Dwarf
Dwarves are a race common throughout parts of Kalarda. Dwarves, sometimes called the Stout Folk and Deep Folk, were a tough, tradition-abiding folk known for their strong martial traditions and beautiful craftsmanship.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Dwarves were stout, having two arms and two legs and naturally dense bones that were hard to damage or break.
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, these apprenticeships might last decades.
Facial characteristics
Male dwarves were often bald and grew thick facial hair, which was sometimes used to display social status. Unusually for humanoids, both sexes naturally grew ample facial hair
Geographic Origin and Distribution
While dwarves could be found all over Kalarda, their densest populations were in Kaza in northern Aureli and in parts of the Glacialspine peaks in northern Shoula
Average Intelligence
Dwarven Intelligence was Above Average in comparison to the other races in Kalarda
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Dwarves tend to have Simple NorseiInfluened names such as Flosi,Gormur,Kili,Moira,Magni, and Thorin
Major Organizations
Kingdom of Kaza, The Kingdom of Iron Rock
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Dwarves Spoke Dwarvish/Dwarven.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
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.
Likewise, dwarves, perhaps moreso than most other races, turned to the gods for guidance and protection. Non-evil dwarves looked to the divine for comfort and inspiration, while the wicked looked to their divine overlords for methods through which to obtain power over others. Individual dwarves might be faithless, but the race as a whole, regardless of subrace, had a strong inclination for religion and almost every community maintained at least one temple or ancestral shrine
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
The Dwarven race values its honor and pride, and a single dwarven clan or lone dwarf can hold a grudge for many centuries. one of the ways Dwarves deal with insults is the "Og-Agar" or the "Honorable Dual" in the common tongue a right that all dwarves have to settle disputes amongst each other though it is often the last resort if no other settlement can be reached. The Og-Agar has even on rare occasions been invoked in legal matters as a final motion.
Common Taboos
Breaking ones word was considered a great taboo among dwarves and often resulted in centuries long feuds and even wars.
History
Like many races, the exact origins of the dwarves were lost in myth and legend. Though most dwarves believe believed that their ancestors came from the heart of the planet itself, given life by Moradin after being made by the All-Father's hammer in the Soulforge in the First Age
Regardless of their origins, Dwarves have been on since times long past and have mostly; been successful. The First known dwarven settlements were in the Glacialspine Peaks giving rise to what would be the first Mountain Dwarves, From there dwarves spread out throughout Kalarda. Some would go south to the deserts of Nekash becoming the first Southlands dwarves, some would go west and find the lands of Astratus and settle there in the deep becoming the first hill dwarves, some dwarves took to the sea and never left becoming what is known as the Spindrift dwarves, some dwarves would find their way into the Elemental plane of fire and become the First Flame dwarves.
The last dwarven lineage formed from the Mountain Dwarves of Clan Duergar. These hapless dwarves who lived beneath the Eastern Black Peaks ere in time captured and enslaved by the illithids, becoming the separate but related race known as the duergar. Over the ages, the twisting of illithid psionics caused the duergar to grow more and more distant from their kin.
Historical Figures
Nargrim Dreadhammer, Kazan Bitter-Axe
Common Myths and Legends
Dwarven Creation myths states that the dwarves were carved from the heart of the planet itself and given life by Moradin.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Dwarves were firm believers in the righteousness of their own ways, yet were surprisingly tolerant of the cultures of others, much of which was due to their natural introversion. Polite dwarves normally declined to speak their minds about others regardless of their true feelings; behavior considered "good enough" was left alone and not considered their business. Certain violent behavior might prompt more direct forms of response, but for the most part dwarves would live and let live. They got along passably well with most other races, their pragmatism and sense of honor serving diplomacy well, and few reasonable societies could not come to some level of agreement of them.
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.
Dwarves and gnomes had a history of cordial relations, mutually seeing each other as family, however distant. One dwarven myth proposed that the gnomes were once dwarves and Garl Glittergold a long-forgotten dwarven deity of magic known as Garal, who turned his devoted into gnomes. Dwarves held the outlooks the two had in common in strong regard, looking at gnomish culture with affectionate bemusement and gnomes often felt that dwarves had a grounding in the greater truths of the world that they themselves lacked. However, long-term contact between the two would likely cause irritation, for while they envied the dwarves, gnomes were unwilling to stick to their lifestyle. Dwarf strongholds were always open to gnomes, but few dwarves were comfortable enough with gnome ways to stay for long in their settlements.
Similarly to gnomes, dwarves had a fondness for halflings comparable to an older brother's concern for a smaller, more awkward sibling. Dwarves prized the halfling talent for fitting in and lending a hand, while halflings admired the strong family ties and industriousness (as well as the nose for profit) of the dwarves. However, dwarves were usually stodgy and somewhat provincial in contrast to the more adventurous halflings. Furthermore, halflings, who did not hold martial prowess as important, saw dwarves as too war-like. Some dwarves mistook their disinterest for inability and could prove patronizing, yet halflings quietly dismissed this overbearing and somewhat arrogant attitude as part of dwarvish nature. Dwarves remained blissfully pleased with their relations besides vague concern and diplomatic offers of military aid.
More than any other race, humans were capable of dwarven behavior, readily absorbing their virtues and able to value them almost equally. They looked up to the tradition, honor, conviction, and family values central to them, and admired dwarven martial skill and stonecraft. The two races had always been cordial neighbors at the very least, and when humans modeled their societies after dwarves, it was a source of pride and joy. However, humans were so morally and ethically flexible that they could also be almost elf-like, seeming flighty to their slow-paced ways. What all human nations shared was a short memory, and human adaptability was countered in their minds by cultural inconsistency. Still, if dwarves were good at anything, it was finding potential hidden below the surface, and so even in the darkest times, they never gave up on humanity.
Dwarven and elven relations were infamously volatile, their vastly disparate perspectives on the relationship between the individual and society resulting in countless misunderstandings and feuds. While dwarves subjugated the individual in favor of the group, elves did the opposite, and while both ways of life worked for their respective races, it made it hard for the two to agree on specific plans. Dwarves were both frustrated and amused by their apparent flightiness, lack of family focus, and irresponsibility of a race that, given their long lives and magic power, should be some of the most responsible of all. The emotional elves usually saw the naturally reserved dwarves as too dour, foolishly failing to express themselves and their opinions. Dwarves and elves were both basically good however, and so agreed on the most important issues; like squabbling siblings, they jumped to the others' defense against outside forces despite their threats, shouts, and insults.
Dwarves got along well with Dragonborn and especially well with Metallic Dragonborn sharing similar cultural ideals and family or clan focuses. Metallic Dragonborn were one of the few races able to reliably befriend dwarves in under a century.
Dwarves did not forgive past wrongs easily and the entire race had more or less at times 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
As competitors for underground resources, dwarves and kobolds frequently fought over subterranean claims. The anti-social sentiments and persecution complex of the kobolds made diplomacy difficult, and while the two didn't always attack each other, neither side needed much provocation to start fighting. Not helping their relations was how dwarves frequently allied with or fought for gnomes against kobold tribes. However, if the two ended up working together due to circumstance, they could discover a common work ethic able to form the foundation of respectful friendships
Genetic Descendants
Lifespan
350 years
Average Height
4'3-4'9 ft
Average Weight
160-220ibs
Average Physique
Most Dwarves were often stout and Bulky
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Dwarven skin tones could come in a range of colors, similar to those of humans.
Related Organizations
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