|naming = Scandinavian, and very loosely Tolkien-Fantasy Dwarven names.
*Forge Fathers (praising)
|languages = Barrudh
|naming = Old Norse with permutations
|distinction = Stout, mountain-dwelling folk who show unerring skill with finecrafting, jewelcraft, smithing, cooperative fighting, woodworking, and engineering, with a unique familiarity and skill in [[metallurgy]] and weapon crafting.
|distinction = Stout, mountain-dwelling people who show unerring perseverance and skill with crafting
|maxage = 200 years
|maxage = 200 years
|height = 4'2"-4'11"
|eye = brown, gray, green, and blue.
|weight = 130-220 Pounds
|hair = Blond, brown, black, red, and (when older) gray or white.
|eye = In order of rarity: brown, grey, black, emerald, and piercing blue.
|skin =
|hair = Blond, brown, black, blue, red, and (when older) grey or white.
[[File:Skin1.png]]
|skin = Pinkish Pale, Ruddy Brown, and Light Grey.
[[File:Skin2.png]]
[[File:Skin4.png]]
[[File:Skin3.png]]
|}}
|}}
The Masters of Stone, keepers of ancient treasures, creators of momentous artifacts of power, the Deep Folk, the Fallen People, and the Stout Kin; the Dwarves of [[Aloria]] are known by all these names and many more. The Dwarves have a history officially dating back to the founding of their First Hold, Olovomm. From this Hold the Dwarves would grow to found many others, some to fall quickly, some to suffer a long decline, and some to last until the present day. In the mountains of [[Ellador]] one will find little obvious evidence of the Dwarves. Their strongholds and smaller settlements are often disguised using the local terrain, expertly carved stone staircases leading up a mountain path, or clever doors that do not come open to those who do not know the proper means of entry. Much like finding their homes, understanding a Dwarf well enough to befriend them is a trial few can bear to suffer, for Dwarves can be a judgemental, harsh, bitter, and greedy lot. But the Dwarves are also known to be a loyal, fiercely protective, and merry people, dearer to their friends than any of the other Races, and as well the mightiest craftsmen, second perhaps only to the [[Altalar]]. Their success as a people comes in far shorter bursts than they, and no true golden age has ever existed for very long amongst the Dwarves. Rather, for every great height and victory the Dwarven people achieve, they often make a fatal error in greed, hubris, or plain old bad luck that leads to yet another downfall. The Dwarves are a people permanently wronged by their own actions and the terrors of the world, but soldier on in pursuit of returning to a time no living Dwarf may recall, but all feel deep within their heart. A time of shared prosperity, of bountiful merriment, and of a truly peaceful age.
Secretive and proud, the Dwarves are the only known civilization to live underground in the world of [[Aloria]], building their grand holds with vast tunnel networks that run like highways across the various continents. The Dwarves are equally a very ancient [[Race]], predating many of the modern races in the world, and potentially even the [[Allorn Empire]] in having a civilized state structure, though keeping themselves distinctly isolated from the rest of the world. While ignoring most of the woes of the surface world, the Dwarves faced calamity after calamity in the last 1000 years, resulting in a staggering loss of life and a decline of their Empire. In present times, the Dwarves constantly struggle against extinction and the world forgetting about them, too proud to accept being consigned to a footnote in history, but equally pushed into a corner by forces beyond their control.
==Physical Characteristics==
Dwarves are a stout and stocky people. Standing from 4’2” to 4’11” in height, they typically have ruddy faces, with short, stout limbs that are usually knotted with muscles. A Dwarf’s face seems to pop out of their head ever so slightly, with exaggerated noses, brows, and mouths. Beards are common on any male Dwarf over the age of 20, and these can be braided, tied, and dyed in a variety of colors and styles. Female Dwarves have more soft features, with a tendency to braid their hair, though both male and female Dwarves will often be found wearing jewelry, especially necklaces. Dwarves tend to weigh nearly the same as humans, carrying a heavy, bulky build. Dwarven men also tend to be a little taller than their female counterparts. About half of male Dwarves tend to bald in their 70’s, with the rest following around their 120’s. All Dwarves have hearty stomachs and the appetite to back it up. It will usually take twice the amount of alcohol to inebriate a Dwarf when compared to most [[Ailor]], and poisoning a Dwarf is even more challenging. Even the more Ailor-looking Dwarves tend to be hardier than most. It is also worth noting that all Dwarves tend to have slightly pointed ears, though not to the extent of most Nelfin. Offshoots from this general description of Dwarfkind are many, affecting anything from height to body build and more. With that said, most Dwarves tend to have brown, black, or fiery ginger hair. Brown, hazel, black, emerald, and silvery-blue are, in descending order of rarity, the eye colors of the Dwarves, though there are also a scant few Dwarves that seem to be born with a faint purple eye color, seemingly occurring naturally. Lastly, the body hair of a Dwarf seems to depend largely on the Dwarf in question, though even the most Ailor-like Dwarves sport a little more body hair than normal, especially on the tops of their toes and feet.
