[Lore] Dwarves

 

A dwarf and fighter

    Since I made a post about elves I thought it would be good to expand on the other races as well, so here's a post about dwarves.  There are 3 types of dwarves that currently live within the Gryphon Vale - mountain, hill, and woods.  Mountain and hill dwarves are described according to the Basic rulebook.  They are thick-built, 4 feet tall, bearded creatures, and weigh 150 lbs.  Their skin is earth-colored and have dark colored hair.  A typical dwarf enjoys hearty meals, strong drinks, mining, slaying goblins, and recording grudges.  They are expert craftsmen and love gold and gems.  Mountain and hill dwarves build large stone structures underneath the earth and have been known to dig too deep and too greedily which always invites unwanted attention.  

    Now, at first I thought the dwarves and humans might have fairly good relations because they both are lawful and could benefit from trading with each other but after reading around and thinking about it further I think it would be unlikely for them to interact with them significantly more than humans interact with elves.  There are a few reasons for this, the first one being that I want to keep demi humans strange and mysterious so establishing well known trade routes between Dwarfland and the human lands would defeat that purpose since the two groups would become so familiar to each other.  Another reason is that dwarven smiths are so far beyond human capabilities that any dwarf wanting to set up shop within a human settlement would get kicked out after the local guild masters use their political and economic sway to force the local lord to help protect their control over various trades.  Could some trade happen, sure, but it would likely be heavily regulated and rare.  Maybe once in a blue moon, a dwarf merchant comes by to sell and buy goods but other than that the dwarves and humans wouldn't really interact with each other.  Not unless some war broke out and they had to form some sort of alliance to survive.

    Woods dwarves are a little different from their relatives.  These dwarves are much smaller, standing at 3 feet and weighing in at 100 lbs.  Woods dwarves have outsized noses, earth-brown skin tones, jug-handle ears, and their beards are usually white.  Many humans, and non dwarves in general, might refer to such creatures as gnomes.  Woods dwarves also have a different ability compared to mountain and hill dwarves, instead of noticing traps, shifting walls, and recent construction, they are able to detect slanting passages and can sniff out tracks one third of the time (2-in-6).  They are also able to create a ring of small stones that act as a spell of Protection from Evil once per day.  They do not need to memorize the spell, as long as they can find some stones and arrange them in a circle, the area will be enchanted as if the spell had been cast.  Woods dwarves (due to their more solitary nature) tend not to build large structures but rather something closer to a halfling hole but with fewer rounded corners and generally more "house-shaped" if that makes sense.  The houses can be above or below ground, it is up to the individual dwarf.  A small hut or cabin in a secluded forest would not be an uncomfortable or uncommon living situation for a woods dwarf.

    Regardless of the type of dwarf, they all speak in what we would consider a "Scottish" accent even though Scotland doesn't exist in the World of Dragonwrath.  Dwarves, again of all kinds, place great importance on their beards.  Beards are decorated and elaborately styled, according to the occasion, and can tell a lot about the dwarf who wears it.  Each braid represents something related to that particular dwarf, whether it is showing his lineage, profession, achievements, etc.  If a dwarf was to commit some kind of serious offense to his kin and clan, he would likely be stripped of his beard either by cutting it off or by burning it off (this would be for particularly heinous crimes such as kinslaying so that the steel would not suffer offense from being used on such a disgusting being).  Originally, I quite liked the idea that female dwarves didn't actually have beards but would actually style their hair into a faux-beard but I decided that would be too silly for the general tone I'm trying to achieve (plus it is already difficult getting my players to not laugh at NPCs already).  Instead, female dwarves will naturally grow beards and they would have their own set of practices for how and when they style their beards.  Most dwarves, well most demi humans in general, never actually step foot outside of their homeland and so most dwarves never actually learn that non dwarves don't grow as thick or as long facial hair compared to them.  Even when it comes to the women of non dwarven races, they are surprised to find out that they are actually beardless.  Dwarves are also identified by their beards and so not having one, is akin to a human hiding their face with a mask.  This results in a bias against unbearded folk, leading many dwarves to believe that those without facial hair are untrustworthy.  Adventuring dwarves can eventually learn how other races are and correct their misconceptions but this obviously takes time.  However, if someone befriends a dwarf then that dwarf is a friend for life.  There a very few bonds stronger than a dwarven friendship since dwarves build things to last, and that doesn't just apply to their underground fortresses.

This is what I was originally thinking for dwarf women lol.