Dwarves

Dwarves are the unparalleled masters of metal and stone. All dwarves of every realm are masters of warfare and crafting and work towards all they do with vigor and gusto. Dwarves are the children of Baerad and every dwarf acknowledges, if not worships, their creator. All dwarves have a deep respect for culture and tradition and most dwarven communities operate in a clan structure with a clan representing a family lineage. To challenge one dwarf is to challenge his entire clan.

Dwarf Traits

Age

Dwarves mature at the same rate as humans, but they’re considered young until they reach the age of 50. On average, they live about 350 years.

Size

Dwarves stand between 4 and 5 feet tall and average about 150 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 25 feet. Your speed is not reduced by wearing heavy armor.

Darkvision

Accustomed to life underground, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Dwarven Resilience

You have advantage on saving throws against poison, and you have resistance against poison damage (explained in the “Combat” section).

Dwarven Combat Training

You have proficiency with the battleaxe, handaxe, light hammer, and warhammer.

Tool Proficiency

You gain proficiency with the artisan’s tools of your choice: smith’s tools, brewer’s supplies, or mason’s tools.

Stonecunning

Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to the origin of stonework, you are considered proficient in the History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your normal proficiency bonus.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Dwarvish. Dwarvish is full of hard consonants and guttural sounds, and those characteristics spill over into whatever other language a dwarf might speak.

Mountain Dwarf Traits

Dwarven Armor Training

You have proficiency with light and medium armor.

Hill Dwarf Traits

Dwarven Toughness

Your hit point maximum increases by 1, and it increases by 1 every time you gain a level.

Storm Dwarf Traits

Mountain Athletes

Storm Dwarves have proficiency in Athletics and are always considered to have moved 10 feet before jumping for Long Jumps and High Jumps.

Mountain Dwarves in Oraereum

Personality

Mountain dwarves are xenophobic at worst and stand-offish at best. They care little for outsiders and would prefer the world leave them alone. However, their loyalty is unmatched once their trust is earned and to befriend a mountain dwarf is to make an ally for life. According to a halfling bard the best conversation with a mountain dwarf is the one where they don't say anything at all - that means they like you.

Relations

Mountain dwarves regard all races with a certain level of annoyance, however, even the most xenophobic dwarves realize they cannot make enemies on all sides. Dwarves tend to try to hold peaceful relations with close neighbors and to stimulate trade with them. Mountain dwarves are the most tolerant of Gnomes whom they also regard as children of the earth. A mountain dwarf will also hold good relations with halflings and humans as long as they are respectful. Mountain dwarves absolutely despise orcs, goblinoids and gnolls and will likely attack them on sight. Dwarves generally mistrust half-orcs but do not hold the circumstances of their birth over them and give each individual a chance to prove their worth.

Society/Alignment

Mountain dwarves tend towards a more lawful alignment as their entire society is rooted in strict discipline and routine. Mountain dwarves are not without free will, however, and their alignment can be equally as varied as humans.

Mountain Dwarf Lands

Mountain dwarves live deep in the earth in vast underground communities. There is not a mountain range in all of Oraereum that hasn't held a mountain dwarf city or town at one point in its long life. The largest and oldest of the mountain dwarves kingdoms is Kal Duaran beneath the mountains of the same name located on the continent of Andaria. The realm of Kal Duaran is a vast underground kingdom said to go on for hundreds of miles beneath the mountain range.

Religion

Mountain dwarves as a society pay homage to their creator first, Baerad. Baerad is the god of earth, stone and metal and his children are the dwarves. Imbued with his blessing and gift for metalwork and stonework they create vast effigies of him towering thousands of feet in height. To a lesser extent dwarves also pay homage to the other good-aligned deities and generally spit on the more malicious ones.

Hill Dwarves in Oraereum

Personality

Hill dwarves are much more sociable than their mountain brethren but still socially inept by most standards. A hill dwarf is wary of strangers but a few rounds of ale will loosen their tongue and warm their mood. Hill dwarves value ancestral wisdom and tend to think or even over think most actions.

Relations

Hill dwarves try to live in peace with those around them but they protect their allies and their own fiercely. They generally welcome all travelers and share their stories but have little patience for strangers who won't even share the company of a good meal. Hill dwarves also despise orcs, goblinoids and gnolls and drive them from their lands. Hill dwarves are much more tolerant of strange folk and will give almost anyone a chance to prove to be a friend if given enough time and ale.

Society/Alignment

Hill dwarves are generally good and cheerful in their ways. They do not trend towards lawful or chaotic as they are both free spirits and rooted in routine and tradition all at once. It is a strange balance.

Hill Dwarf Lands

The very first hill dwarves were forced out of their mountaintop homes, usually by dire circumstances or enemies, but under the clear blue sky and sunlight they found a world worth settling upon. They still favor stone buildings over wooden ones and even earthen dwellings are preferred. Most hill dwarves in the world can trace their lineage back to their homeland though, the hills and mountains of Kal Tuaran on the continent of Vellyria.

Religion

“A hill dwarf without religion is not a hill dwarf at all,” goes the saying. Hill dwarves, like their mountainous cousins, revere the earth lord Baerad but to a hill dwarf religion and the church is tantamount. Their entire society revolves around the clergy and the wisdom of Baerad. Each dwarven community is overseen by either a clan chief or the king and the ruling dwarf is advised directly on the wisest course of action by his advisors and the clergy who make great use of divination magic to predict the consequences of their decisions.

Storm Dwarves in Oraereum

Personality

Storm dwarves are wild and energetic. They throw caution to the wind and live for the moment. The saying goes, “You can always predict a storm dwarf to be unpredictable.” Nothing is more exhilarating to a storm dwarf than never knowing what is going to happen next. Storm dwarves are very quick to anger and love a good fight like any dwarf but are more prone to brashness and jumping to conclusions.

Relations

Just as their personalities are very chaotic so are their reactions to other races. Storm dwarves are much more tolerant towards gnomes, halflings and humans but other races in their midst could be subject to being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Storm dwarves are quick to blame others for trouble and rarely hold fair and impartial trials. The one race storm dwarves get along with surprisingly well with are the elves. While their more 'grounded' cousins generally regard the elves as unpredictable and flighty storm dwarves admire the trait and can often find themselves having good relations with the elves.

Alignment

Most, if not all, storm dwarves tend towards the chaotic. On the other spectrum they gravitate towards the good but there are many more that regard themselves as neutral as far as good and evil.

Storm Dwarf Lands

Storm dwarves dwell on the highest peaks of the highest mountains where the spires of their cities can touch the clouds and the storms of the world. The homeland of the storm dwarves lies at the top of the Kal Muaran mountains in northern Vellyria. Storm dwarves, despite their chaotic nature, still retain the love of great works of stone and metal and build such structures everywhere they can. A storm dwarf city is a sprawling connection of towers and mountain sided dwellings. Whatever method to their madness the spires of a storm dwarf community are considered one of the great wonders of engineering, even by their mountain and hill dwarf brethren, and many a storm dwarf has been contracted to build a wizard's tower or other structure outside of the mountains, albeit under close supervision.

Religion

Storm dwarves know that their creator is the god Baedrad and they pay him the respect he deserves and every storm dwarf engineer offers great prayer before beginning construction on one of the mighty dwarven spires. However, the storm dwarves have found much to admire in the Goddess Tyrississ, much to their creators chagrin. Most storm dwarves consider themselves devout followers of both the wind Goddess and the Lord of stone at the same time. A combination of worship which has most non-storm dwarves perplexed.