Stonekin (Joet-dver-gur)

Jótdvergur

Overview

Dwarves - or Stonekin as they call themselves - are one of the younger races in Koria, created by the Eternals after the Garladans and before the Underlings. One of those things the Elves are mocking them about, mostly in a more-or-less-friendly banter.

One would think elves and dwarves were enemies. They are, but more of friendly rivals. Yes, there was this one war against the High Elves and a few skirmishes against the Silver Elves which caused the relationship to sour and there are banters and mockings all over the place, but there is no bloodshed at the moment. The Spiral is a more pressing concern right now.

— Historian about the actual situation with the dwarves

There are twelve clans throughout Koria, four in the Long Neck, four in the Daveldare Mountains, one on, in and under the most northern island surrounded by water, one in close proximity to the north-west border of Hulwar, one south-west of Pisocenia and one in the deeps under the Emerald Planes, mostly known as the Shadow Dwarves. Which is not their official name, they are the Magmakin.
At first there were only one clan, scattered throughout the peaks of the Long Neck, but after a while (a few hundred years according to the history books) they splitted up in three clans, then more. The books stated that it was because of religious views and leadership differences and some minor clan-wars.

The Stoneskin Dwarves - which is the actual name a dwarf calls another dwarf - were the first clan and they considered themselves as one race with one belief and one leadership. It is not entirely sure why exactly they splitted up, most of the history books destroyed. Do not ask how and why, their stonepaper was nearly indestructible. What we know is that most of the dwarves were not satisfied how they were governed and lead, so they tried to murder their leaders and create a new leadership.

Save to say, it didn't go well. So some of the rebels were exiled, others executed. And some left the clan of their own, establishing new clans or followed the rebels.

— From "Stoneskins - Mead, meat and mushrooms"

Structure & Society

Since there are now eleven twelve dwarvish clans, we only look at the Stoneskin clan in this book and cover the other eleven clans in following volumes. Let's get started.

— From "Stoneskins - Mead, meat and mushrooms"

Traditionally there are seven castes in the hierarchy of the dwarves. This are the following castes, explained in the Common Language and the dwarvish names:

• Hierarchs | Mekwa
• Sentinels | Trophta
• Stonesmiths | Roxjar
• Hearthkeeper | Olgrar
• Blessed | Worthiar
• Commoners | Asverath
• Dirteater | Lorgans

(for further information refer to the dwarvish dictionary provided by our Esteemed Collection of Books and Tomes)

The Hierarchs are the seven largest families in the Stoneskin clan. Every family provides a leader and those seven leaders from the Stone Council. Yes, dwarves are not good with creative names. Every family is particular rich and provides at least one good the entire clan couldn't live without like a quarry, a mushroom farm or merchant connections.

The Sentinels are the military. There is no difference between the soldiers, every soldier can fight with an axe, a sword, can fire a crossbow and even a normal bow, throw knives and axes. The only exception are the builders, they do know about architecture and construction. From the Sentinels the Hierarchs are recruiting bodyguards and guards in general.

A Stonesmith is really a smith who uses stone as material. They are architects, builders, contructeurs. They design and build houses, caves, fortresses and whatever the clan needs, beginning with small farms and well up to well-defended vaults.

A Hearthkeeper is more like a Shaman who has an affinity for fire. This means they are used as fire-wielding sorcerer and source for fire and heat inside the settlements. They keep the fires alive and re-ignite them if the hearth is going cold. A Hearthkeeper is very rare, so there are maybe ten Hearthkeeper around the entire clans.

The Blessed are the dwarves with an affinity for a specific thing like iron, gems, cloth, mushrooms, plants, liquids. One could say they are the craftsman/craftswoman of every clan and more the driving force of life in a clan.

Commoners are the ones which have no affinity and no special job like a Sentinel and are the largest caste there is. They are pretty normal and try to survive and climb up the castes if possible.

The Dirteaters are the worst of the worst. They are thieves, murderers, criminals in general. Those who weren't executed after their trial or exiled. They do the nasty and sometimes dangerous jobs, cleaning the public restrooms, scouting in unsave tunnels and caves and - in some cases - taster for an Hierarch. If you die - which is pretty commong around some clans - it is a good deed for you, your honour, your family and the Hierarch.

Habitation

The original Stonekin live in the mountains of The Long Neck and are more present to the south where a deep is located. There they built the entrance to their city which means in the Common Language "Mountain Heart"; the city, not the entrance. It holds the strongest fortifications against incoming horde, mostly Orcs and Ogres, but sometimes Giants appear at their doorstep as well.
Dwarves loves it dry and warm, sometimes hot, which is the perfect environment for a dwarf. They don't like it when it is wet and cold, but they can - and they will! - endure it if necessary.
Most of them aren't afraid of large spaces or the sky itself, but they do not like it. The Stonekin build large cities inside the mountains and under the earth with balconies and large windows.
Most dwarven kin loves the warm insides of the mountains and when they have a fire at their side or at their feet, they are happy enough to let you keep them company.

