same favour, despite their work being crucial to keeping dwarven settlements dressed and well fed. This is because they often have to borrow money from higher caste families in order to get the equipment and crops they need to grow, so in turn are indebted to these families.

Warriors - Warrior families, including martial fighters to spell casters, are typically seen more akin to war hounds to be let loose in times of conflict. The term kuldjargh (Kuuld-yargh) or 'axe idiot' is seen as an insult regarding one's willingness to fight and is often used regarding warrior families.

Mercenaries - Mercenary families are looked upon like low-level thugs or gangsters. While warriors may not be looked upon favourably they at least are only committed to fighting solely for dwarven issues, whereas mercenary families often find business from other races or taking up jobs and business that most dwarves see as beneath them as a race, and are often seen as untrustworthy because of this, as well as the fact that many exiles become mercenaries, bandits, pirates etc on the surface, so being likened to exiles is seen as shameful. They are the lowest of the lower caste.

Exile Caste

Exiles - Typically those that have been exiled from dwarven cities are from noble families or higher castes, however it is also possible for lower cast families to exile a member. This typically happens when a family member acts against their family's interests, takes on a romantic partner/marries someone they did not approve, or even if they just had a particularly nasty argument. The reasoning for exile can be whatever excuse the head of the family decides, who is the sole arbiter of deciding whether to exile someone from their family. Other members can petition the patriarch or matriarch for exile, but it is their decision that decides it. When a person is exiled one of two things happen - either the person is immediately enslaved and made to work in mine pits and other dangerous tasks for higher caste families, or they are ejected from the settlement they are in and warned that attempting to return to any dwarven town or city will result in immediate death. The latter of which is most common for the higher caste families closest to the royal family, while the former is more common for lower caste families. An exile is stripped of all family rights, inheritance and history, and are literally removed from the family book as if they never existed in the first place. Most remaining family members refuse to speak about exiles, while others will openly scorn and mock them. To be related to an exile is seen as extremely shameful and so they become non-citizens, with no legal rights or place in society. Dwarven families found housing or aiding exiles are at risk of becoming exiles themselves, and so many dwarves will turn their backs on exiles in order to protect themselves and the rest of their family. Becoming an exile is a permanent offense and cannot be reinstated into the family.

Slaves - The only position worse than an exile is a slave, however this is the fate of many exiles. Dwarves use slaves to do dangerous and back breaking work so they don't have to, though dwarven slaves are typically thri-keen or plasmoids, however they have been known to enslave other races. Exiled dwarves that become slaves live a harsh, cruel life, the horrific conditions of the mine pits are often enough to break the minds of even the most prideful and stubborn dwarves. They typically only live half as long as the average dwarven life span.

Duergar

Duergar, or deep dwarves, are believed to be the descendants of exiled dwarves who, without the connection to their bloodline or the divinity of the royal family, were driven mad trying to survive in the wilderness of the Underdark. Many dwarves believe that the reasoning for their cooler skin tones is because the literal spark of creation that moulded them from stone and metal has disappeared, like a light having been switched off. Most duergar are considered feral and dangerous to other dwarves, and will typically kill duergar on sight. As such duergar are not allowed in dwarven settlements. Where other dwarves tend not to follow any one particular deity duergar are connected to the Woundfather, a deity that is also worshipped by other Underdark residents. In many dwarven stories duergar are an evil force attempting to disrupt the dwarven way of life, who can't be trusted and even resort to cannibalism. Due to their exiled nature duergar don't have their own homogenized culture and instead adapt to whatever society they come to live in.