Dwarves: A Northern Song and A Southern Fury

The sounds of my feet upon the smooth carved stone echoed through the large cold rotunda. As I stepped deeper into the entranceways of the dwarven capital It was as the stone sung to me, each repetition of the clacking of my boots like the deep sonata of a dwarven maiden. I find myself stepping as if in tune with some great bard's ballad and soon was lost in my own world a dancing fool. Perhaps they thought me an idiot the small halfling prancing down their great halls gliding my ink-stained fingers along the intricate runes and carvings that stretched down the walls of each corridor like a continuous masterpiece of some elven painter. I cared not what they thought but imagine my surprise upon seeing the stern and stoic dwarves following along.

— Mamori Kanua, A Fool's Journey, exploring the great dwarven capital of Estrelan Esperan

A Storied People

Some claim that the dwarves were carved directly from the stone of the earth by Raga the Scornful, that long before Svenna's tears had washed against the realms Raga had forged the stout folk in her firey ashen image and imbued them with both her stoic nature and fiery core. It is this myth that gave rise to the belief that Northern Dwarves had simple not been imbued with same hot temperament as their southern cousins and as such have ashen white hair. The dwarves have been on Baile far before any other race they've built years of culture and advancements far before the "Falling of 10 Stars". Carving deep beautiful cities beneath the large mountains of Baile one could possible go many an eight-day exploring the deep connecting tunnels and halls that link one dwarven stronghold to another. Along the walls of such vast corridors are carvings detailing the rich history of the dwarven folk such as great cultural achievements, civil wars, and long forgotten enemies. Its not in any tapestry or dusty tome that the dwarves record their long storied past but on the very stone they live within.

Of Stone and Hearth

The Dwarves are quite striking in appearance, they have stout and robust bodies which makes them quite easy to tell apart from the other shorter Kindred. They are wide of frame and often don't reach above 7-8 heads in height but if this is either a bane or boon is heard to determine as even in their short stature they are unbelievably hardy and strong some dwarves strong enough to go toe to toe with fearsome Ork champions during the War of Fools. They are usually of dark to light tan skin tone, northern dwarves tending to have a lighter skin complexion, they also vary in temperament and culture greatly. Another striking difference that outsiders to dwarven culture might notice is their beards and hair, both sexes of dwarves grow beards though the men tend towards more full facial beards and women tend to keep theirs neatly managed and styled. Though culturally only those who find themselves among the ranks of warriors grow full-length beards, usually one can tell the significance of a dwarves military service by how many fanciful baubles and trinkets they adorn their beard and hair with.

By Sebastian Schmidt Long of Life and Hair

Dwarves age vastly different than other Kindred while they will wrinkle and grow frail over the course of their long lives they tend to only do so after their first 6th to 7th century. But one can possibly indicate, with varying accuracy, the age of a dwarf by the length of one's hair as a true dwarf will never trim or cut their hair. Elder dwarfs often sport large body-sized hairstyles including, buns, braids, and whatnot. Dwarven convicts will often have all their hair shaved and dwarven ex-criminals or rebels will sport large decorated mohawks.

The Great Matriarch

While the Humans refer to her as Aoina, Mother of Mothers dwarves refer to the mother goddess as Danus the Life-Giver she who gave birth to the stars and the heavenly homes they revere her not only as the mother of all the holy children but also as a goddess of power and belief in one's self. Aoina or Danus is such an important goddess within the dwarven culture they over time have given mothers of great wisdom one of the most important positions within their government. Dubbed the Great Matriarchs these are mothers within dwarven society that hold the final say in all dwarven affairs while not the absolute power in dwarven society it is the Great Matriarchs that dictate the formation of the dwarven caste, which houses hold more power over the other and elect the king in the event that one must be chosen. Often a group of 4 distinguished and decorated dwarven women the council of matriarchs are a powerful group within the dwarven kingdoms that routinely shape the future of their people which can lead to great benefit or devasting falls.

Fractured Earth

Once a wholly unified people the dwarves had a massive and bloody civil war also called the "Great Rupturing". The truth of what caused this grisly conflict has been lost as there was no carving detailing the gruesome build up of the Great Rupturing only a single mural depicting warring dwarves and a great "star" falling from the sky. The rumors, however, state that the leaders of two of the great dwarven houses had come to a struggle of power. Agna Snatcha and Imber Unnaldah began the civil war over power and control and many years of bloodshed came to pass until at the precipice of the war when the chaos hordes clambered from the deep unexplored caverns within the mountains of the dwarven strongholds. Rat-men and Ork alike attacked swiftly and without warning and the warring dwarves had no choice to put aside their differences to beat back the forces of chaos. None truly know what brought upon this incursion of chaos but some rumor that it was brought by the Falling of 10 stars as the artifact that was once held in the dwarven capital was stolen by the Rat-men forces during the "Battle of Waters Deep."

