Dwarf
Kingdoms rich in ancient grandeur, halls carved into the roots of mountains, the echoing of picks and hammers in deep mines and blazing forges, a commitment to clan and tradition, and a burning hatred of goblins and orcs - these common threads unite all dwarves.
Personality
Strong, hardy, and dependable, dwarves are polite, particularly to elders, and possess a wisdom beyond that of many other races. Dwarves value their traditions, regardless of the subrace they come from, and look for inspiration from ancestral heroes. Dwarves are also known for their stubborn nature and cynicism, traits widespread amongst the dwarves but which contribute to, and are commonly offset by, their bravery and tenacity. Dwarven friendship is hard to earn, but is strong once won. Naturally dour and suspicious, the stout folk are slow to trust others, specifically those outside their family, suspecting the worst of an individual until the outsider has proved their good will many times. Once this trust is gained, dwarves hold their friends to it and view betrayals, even minor ones, with a vicious propensity for vengeance. A common gnomish oath, remarking on this dwarven sense of justice, is "If I'm lying, may I cross a dwarf." For dwarves, loyalty is more than a word and they feel that it should be both valued and rewarded. Dwarves believe it a gift and mark of respect to stand beside a friend in combat, and an even deeper one to protect that ally from harm. Many dwarven tales subsequently revolve around the sacrifice of dwarves for their friends and family. Just as dwarves are known for their dependability as friends and allies, dwarves also harbor grudges far longer than many other races. This might be on an individual basis between a dwarf and one who has wronged them, or against entire races, even if warfare with the enemy has long since ceased. Dwarves are careful and deliberate, with a more serious disposition than other races, who they sometimes view as flighty or reckless. A dwarf does all things with care and a stubborn resolve, with brash or cowardly behavior unusual for them. However, dwarves do succumb easily to wrath or greed, which are their most common vices. Dwarves who leave their homeland to become adventurers do so for a number of reasons. In part, a dwarf might be motivated by simple avarice, given the dwarven love of beautiful things. As often, however, a dwarf might be motivated by a drive to do what is right for others (particularly their clan) or a love of excitement because, as settled as dwarves are, they rarely tire of thrills. But even these wayward dwarves retain the spirit of their brethren, hoping that their accomplishments abroad can bring honor to themselves, their clan, or both. Given that successful dwarven adventurers are likely to recover rare items or defeat enemies of the dwarven people during such challenges, this is a hope not entirely without merit.Basic Information
Anatomy
Dwarves are a short race, as their name implies, standing around four and a half feet tall on average, with hill dwarves a bit shorter. What dwarves lack in height they made up for in bulk; they are, on average, about as heavy as full sized humanoids. Dwarven males are a bit taller and heavier than their female counterparts. Dwarves have a wide variety of skin, eye, and hair colors, typically pale among mountain dwarves and deeply tanned or brown amongst hill dwarves. Hazel eyes are common throughout the race, with blue eyes more common amongst mountain dwarves and brown or green eyes found amongst the hill dwarves.
Their hair is worn long and in simple simple styles, though male dwarves are frequently bald. All dwarves grow thick facial hair, which is sometimes used to display social status. Unusually for humanoids, both sexes naturally grow ample facial hair, though the majority of mountain dwarf females shave their beards off. This hair is often dark in hue, though among mountains dwarves, blond or red hair is just as common. Hill dwarves take the care of facial hair to an extreme, carefully oiling and grooming it, with some adding perfume and ornamentations.
Growth Rate & Stages
Dwarves are a long-lived race, though not so much as elves, and reach physical maturity somewhat later than most other humanoids. A dwarf is traditionally considered an adult once he or she reaches age fifty.
Dwarves age much like other humanoids, but over a longer period of time, remaining vigorous well past 150 years. Most dwarves live to see their bicentennial and a few live to be over 400.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Dwarves enjoy a wide variety of food, with a preference for meat. Hill and mountain dwarves keep cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, and fowl. These animals are grazed above ground on upland meadows or plateaus. In high ranges, mountain dwarves keep animals more suited to subterranean existence: giant lizards and beetles.
Although meat is a staple of their diet, large quantities of grains are also consumed. When possible wheat, rye and barley are grown close to the stronghold. They are harvested and kept in underground granaries. Many who live close to halflings buy large quantities of grain to supplement their own production.
Dwarves who live in the deep earth substitute various types of fungi for grains. Like the giant lizards and beetles, many of these fungi have been carefully bred to produce a wide variety of flavors to excite the palate. Most are very careful about the kinds of fungi they eat.
Dwarven cooking also makes use of vegetables for flavor and variety. They do not eat spicy or heavily seasoned food, and consequently dwarven cooking tastes bland to other humanoids, but the food is wholesome, consisting of thick stews served on broad slices of bread. While they are not voracious eaters like halflings, few can eat as much as a dwarf in a single meal.
Of course, the dwarves are best-known for their alcoholic potations, and here they are certainly masters of the hop! Various beers and ales are brewed by the masters and stored in great stone cisterns, or wooden kegs for export. Wine is generally imported on a small scale for a bit of variety, and is always in demand for cooking, whether directly into the pot, or reduced to create a sauce, or left to sharpen into vinegar. Many a dwarf makes her own ciders and vinegars from the local fruits and vegetables brought in by the farmers and hunters, as well.
