Dwarf

A people with a deep affinity for Earth, the dwarves may be the most ancient sapient race native to Ferkathas.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Humanoid.

Genetics and Reproduction

Sexual reproduction; 9-month gestation within the female.
"Mountain dwarves" and "hill dwarves" are so interbred that they can both occur in the same family, as easily as different eye colors can occur between relatives.

Growth Rate & Stages

• Infant (Tiny): 0-2 years
• Toddler (Tiny): 3-5 years
• Young child (Small): 6-11 years
• Older child (Small): 12-17 years
• Adolescent (Small): 18-37 years
• Young adult: 38-95 years
• Middle-aged: 96-260 years
• Elderly: 261-350 years
• Venerable: 351+ years

Ecology and Habitats

Dwarves can thrive underground or above ground, or a mix of both. Most prefer to live at least parts of their lives underground. Mountain dwarves show a slight preference for a partially-above-ground life compared to hill dwarves.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Dwarven diet is as diverse as human diet, but it historically includes two important elements that are less familiar to humans: khahnegu and rothe meat.

Additional Information

Facial characteristics

Dwarven males typically grow abundant facial hair, and are culturally proud of it. Some females grow lesser amounts of facial hair as well (still a lot compared to typical human females).

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Legend has it that the dwarves' ancestral origin was near modern-day Ustuntt; there are ruins aplenty in the deep mountain valleys and caves near there, and the Ustuntt dwarves are proud to claim that they haven't wandered far throughout their history.
Ustuntt is the second-most populous collection of dwarves in modern Ferkathas, however, after Kartekus, "the glory of modern dwarven strength."
Dwarves have been around long enough, though, that dwarven ruins can be found just about anywhere in the Firmwold. For example, the Dawn Way crossing the Vale of Ezznak is a relatively ancient dwarven trade route, which connected two strong dwarven kingdoms near Ustuntt with dwarven communities in the coastal mountains of Kabos. Remnants of this trade route persist in the form of smaller dwarven populations today: the Hammerfist Holds kingdom of Ezznak, and the clans of Dassen.
Each of these communities has a mix of mountain dwarves and hill dwarves.

Average Intelligence

10 Intelligence.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Dwarves can see in the dark. They have vague intuitive senses related to their affinity with Earth, such as an instinct about how much rock is looming above their heads. Their senses are otherwise similar to humans'.

Civilization and Culture

History

The dwarves are unanimously believed to have been created ("forged") by the great God from the Plane of Earth, Moradin, in the centuries following The Great Quench. Some dwarves claim that their ancestors existed as early as 11,000 M.A., but archaeological evidence is only considered solid back to about 9,000 M.A.
Before 7,000 M.A., the dwarven craftsmen had learned to sculpt and forge giants, a lost process that is thought to have been similar to the creation of golems—but greater, in some ways, as the giants had their own rudimentary intelligence and could reproduce and breed. Though the dwarven lands were concentrated in the mountains, they still resented the occasional clashes they had with the aboleth, and resolved collectively to drive the aboleth from the lands of the Firmwold.
They were successful in doing so, with their armies of enslaved giants, although the process of the Scourging of Scales took 124 years.
Circa 7000 M.A. was arguably the height of dwarven civilization in all of history; their kingdoms spanned the entire Firmwold. Unfortunately, in this era, fiend-fueled warlock magics began to be very popular throughout the aristocracy of dwarven culture. Several prominent dwarven leaders made demons their trusted advisors (or were secretly replaced with demonic leaders entirely), and several massive civil wars and hundreds of portals to the Abyssal planes were the result. Dwarven society was torn apart, and has never entirely recovered.
Dwarven influence on the Prime Plane gradually re-grew during the three millennia known as the Era of Titans and the Dragon Age.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

With their long history, the dwarves have interacted with many races prominently. However, even with dwarves' long lifespans, eleven thousand years is a long time for old grudges and feuds to cool down.
Two grudges that remain are between the dwarves and the goblinoids, and between the dwarves and the orcs. Both "savage" races compete with the dwarves for mountainous territory, and are seen as species of inferior culture and intelligence.

Lifespan

350 years

Average Height

4'0" - 4'10"

Average Weight

120 - 190 lb.

Average Physique

10-12 Strength, 12-13 Constitution; stocky