Dwarf

A small sturdy humanoid

Dwarves reproduce sexually

Dwarves reach maturity at eighteen, but are still considered young till age fifty. Dwarves can live beyond two-hundred years, and few live beyond four-hundred years old.

Dwarves can live in most environments, no matter how harsh

Dwarves are omnivores, lovers of hearty meals and strong drink. Their tastes are eclectic and vast, Mountain Dwarves even being known to eat rocks if without any other option

Most dwarven societies were divided into clans built along family ties and political allegiances. These clans were usually led by hereditary rulers, often monarchs of a sort and descended from the founder of the clan. Dwarves strongly valued loyalty to these rulers and to the clan as a whole and even objective dwarves tended to side primarily with their kin over other races or communities.

Dwarves prefer to settle in the mountains, but live dispersed all over Aeris. Over time there have been genetic distinctions between these folk.

Dwarves are very intelligent, they're known for their cleverness and ingenuity.

Dwarves hailing from within the mountains have the ability to better see in the dark

Well groomed facial hair

Dwarves are monogamous, and their immense capability for love can easily be seen. Loyalty being extremely important to them, Dwarven relationships are passionate and strong as stone.

Dwarves are extremely technologically advanced, always on the cutting edge, always innovating.

Dwarves highly valued the ties between family members and friends, weaving tightly knit clans. Dwarves particularly respected elders, from whom they expected sound leadership and the wisdom of experience, as well as ancestral heroes or clan founders. This idea carried on to relations with other races and dwarves were deferential even to the elders of another, non-dwarven race. Likewise, dwarves, perhaps moreso than most other races, turned to their gods for guidance and protection. Non-evil dwarves looked to the divine for comfort and inspiration, while the wicked looked to their divine overlords for methods through which to obtain power over others. Individual dwarves might be faithless, but the race as a whole, regardless of subrace, had a strong inclination for religion and almost every community maintained at least one temple or ancestral shrine.

Most dwarven clans focused on one or two kinds of crafting, such as blacksmithing, jewelry, engineering, or masonry. Dwarves strove to avoid overspecialization by sending some of their youths to other clans to serve as apprentices, which also helped to foster racial unity. Because of their longevity, these apprenticeships might last decades.

Dwarves were made by Grunjar in Ulm-Dolmar's image. Dwarves were one of the first species to begin forming civilizations. Deep in the mountains they lived and mined, their natural gift for craftsmanship meant called them into the deep. Early conflicts with the Elves would go on to not only establish their interspecies relationship with them, but also cause Humans to organize themselves. The War of the Steel Fists, a conflict that lasted from 7780 to 7770. The Dwarves and Elves went to war once more over territory. This time the battles raged across Aeris, the Sarasadi and Tarisians joined the conflict on different sides, erupting the continent into war. The Norsean tribes were the first caught in the conflict. Elves and Sarasadi invaded Kaldrland in the third year of the war. The humans of the land had been working with Dwarves on the island, and the Elvish Alliance sought to take the land’s natural resources. When they first touched down they raided the human villages in search of supplies, these attacks sent the humans into a collective panic. The humans came together, and in the first Norsea Moot in 7777, the distant tribes of Norsea founded the High Kingdom of Norsea. These men sided with the Dwarves, facing the Elves and Sarasadi on their shores. The ferocity and tactics of the men shocked the Elves, sending them back to their boats. When news of this first human kingdom reached Val’Kara, the clans and tribes joined together. Some fought the Elves, others the Dwarves. In Sarasada, the humans founded city states. This event was also known as Humanity’s Spring. 7770 saw the end of the war. The Dwarves shrank back into the mountains, though some stayed amongst the kingdoms of man. Then as Moraphan rose, all was crushed, the Dwarves had to retreat. The Dwarves of Desa'tor fled to Tol Ador begrudgingly, but due to this escape they were all but wiped out. And it was these last Dwarves who would help found the Golden Alliance alongside Humanity and Elves. And led by King Fafnir Copperheart the last Dwarves fought Moraphan at the Battle of the Red Fields. And they then joined the Aerean Empire. Through into the modern era Dwarves have never lost their stalwart hearts, or sturdy loyalty.