Additional Information
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Dwarves also have a preternatural awareness of their subterranean surroundings, can see in the dim darkness of mines and caves, and possess a knack for recognizing unusual patterns in stonework that can seem almost supernatural at times.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
A dwarf's name is granted by a clan elder, in accordance with tradition. Every proper dwarven name has been used and reused down through the generations. A dwarf's name belongs to the clan, not to the individual.
A dwarf who misuses or brings shame to a clan name is stripped of the name and forbidden by law to use any dwarven name in its place.
Male Names: Adrik, Alberich, Baern, Barendd, Brottor, Bruenor, Dain, Darrak, Delg, Eberk, Einkil, Fargrim, Flint, Gardain, Harbek, Kildrak, Morgran, Orsik, Oskar, Rangrim, Rurik, Taklinn, Thoradin, Thorin, Tordek, Traubon, Travok, Ulfgar, Veit, Vondal
Female Names: Amber, Artin, Audhild, Bardryn, Dagnal, Diesa, Eldeth, Falkrunn, Finellen, Gunnloda, Gurdis, Helja, Hlin, Kathra, Kristryd, Ilde, Liftrasa, Mardred, Riswynn, Sannl, Torbera, Torgga, Vistra
Clan Names Balderk, Battlehammer, Brawnanvil, Dankil, Fireforge, Frostbeard, Gorunn, Holderhek, Ironfist, Loderr, Lutgehr, Rumnaheim, Strakeln, Torunn, Ungart
Courtship Ideals
As you might expect in a society where there are three males to every two females, there is some competition for the dwarfmaidens’ favours, and until the Time of Choosing is over (about two years after the age of maturity) there is a lot of activity, high feeling, and disruption in the clan. Emotions become more obvious (that is, for the normally steady dwarves), young bachelors lock horns at every opportunity, with plenty of display and male pride. Beards are curried to a reflective gloss and weapons honed to shaving-sharpness – vests are embroidered with plenty of grimacing and eye-strain – the oresacks are never filled closer to bursting, and the rock-barrows are laden so full that one can hear their rivets crackling as the young males charge along the tunnels with them.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Dwarves highly value the ties between family members and friends, weaving tightly knit clans. Dwarves particularly respect elders, from whom they expect sound leadership and the wisdom of experience, as well as ancestral heroes or clan founders. This idea carries on to relations with other races; dwarves tend to be deferential even to the elders of another, non-dwarven race.
Likewise, dwarves, perhaps moreso than most other races, turn to their gods for guidance and protection. Non-evil dwarves look to the divine for comfort and inspiration, while the wicked look to their divine overlords for methods through which to obtain power over others. Individual dwarves might be faithless, but the race as a whole, regardless of subrace, has a strong inclination for religion and almost every community maintains at least one temple or ancestral shrine.
Most dwarven societies are divided into clans built along family ties and political allegiances. These clans are usually led by hereditary rulers, often monarchs of a sort and descended from the founder of the clan. Dwarves strongly value loyalty to these rulers and to the clan as a whole and even objective dwarves tend to side primarily with their kin over other races or communities. Many dwarven clans focus on one or two kinds of crafting, such as blacksmithing, jewelry, engineering, or masonry. Dwarves strive to avoid overspecialization by sending some of their youths to other clans to serve as apprentices, which also helps to foster racial unity. Because of their longevity, these apprenticeships might last decades.
Most dwarves prefer living in underground cities near the surface and above the Underdark, built around mines that provided much of their livelihood. Carved into stone, these cities might take centuries to complete but are practically ageless once finished. Though dwarves are typically a martial race by nature, these cities have civilian populations that make up about one fourth of the total population and which are made up primarily of the young, the elderly, or a few regular adults. Females typically compose as large a portion of the military as male dwarves do.
History
Dwarves are the children of Protagoras, the Fundamental Axiom. They were stolen from it during the War of Souls by Enmensur, Lord of Beasts.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Dwarves do not forgive past wrongs easily and the entire race has more or less declared war on goblins and orcs as a whole, wiping them out where they find them. Many dwarves view these races as a foul infestation of their mountain homes and feel it is their duty to purge them. Likewise, many dwarves view dark elves and grimlocks with a similar hatred and few dwarves have forgotten their ancestral hatred of the giants who'd once enslaved them in the times before. Because of this, dwarves generally view related races, such as half-orcs, with distrust.
In regards to their distant cousins the azers, duergar, and galeb duhr, dwarven opinions vary. Many view their distant relations with sympathy for their prior enslavement. On the other hand, duergar and dwarves have long been enemies, though, trade between them is sometimes a possibility.
Dwarves get along pretty well with gnomes, with whom they share a love of fine crafting, and passably with half-elves and halflings. However, most dwarves commonly believe that true friendships can only be forged over long periods of time and a common saying is that "the difference between an acquaintance and a friend is about a hundred years", meaning that few members of the shorter-lived races ever forge strong bonds with dwarves. There are exceptions, however, and some of the strongest friendships are those between a dwarf and a humanoid whose grandparents and parents were also on good terms with the dwarf.
Origin/Ancestry
Protagoras, the Fundamental Axiom
Lifespan
350 years
Average Height
4'-5'
Average Weight
175 lbs
Racial Stats
Dwarf, Mountain
Dwarf (Hill)
Ability Score Increase +2 Con, +1 Wis
Size Medium
Speed 25ft
Dwarf, Hill
Dwarf (Mountain)
Ability Score Increase +2 Con, +2 Str
Size Medium
Speed 25ft
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