Dwarf

Mountain Dwarves, as most Dwarves are now called, originated from a much older and now extinct culture of Hill Dwarves, who created great cities across the continent.

Dwarves have a strict code of honor exemplified by a model life called the Ushka do Haag (Lifetime of Loyalty). In this model, a Dwarf individual swears to spend their years under servitude of a specific entity or force, with many Dwarves choosing to swear to their families, lovers, their kings, or their gods. Dwarves who disparage this promise of servitude are seen as the lowest members of society, and in many places face exile or execution. Dwarves are expected to swear at least one Ushka do Haag before the age of 45, and those who do not are seen as lazy by many Dwarves.   Ushka do Haags are usually meant to symbols of servitude, but in some Dwarven kingdoms it has become a common form of marriage or partnership, with each partner in the relationship swearing a lifetime of servitude to the other.

Dwarves mastered bronze in the age when it counted most, but in their absence, iron has become the dominant metal among surface dwellers. As a result, many Dwarves are making the switch to iron as well, but some find this as a great betrayal.

Dwarves once dressed in very fine clothing, artifacts suggest, but after thousands of years underground, most dwarves dress in whatever it is they can. Many outfits are made of strands of hair, lichen, scraps, or, for especially wealthy Dwarves, dragon scales. There is no "code" for these outfits, however, and most Dwarves are happy to wear outfits made of other materials--especially now with their return to the surface world.

Millennia ago, Dwarves would create beautiful structures of clay bricks and limestone, monuments that scraped the sky. Their time spent underground has not diminished their architectural abilities, but their underground structures have evolved to serve a more utilitarian purpose.

Dwarves have an array of different baptismal rites, but the most common of which sees a Dwarf child stamp their feet (for especially young children, their feet are stamped for them) into wet clay. Immediately following this, the parents select a name for their child, which a priest will then scribble into the clay as well. When the clay dries, the child has been named, and the baptism is complete.

When Dwarves reach age 45, they are expected to swear an Ushka do Haag (Lifetime of Loyalty) to someone or something, be it a craft, their clan, their life partner, or their family. Upon selection of their Ushka do Haag, dwarves celebrate with as big a feast they can muster, including traditional meals such as bat stew.

Dwarves are buried standing upright, and placed in a chamber underneath a tiled floor. The tile above them is inlaid with the clay tablet they were given when they were born.