King Fafnir Copperheart Ondoli Blackrock High King Thydrak Fyrnall Yasenelyn Snowbraid High Queen Noradrebella Warbranch

Dwarfves were firm believers in the righteousness of their own ways, yet were surprisingly tolerant of the cultures of others, much of which was due to their natural introversion. Polite dwarves normally declined to speak their minds about others regardless of their true feelings; behavior considered "good enough" was left alone and not considered their business. Certain violent behavior might prompt more direct forms of response, but for the most part dwarves would live and let live. They got along passably well with most other races, their pragmatism and sense of honor serving diplomacy well, and few reasonable societies could not come to some level of agreement of them.   However, most dwarves commonly believed that true friendships could only be forged over long periods of time and a common saying was that "the difference between an acquaintance and a friend is about a hundred years", meaning that few members of the shorter-lived races ever forged strong bonds with dwarves. There were exceptions, however, and some of the strongest friendships were those between a dwarf and a human whose grandparents and parents were also on good terms with the dwarf.   More than any other race, humans were capable of dwarven behavior, readily absorbing their virtues and able to value them almost equally. They looked up to the tradition, honor, conviction, and family values central to them, and admired dwarven martial skill and stonecraft. The two races had always been cordial neighbors at the very least, and when humans modeled their societies after dwarves, it was a source of pride and joy. However, humans were so morally and ethically flexible that they could also be almost elf-like, seeming flighty to their slow-paced ways. What all human nations shared was a short memory, and human adaptability was countered in their minds by cultural inconsistency. Still, if dwarves were good at anything, it was finding potential hidden below the surface, and so even in the darkest times, they never gave up on humanity.   Dwarven and elven relations were infamously volatile, their vastly disparate perspectives on the relationship between the individual and society resulting in countless misunderstandings and feuds. While dwarves subjugated the individual in favor of the group, elves did the opposite, and while both ways of life worked for their respective races, it made it hard for the two to agree on specific plans. Dwarves were both frustrated and amused by their apparent flightiness, lack of family focus, and irresponsibility of a race that, given their long lives and magic power, should be some of the most responsible of all. The emotional elves usually saw the naturally reserved dwarves as too dour, foolishly failing to express themselves and their opinions. Dwarves and elves were both basically good however, and so agreed on the most important issues; like squabbling siblings, they jumped to the others' defense against outside forces despite their threats, shouts, and insults.   Dwarves and gnomes had a history of cordial relations, mutually seeing each other as family, however distant. Dwarves held the outlooks the two had in common in strong regard, looking at gnomish culture with affectionate bemusement and gnomes often felt that dwarves had a grounding in the greater truths of the world that they themselves lacked. However, long-term contact between the two would likely cause irritation, for while they envied the dwarves, gnomes were unwilling to stick to their lifestyle. Dwarf strongholds were always open to gnomes, but few dwarves were comfortable enough with gnome ways to stay for long in their settlements.   As competitors for underground resources, dwarves and kobolds frequently fought over subterranean claims. The anti-social sentiments and persecution complex of the kobolds made diplomacy difficult, and while the two didn't always attack each other, neither side needed much provocation to start fighting. Not helping their relations was how dwarves frequently allied with or fought for gnomes against kobold tribes. However, if the two ended up working together due to circumstance, they could discover a common work ethic able to form the foundation of respectful friendships.   Dwarves had few set opinions on half-elves, each being a reflection of whatever culture they were raised in. Perhaps more than that of elves or humans, the half-elf mindset was acceptable with that of the dwarf, combining the relative order of humanity with the long view provided by elven blood. Wise dwarves knew half-elves to be acceptable intermediaries when dwarves and elves desperately needed to cooperate, while half-elves also appreciated the dwarven understanding of the long view and lack of sheer pretention sometimes displayed by elves. However, half-elves could just as easily combine elven frivolity with human hubris, and their wanderlust was difficult for dwarves to understand. Half-elves generally saw dwarves as inflexible and unyielding, unable to understand their inability to negotiate and try new things.   Given the divine connection between dwarves and orcs and yet the complicated past Orcs had with them, it was easy to understand their temptation to not fully trust Half-orcs. Half-orcs meanwhile thought dwarves would be funny if not so dangerous, for despite their capacity for drinking and raucousness they were serious, judgmental, task-oriented, and strict. However, Half-orcs held respect for the strength and martial prowess, and further admired dwarven skill with stone and honesty while sharing an appreciation for simple pleasures. Dwarves were predisposed to letting those so inclined prove themselves, and the two could be surprisingly staunch companions, to the point that less traditional clans would adopt particularly worthy Half-orcs, demonstrating the possibility for even the oldest grudges to be wiped clean in place of even older brotherhood.   Dwarves and Orcs have perhaps the most complex relationship. Each being a creation of Grunjar and Ulm-Dolmar respectively in each other's image. But when the Orcs were deceived by Moraphan and set upon the world, the Dwarves were some of the first to be slaughtered by Orcish hordes. Since then Orc hordes have still been known to battle Dwarves on many occasions. But the Orcs who rejoined society did do work to improve relations with their long lost spiritual kin.    Dwarves despise the Drow. Nearly moreso than any haughty High Elf, the Drow threatened Dwarven civilization at it's very core, from underground. And most especially after the Shadow Wars, after the Drow invaded the surface world, often times their first targets being Dwarven cities. As an example, Desa'tor's most ancient districts, full of historical and religious landmarks became the constantly embroiled frontline of the war. Unending battle left it completely lost. The Dwarves begrudge this massively.