Highland Dwarves

Highland Dwarves (generally just called “Dwarves”) are a strong, keen, loyal, hardworking, fair, and good-humored people hailing from the northern Carthannas region, epitomizing the virtues for which Carthannite civilization is known. As their name implies, unlike Under Dwarves, Highland Dwarves spend most of their lives above ground, living in cities built high upon stepped mountain terrace slopes, hunting, farming, ranching, tree cutting, pit mining, and engaging in all manner of crafts. Highland Dwarf artisans can fabricate beautiful works of utilitarian art out of any material, and renowned master Dwarf craftsmen are likely to have their services sought out by wealthy collectors and high-class adventurers alike from across the realm. Highland Dwarves are typically sociable and fond of tavern games and friendly wagers. They enjoy song and dance, food and drink, and the company of family and friends. They are a practical people not prone to fret over details, hypotheticals, or emotions, like Humans often do, and their pragmatic optimism and blunt honesty along with their other generally admirable qualities makes Highland Dwarves naturally-aligned business partners with Carthannite Humans.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Highland Dwarves typically stand about 4 to 4-1/2 feet tall, and usually weigh between 140 and 180 pounds. Female Highland Dwarves are slightly taller than males on average, though they weigh about the same amount. Highland Dwarves bear muddy, light brown, leathery skin; thick, bushy brown or grey hair; and amber eyes. Unlike Under Dwarves, not all male Highland Dwarves keep beards, though big, bushy beards, hairy arms, and balding scalps are still characteristic of Highland Dwarves. Such beards are significantly shorter than Under Dwarf beards on average. Female Highland Dwarves usually keep their hair long and tied back. Highland Dwarves have big, hefty hands with thick, stubby fingers, their palms and fingertips cracked and rough as tree bark from countless hours of backbreaking labor. When Highland Dwarves shake hands, they are exchanging a lifetime’s worth of stories, and many believe that the nature of a person’s character may be felt in the feeling of their handshake. This attitude has taken root in Human culture in the Carthannas Region as well, and it is not uncommon for business arrangements to be broken over a poor handshake. Highland Dwarves generally find the hands of their Human and Halfling countrymen quite suitable, however they are notoriously appalled by the soft, smooth state of most Elf and Gnome hands, and will frequently refuse to shake hands with these races on principle to avoid the sensation, though they may still conduct business with such “softpalms,” as they call them, if their character can be vouched for or they have an honorable reputation.

Genetics and Reproduction

Highland Dwarves reproduce sexually, with one male and one female parent. The female carries the offspring, rarely more than 1, to term for 26 months in her womb, located in the lower torso.

Growth Rate & Stages

Highland Dwarves live a bit shorter than Gnomes and Under Dwarves, reaching adulthood around 40 summers of age and having a life expectancy of about 200 summers. It is not uncommon for Highland Dwarves to remain loyal to the families of their typically Human business partners across multiple generations of both races, and some of these long-standing familial bonds may prove so strong that the two bloodlines will consider themselves to be of one family possessing a linked surname. These unions are known as “twin-rooted” family trees, and the formal act of declaring such a merger is called a “rooting.”

Ecology and Habitats

Highland Dwarves are generally able to thrive in environments where ambient temperatures range from -25C to 35C. Highland Dwarves are native to the Carthannas Region, and feel a strong connection to the land and people, uninterested in traveling around other parts of the realm which they view only as lesser. Many Dwarves would consider themselves Carthannas Nationalists, holding little to no loyalty to the Kingdom of Solis, though these sentiments remain largely private, and most folks know better than to question a Dwarf’s loyalties in public. A substantial number of Highland Dwarves also continue to quietly worship the Ancient Giants, despite their annihilation and disappearance from the realm over five millennia ago.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Highland Dwarves possess Darkvision, and can see in complete darkness up to 60 feet, though this vision is greyscale only. Highland Dwarves are naturally able to intuit the market value, true quality, and composition of most items. They receive a +2 racial bonus on Appraise checks. They also receive a +2 racial bonus on Bluff checks to lie about the value and makeup of an item to non-Dwarves. Highland Dwarves may acquire a rough sense of some individuals’ alignments through shaking their hands. They may attempt to determine either a subject’s Lawful or Moral disposition, but only one of the two may be known through this manner.

Origin/Ancestry

Carthannite