Dwarvenfolk (dwˈɔːvənfˌə͡ʊk)

Dwarves are stocky and sturdy folk that are generally regarded as denser and as having stronger bones than other similar races. Dwarves are also known to be resilient and strongly resistant to most poisons and conditions that might ail or disable other similar races.

Resistance & Poison Tolerances

Dwarves exhibit strong resistance and poison tolerances in part due to their adaption to subterranean environments that provide increased exposure to heavy elements that are toxic or radioactive in nature. Dwarves are not immune to toxicity or radioactivity however. Culturally they have many procedures (that almost border on rituals) to deal with such cases of exposure, but they are not innately predisposed to complete immunity.

Dwarven resistance stem mainly from having a stronger set of DNA repair mechanisms due to their prolonged exposure over many lifetimes to hazardous materials (such as Arsenic) and from their lack of exposure to the sun and extant solar radiation. This helps them resist organic damage that they do not have the antibodies for, and resist damage from radioactive metals and viruses.

Biologically, for dwarves, reproduction can be initiated between two people with compatible genitalia. However, Traditional Dwarven society does not functionally distinguish between or assign specific specific roles and expectations to people with certain genital types. Thus, Dwarven folk living within Traditional Dwarven society do not often see the need to reproduce until much later in their lifespan. This in combination with the length of a Dwarven life leads to many dwarven children being born in distinct waves or generations.

Stagnant Evolution

Dwarves are considered to be evolutionary stagnant. Their resistance to radioactivity and DNA defects does cause them to experience very little to almost no mutations. Thus, Dwarves have not underwent significant evolution over the lifespan of their species. Due to this it can be logically observed that biologically Ancient Dwarves are assumed to be almost exactly similar to Modern Dwarves of our current Era.

Dwarvenfolk settlements can be found in places of rich and abundant mineral or ore. Dwarves are particular to settling in places that are high of gold, silver, electrum or large amounts of iron. Due to the nature of Dwarven record-keeping it is not properly known where exactly the Dwarves originally emigrated from, with many clans only keeping records of the culture and history of their exact settlement.

Although Dwarves mainly exist within mono-cultural communities, they aren't entirely stationary in this regard. In the event of disaster or after a Dwarven community has completely exhausted the mineral resources in an area they will abandon their settlement and migrate to a different region to re-establish their settlement there.

Dwarf Migration

There is also a significant emerging trend of Dwarves choosing to forgo traditional Dwarven life and values for establishing themselves within mixed race societies instead. It is currently unknown exactly why this phenomenon happens but all kingdoms settled around or within migratory distance of the Hearthridge spires report a noticeable uptick in their Dwarven populations.

Dwarves are known to be a sentient race, and their intelligence in smithing and metallurgy is unparalleled. They can also be quite cunning with a quick wit and poignantly truthful at times. The average dwarf carries a deep and rich education for minerals, ores, and how to properly work them. Many dwarven kingdoms create dedicated schools and academies that are steeped in history and stalwartly committed discovery of new knowledge on these matters.

Dwarves are known for their excellent low-light vision and heightened overall sensory perception underground, which is highly conducive to their work and nature as subterranean beings. However, Dwarves are highly lacking when exposed to direct sunlight or simply above ground.

Magic

Dwarves are largely incapable of exceptional feats magic as it is commonly understood. Some scholars have spouted that their long-lasting awareness and intelligence even in old age can be seen as a magical restorative force, although research and investigation into the matter hasn't found a favourable answer either way.

Culturally, Dwarves are usually not interested in magic and see it as mostly folly or a short trip into the realm of madness. To Dwarves, Magic is the antithesis to logic and proper procedure that is required for a dwarven settlement to survive. The scant amount of Dwarves that do practice magic or study it are seen as forsaking their heritage and legacy on a darkly weighted selfish gamble that will only benefit the individual.

In Dwarven Culture, names are seen as a serious and ceremonious affair. All Dwarves are granted their root names from their clan or family's elder in a venerated ceremony called the Naming of the Babe. This ceremony typically involves the whole family's attendance, and sometimes the whole clan if they live nearby. Depending on the specific culture of the Dwarf the ceremony can be a day's affair to a weeks affair with different minor traditions weaved within.

Weight of a Name

A Dwarf's name is their reputation, renown and culture wrapped into one. A singular dwarven surname represents their entire history and legacy and thus receiving names and keeping them is seen as a heavy cultural priority amongst Dwarves. A Dwarf's primary name is mostly seen as something strictly for record-keeping and recording family lineages, and do not often present themselves outside of such contexts.

Casual Names & Nicknames

Dwarves will use a vast array of different names depending on the culture and the context in which the names are observed. Usually these names exhibit a practical benefit, either by differentiating between members of a family apart from one another in a gathering or differentiating tradesmen on a job site within a mine.

