Delvers

Description

Dwarves are short with broad shoulders and thick, muscular arms and legs. They are well built for carrying massive loads and working long, hard hours carving out stone tunnels deep within the mountains. The mountain rock is thick and provides ample protection from the monsters of the outside world. Dwarves use this advantage and build huge self-sustaining castle-like cities.

Dwarves value honor and loyalty above all else and have a love for crafting and invention. The dwarven sense of humor, if it can be called such, involves telling stories about how such-and-such a creature came to a nasty end at the hands of a dwarven warrior. Dwarves have a great fondness for ale, beer, and other stronger drinks. Dwarves are not fond of elves, even though they have been trading together for many centuries; they consider the elves to be erratic and unreliable.

Dwarves have adapted their arcane magic ability to building devices, Dwarven technology is on-par with "Steam Punk". Dwarves do not consider this "magic" and would be offended by such a description. They guard their science and technology fiercely.

Habitat

Dwarves carve out huge citadels in and on the mountains. These massive cities are self-sustaining closed societies where dwarves live and practice their craft.

Diet

Dwarves cultivate farms of large mushrooms, thick lichen, and tough tubers. Dwarves prefer tough, raw foods like dried meat, stale bread and thick beer, often mixed together into Bakko, a thick stew which they drink out of huge mugs.

Demeanor

Dwarves are friendly, stubborn, and stoic. Dwarves are very logical and careful planners, sometimes spending years planning a new endeavor. Dwarves carefully consider all options before deciding on an action, and once they decide it is almost impossible to convince them otherwise.

Dwarves are also very serious folk. Their stoic life does not cultivate frivolousness behavior. That is not to say they are entirely without humor, but their humor is very dry.

The dwarves of Asmythe have no strong hatred of goblins and orcs but treat them as any other outside race.

Appearance

Dwarves have brown or brownish-grey skin with thick black or reddish-brown hair and dark brown or black eyes. Dwarves are best known for their huge beards. Dwarves wear sturdy clothes with large patches of bright color and often intricately carved ornaments.

Fighting Style

The confined spaces underground make ranged fighting extremely difficult, so dwarves have adapted to using picks and hammers combined with pugilism and wrestling to engage opponents.

Homeland Government

Each dwarven clan has a matriarch who who settles disputes and makes decisions for the entire clan. Usually this is the eldest mother in the clan who is still of sound mind. But other than this exalted role, the clan-mother is indistinguishable from other clan members. Her position does not confer any special treatment.

Names

Dwarf names begin with the clan name, then the given name, and then any honorifics. Dwarven names are similar to Slavic (Geman, Russian) and Scandinavian names.

Example: Ironhelm Grum, son of Ironhelm Khan, slayer of Trogs.