==Mental Characteristics==
“If given the choice to befriend a Dwarf or lift a giant boulder, at least find one with smooth edges.” So goes the Dwarven proverb, and with good reason; Dwarves are a bitter, jealous bunch by nature, and severely mistrustful of outsiders of any sort. The failure of the Altalar to come to their aid when most needed and their unending wars with the [[Isldar]] have made them wary of [[Elves]] of any kind. This is not to suggest a Dwarf is murdersome or violent against any particular people, even their dreaded Isldarrin enemies. A Dwarf will always keep their manners and their wits about them, right up until a fight is unavoidable. Dogmatic in their ideals of honor, hard work, and loyalty, a Dwarf can be the finest and most reliable of friends, if you can convince them you are not going to plant yet another knife in their back. This isn’t to suggest Dwarves are an altruistic sort. Their greed and lust for power makes them capable of terrible acts, and they have a particular disgust for the bestial [[Races]], rooting from their conflicts with the [[Dakkar]]. [[Dragons]] are as well a sworn enemy to Dwarfkind, and Dwarves have slain and used the corpses of Dragons in horrifying displays of pragmatic cruelty. To a Dwarf, there is always another beast or betrayer around the road to be confronted, and so friendship with the unknown is a business best left to the foolish. Dwarves have a mental fortitude that matches their physical constitution, but it is built up and supported by an ever present stubbornness. A Dwarf admitting fault is a rare sight, but a bit of quiet bluster and an eye to the ground is a common way of saying “I am truly sorry” from one of the stout folk. They are decent enough company, if you don’t come to expect too much of them.
===Dwarf Sub Races and Culture===
Dwarf types are fairly homogeneous by height, but differ in body build, origin, culture, and integration into other peoples. Generally speaking, a Dwarf has a subrace and also a Hold of origin which affects their profession or outlook. Aldor have diverged the farthest from the Dwarven standard, with Saendr being the next most different, and the other three types of Dwarves being nigh impossible to visually distinguish from one another, to non-Dwarves at least. A Dwarf generally always retains the ability to tell who is from where. When two Dwarven parents of different subraces have a child, the child is either one or the other.
==Aldor==
The Aldor are the Dwarves who have integrated the best and the most into Ailor society, even adapting portions of their bloodline to make themselves more aesthetically similar to their host cultures. Often confused with [[Fennh Lineage]] halflings, they are short and thin in stature, not as stocky or durable as their brother races, and typically resemble smaller Ailor with a softer, more appealing version of Dwarven facial features. These features were generally moderated according to Ailor standards, creating a middle look which comes off as neither truly Dwarven nor completely Ailor. That said, they fit rather well into the Ailor lands they journey to, especially in the Regalian Archipelago, where there are a large number of Aldor. The price the Aldor pay for this ease of integration is that they are strongly disliked by other Dwarves, especially the Ruin-Khuur and Greborrin, whose traditional mindsets clash severely with what they perceive as a selling-out of their national heritage and total abandonment of their homeland.
Life for the Aldor is a philosophy of easy-going living. Mistaken by other peoples for laziness, this concept is in fact to the Aldor more of an acute understanding of engaging in frequent stress ruining one’s life. They are some of the most laid-back people in Aloria, because rather than worry over specific issues, they always seem to effortlessly dance around them and find a method to continue on their way with their lives. There is no such thing as a worried Aldor. In turn, this makes them the polar opposite of other Dwarves in that they have no uniting concept of a Grudge, and their society has little to no family-based cohesion. Aldor are unconcerned party people at heart, easy to speak to, and easy to befriend. Their clean severance from the rest of their Race means that they are not caught up in their messy and fatalistic politics, and can enjoy themselves free of responsibility and duty.
