Dwarrow of the Das
Dwarrow are discerned according to the Halls in which they live. The Dwarrow of the Das are those Dwarrow from the Western Mountains, and those who colonised territories in the Mountains of Das EkLachen. They have their own looks, culture, architecture, and beliefs distinct from any of the other Dwarrowish peoples.
Appearance
Perhaps the most diversely attributed of the Dwarrow, the Dwarrow of the Das vary between the pale skin and slender bodies of the VolKernen, to the blue skin and greath girth of the Blue Dwarrow, to the silvery features of the Polchara. But in general they are all tall; have strong, pointed noses; and their bodily features are colorful in some manner, being usually some shade of a metal. Their beards are thick and coarse, and usually grown out long.
Skills and Likings
The Dwarrow of the Das were master smiths, but preferred smithing on a grand, organized scale. Indeed, the greatest commonality between the disparate Das is their love of scale and their adoration of the monumental. Their halls are adorned with carvings bearing down on your with their terrible weight: ancient patriarchs with hollow eyes looming, leering, with bristling beard and curled, sneering lips; and ironworks spanning vast carved spaces, glowing red hot, smoke rising from the mountain tops volcanic-like, and though they lay down in long, dark pits the steam and smoke still come out in great plumes; the stench terrible. The vast One Mansion of the Belchara and its great Grishtahnk Forge, spanning into the fathomless darkness of the Western Mountains, the great effigies of the VolKernen, the booming voices like earthquakes of the Polchara as they chant into the abyss: this is the essence of the Dwarrow of the Das, the Dwarrow of the Union: community, mobilization, power, and scale.
But then you do not have homelier things that the other Dwarrow have in spades. You do not have the genial, private forge of the Pokhrazadi, and there is no chance of the homestead culture of the Ngdheri. These things exist, of course, but only to a limited extent in the cultures of the Dwarrow of the Das. The closest you can find them is in the VolKernen Homely Houses. But the Vokernen were not born from only the Dwarrow of the Das. In their blood runs also the wilfulness of the Dwarrow of Pokhrazad.
But don't take this as saying that the Dwarrow of the Das are eternally like this. We only mean that the Das tend towards this attitude, and it's been observed throughout their history (which has undulated much in governance style and taste) that a strong central state is what their people tend to quickly conglomerate as. Furthermore, the Dwarrow are not as the Elves. Man can pick out artistic patterns and fads in the Dwarrow. The Dwarrow, as Men, are meant to die; we share this, and so can tell certain things from each other. Elves are not; they are entirely of the world. And while this doesn't mean that they are stagnant, it does mean that we cannot tell their artistic movements, just as we cannot tell the earth is hurtling through space many millions of miles per day.
Temperament
Today the Dwarrow of the Das are a ruined people. Not one of their mountain kingdoms has survived. Both were destroyed by Gaorung. Only the VolKernen and Belchara survive as a distinct people. And while the Volkernen have reacted genially to this unfortunate turn of events, becoming homestead masters in the Mountains of Das EkLachen, the Belchara have grown mean and hateful, and they long for vengeance against the Empire of Juraedon they have wrongfully accused of destroying their home.
In the past it was said that the Dwarrow of the Das were as varied temperamentally as their looks. But in general they were a proud people. They had a powerful sense of community, a sense going well beyond their immediate setting. It was said a Dwarrow of the Das could sympathize with those a hundred miles away, and hurt for their injuries as they would hurt for a family member. As all Dwarrow they were lovers of music. They enjoyed brash horns that could be carried on the belt, or long, curling horns built in massive constructions astride the mountains. And while the Blue Dwarrow were called dour, the EkLachen were called joyous.
It's a terrible thing, the state they're in. May Vahan help them.
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