Dwarf

One of the oldest humanoid species in existence, dwarves are a short, stout species known for their craftsmanship and martial prowess. After reaching a golden age of civilization during the Arcane Age, dwarves in the modern day often resided with their familial clans within great carved stronghold-cities.

Physiology

Though usually they stand under 5 feet tall, dwarves are so broad and compact that they can weigh as much as a human standing nearly a foot taller. Skin and hair complexion spans a range similar to humans, with skin tones ranging from near black to very pale, and hair colours that span from black to blonde to red. Dwarves have similar eye tones to humans, but more unique shades can be found, such as lavender and crimson. All dwarves can grow facial hair, and grow it faster than other species of humanoids. Dwarves mature at a similar rate as humans, but aren’t considered adults until 50 years of age, around when they become able to have children. This period of fertility usually lasts until they reach the age of 120, if not sooner. They usually live to be 350 years old.

Culture

Dwarves live together in clan units, with each clan declaring themselves a part of one of four lineages. Each lineage is supposedly descended from one of the great Gem-Dwarves, the first true dwarves that Moradin created during the Age of Arrival. Edelhein and Forjolse dwarves, sometimes erroneously referred to as Mountain Dwarves, primarily populated the north of Diaghal, while Njaronse and Skorelser dwarves, sometimes erroneously referred to as Hill Dwarves, were usually found in southern Diaghal. While each lineage has recognizable visual traits, millennia of interbreeding between lineages meant that clans that declared themselves as part of one lineage could look very different from others of the same lineage. The Duergar lineage, which split off from the other dwarven lineages during the Invasion Era, are also spread throughout the Underdark of Diaghal. Derro are descended from dwarves, though they are not considered to be part of the same species.
Edelhein dwarves are considered to be the most traditional, conservative, and stratified dwarven culture in Diaghal. Edelhein dwarves, along with Olcarish humans, founded the Diarchy of Hjolthrum, the western nation of the continent of Olcaris. Edelhein dwarves were especially well known for forging constructs.
Forjolse dwarves mostly reside in the north of Tuatha. Compared to most other dwarven cultures, they are seen as the least stratified. Forjolse are well known for their skill in combat. Some scholars posit that the Forjolse are descended from an offshoot of Edelhein dwarves that split off after The Shattering, though many dwarves vehemently deny this theory.
Njaronse dwarves often inhabited the southern reaches of Diaghal, with the region of Nkejide in Ahagwuena holding the largest population. Njaronse dwarves were especially famed for their craftsmanship, creating a distinctive style of weapons, armour, and art. They were often considered the most amiable of the dwarven lineages.
Skorelser dwarves were most often found in Lurean and Ysen Tei. They focused less on craftsmanship than other dwarves, instead preferring to devote themselves to the study of divine magic and the natural world. Skorelser clans were smaller than those of other lineages, and, while not fully nomadic, might relocate settlements on a semi-regular occasion.
Duergar are found throughout the Underdark, and were the first dwarven lineage to retreat underground, long before the other dwarven cultures did. The Duergar lineage was enslaved by the aberrations during the Invasion Era, and only escaped from their captivity after they were freed by Laduguer. It is theorized that those that didn’t escape became Derro. Duergar are known for their psionic abilities and psychically-powered items and constructs. They practice a strange form of slavery, where they will buy or capture slaves, use them to assist in the construction of an item or building, then immediately free them when the work is finished.
While some dwarven nations like Nkejide or Hjolthrum exist, since The Retreat, most dwarves either collect into clan citadels or mingle with urban populations. These citadels function like independent city-states, and are somewhat secretive. Leaders of these citadels will usually petition cartographers to take their citadels off the map. These citadels came into being after the Dawn War, based on the teachings of the Mathacean Movement. Some clans chose to continue living on the surface. These clans were referred to as Surface Dwarves.
Dwarven culture placed a great deal of importance on the act of creation. Being traditionally Sammanites, dwarves held creation to be a sacred act, one that created a new soul within the object and contributed to the continual upkeep of The Weave. To dwarves, the journey and story of the creation was the most valuable aspect, rather than the finished product. Crafts that are more temporary, such as cooking or brewing, are held with the same reverence. Immaterial creations, such as song, poetry, or spellcasting, are also highly revered, and performing them while crafting an object was seen as improving the quality of the finished product. When a dwarf died, they were buried with their most treasured creations.