Once the war with the chaotic threat had concluded some years later it was clear that the dwarves had still not reconciled their issues. It was decided that they would split those of House Snatcha would stay within the great holds of the Dwarven kingdoms and those of House Unnaldah would travel south to found new lands.

Gruag Gheal

Often referred to as "Ash Haired" by non-dwarves, the northern dwarves are truly a distinct people from their southern brethren. Often denoted for their ash white hair the myth that all northern dwarves share this trait is false as only those directly descended from Agna Snatcha share this striking feature and over the years most drives of her bloodline only retain large streaks of white rather than fully pale hair coloration. They as a people hold distinct cultural beliefs from the southern dwarves for instance while still an incredible military power the focus of the Gruag Gheal have become the arts particularly music which is not hard to understand when one hears the rhythms of a smith's forge or the echoing whistles of a guard on patrol. Music has become of great cultural significance to the northern dwarves so much so that newly carved halls and tunnel have been done so with the intention of providing better "acoustics". Amphitheaters are plentiful and anyone visiting a northern capital will hear the baritone sonata of a dwarven songstress flowing through the smooth stone corridors.

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Falt Ruadh

Called "Blood Haired" as a colloquial term by both dwarves and other Kindred the southern dwarven people represent everything that their northern counterparts are not, they are as firey and bold as their bright auburn hair. The southern dwarves while strangers in a new land adapted after some time. Not abandoning their old ways they began to craft new kingdoms in the large hills in the land that would become known as the Red Orchards. Deep homes carved directly into the highlands of the southern reaches of Baile. To call the Fal Ruadh great warriors would be a gross simplification for these stout folk glorify their art of war and have made it the center of their culture. Not one to let go of their love of rhythm and tempo the greats warriors of the Hill Folk tend to be skalds or war-dancers those who treat the battlefield as a canvas and their steel the brush. While the ancient smithing techniques that the northern dwarves employ have since fallen off in the south they still are capable of great works of steel.

Age of Hatred

Many historians say that it was the dwarves to draw first blood on upon the fields of battle. Others say that some human disgraced the Grand Mother of the Dwarves during a diplomatic visit, so great was this upset that the dwarves had no choice but to draw blood for justice. But, one rumor was that the first battles truly broke out due to the discovery of one of the fallen stars from that fateful event. This star corrupted those around it causing dwarf and man alike to go mad with corruption and strike out at one another. Though this is only a few accounts of the events leading up to the War of Fools and unfortunately leaves out what part the elves and gnomes played in the darkest of wars.

And Stay Dead

The southern dwarven kingdoms were mostly preoccupied with the elves and their Wytch Queen defending against her hordes of undead and demons it was during their hard-fought that more was discovered about the fallen stars. These large "stars" were strange crystals that glowed a sickening green. Dubbed Wytchstone after the damned banshee who utilized them it was said that those that are able to harness their power are granted great strength and arcane might but also suffer corruption of the soul and body, it explains why the Wytch Queen was able to so easily able to command the forces of the dead and summon demons from the Hollowed Halls. It was only thanks to the efforts of two heroes a human princess named Minerva Whitetree and a dwarven skald, Yorgard the Bashful that the southern dwarven kingdoms were able to stave off falling to the wrath of the Wytch Queen.

By Pablo Cagampan

Bitter Till the End

After the 100 years of war and bloodshed even the stalwart dwarves grew weary of the ceaseless violence. There was not a day during the War of Fools that conflict was not occurring harvest was impossible, the wheels of commerce had ground to a halt. To make matters worse the blood-soaked battlefields had once again called forth the unending hordes of chaos, emboldened by the war they hastily and brutally carved their way through the northern dwarven kingdom and out into the Heartlands. The dwarves drained from constant battles stood little chance against a replenished and ravenous Chaos Horde and soon even their capital was ransacked. In a ruthless skirmish that would be dubbed "The Running of Red Rivers." The Dwarves capital had been attacked and the people slaughtered by an infestation of Skzzark, a vermintide, it was swift and brutal was perhaps one of the first great defeats of the dwarven people. Broken and barely hanging on both the northern and southern dwarves had little to no fighting chance when the Inquisition rolled through the countryside side demanding that every kingdom bend the knee. Though the north attempted to resist the Great Matriarch of the Dwarves at the time fo the War of Fools held back her people and give her people to Yorha Lunari to spare them from any more bloodshed. The southern dwarves however fought hard and without quarter almost wiping them out in the process to the point where they are perhaps only 1/4th the population they used to be. To this day the dwarves serve the Great Empire but they do so reluctantly with hopes to one day become their own independent kingdoms once again.

by Te Hu

Lifespan

Considered matured around the age of 25 or when have returned from their first battle most dwarves can live for upwards of 200 years. Their long lifespans are often attributed to their connection to the stone.

Average Height

Most dwarves can reach up too 5'3" ft.

Average Weight

Stout and dense dwarves while short weigh much more than some of the taller Kindred reaching a maximum of 220 lbs.