Sets of Dwarven friends usually call each other by nicknames or pet names. This can be either as a part of a group consensus or individually as a set of friends. Friendship nicknames tend to be in-jokes between friends or playful insults directed at one another. Most commonly these names will signify the close nature of the relationships.

Adapting names to other societies

For Dwarves that have chosen to live amongst the races in the wider world, the difference in naming systems poses a complex and quite difficult challenge. There is no set consensus on how a Dwarf may go about adapting their names to the structure of different nations and cultures, although most tend to freeze their first and last names into a singular set of names that may be applied to paperwork and record-keeping.

One of the major Dwarven organizations is the main Dwarven kingdom of Goria. This is the kingdom of which the main ideals of the Traditional Dwarves comes from as well as the main kingdom of Mek'kah that the Dwarves often ritualistically return to. Goria, situated within the Hearthridge Spires handles most of the overall recordkeeping of the Dwarves within it's region.

Dwarven Beauty ideals prioritise strength, rigor and cleanliness. Many young Dwarves will aspire to be strong and muscular, with long braided hair and braided beards that are kept clean, shiny and pristine.

Strength

Dwarven culture is predominantly dependant on the belief of self-reliance in support of a greater communal cause, and thus the ability to provide for ones self and pull their weight as a cog in a larger team are foundational ideals. From this, Dwarves see byproducts and physical results of attending to these values as significantly attractive and honourable goals.

Rigor

Following most if not all of the same sentiment as stated above, Rigor is also seen as a trait that it's results are lauded within Dwarven society. A strong and well-kept mind is a desirable trait, and a dwarf who keeps themself, fit, fed and along a rigorous training regimen is a dwarf with a iron will and good prospects.

Cleanliness

While the Dwarves' subterranean nature may seem against the ideal of cleanliness the Dwarves themselves see the ideals as tantamount to each other. To a Dwarf, in order to show proficient and substantial knowledge of mining and prowess within the ideals of craftsmanship and mining, a dwarf must also be knowledgeable in how to clean and properly groom ones self, to rid oneself of their dirt and grime and return to their base state. To a dwarf, knowing how to rid oneself of the byproducts of a material is part of the essential knowledge in handling it.

Dwarves do not perceive gender or assign weight or roles to gender like other races do. Dwarven society traditionally assigns a childcare role much like other 'mastery' jobs such as leatherworking or metallurgy where several Dwarven experts will be expected to rear and teach young dwarves the ways of the mine and society. However, this job is not assigned or expected of Dwarves of a particular biological type and is more assigned to Dwarves who exibit a specific 'calling' to the job.

Some Dwarves have the parts nessacary to birth and others to create life but Dwarven culture does not assign thm a role, label or unique distinction based upon thier biological structure, and this biological structure is more of a recordkeeping footnote, akin to hair colour or eye color rather than any specific larger set of ideals.

In traditional Dwarven culture courtship isn't something that's saught after but moreso something that simply happens. There are no set stages, templates or milestones for a warden couple to reach or follow within Dwarven culture. Rather, Dwarves simply take each relationship they have (even romantic ones) at a pace that suits them best and which follows what's practical and achiveable for them and their current life situation.

For Dwarves who live in mixed race societies they usually follow the ideals of the society that they're embedded within. Sometimes the adjustment of the gap between ideals can be especially rough and with societies that have rigid courtship expectations the change can end up being a rather serious culture shock.

Some second generation or further modern Dwarves have been known to be attempting to merge different dwarven values onto other culture's courship ideals. This can be seen in some dwarves choosing to use dwarven made rings or other traditionally dwarven forged gems or minerals for their wedding rings or engagement jewelery.

Due to the Dwarvenfolk's subterranean nature and monoculture, they have evolved to have a distinct and set of strict tones and complex syntax that forms a in depth and extensive language separate from Common languages. This is known to the outer lands simply as Dwarvish.

Most outer-folk will assume Dwarvish to be simply a singular language however most Dwarves consider it to be a root language and an umbrella term for a rich and eloquent bouquet of different specific regional dialects that share common, but not exact ancestry with each other.

Dwarves emerged into the outer world (known to them as the solar lands) about 5,000 years ago but anthropologists suggest that Dwarven Culture may actually go back much father due the maturity and richness of their history and mythological beliefs. It cannot be exactly estimated however due to a flaw in traditional Dwarven record-keeping dictating that historical records only start from the founding of a settlement.

Dwarven history can be observed in the various and plentiful abandoned settlements scattered across the various continents and realms of the planet. Often simply labelled as Mines or Dungeons, these abandoned settlements can be repopulated with undead and other unwanted neer-do-wells that can cause great havoc and anguish to other settlements and regions nearby.