Mountain Dwarves

---

Description

The mountain dwarves are on average half a foot taller than other dwarves. They have light skin that is fair or lightly tanned and green or silvery blue eyes with long light brown or red hair, growing white or gray with age. Most males and even some females have large beards and mustaches. The females are slightly shorter and less heavy than the males.    

Psychology

Mountain dwarves are a cynical and gruff people. Mountain dwarves can be a raucous people, with a boisterous laugh. Quick to revel, but deadly serious in a crisis, mountain dwarves are fast friends and feared enemies. Typically, mountain dwarves take time to trust an outsider and even longer to forgive a betrayal.   There is a long tradition of adventurism in the race and many young dwarves, hope to find glory in doing great deeds in distant lands. Less self-interested mountain dwarves have also taken to the adventuring life to reclaim ancient strongholds or treasures left from the days of The Old Imperium. Whatever the case, most mountain dwarves who venture beyond their homes are fighters or clerics trained in personal combat, leaning on the strong martial traditions of their people.    

Warriors of Renown

The traditional basis of mountain dwarf culture is its noble houses. Each house is a hierarchical extended family that fields its own military. The honor and prestige of each house has traditionally been based on the skill of its warriors and their achievements in combat. However, with the isolation of the mountain dwarves during The Age of Sorrows the warrior culture of the dwarven great houses has become mostly symbolic.    

Scholars & Librarians

However, dwarves are more than warriors. They are some of the most renowned scholars in The Known World. Dwarven culture emphasi literacy and education. Dwarves are taught to read at an early age in order to read the scared scrolls of The All Father and know his law. In addition, dwarves have kept some of the most complete chronicles (mostly of their own people) since the fall of The Imperium of Man.   Dwarven scribes dedicate their lives to acquiring texts from other lands so they can translate them into Dwarvish and copy them by hand for their libraries. Dwarven libraries are some of the most extensive and well guarded in all of The Civilized Lands. It is rumored that deep in their abandoned salt mine, far below the surface, dwarves keep gargantuan archives of ancients scrolls, records, laws, proclamations, codices, and artifacts. Elven, gnomish, and Unitarian scholar have long petitioned for access, but it has rarely been given to outsiders.    

The Bank of the Golden Shield 

For ages dwarven mines have supplied the gold and silver for the coffers of the princes and lords of The Known World. But, over the course of the last few centuries many of the dwarven noble houses have expanded their business and their power by switching from simply selling their gold to lending their gold to the lords and nobles around them. As The Age of Sorrows ended and The Rebirth began, many cities and fiefdoms in The Civilized Lands looked to expand their cities, ports, roads, and armies. The dwarven noble houses funded these expansions with generous loans of gold and silver from their mines.   This has evolved into three of the major noble houses and five of the minor houses forming The Bank of the Golden Shield or The Shield Bank. The Shield Bank, based in Citadel Adbar, is now the most powerful financial organization in The Civilized Lands and rivals The Holy Universal Church of Chantrel in total power in The Civilized Lands. It is heavily invested in The Church, the major merchant houses, and in the armies and navies of any lord who wishes to be victorious in battle. And it is rumored they are even involved with the dragonborn Five Families. The Shield Bank now wields more power over The Civilized Lands with quill and ledgers than the noble houses ever did with their war axes and hammers.    

Magic

Mountain dwarves are openly hostile towards magic. Most view it as a crutch for effete bookworms and tricksters. As a result open spellcasters are rare.    

Religion

The Religion of the True People

The Religion of the True People is the native religion of most dwarf communities. It holds that while there may or may not be other gods, that The All Father specially created dwarves, that they are The True People and he has given them a special place in the world. They believe that The All Father has promised to lead, teach, and protect dwarves against a hostile world.   Dwarf religion focusses on the well being of dwarves. It teaches dwarves to be honest, generous, and kind with each other. In dealings with non-dwarves, it is a little more ambiguous. But, most dwarves hold that The All Father commands those same virtues be applied to non-dwarves, as long as dwarven communities are protected.  

The Old Gods

Mountain dwarf communities also have minorities of followers of The Old Gods, particularly Yaman - God of The Mountains, and smaller temples to various gods and goddesses can be found in dwarven cities.  

Younger Faiths

Also, many dwarves living in primarily human lands have converted to The Teachings of Chantrel and Unity . These dwarves are somewhat distanced from their homelands as they view themselves as Disciples of Chantrel or Children of The Great Father first and members of their dwarven clan second.    

Relations with Other Races

Mountain dwarves, while gruff, generally enjoy the company of others, even if they are not of their own kind. Most of all, mountain dwarves get along with other dwarves, even with hill dwarves, who they believe naive and overconfident. Although mountain dwarves lay claim to a long history of disputes with the elves, most among both peoples are tolerant and even fond of the other. However, Drow are viewed as mortal enemies.   For gnomes, mountain dwarves have nothing but fondness, as dwarves admire the gnome’s abilities as engineers and tinkerers. In addition, halflings are viewed as kindred spirits. Also, mountain dwarves had a long tradition of friendship with humans, but are now cautious due to humanity's barbaric state.    

Homelands

Mountain dwarves have their homelands in large underground citadels and metropolises that they have carved into the various mountains. These are often bounded by foothills inhabited by hill dwarves on the surface and by The Underdark below. Of all their strongholds, the most important is Citadel Adbar .   However, while the mountain dwarves retain many homelands of their own, since mountain dwarves have emerged from self imposed exile during The Age of Sorrows, generations of emigration has caused a vast diaspora of mountain dwarves to spread across human lands. These scattered communities often form into loose approximations of a traditional dwarven clan, maintaining their own ways while integrating into the local community.