Dwarves were prideful of their cuisine, though many other sentient species could find it unappetizing, or even actually sickening. Meals are usually made of ingredients that were grown underground, and these ingredients were often chosen for their nutritional value. Dwarves ate plenty of fatty meats, from sources such as goat, mutton, chicken, and rothé. Rothé are the primary cattle species of the dwarves, and both the Surface Rothé and Deep Rothé breeds were raised in citadels. Offal in particular is enjoyed in dwarven foods. Dwarves also consumed fish from underground lakes and streams, cooking them or making them into fish oil. For greens, dwarves ate root vegetables, blackcurrants, and edible fungi and lichen. Some clans would set up fields on the surface areas of their citadels, growing crops such as wheat or barley. Meals made for special occasions might also be decorated with edible metals such as gold leaf.
Dwarves were famous for their consumption of alcohol. Brewing was seen as a sacred act, especially as a form of devotion to the god Bascka. Dwarven alcoholic beverages were made from a massive variety of sources; beverages could be made from barley, to blackcurrants, to lichen, to fungi, to many more. Drinking culture was an important part of dwarven society, and many were expected to drink with friends and family as a form of respect. Few dwarves drank alone.
Dwarves value honour. Honour was measured both by the individual and the clan as a whole. What increased and decreased standing in dwarven society differed between cultures, but it was usually based around gaining respect, heroic and legendary feats, and leaving behind a great legacy.
Each dwarf had a role in the upkeep of the clan’s citadel that they were chosen for. When a dwarf is young, they are closely observed by their clan to determine what role they might be most suited for. Upon becoming a teenager, that dwarf’s job will be chosen, and they will begin an apprenticeship under a master of that craft until they are fully trained, which usually happens around dwarven adulthood. Jobs could include smithing, masonry, brewing beer, cooking food, farming, music, religious work, or even as a merchant sent to the surface to sell the dwarves’ works.
Dwarven society was fairly stratified and gendered. Marriage customs between cultures varied from completely arranged marriages to requiring the permission of both the families and clan. Every dwarf is trained at least partially in the ways of combat, but men are sent to deal with external threats while women are seen as defenders of the hearth. Every clan was led by a male dwarf, referred to as either a Chief or King, with a female dwarf, the Clanmother, acting as their right hand.
Dwarf culture is patrilineal. Names are written as the personal name first, the clan name second, then the relation to the parent of the same gender and grandparent of the same gender. So, a male dwarf named Morbek of the Halfbeard clan, whose father was Thardor and whose grandfather was Bhelgrum, would be addressed as “Morbek Halfbeard, Son of Thardor, Grandson of Bhelgrum”. Similarly, a female dwarf named Edma of the Rererock clan, whose mother was Marros and whose grandmother was Lesri, would be addressed as “Edma Rererock, Daughter of Marros, Granddaughter of Lesri''.
To dwarves, recording history is less about objective truth and more about the story and message. Dwarven sagas and histories were understood by scholars to be embellished at best, and entirely fabricated at worst.
Religion was a highly valued part of dwarven society ever since the rise of the Matheacean Movement. A majority of dwarves were followers of the Morndinsamman religion, their traditional faith. Most lineages followed the Dwergathi denomination, though Duergar instead followed the Azgrahnan sect. Some clans instead adopted the faith of the region where they lived; for example, many Dornish dwarves were Urbnatists, and some Nkejidi clans followed the Congregation of the Firstborn. While Pelor was a deity widely worshipped by dwarves under the name Dorin prior to the Dawn War, few dwarves followed Shamashine, as many of the religion’s requirements, such as practicing Shurtoval, was incompatible with the dwarven lifestyle.
Beard growth was a well recognized part of dwarven faith. For men, it was considered that, the longer and more grown their facial hair, the more pious and masculine they were. On the contrary, for women, the shorter the facial hair, the more pious and feminine they were considered. In practice, only clergy, ascetics, and highly religious dwarves kept to this rule; many lay dwarven men kept sizable, groomed beards, while lay dwarven women often kept short beards or sideburns. While this practice originated with the Morndinsamman faith, many dwarves adopted it into their own religion. Some clans also held the tradition that, when a dwarven man got married, he should stop shaving until his spouse either died or divorced him.
Dwarves spoke the language Dwarvish, also called Dethek. It uses the Rhioxetei script, which was sometimes erroneously called the Dwarvish script, as the Dwarvish language was one of the only Divinity-descended racial languages that used it. It has many dialects; among the most spoken are Edelheinan, Lyftrasan, Nkejidi, Skoran, Matasam, and Duergan. Edelheinan, like the name implied, was the language of the Edelhein dwarves, and was one of the most common languages spoken in Hjolthrum. Lyftrasan, spoken mostly by Forjolse, is native to Ulferheim, specifically the Kiefberig Kingdoms that made up the territory of the former Great Jarldom of Lyftrasia. Nkejidi was spoken by the Njaronse dwarves of Nkejide. Skoran is spoken by dwarves of the Skorelser lineage, and Duergan is spoken by those of the Duergar lineage. Unlike many of the popular dialects of Dwarvish, Matasam did not have a connection to any particular dwarven lineage, and instead was often used as a trade language of the Asvalan Peninsula, along with Jaaru and Common.