==Ruin-Khuur==
Ruin-Khuur are very mercantile in their behaviour, often making excellent traders and craftsmen. It was a Ruin-Khuur who first invented modern Dwarven airships and gunpowder techniques. Despite being narrowly focused on finance and business, Ruin-Khuur are among the most pious and religious Dwarves, often taking sustained time away from their business to pray and give worship to their Founder God. The Ruin-Khuur are traditionally stocky and muscled Dwarves, but they are also possessed of uniquely stern expressions. The facial muscles of Ruin-Khuur Dwarves are arranged in such a way that their lips always seem to be pressed into a dour and unfeeling expression. When they smile, it comes off as more of a leer, with the flash of their teeth imparting hostile intent even if there was none to begin with. Ruin-Khuur Dwarves can, like the Aldor, be found scattered all across Aloria and even within the Regalian Archipelago in significant numbers. The difference is that the Ruin-Khuur are blunt, uncompromising, and mean, and do not give up on what (to them) makes them Dwarves to settle in other lands. Because of this, they are often compared to the Solvaan Altalar, with whom they actually get along decently. At the cost of missing out on proper integration into Ailor society, the Ruin-Khuur are still welcome back in Ellador as the brains and pockets of their home Holds.
Life for the Ruin-Khuur can be summed up with “What has been done, What are the others doing, What can I do?”. They are a very sternly minded people, with little patience for the games of the Aldor or the excessive hatred of the Greborrin. A Ruin-Khuur Dwarf is concerned with the little things he can do in the immediate moment to advance the lot of himself or his peers. This means that many of them are vendors, merchants or craftsmen, who take their profits and send them back in packets to their families or liege-lords in Ellador. Despite this commercial tendency, the Ruin-Khuur are far from silver-tongued, and are where the Ailor stereotype of the rude and arrogant Dwarven shopkeep comes from. They tend to arbitrarily refuse business to people whose character they do not trust, outright not speak to those disliked by the local Dwarven community, and are in general a very tricky sort to work with. That said, the magnificence and beauty of their crafts and reliable nature as tradesmen keeps their business partners coming back to them for a relationship they know will never cheat or fool them.
==Dredgers==
Dredgers are sea-travelling Dwarves, especially skilled with steam and coal technology. Along the coasts of Ellador they sail massive coal-powered barges and land vehicles that strip mine the coastal caverns of minerals, stone, and most importantly fuel to continue their journey. In this way, they exist in a continuous cycle of raiding and refueling, by which to maintain such a large fleet in the uncertain seas of the North they are forced to pillage new materials to burn. The Dredgers are a patient people who live by the saying “dry a mine before you strike a new one”, especially repeated among those who come to Regalia. Those who live in the Holy City tend to be content remaining there without engaging in their usual nomadism, as long as they can find new things to keep themselves interested and busy. That said, they do retain a tendency to rotate between fields that still use the expertises they possess. What this means is that a Dredger who is very skilled in the art of smithing and who has produced sets of armor for fifty years might suddenly decide that he is done with armor, and start making buckets instead. The main skills of a Dredger are often very cross-disciplinary for this reason, so that they can retain the ability to change on a whim and find something novel and exciting to do.
Life for the Dredgers is generally an experience of searching for purpose and meaning in a continuously changing world. Ever since the destruction of their origin Hold and the beginning of their endless wandering, there has never been a period of more than a few years during which the context of their existence has remained completely the same. Perhaps another ship is built, or one has to be scuttled and crews have to be re-organized. This constant changing of circumstances
The Dredger people are societally afflicted by wanderlust. Ever since the destruction of their original hold many years ago, they have lost the ability to stay in one place. It is said by many that they will be this way until the day comes when they can reconstruct their ancestral home once again, although as time passes, that seems more and more unlikely. What sets Dredgers apart from other Dwarves is that they are much more informal, and abandon the stiff language and accents of their brethren for a simple and calmer tongue which loses its harshest affectations. Dredgers are good shipmates, trusty for banter and cheer. A notable diaspora of them exists through the coastal cities of [[Anglia]], where they make their homes next to the superheavy [[Anglian]] shipyards and assist the local Ailor in devising new maritime designs.
