A Malleable People
The Dwarves are a long-lived ancestry that was created specifically by Vulkjornn. These people were made in a more divine-light, and look much like their creator, and have many of the same intrinsic needs and wants as them. Thereby, they are often thought to have less free-will and operate more closely to that of a single mind, with ideas like family, ancestry, and their clans taking the forefront of their lives in general.
"I made them with something I no longer possess, to carry on my spirit when I am no longer here. They will change where I could not, and they will adapt to what I could not. They will survive where I would die. My greatest creation. - Vulkjornn
Appearances, Appearances
Dwarves are stockier people, with the shortest stature of any race in the Realms, and with the most diverse physical features. Often they take the visage of animals, with each clan taking a distinct lineage. Some are bird-like, with short curved beaks and bright eyes. Some take a more rodent aesthetic with narrow eyes and whiskers, though it should be noted that features are never as pronounced as their actual animal counterparts, and dwarves generally hate to be likened to an animal that other races might point out kind of looks like them. To them, they are their own specific creation, and while one may be identical to the rat next to it, no dwarf looks just like any other.
Consistencies include a small number of important factors, including that every dwarf has only three fingers on each hand, each with a rigid exoskeleton, yet very fine motor control. Where a human hand has three joins per finger, dwarven fingers each have four. These hands are used in their script, which resembles knot-work patterns in order to read it, similar to braille. Though their skin turns into a chitinous layer over the hands and finger, their sense of touch is much more acute than the other races.
Senses of a Creation
Using a human as a base to compare to, this section will compare and contrast the sensory experiences of a dwarf with that of a human.
Touch is one of the most well defined senses of the dwarves. Their hands are keenly aware of not only what is happening at the point of contact, but what is happening in about a half-inch's proximity as well. This thanks to a tremor-sense, such that the touch causes a vibration, allowing for a brief moment of understanding the surface in a wider area. This sense is most accute in the hands and feet of the dwarves, but it is semi-present across their entire body.
Sight is a misunderstood aspect of the dwarves. Many assume that their sub-surface living provides them with a degree of dark-vision, but this ability only exists for them in the same way it might apply to a cat. In complete darkness, they are blind. Light that is provided, however, is much more effective than it otherwise might be for a human or elf. They see more shades of red than the other races as well, though only what they would consider to be one more color than a human.
Hearing is like touch in that there is a physical sense of what is happening as sound passes through an object. For most dwarves hearing is tied to sight a tangible way. Sounds will "appear" in a dwaves vision as they hear it, giving them an impression of what shape the sounds make. This has given dwarves an edge on the other races in terms of forming spells, as verbal components of spells are more intuitive to them. When music is played, dwarves enjoy more defined rhythms, and wider gaps in harmony, as these produce "prettier shapes" to the dwarven senses.
Taste is felt texturally in addition to a dulled version of human tastes in most regards. There are a few exceptions, notably cinnamon which is an extremely powerful flavor for dwarves, and actually stimulates their sense of time dilation in the way that injesting powdered mythral does. As a result of their generally muted taste, dwarves opt for much more powerful flavors and spices that are generally enough to deter other races by aroma alone.
Time is something dwarves feel progress sightly differntly than other races as well, especially as they harbor more muted mythral curse on their person. Dwarves will describe a level of prescience that many others consider to be false, though the intuition of dwarves as to what will happen is genuinely unmatched. Many dwarves in their years become plagued or blessed with visions depending on their outlook, and lose their sense of what has and what is to come. This generally seen as the death knell to dwarves, but also something of a passing into the Veil to those with more spiritual minds.
A Mind for Value, and Values
The dwarves take pride in their aesthetic, and though they wouldn't admit it, are a people of pride and vanity. They cherish things well crafted, not only for the talent of its creation, but for the ancestry that could train, develop, and pass down such beauty. They've a keen eye for value at market, though dwarves generally don't
