Dwarf

Basic Information

Anatomy

Dwarves are known for their distinctive physical traits, including their short and stocky build, deep voices, and often stern demeanor. Both male and female dwarves commonly wear long, braided hair, and meticulously groomed beards and mustaches. It's widely known among their race that a dwarf without a beard is a sign of insanity or worse, and as such, they tend not to trust beardless dwarves.
While they typically have ruddy or earthen skin, eye color can vary widely, with gray and brown being common, and some possessing blue eyes. Hair color ranges from dark brown to red or dirty blond, and grays with age. Many dwarves believe that their height is a gift from their creator, making them well-suited for work at the forge.

Dietary Needs and Habits

A typical day for many dwarves starts with a breakfast of hot porridge flavored with mushrooms, often served with bacon or well-seasoned sausage. If their schedule allows for a midday meal, they may have coarse mushroom bread, sharp cheese, and a slice of salted meat, usually washed down with water or ale. For supper, they often have a hearty roast or savory stew with root vegetables, chunks of bread, and tankards of good stout ale.
While traditional meals such as these remain popular, modern dwarves have adapted to surface foods and are no longer limited to the traditional meats and mushrooms. They commonly eat goat, sheep, and swine, and many have developed a taste for beef as well. Fruit is often eaten dried, and leafy vegetables are relatively rare in their diet.

Behaviour

Dwarves pride themselves on their practicality, common sense, and ability to observe and perceive things more keenly than humans. They tend to be blunt and forthright, with little patience for dreamers or those who indulge in wishful thinking. Dwarven culture emphasizes a matter-of-fact approach and can sometimes come across as intolerant or abrasive to outsiders. The dwarven ideal is to be like stone, enduring and persevering with fortitude, resilience, and stubborn resolve. Dwarves rarely complain and are known to carry on despite exhaustion, illness, or injury, believing that time spent recovering is time wasted. Overall, while dwarves may have a reputation for being gruff or uncompromising, they are deeply committed to their work and their people, and their unwavering determination and strength make them valuable allies and formidable foes.
The concept of stability holds great importance for dwarves, not only in terms of their physical strength, but also their mental resilience. Similar to the unyielding nature of the stones that comprise their cities and mountains, dwarves possess an unshakeable resolve that allows them to withstand the trials and tribulations of life. They remain steadfast and unwavering even under the most strenuous circumstances. This unrelenting nature allows dwarves to maintain a firm footing and makes them difficult to move or topple when standing on solid ground. Some may argue that this unwavering philosophy also extends to dwarven beliefs and values.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Dwarves possess exceptional visual acuity that allows them to see in the darkest caves or during the blackest of nights. However, they prefer well-lit environments, as their darkvision has limited range and cannot distinguish colors. Some dwarf artists produce paintings with pigments visible only with darkvision, utilizing phosphorescent hues to bring color to the otherwise drab world of the dark. These art galleries are sealed against even the faintest trace of outside light, with entrances made through curtained foyers.
Dwarves have a discerning palate, reflected in their cuisine. They prefer savory dishes with a satisfying texture and complex, layered flavors. For them, the dining experience is as much about mouthfeel as it is about spices and accents. Depth and complexity of flavor are also essential characteristics of dwarven brews, whose undertones are rarely appreciated by anyone but dwarves and gnomes. Consequently, dwarves can be dismissive of other cuisines, especially non-dwarven libations. Dwarf cooks who have mastered foreign palates are highly sought-after as chefs.
Despite their rough exterior, dwarves have a highly developed sense of touch. The hands of a dwarven artisan may be calloused, but they can detect minute flaws in metal and stone that softer hands would miss. Even an unwary dwarf can sense subtle tremors in the ground and spot hairline cracks that would elude a sharp-eyed elf, warning them of unstable terrain or unsafe tunnels. Dwarves' affinity with the earth also enables them to locate traps and hidden passages, as long as they are made of stone. An oft-told story recounts a dwarf walking up to a cavern entrance, placing a hand on the wall, and then turning back to follow another, safer path, with a single touch warning them of danger ahead.
Dwarves' affinity with earth and metal provides them with a sharp eye for value. They have an innate sense of the worth of gems and precious metals, which, at its worst, can lead to avarice and covetousness.

Civilization and Culture

Common Dress Code

Dwarves are known for their meticulous attention to detail not only in crafting and engineering, but also in their attire and grooming. While traditional regulations once dictated their clothing and appearance, many dwarves now prioritize fashion and utility over custom. They often customize human clothing styles to suit their personal tastes, favoring simpler cloth and leather items adorned with metal, stone, or ivory rather than anything overly ornate or obstructive to their work. They meticulously polish metal and oil garments to protect against the elements, and reinforce seams, carefully stitch and layer or pad where they expect the most wear. Workaday apparel typically features various pockets and loops for tools, and even formal attire often reflects a utilitarian approach. Jewelry is common, and even the lowest ranking dwarf usually wears some form of adornment. It's common to see gold or mithril wedding bands, regardless of social status.
Formal clothing can range from stark and simple to ostentatious, with rich fabrics and gold or silver thread and adornments. The more extravagant outfits are typically worn by wealthy dwarves engaged in sedentary pursuits such as gem cutting or jewelry making.
Dwarves often braid their hair and beards and add small tokens and ornaments, which symbolize personal achievements or important events like births, marriages, and battles won or lost. Some dwarves wear tokens representing promises they've made, or promises made to them by others. Such tokens may also signify dedication to a particular deity. Wealthier dwarves may decorate their beards and hair with gemstones.