==Core Identity==
===Playing a Dwarf===
To play a Dwarf, is to specifically choose for the backstory of belonging to a race which seems to be facing extinction, but tries to spit into the face of fate and go down kicking and screaming. Dwarven history is full of catastrophe, but far from becoming depressed about it, the Dwarves continue to battle against what most [[Ailor]] scholars have already consigned them to, and should the unthinkable become true, they will at least fight to make sure the world does not forget them. To be a Dwarf is to struggle with the constant realization that there are perhaps only an estimated 150,000 Dwarves left in the world, but to also not give room for self pity or just being mad at everyone around them. Being a Dwarf, is not to endlessly complain about the misery that has befallen the Race, but salvaging what can be found out of a bad situation, that which the Dwarves are known for.
===Tunnel Empire===
The Dwarves once had a vast underground Empire that spanned several continents and could in total sphere of influence even be compared as a rival to the Allorn Empire in its height. Dwarven holds were built primarily on [[Ellador]] before it froze over, but also on [[Northbelt]], with partially still existing tunnels connecting all of them, showing Dwarven engineering prowess as they built through solid stone and even under oceans, something even modern civilizations can only dream of. While many surfacers (Dwarves born and living mostly on the surface world) have gotten used to the open air, many of those who once lived underground (or continue to do so in [[Regalia]]) are uncomfortable lacking a clear ceiling above them.
===Facing Extinction===
Possible extinction or Racial integration among Ailor is a constant concern for the Dwarves, and one that has led to many disastrous attempts to reclaim the old homeland, as well as the creation of fringe terrorist groups of Dwarves who inflict their rage on the world. The majority of the Dwarves however are far more focused on attempting to salvage what they can, and mostly finding wealth in what others consider scrap. Dwarves are the perfect salvagers, able to fix up broken and discarded weapons and tools in no time, and even repairing technology mid-combat. Their ingenuity especially shines in moments where odds for them look bleak, giving rise to their sturdy reputation.
===Grudge Tellers===
The Dwarves have a great deal of grudges, and are commonly known as people who do not forgive, and do not forget. There is a great deal of racial animosity that they have towards the [[Nelfin]] Races, with varying degrees for the different types. Dwarves do not care for [[Suvial]], [[Fin'ullen]], or [[Solvaan]], and have a moderate to high distaste for the [[Isldar]], because they frequently clashed with their re-conquest plans. The group the Dwarves hate the most are the [[Teledden]], because of their scheming and backstabbing nature, and because they are largely the reason why the decline of the Dwarven Empire was set in motion. Only the most supreme of hatred among Dwarves is reserved for the [[Evolism|Evolist]] Isldar, once called the Death Isldar, who often worship the [[Evolism#Ravaal,_the_Glacial_March|Glacial]], the mother of all genocide on the Dwarves. This hatred is in spite of the recent greater division in Isldar society, which have seen less extreme factions of the Evolists emerge. Dwarves in general try to avoid being backstabbers, traitors, or swindlers, the truth and honor to their word is immensely important, as are bonds of alliance and friendship. Dwarves can even on a personal level, declare some action as a grudge, meaning that they declare a vendetta against a persona until their crime has been settled. This is sometimes where a Dwarf’s pettiness will shine through, declaring a grudge over a spilled drink, only to retaliate by burning someone’s house down.
==Saendr==
===Foundry Hearts===
Saendr are easily recognizable with a bronzed skin and their darker hair colors. Breaking away from the traditional Dwarves, Saendr can often be found reading or writing. Craftsmen are relatively few among the Saendr, with record-keeping and intellectual discourse being the more common trades among the Saendr peoples. Saendr (often referred to as the “Soul-kissed”) have a particular affinity for Soul Magic, and have a similar affinity that the Qadir have, and thus get on with little discrimination in Qadir society.
The Dwarves are, despite all the attempts of various other Races, unbeaten in the heat of a forge. They have the most skilful hands, the quickest grasp, and the easiest execution of complex forging techniques passed down through the generations. While Ailor and Nelfin may make more aesthetically pleasing items in a forge, Dwarves build to last and endure, and also forge with a purity of metals not quickly equaled by other Races. Nearly all Dwarves have a complex cultural understanding of geology, engineering, architecture, and knowledge of metals and ores that makes them excellent prospectors and explorers of soil riches.
