Daimn
Dwarves
The daimn were forged in the fires of Fate itself—they were aes who chose to remake themselves in mankind’s image... with mixed results. A full third of the elven race split from the aes, succumbing to the Lure of Iron to be reborn in base, material forms. They established a subterranean city-state and, for centuries, fought a cold war against their aes brethren, often while trading with and offering their crafts to burgeoning human settlements.
All that ended with the aes curse known as the Stilling. In a matter of hours, it ravaged the daimn, trapping them in a seemingly eternal state of stasis, their primal forms becoming living prisons. Then, after millennia of semiconscious torpor, some daimn began to stir, roused from their sleep at the behest of Fate itself.
Thus far, the vast majority of daimn remain lost to history, while those few who have returned find themselves embroiled in a fight to save a world they barely recognize. Guided by some unknown instinct, these daimn seem to show up when and where they’re needed most. The vast majority of human communities greet their arrival as an omen of the gods... at least, until the daimns’ working in the interest of Fate is at odds with mortal interests.
Basic Information
Anatomy
When Father Steel fashioned the Numenforge, he sought to cure the aes of their iron bane. !is, he achieved. But he also created an entirely new race of beings capable of individual thought. Where the aes were very alike and prone to groupthink, the newborn daimn were each quite different, both physically and mentally, from one another. And while dangerous whims and cold detachment were the hallmarks of aes culture, the daimn were instead informed by the passions of their predominant elements: those bound to fire tended to be impulsive and wild, those connected to vegetation were often nurturing and gentle, those tied to water were adaptable and reflective, those merged with earth were on the whole stolid and dependable, and those born of air were frequently mercurial and pretentious (such that other daimn found them the least changed by the Numenforge). Their more human natures and forms endeared them to the peoples of Erebos, as did their quarrels with the aes and their sharing of the secrets of steel. It was, in fact, the mortals who first called them “dwarves,” recognizing in them a familiarity of form with some of their own who were born smaller.
These primal forms offered many benefits to the daimn. Though they can be slain, they are, much like their aes predecessors, functionally immortal. They also require no air to breathe and are immune to illness and poisons. They also found themselves unable to wield magic, like the aes, though for different reasons. Daimn are bound to the natural world like no other people, and magic comes from beyond this world. As a result, it is anathema to them. Unlike the aes, though, they do require food and drink to survive (though the definition of what constitutes both expands greatly thanks to their elemental natures). Their sexes are also fixed, as they were forged to conform with what they were most comfortable with—though, like the aes, they are unable to reproduce. They also possess the same five senses as humans do.
Since their reawakening, little has changed, save that the time spent frozen has led to their forms to become craggier, with new growths, erosion, and other time-wrought changes robbing them of even more of their symmetrical features. Another change is that their connection with Fate has strengthened. Perhaps the Norns whispered to the daimn while they slept. Or maybe the magic of the Fate-rending disaster that awakened them has interacted with their own primal energies. Regardless, daimn now find themselves drawn to important places and people, and the common folk greet the arrival of one with polite reverence, understanding the importance of their struggle against the chaos but unwilling to confront the truly dire state the world finds itself in.
- Ancestral Modifier: +1 to three Bonuses and –1 to three Bonuses, determined by the element the player chooses
- Boons: Elemental Affinity (Chosen Element), Odsight, and Undying and one the player chooses
- Banes: Fateless, Magical Creature, Odic Outcast and one the player chooses
- Impact on role-play: Moderate