Copperkin
Eirdvergur
Overview
Rich as a Copperkin.
The Copperkins are one of only two surface dwarven clans. They are one of the richest clans and no other clan has the amount of merchants the Copperkin have. Except for the Desertwalkers maybe.
Most of the Copperkins have black, brown and copper-y skin, dark or amber eyes and dark, bushy hair. Males and females alike grow their hair long and in braids in various forms and styles.
They are not the clan with the most power, but they have the most gold of all clans and the largest amount of the Old Coins, how they are called. After the straightlining of the currencies by the Golden Hoard Capital and Investment Management they hold the largest amount and fight for it with fire, blood and steel.
There are six merchant families in the capital with the most power over people and resources. Some argue that people are also resources, but what do they know, hu?
Those six families have a lot of resources and a lot of trades. And with every successful trade grows the envy, the intrigues and the murderous blood-spilling. But - and most of the people and dwarves will agree with this - an assassination is out of the question because there lies no honour in a murder attempt when the enemy does not know who has killed them, right?
So the dwarven clans are bound in a nearly endless fight against each other over trade opportunities and resources like quarries, mines or plantations. They held festivals and open-battle-days where the enmity of the rivaling clans can be played out and the blood spilling is legal for a while.
And because of their riches and the gigantic vault - even Horifax the Golden has an eye open for this vault - the fortifications of their capital Grodan are massive and even the fortifications of the human capital Manvongr look like toys.
Clan structure
- Emperor
- High Trade
- Builder
- Worker
The Emperor and his Empress are royalty. They rule the Copperkin Empire and are only bound by their own laws and common sense. In regards of political endeavours they can't do everything they want because there are rules to follow and to obey, even an Emperor and his Empress are bound by these.
The High Trade caste is the same as royalty, so to speak. Those are the richest and powerful families, every five years they have to compete with other families to secure - and hold - one of the six seats. Every seat is a council seat, there is no king and no queen, there is only the Emperor and his Empress on top of them.
Builders is in most cases not the right description. It is mostly the common folk of the Copperkins, speaking tailors, handmaidens, leatherworkers, lowly merchants without a powerful family behind them.
And last, but not least, the Workers. This caste is literally what it is called: a caste full of workers. Workers in the mines, the quarries, sometimes architects, cleaners and so on. It is not a low-paid caste per se, it depends on the specialisation
The famous and most prestiged Hearthkeepers are in the Builders caste, but only most of them have no rich family behind them. There are a few exceptions, of course, but every Hearthkeeper is cherished as a utterly valuable treasure. What they are, obviously.
Male & Female
The Copperkin Clan is one of the clans where the male is considered higher up than the females. Which leads to interesting conflicts, even in the own family. Sometimes the wives kill their husbands because of reasons. It is legally allowed to divorce a man - or kill him - when he is repeatedly denying her wisdom or don't pour her drinks like coffee, tea or alcohol.
Most of the dwarven families are led by a bunch of male dwarves, mostly the oldest male and the oldest son. But internally most of the female dwarves rule their families from within with accounting, resources or favours.
Culinary
Most of the Copperkin has a garden or at least some area in their homes where they grow mushrooms. But the priciest mushroom belongs to one of the High Trade families and is called Golden Embrace because of its dark yellow-to-golden inner colour and its rich taste. Fried, stirred or cooked it is so nutritious that it can replace an entire meal.
The downside: combined with certain herbs the mushroom is activating its defensive mode and tries to poison everything what is trying to eat it.
The cap is coloured in a dark grey or black with golden sprinkles on the cap which are looking like worms or other insects. It is a passive defensive mechanism to prevent it from being eaten by appearing to be in the process of rot.
Golden Embrace Mushroom by CrazyEddie via Midjourney
Religious Beliefs
The Copperkin believe like the Stonekin that there are two entities, managing their lives, the afterlife, their intentions. They believe, that every step in their lives is foretold in something called the "Great Script". The Great Script is managed by an overseer, mostly called "Greybeard". He has a name, but it is forgotten (or locked away, nobody is really sure about either of it). He has six apprentices who helps him to write the Great Script and so help him to write the life of every dwarf there is.
The first entity is the father. His name is Anghalar and he is the god of war, family, everything what is shiny.