The Saendr are, as a people, scientific. From their relatively comfortable and secure positions existing in a symbiotic relationship beneath the Qadir pearl-cities of Farah’deen, they have evolved from dour and reclusive Dwarves into something more open and debative. While they still retain the affinity for the creation of constructs and feats of mechanical engineering, the works of the Saendr are always meant for science and discovery. They struggle to output anything meant to kill or function as part of the military. For this reason, most of the other Dwarves like to call them ‘useless’, and they in their academic mindset prefer to associate with the Qadir instead.
==Design==
===Mental Characteristics===
Dwarves are resilient yet adaptable, stubborn yet empathetic, and hardworking yet playful. These contradictions all come together to create the Dwarven mentality of life. Having suffered betrayals and warfare against an assortment of enemies, even to the point where their once-great empire has crumbled to a few remaining Great Holds, Dwarves have an uncanny ability to take whatever is being thrown at them and launch it right back with greater ferocity. Dwarves as such have a very strong survival instinct and look to find ways to maintain their footing in Aloria, lest their Race slip into irrelevance and squander what their ancestors had accomplished. Dwarves are known to stick to their plans and see them carried out, but also know when a plan needs to change for the greater good and can abandon them with a sense of accomplishment and understanding.
===Physical Characteristics===
Dwarves are known to be the shortest Race in Aloria, with all of their members being shorter than five feet tall. Often mistaken for shorter Ailor, Dwarves tend to have wider frames if they were scaled up to the size of an Ailor, and also have greater development of muscle mass in comparison, especially in their arms and torso. Their skin is known to be tougher than others, with their hands and feet often remarked to have a leathery texture, as if they are callused, yet lacking the hardness that is associated with them in Ailor. Many Dwarves often have semi-exaggerated facial features, such as more pronounced brows, ears, and jaws, though it is also just as common to have very Ailor-like features. Dwarves also grow their hair faster than other Races, with the men often fastening various ornaments to them as a cultural fashion. Dwarves are capable of the full range of skin tone complexions. Dwarven hair colors equally have a large range, from black to blonde and anything in between, while eye colors can be green, brown, blue, or gray. Half-Dwarves are an average height between both parents, but retaining the Dwarven bodily proportions, thus appearing like a stocky short Ailor with more pronounced arms and facial features and body hair. Women Dwarves can grow beards, but many also don’t (or shave).
==Greborrin==
==Heritage Traits==
Greborrin are a traditionally militaristic lot, with ill tempers and quicker swings of their weapons. Greborrins are among the most numerous Dwarves on the Ellador mainland, and hold a special hatred and resentment towards both the Isldar and Regalian Government, the Isldar for their ancient Grudge, the Regalian Government for always failing to come to their aid. Ailor politics are in another world to the Grebor, as they share a sense of common purpose and loyalty, approaching their problems in a straightforward, honest manner. Lying is a rarity among Greborrin, far preferring to threaten or fight their way past any problem in their path.
When designing a Character, Proficiency Points allow for a limited Ability selection with Point Buy Packs. Heritage Traits adds free Packs and Mechanics on top of that to help with cultural themes. Free Packs grant Abilities usually, while Mechanics change the way a character functions in Roleplay through subtle, and usually out of Combat ways. In essence, Mechanics just add aesthetic flair that invest in the niche of each culture. Free Packs never raise Proficiency Points, but the character must be able to purchase them normally. (ex. if a character is a certain Affinity that locks them out of a category, they cannot take that specific free pack and must choose the alternative option.) If a Free Pack grants Magic of some type, that Magic can be of any Alignment the character can normally choose, or limited to a select alignment, which will always be written in the Free Pack description.
The Greborrin Dwarves are consumed by all the Grudges and enmities that their people bear. They tend to be unable to ignore these enmities, even for a but a moment, and will never cease to pursue their resolution. This means that the Greborrin Dwarves end up living like the enforcing arm of Dwarven society, incessantly punching at its foes. While it is the calm and stoic Ruin-Khuur who go about indicating the enemies of Dwarfkind, it is the Greborrin who more often than not punish them by ganging up together and setting out with vengeful intent. The famous Tehl-Humm Hold was for most of its history entirely Greborrin, and their militant streak shows in its consistent production of dedicated and fervent warriors.
Mixed Heritage characters (i.e. characters born from two parents of different Cultures) may take one parent's 'Free Packs' and mix and match up to 5 Mechanics from both parents, although some Peoples cannot produce Mixed Heritage children (due to Magical/Fantasy reasons).
