Dwarves

"I thought you said these mines were all unclaimed," I said guardedly. "They are all unclaimed!" he insisted, looking at the area of wall I was eyeing. Pointing at the angular script carved into the wall, I said, "What about the dwarves? Did they give you permission to work their claim, then?" "What, that?" he asked dismissively. "I didn't even know that was dwarvish. What's it say?" I sighed, thinking, I knew this was too good to be true. "I don't know exactly what it says, but I know they don't go carving messages into just any old wall. Do all the mines have script like this?" He shrugged indifferently. "Maybe. I didn't notice." I shook my head, turning around. "Hey, where are you going? You haven't even seen our find!" he exclaimed. I continued walking back out of the mine entrance, speaking over my shoulder. "I'll have no part in a wrongful claim negotiation with a clan of dwarves, nor shall The Emporium fund such a likely outcome."

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Dwarves are found in every range of mountain and hills in the world... when they want to be. The largest gathering of the reclusive creatures that can be easily interacted with is found in the city of Beremen in the Spirited Lands of the northern continent. Standing no more than chest-high on a grown human, the stocky creatures seem formed of the materials they obsess over, their eyes appearing as cut gems and their bodies formed of rock and pressed earth. "Hair" made of thin, clinging filaments of silicate substances grows from their head and chin over time; one can accurately gauge the age of a given dwarf by the length of this growth.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Names among the dwarves, spoken in full, are lengthy affairs. Consisting of personal, family, clan, and ancestor names, they are delivered with great fanfare and flourish if asked for; thankfully, most dwarves accept being called by their personal names or a nickname they approve of.

Beauty Ideals

Entirely male, (it is unknown how the species reproduces) dwarves see beauty in a flawless cut of emerald, a perfectly-forged weapon, tool, or piece of armor, and in the best-shaped hills and cave entrances. ...What exactly determines the quality of the latter is uncertain to other races.

Common Taboos

A dwarf will not willingly cross large bodies of water except under the greatest of duress or need. (This raises questions about how the race is spread across both the northern and southern continents, which the dwarves have not bothered to yet answer.)

History

The dwarves have always been on Tempax. Born of the land itself, they claim the land in turn as their own, stating confidently that they have the only true right to utilize its hidden resources. All races' histories mention the creatures at least in passing, and even the elves do not claim to have any tales or records of how the dwarves came to be.

Common Myths and Legends

According to the dwarves, the first of them simply sprang from the earth, fully-formed and with great knowledge of how to work stone, metal, and gem alike. This dwarf, in turn, shaped the first clan from rock and earth, keeping the knowledge of how to do so from his children until he was certain they were prepared to run their own clans. Once he was convinced of their readiness, he taught them, and those thirteen dwarves then became the founders of the thirteen original clans. These are the thirteen ancestors whom all dwarves claim lineage from.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Dwarves do not interact with other species if they can help it, but when they do, it is for trade. Dwarves believe all mountains and hills are theirs to mine and tend, and other races owe them reparations for trespasses on ancestrally-owned ground. They do recognize 'first-come-first-served' methods of claim, so grudgingly do not pursue conflict when another race legitimately beats them to a location, but in all other instances, they raise an official claim of wrongdoing with the appropriate authorities. These claims are sometimes delivered an entire generation after the location has been thoroughly mined out, the dwarves not tracking time with the same urgency as other races, yet they insist on their claims being investigated and repaid.