Gafhi

The Gafhi are a dwarven people of the Gafahraz Mountains and the valleys south of it. Known somewhat pejoratively as the pit-men, the Gafhi dig their homes into the earth and stone of their native land. As the lands of the Gafhi do not have the rich mineral wealth of the Children of Aktar, the Gafhi are considered a backwards people, poor and uncivilized. The Gafhi cut the trees of their native hills and mountains to sell downriver, for they have nothing else of value.
Divided into small clans, the Gafhi hold common the terrace farms they carve into the hillsides at great effort. The rough terrain of the Gafahraz keeps the Gafhi clans apart from eachother, and further from the Thaners of the higher peaks. They are known as goat herders, and some Gafhi clans migrate year-round, usually down the valley in the south and up the mountains again, keeping pit-homes in both locations.

Culture

Shared customary codes and values

The Gafhi live in tight-knit clan groupings, and are suspicious of outsiders. Family is life, and what outsiders come to the Gafahraz are usually there to exploit the Gafhi in one way or another. These beliefs make them fairly unhospitable to non-Gafhi in their own lands, a fact that does not improve their reputation. However, the Gafhi are extraordinarily devoted to their friends and family, and will literally bury a body for their fellows.

To the Gafhi, the worst sin is to abandon your clan and family, but little better is to exploit their generosity. Further, the Gafhi despise waste and celebrate frugality. Using even the roots of the trees they fell, conspicuous displays of wealth are rare, and the finery the Gafhi wear tends to be made from things that would otherwise have no purpose but to look pretty.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

The Gafhi have a particular way of eating, where they make stew in a common pot and spread it on a special flatbread, which they eat using only their right hand. This bread is made from a grass that only grows midway up the mountain, but every clan keeps a store with them.
Another peculiarity of the Gafhi is the many ways in which they use tree roots, from food flavorings to ceremonially burning them while adjudicating disputes between fellow Gafhi. Among the Gafhi, burning root is believed the connect the Gafhi with primal forces of truth and wisdom, and has a deep religious element.

Gafhi Man by Artbreeder

Encompassed species

• Stew Hogg

Related Organizations

• Agbithan Crusade
• Dragon Cults of Inkrimane
• Gafhi Serafi
• Howudra

Related Locations

• Gafahraz Mountains