===Free Packs===
* Dwarves can choose one Pack from either the [[Training Point Buy | Training]] or [[Athletic Point Buy | Athletic]] Point Buy categories.
* Dwarves can choose one Pack from either [[Tech Point Buy | Tech]] or [[Athletic Point Buy | Athletic]] Point Buy categories.
===Mechanics===
* Dwarves gain +1 Main Defense Stat while another Dwarf is within a 5 block range, which can break Cap up to 11. This mechanic can stack up to a +2 bonus.
* Dwarves are barely affected by Alcohol that gets other people drunk, needing insanely high proof, and always being able to keep their drinks down.
* Dwarves have perfect vision (night vision) underground and in dark surroundings, needing no light.
* Dwarves are masters of the forge, able to perform feats of metallurgy in half the time of other craftsmen. Additionally, any metal item that a Dwarf produces is considered master class when compared to others.
* Due to their vast understanding of architecture and metallurgy, Dwarves may gain additional insight from event items that may not be obvious to others (inquire with DM/Event Hoster for opportunities).
==Culture==
===Language===
The Dwarves speak a fantasy language called Barrudh, which is not comparable to any real life language. The base for its design is taken from old Norse, but distinct norse sounds are replaced by much harsher tones. For example, the Norse word for War is Krig (pronounced as Kreeg), which is then changed to the Dwarven Kraag (close to the word Crag). This produces a more guttural language with a somewhat norse base, but with a more fantasy like spelling. Most Dwarven Fantasy name generators are good to generate a name, however a couple of gendered names are provided as examples below.
* Dwarven naming customs does not officially support a Unisex or Non binary naming style, but both male and female can technically be unisex.
===Magic Chains===
The Dwarves have a dubious attitude towards the Occult, notably because there is no real historical context to [[Magic]] usage in their Empire. They are not incapable of using Magic, but Magic has a difficult place in their society due to Magic being involved with their greatest collective traumas. Mages simply did not exist for 21,000 years among the Dwarves, until the Allorn agents first used it to convince them to turn on the Dregodar. Somehow, Magic started appearing among their people after it was first used on them by the Allorn agents, causing Mages to be born, and Magic to also be taught to some of them. As the Empire collapsed, Dwarves became hostile to the concept of Magic, and started persecuting their own magically inclined population. As time progressed however, simply killing magically inclined Dwarves became more impractical as their population sharply declined. Instead, since then, the Dwarven elders have agreed to the Magic Chaining policy, where Dwarves who use Magic are tolerated, but only while they have a non-Magic using Dwarf retainer. The Magic using Dwarf is clad in ceremonial robes, and finally has a heavy anti-Magic collar and shoulder guard piece installed kept in place by chains that blocks their usage of any kind of Magic (this cannot be reproduced on other Races, it somehow only works on Dwarves). The retainer is then given a key, which they can use to unleash the chains, which allows the Dwarf to cast Magic freely. The retainer is always trained and drilled into ensuring that the Mage-Dwarf only ever uses Magic in the interest of Dwarven society, or for assistance in the forge, for example by casting fire magic to heat up a furnace. Regalia adopted part of this policy of Mage-collaring in the latter half of the 3rd century AC, but did away with it when Regalians overwhelmingly voted that it was cruel, while the Dwarves continue to maintain their policy to this day. They generally believe that independent and freely operating Magic users are a danger, and that they are in part at risk of being seduced and controlled by the Elven Evil, and other evil Magicness (as they call it).
