Dwarf
Dwarves ("dwur" or "dwurfolk" to the Flan) are a stout, sturdy folk of the mountains. The second-most commonly seen of the demihuman races, Dwarves are about four feet tall, broad shouldered, and muscular, with tan, grey, or reddish brown skin and brown or black eyes. They are considered by most to be the salt of the earth and the keepers of the realms below the surface, where they prefer to live in vast caverns or tunnel systems and mine precious metals and gems.
Civilization and Culture
Common Dress Code
The traditional garb of dwarves is woolen trousers and a belted linen tunic, with a hooded cloak or cape worn over all. Their boots are of heavy leather, with or without buckles. Colors are a mixture of earth tones and loud, check-patterned hues. They also favor leather accoutrements, fitted with as many jewels and precious metals as they can hold. Females and males usually dress identically, except on certain ceremonial occasions when females wear a tabardlike overgarment, while males don their best embroidered work aprons.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
The dwur are perceived as materialistic, hard working, and humorless. They tend to be dour and taciturn, keeping themselves separate from other folk, but they are also strong and brave. In wartime they are united and willing to see victory at any cost, but prone to avenge old slights and reject mercy. They jealously defend the honor of their clans and families, and greatly revere their ancestors, building elaborate monuments to them. Yet, their chief love is precious metal, particularly gold, which they work with great mastery. Dwarves also place great value on their long beards, often braiding them and twining them with jewels and gold wire. It is a terrible dishonor to be shorn.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
Dwarven elders hold the secrets of their race’s magic, best exemplified by their magnificent armor, weapons and tools. They also oversee the construction of monuments and tombs, many of which have magical traps and curses of great cunning.
Common Taboos
Some dwarves suffer from an affliction called gold-fever, when their desire for the substance becomes so overwhelming that it consumes their souls. The tradition of dwarven honor demands that leaders dispense treasure to their loyal followers, and the inability to do this is a sure sign of gold-fever.
History
The dwarves do not speak of their origins to outsiders, so little of their ancient history is known. However, it is understood that they once had great underground halls in the northern Crystalmists that were destroyed by the Invoked Devastation. Their last High King perished in the aftermath, and the clans have ever since been sundered. Led by lords and princes of differing noble houses, the dwarf clans allied with elves and gnomes during the Suel and Oeridian migrations, and even joined humans of reliable disposition to defend their territories. In the present day, dwarves are found in rugged mountains and hills, particularly in the Lortmils, Glorioles, Crystalmists, Iron Hills, Principality of Ulek, and Ratik.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Dwarves of the Flanaess are strong and stubborn people. In some lands, they need help, but are often too proud to ask for it outright; beseiged Irongate, the exiled mountain dwarves driven into the Good Hills of Keoland, and the Ulek dwarves who suffered at the hands of the Pomarj humanoids are all examples. Some of these clans feel themselves to have been wronged; the Ulek dwarves are angry with the elves of Celene for not giving them aid, and there is strain between them and the elven-dominated Duchy of Ulek, which sympathizes with the dwarves and yet dares not rebuke Celene openly.
Elsewhere, the strong mountain folk are better placed; in Urnst, which has emerged strong after the war, dwarves are learning that the old glory of Nyrond needs their help even to sustain its own shadow. In Sunndi, the dwarves ally with the elves and gnomes, each experts at defending their own terrains, to keep their enemies at bay.
Dwarven Subraces
The dwarves are divided into two groups of two, hill and mountain dwarves who live both above and underground, and the duergar and derro (both collectively referred to as the "gray dwarves") who live exclusively in caverns far below the earth.Hill Dwarves
Hill dwarves are most populous in the Principality of Ulek and the Iron Hills. They are the most common type of dwarves in the Flanaess. They are cooperative with the other races and are especially valuable in battle against giants and humanoids.Mountain Dwarves
Mountain dwarves are less common, taller, and paler than their hill-dwelling cousins. The Archbarony of Ratik and the Principality of Ulek have the largest populations of mountain dwarves. These folk know secrets of the underground that other races cannot even guess at.Gray Dwarves
The dwarves have evil counterparts in the derro and duergar (gray dwarves). These races live deeper underground than the hill and mountain dwarves. The secrets that they harbor are better left unknown.
A dwarf warrior searching for more treasure to lay claim to.
Lifespan
450 Years
Average Height
4'3" to 4'9"
Average Weight
161 to 224 lbs.
Related Ethnicities