Culture and Cultural Heritage

The core values of dwarven culture have remained unwavering, despite significant decay over the centuries. Regardless of their place of residence, be it mountains, cities, or hills, dwarves maintain their unique customs and way of life, displaying a level of resilience that outsiders view as robust.
Central to the dwarven way of life is an unrelenting work ethic, developed from centuries of living underground, where every member of society had to contribute or risk its collapse. Aiming for perfection was also vital; even a small miscalculation in fortifying a cavern or passageway could have catastrophic consequences for hundreds. In preparation for any eventuality, the creator demands long-term planning, an unwavering dedication to hard work, and meticulous attention to detail. As a result, dwarves often undergo decades of apprenticeship before attaining the rank of master craftsman, with some taking more than 50 years to achieve this status.
Dwarves developed impressive engineering skills during their centuries spent toiling in the mountains, where even the slightest mistake could lead to disaster. They designed and built aqueducts to transport water, and modern dwarves still rely on cisterns and waterways constructed thousands of years ago. They also invented functional pumps and created large heated baths by diverting underground streams, which became important social and political sites. Although much of the knowledge gained during this time has been lost, dwarves are still regarded as masters of technology by other races. They heavily rely on existing architectural works, a testament to their ancestors' ingenuity, but continue to amaze others with their constructions, such as the impressive magmafall.
Dwarves are renowned for their ability to produce armor and weapons of unparalleled quality. Many consider them to be superior to humans and even elves (though the latter might argue otherwise). For devout dwarves, smithing is directly tied to their worship of the creator, and most seek a career at the anvil. Dwarven armorsmiths prioritize functionality and protection over aesthetics and flair. Warriors have no need to be concerned about the weight of their armor, as the creator has blessed them with the ability to wear even the heaviest armor with ease, which would immobilize members of other races. Dwarves find the weight of their armor to be a source of confidence, becoming like stone, an impenetrable fortress capable of withstanding even the mightiest orc's sword.

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

The dwarves are a polytheistic society with a robust pantheon. The creator is the main god worshiped by dwarves and is seen as the Father of Dwarvenkind. However, his extended family is also worshiped, and dwarven homes often display small anvil-shaped altars with statuettes representing the different deities. While most dwarves see the creator as their patron, they still whisper small prayers and make modest sacrifices to other gods when the need arises. Clerics are known to reorient their focus to a different deity when necessary. For example, a priest may perform a ritual dedicated to the mother in an attempt to obtain her blessing on an arranged marriage so that the new couple will fall in love.
Dwarven society has many small rituals and celebrations. For instance, on the eve of an offensive attack, many dwarves will pray and make sacrifices to the god of aggressive war. When a new home is founded, a ceremony is often held to obtain the protector's blessing on the area to ensure harmony between the newcomer and the existing inhabitants. Mothers will often invoke the name of the protector when their husbands go off to war, imploring the god to bring them back home safely. Similar rituals are required for a dwarf priest to gain access to certain spells offered by the other deities.
When a dwarf dies, their body is returned to the mountain by their family and interred in a special tomb carved into the deepest recesses of the Underworld. A somber funeral follows, during which the deceased's deeds are sung out for all to hear. The living petition the god of the afterlife to provide the deceased with a suitable existence where they can continue to perform the tasks they loved so much in life. An honor guard then inter them in the underground crypt. Typically, a great wake will ensue after the interment, and the life of the dwarf is celebrated as a successful endeavor to embody the will of the creator. Dwarves who die far from home or whose homes are unknown are usually buried in a cave, either directly in the earth or under a cairn of stones.
In addition to the dwarven pantheon, dwarves in human lands often worship Serrisona. She requires discipline and hard work, and dwarven temperament is well-suited for the veneration of this foreign deity. Serrisona espouses the advancement of civilization, and many dwarven engineers and architects seek her guidance.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Dwarves have a long-standing enmity towards orcs and goblins. Although orcs have a shorter lifespan than dwarves, they consider dwarves their greatest enemy. This animosity stems from their coexistence beneath the mountains before the dwarves emerged onto the surface. Upon reaching the Overworld, the dwarves discovered that they had only pushed the orcs ahead of them instead of eradicating them, as they had intended.

Lifespan

350 years

Average Height

115 cm - 135 cm

Average Weight

55 kg - 95 kg