===The Velheim Bond===
The [[Velheim]] people are considered “Bonded” by the Dwarves, and them in return by the Velheim due to their close cooperation. Since the Dwarves lost most of their holds from the [[Dakkar]] invasions, and the spill-over of the Dregodar conflict, the Dwarves were in a near state of collapse, only to be pulled back from the edge by the Velheim in Ellador. The Velheim had been living and trading peacefully with the Dwarves for centuries, though both largely ignored each other, and the Velheim also didn’t take a side during the conflict between the Dwarves and the Nelfin who would eventually become the Isldar. However, when the Dakkar struck, the Velheim sent food and medicine into the Holds, asking for nothing in return (despite lacking food themselves). Then, when things got really bad and around Cataclysm, even while the Ailor towns were under attack by Vampires, they still found time to send soldiers into the mines with the Dwarves to help build defenses against further Dakkar attacks, teaching the Dwarves (who had never fought a war against anyone in pitched siege battles of their cities) how to build defensive structures. The Dwarves eventually answered in kind by sending squads to the surface to protect coastal villages from Vampire attacks, using their inherent immunity to Vampire powers to sniff out parasites and purge them. This shared trauma, but also alliance, was finally solidified when in the fires of chaos in Dwarven society, the god Dáuw was born, supposedly to mundane parents, and led the Dwarven people to unify religiously with the Velheim people, after convincing the remaining elders he was a god in his own right. The Velheim people were apprehensive to accept Dáuw as a god at first, but with the intervention of Halfvel, who approved, news of him spread, and he was adopted into the pantheon. This is the reason why Dwarves can (nowadays) always be found in Velheim cultural festivities, Velheim districts, or generally around Velheim people, and vice versa, because these people share a unique cross-racial bond of friendship and alliance. Many Dwarven cultural expressions have adopted Velheim norms, and vice versa, while many Dwarven children being born are also half-Dwarf half-Velheim. That being said, Dwarves are always sure to protect quintessentially Dwarven customs, so while the two are very strongly related, they are not the same, and never will be.
===Religion===
Dwarves nearly exclusively follow the [[Fornoss]] Religion, though a small minority has converted to Unionism also. Exact data on this is hard to track, because Dwarves in general are spread far and wide over the world. The majority still holds onto the remnants of their subterranean empire. Some have started communities above ground, others have joined Ailor communities, and others yet travel the world. Some of those traveling the world or joining Ailor communities in Regalia have joined [[Unionism]], but Fornoss is still dominant. Dwarven religion was originally called Duindún, a faith in which it was believed that [[Dragon]]s breathed the fire of life into the earth that birthed the Dwarves, and that those Dragons then turned into Dwarves and became the founders of the various Holds. With the calamities occurring, and the damage done to their society by a Dragon, the Dwarven Race collectively abandoned the faith of Duindún and mass converted to the Fornoss faith. This coincided with the sudden appearance of Dáuw, who proved his godhood, and then led the Dwarven people to join forces with the Fornoss Velheim in particular.
===Families===
Dwarven families are fairly nuclear (meaning two parents and children) though Dwarves inherently dislike children and find any reason to ship them off to daycare. Dwarven society has a strong daycare system in place where (ironically) Velheim Ailor are paid to take care of the children until they grow old enough to behave in the household, and be taught Dwarven culture and traditions. Dwarves are the only race with a very strong communal elderly care system in place, where elders are moved to retirement and veteran homes where the elderly and war maimed convalesce together. Dwarves have no overt attitude towards same-sex relations or gender-identity, with exact gender identity being already somewhat fluid between Dwarven sexes as men and women and everything in between roughly looks the same.
===Fashion===
Much of Dwarven fashion has been lost to Velheim fashion out of pure necessity. The Dwarven Empire was once set up in such a way that each great Hold produced something useful for the Empire, and the weaver’s hold was one of the first Holds to go down during the Dakkar invasion. As such, Dwarves had since then mostly used cured leather and hides which put a severe strain on the cattle ranching Hold which was still existing. When the Velheim sent supplies, clothes were some of the most well-used, as Dwarves wore much less cold-resistant clothes from Ellador being much warmer than it had gotten around Cataclysm. Their clothing industry lacked a design for heat resistance (as the tunnels themselves were often quite hot and prone to humidity) so the Velheim clothes became the new norm eventually due to the ease of trade. Dwarven elements still incorporated into the clothes are Dwarven patterns and an overabundance of jewelry and decorative rare-earth metals.
==History==
==History==
===Age of Creation===
The Dwarven Empire has existed for as much as perhaps 20,000 years, making it one of the longest living Empires in the world and also one of the most stable. Dwarves tell tales of the wealthy and massive holds, vast sprawling urban caves and underground cisterns housing millions of Dwarves and spanning continents. Each Hold had a specialty it delivered and Dwarven society lived in communal unity in their disregard for surface dwellers. A curious thing to note was the complete absence of Magic among Dwarves for the better part of history, until Cataclysm at the least. Scholars have speculated that because there was no magic underground and the Dwarves largely ignored surface situations, that the Demons who cyclically invaded during Void Invasions did so blind to their presence.
