Delvers

Description

Delvers are short with broad shoulders and thick, muscular limbs. 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 beasts of the outside world. Delvers use this advantage and build huge self-sustaining castle-like cities.

Delvers value honor and loyalty above all else and have a love for crafting and invention. The delver 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 such and who delver warrior. Delvers have a great fondness for ale, beer, and other stronger drinks. Delvers are not fond of sylvani, even though they have been trading together for many centuries; they consider the sylvani to be erratic and unreliable.

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

Habitat

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

Diet

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

Demeanor

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

Delvers 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 Delvers of Asmythe have no strong hatred of goblins but treat them as any other outsiders.

Appearance

Delvers have brown or brownish-grey skin with thick black or reddish-brown hair and dark brown or black eyes. Delvers are known for their huge beards and hairy limbs. Delvers 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 delvers have adapted to using picks and hammers combined with pugilism and wrestling to engage opponents.

Homeland Government

Each delver 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. A delver city will contain many clans with the clan-mothers of each forming a governing congress.

Names

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

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