The second entity is the mother. Her name is Jurniara and she is the goddess of the crafts, everything that grows and animals.
In death they greet her as an old friend because Death is friendly and kind. She is depicted as a warrior with brown hair and gold in it and a double-handed axe. Death is not one of the two entities mentioned above, she just awaits the dwarves at the finishing line and brings them into the afterlife where they can fight, smith and eat since the dawn of time and the last battle.
They also believe in the Goddess of the Forge like they believe in their other deities.
Those are the actual and original beliefs in the dwarven culture. But the Copperkin also believe in three other dwarven gods. Their names are Murgulad, Tronsh and Callswa.
Murgulad is the God of War. A grim warrior with only victory in mind. He does not care if the battle is won or lost, his main priority is to win the war. Sometimes he is so bored, that he comes to the clans and helps them in their wars against each other or in the skirmishes down in the Spiral. Or is a travel companion of a dwarven Mortal God.
Tronsh is the God of Craftsmanship. He is depicted with a chisel in hand, a hammer in his belt and on his back a shovel with a small pickaxe. He does not care about specific projects, because he is building something on his own, but nobody knows what exactly.
Callswa is the Goddess of Gold, mostly called the Rich Goddess or Goddess of Riches. She is mostly depicted in expensive luxurious robes - sometimes transparent, sometimes not - with dark skin, glowing amber eyes and sitting on a black granite throne with golden veins in it, surrounded by luxurious cloth, coins and other things made out of the most precious metals.
Free time
Most of the dwarven people have little free time, but when they do, their hobbies are time-consuming or dangerous. Most of them at least. The least dangerous hobby to have is the collection and the study of stones. Because there is wisdom in stone. Others wrestle with wild animals or try to hone their skills in weaponry or alchemy. But there are a few dwarven bards and those people can sing like heaven.
"What are they singing?"
"Something about a ship, a war, a love and a drink."
"Hu"?
"Yeah, don't ask..."
"It is so slow and powerful. I thought dwarves are only fast playing."
"Not the Copperkin."
Tales about the Copperkin
"Did you... do you... see that?"
"Maybe? What do you mean?"
"This!"
"The capital?"
"YES!"
"What is with Grodan?"
"It is so huge. And the walls..."
"Impressive, right? They can withstand even the hottest dragon fire and their ballistas can shoot them right out of the air. And yes, the towers are even larger than those of Manvongr."
"You killed him."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"He didn't poured me tea and if I asked, he laughed and tried to undress me in an non-honourable manner."
"Was he drunk?"
"No. But that is not an excuse."
"No, it isn't. You are free of charges."
"This, ma mate, is tha' best thing I ha'. You wanna try? Ah yesh, yesh, right thar', a bit to yesh... perfect!"
"You are costing what?!"
"You wanted a golden bath."
"Yes, but with this you can buy a house!"
"Correct. I need to do the inlay, the metalworks, the pipes, the pumps... it is not just the thub, it is everything connected to it."
"So... can you do a larger one for more people?"
"I am what you may thing of a heart. Of the soul. But I am not one of those things. I am the brain, the parasite inside the body of this family. The one thing I have to do is to convince the men that they are in control."
"Knives, knives, fresh out of the smithy! You want one, Sir? Yes, with your name or your sigil? Aye, I can do this. Oh, a fresh one? For a bit extra I can craft it right before your eyes. Yes, indeed. Something to drink?"
Data
- height: 130 - 175cm
- weight: 90 - 200kg
- lifetime: 800 - 1000 years
- Two legs
- two arms
- one brain
- two eyes (with better nightvision than an elf)
- five fingers
- five toes
- humanoid primary sexual organs
Portrait of a Copperkin Male
Portrait of a Copperkin Male
Portrait of a Copperkin Male
Portrait of a Copperkin Male
Portrait of a Copperkin Male
Portrait of a Copperkin Male
Portrait of a Copperkin Male
Portrait of a Copperkin Male
Great as always!
btw when you introduce Murgulad, Tronsh and Callswa you are writing about four gods but then name and describe only three, I guess its a small counting mistake ^^
Fekk, you are right. I think I wanted to do four gods and decided in the middle of writing "eh, make it three". So it is now three :D