"A dwarf is thing easily maintained. Give them a pipe, sweet and nice tobacco, a hot drink - preferably mead, beer or ale - and a healthy snack and they are happy. Some of their women prefer a warm blanket as well. And if they give you a bit of their rations, take it. But if it is a Red Blinder, do not touch it, you will die if you eat it. "

— From "Stoneskins - Mead, meat and mushrooms"

Biological Traits

Despite their size dwarves are really sturdy. Most of the scholars think that it is because of their higher muscle density, but that is only one part of the truth. The Eternals created them with stone and bone, so their skeleton is much stronger, sturdier and heavier than an elven or human skeleton.
Some more or less clever dwarves thought because of those traits they could be used as armoured trebuchet ammunition, which worked quite fine, but none of them survived the impact. Well, fair to say that the enemy - mostly Orcs - had larger problems than a flying dwarf, because every dwarf was so heavy, he killed at least half a dozen just with the kinetic energy. And himself in the process, but a win is a win.
Besides that the dwarves have a better nightvision than the Elves and can "feel" raw ore veins in close proximity when touching stone or earth.

Reproduction & Life Cycle

Every dwarf, be it male or female, is ready for reproduction after ~200 years and goes the same way as a human pregnancy or an elven pregnancy. The pregnancy itself lasts for approximatly two years where the female dwarf can give birth up to two children. She can get pregnant again after around twenty years.
With two hundred years of lifetime the dwarf is seen as an adult with all responsibilities and duties a dwarf can have.

Food & Culinary Traits

The dwarves are masters of mushrooms. In their caves of stone full of minerals with little sunlight, the strangest, most fascinating and tastiest mushrooms thrive in all shapes, sizes, colours and behaviour. Depending on the dwarven clan, spread across the lands, the clans have specialised in certain mushrooms. For example, some use the Great Yellow Sponge for stews and paints, others the Wobbly Tintling for ... ink, food colouring and cakes/sweets/desserts. Large mushrooms are also popular ingredients, especially substantial in the depths of the burrows. And if you can get a handful of a Red Blinder, you are rich as someone with a large golden bar.

The Stonekin dwarves are the only clan which has access to the Red Blinder mushroom and so they are the only clan with the possibility to craft Dwarven Brass Dye.

Red Blinder Mushroom by CrazyEddie via Midjourney

Religious views & beliefs

The Stonekin believe that there are three entities, managing their lives, the afterlife, their intentions. They believe, that every step in their lives is foretold in something called the "Great Script". The Great Script is managed by an overseer, mostly called "Greybeard". He has a name, but it is forgotten (or locked away, nobody is really sure about either of it). He has six apprentices who helps him to write the Great Script and so help him to write the life of every dwarf there is.

The first entity is the father. His name is Anghalar and he is the god of war, family, everything what is shiny.

The second entity is the mother. Her name is Jurniara and she is the goddess of the crafts, everything that grows and animals.

Dwarven Death by CrazyEddie via Midjourney

In death they greet her as an old friend because Death is friendly and kind. She is depicted as a warrior with brown hair and gold in it and a double-handed axe. Death is not one of the two entities mentioned above, she just awaits the dwarves at the finishing line and brings them into the afterlife where they can fight, smith and eat since the dawn of time and the last battle.

Those are the actual and original beliefs in the dwarven culture. Over time every clan developed small differences or an entire phanteon around those two entities. Most of them stick to Greybeard or a variant of him, but in a few cases there are a lot of different gods and entities, depending which clan you visit.

And the last entity is the Goddess of the Forge with different names. She is patron of every smithy in the dwarven kingdom and pretty grumpy when an apprentice is not doing his work correctly.

Tales about the Stonekin

"This is their home? It is... beautiful. Never thought I could see so much light and people so deep beneath the earth."

— An astonished Underling to its guide

"Fellow dwarves. After dozens of years, after so many bloodshed, sweat and tears, it is my honour to present you the first dwarven Mortal God!"

— Drill instructor to the audience

"If you come to the dwarven city of Mountain Heart, remember that this are the the fiercest warriors, not even the mounted riders of Pisocenia have so much fire in their veins and hearts. They are pure, they have honour, but do not offend them. They swing their axes, swords and hammers like no other."

— Printed Guide to the Dwarves

"What is that?"
"That is the ceremony to honour their Forge Goddess."
"What are they doing?"
"Did I stutter?"
"No, I heard you, but what are they doing?"
"Oh... they crafted their best work and offer it to the goddess. For fortune, I think? Depends on the dwarf, if you want."
"And?"
"What?"
"Can we see her?"
"You won't believe it, but... we will see."

— Tourists during one of the Holy Days of the Dwarves

"Is that a cat?"
"Indeed it is."
"I thought they do not like it beneath the earth?"
"What makes ya think that?"
"Well, I thought..."
"Obviously that was the first error."
"Hu?"
"Forget it. What can I do for ya?"
"I need an axe."
"And I am a weapon smith, so ya are at the right place, I woudda say."

— Dwarven smith to a potenial client

"I have everything. Small axes, large axes, small and large swords, halberds, shields, armours and helmets, hammers in all sizes, spices, different crafts including cuttlery, herbs and most variants of dyes including our famous Brass Dye. And I can assure you, it is not as expensive as it sounds like."

— Dwarven owner of a large shop & warehouse

Data

• height: 130 - 175cm
• weight: 90 - 200kg
• lifetime: 800 - 1000 years
• Two legs
• two arms
• one brain
• two eyes (with better nightvision than an elf)
• ten fingers total
• ten toes total
• humanoid primary sexual organs