History

According to Morndinsamman myth, Moradin was inspired by the humans, and sculpted the first dwarves out of stone. However, when he breathed life into them, they were dull, lazy, greedy, and simple. Moradin went to his mother, Luna, and asked her what to do. She said to go to the depths of the earth, and there, he would find what he would be searching for. Moradin went, and deep within the earth, he found five massive, human-sized gems: a ruby, a diamond, an emerald, a sapphire, and an amethyst. From the ruby, Moradin carved Edelhein, a fiery-haired dwarven woman who would inspire the dwarves to be stalwart and capable. From the diamond, he carve Forjolse, an icey dwarven male who would inspire the dwarves to be hard and fierce. From the emerald, he carves Njaronse, an intelligent dwarven woman who would inspire the dwarves to be keen and knowing. From the sapphire, he carved Skorelser, a pensive dwarven man who would inspire the dwarves to be wise and in tune with the land. From the amethyst, he carved Duergar, a sober dwarven man who would inspire the dwarves to be stoic and self-reflecting. Moradin made each of the five Gem-dwarves monarchs, and for every dwarf that followed one of the monarchs, Moradin placed a flake made in the carving of the gem-dwarf that dwarf followed into their heart. Every dwarf living today is descended from one of the five lineages of the gem-dwarves.
Along with humans and Giants, dwarven civilizations held a majority of territorial and political power during the Age of Arrival. Records show that the first major dwarvish civilization was Orjeihm, founded by the Skorelser and Duergar lineages in modern-day Lurean and Tekumi. The exact date and cause of Orjeihm’s collapse is unknown, but its territory was ceded to the First Ysen Empire sometime during the Age of Arrival. After the collapse of Ostoria, its lands were claimed by the dwarven empire of Dwergath, in modern-day Olcaris and Ulferheim. According to archaeological records, Njaronse dwarves held a civilization across the entirety of The Wensuas, which at its height also controlled much of modern day Calania. However, they were forced into modern day Nkejide during the Arcane Age by hostile nations. To differentiate it from modern day Nkejide, this civilization is referred to as Great Nkejide or the Wensuan Empire.
Dwarf civilization and giant civilization had a close alliance and trading relationship during the Age of Arrival, with dwarves even adopting the giant’s written script of Rhioxetei. However, this relationship soured after the dwarves remained neutral in the War of Falling Scales, and then claimed the lands of Ostoria after its fall.
During the Invasion Era, Mind Flayers captured and enslaved the Duergar lineage, experimenting and turning them into the modern duergar of today. The Duergar were only freed by actions of the then-mortals Laduguer and Deep Duerra, who became the primary deities of the Duergar after the lineage felt betrayed by the deities of the Morndinsamman.
Little is known about the dwarves during the Era of Restoration, but dwarves experienced a sort of golden age during the Arcane Age. The Kingdom of Dornaut, in what is now the province of Dornaut in Fonterre, was founded by dwarves of the Edelhein lineage migrating to the area. Dwergath was dissolved as its territory was split in half from the Shattering - its holdings in what is now Olcaris became minor nations and city-states, and its territory in what is now Ulferheim was unified under the Great Jarldom of Lyftrasia by the euphumous Lyftrasa Blackforge. Most of Lurean, excluding Sara’Wahkan, became the dominion of the Ghogwo Republic. The dwarven city-state of Daga Todir on the island of Lekke became a haven of knowledge and education.
This golden age ended with Dawn War and the following Time of Mortals. As most of the dwarven nations fell after The Retreat, a Skorelser dwarf philosopher known as Matheac Thunderhold began preaching a new way of life for the dwarves. Instead of creating massive, hubristic nations, the dwarves instead should construct great stronghold city-states for them and their brethren. Within these citadels, dwarves should devote themselves primarily to their craft, their clan, and the gods, with few distractions from the outside world. It should also be the dwarves’ responsibility to train and arm themselves in case of calamity, whether it be a conflict on a local level, or a great cataclysm like the Dawn War was. This philosophy, called the Matheacean Movement, was hastily adopted by many clans, and became one of the most defining ideologies of dwarven culture, society, and history.
However, some dwarven nations still arose during the Time of Mortals. Nkejide was annexed by a newly-christened Ahagwuena during the Epoch of the Iron Fist, but was given more self-governing freedom after the overthrow of the Ahagwuenan autocrats. In 529 MT, the Matasami Raj was founded, ruled by dwarves of the Njaronse and Skorelser lineages. It came to its height in 600 MT, when it had dominion over the entirety of the Asvalan Peninsula and parts of Tekumi, and slowly lost territory from that point on, eventually dissolving in 834 MT. In 973 MT, what began as a defensive pact created in reaction to the rise of the nation of Rond eventually became the Diarchy of Hjolthrum, ruled in part by Edelhein dwarves.
In the modern era, dwarven citadel-states are found throughout Diaghal. As such, dwarves are a common sight in many nations throughout the Remnants. A few of the dwarven nations that still exist include the nation of Hjolthrum, the province of Nkejide in Ahagwuena, and a few of the Kiefberig Kingdoms.

Lifespan

~350 years

Average Height

3'10" - 4'8"

Average Weight

120 lbs - 230 lbs