Recorded Dwarven history begins with the founding of the Olovomm Hold, settled in the northern center mountain-chain of Ellador, a few miles south of the icy tundra. Under the widest of the mountain-tops, a small stone door was cut away, and down the tunnel of that door lay Olovomm proper, an gargantuan hall of stone and iron. Many tunnels shot off up and down the mountain range, leading to smaller cities and openings at the bottom of the mountain sides. This is all laid out in a series of Stone Singing-laden tablets, from which much of early Dwarven history was recorded. By 500 BC the Dwarves began taking detailed records with ink and parchment, constructing a written language of runes and markings that is still used today. No written history is noted before the founding of Olovomm in 700 BC. King Tharain Blackhammer was stated to have settled Olovomm, and his son King Throm would begin the detailed record keeping of every weapon, armor, or jewelry forged from Olovomm, as well as where they were traded to. These so called “Olovomm Records” are highly valued as collector’s items to this day, and by adventurers searching for long-lost treasures. Records would indicate the Dwarves were unaware of the presence of the Isldar at the time of their arrival in Ellador in 450 BC (at the time known as the [[Cult of Drogon]] Altalar, but they shall hereon be called Isldar to avoid confusion), instead prioritizing mining and expansion operations from the interior of Olovomm.
Soon after, the Dwarves began to strike out. Issuing forth from their ancestral hold of Olovomm, Dwarfkind proverbially spread its wings across much of the nearby surroundings. Small parties of expeditionary travellers often led by quasi-legendary figureheads established new Holds to carry the weight of the burgeoning Dwarven population. It was so that the Skorr, Ostrey, Tehl-Humm, and Aethramm holds were founded around the year 400 BC. But just as operations began to expand- a task which the newly expanded classes of miners and craftsmen took to with much gusto- a diplomatic party from a far-off land arrived with a disturbing message. [[Allorn Empire]] dignitaries informed the leaders of each hold that large bands of separatists from their own nation had migrated to the Dwarven continent, establishing immense spire cities aboveground and bringing with them a great number of [[Wyverns]] and [[Violet Night Dragons]], to which they paid worship. This foreign presence in Ellador disturbed the Dwarves, and no doubt encouraged by their surprisingly pleased Allorn attachés, they immediately began to prepare a military campaign with the aim of driving them out. Some Dwarves argued against this, given that tradition had always dictated that their holdings were always underground and anything outside their Holds was technically free real estate, but they were drowned out by the clamor of vengeful voices.
===Age of Strife===
This began the First Dragon War. The great Holds of Olovomm and Skorr, together with an immense Allorn army sailing from Daen, engaged the Isldar with the intent of subduing their populace and defeating their armies. Beginning in 346 BC, this war would last for four years, during which Isldar guerilla tactics would prove difficult if not impossible for the much larger Altalar-Dwarf forces to defend against. Using the wilds to their advantage, Isldar scouts and bowmen cropped up in the forests and hills as their enemies were on the march, whittling away at their perimeter guards and often undertaking successful assassination attempts on the Archmage generals and Dwarven clan elders present. By its end, the overstretched coalition army was wracked with attrition, and moreover the civil disorder had worsened so substantially in Daen that the Altalar had to, for a time, retreat to shore up their Empire. The retreat undertaken was consensual, one of the few times the proud Dwarves ever actually agreed to walk away from a fight. The truth was, they were strategically and experientially overmatched. The Isldar had been fighting against the Allorn military in Daen for decades at this point, and their surviving forces were mostly composed of hardened veterans, while the Holds’ hosts were fresh and had not seen war before. This served as an immense Isldar victory, with their ability to drive off their enemies with so few losses cementing their legitimacy and increasing their pride.
Then, after a brief period of rebuilding, came the Second Dragon War in 312 BC. The Altalar returned with a zealous fury, deploying mass incendiary weapons in the Elladorian countryside in a concerted effort to drive the Isldar from their hiding spots and force them into an open battle. When the Dwarves caught word of the renewed Allorn offensive, many holds- Olovomm, Skorr, Ostrey, and Tehl-Humm- threw their lot in with the vengeful Elves, marching from their iron doors to fight the Isldar once again. But this was not nearly so large as the former war, and no armies clashed in any sort of decisive confrontation. The Dwarves refuse to acknowledge the Second Dragon War as a formal war to this day, because they never actually engaged the Drogon cultists. Both sides deployed in limited numbers and skirmished, but did not come to any meaningful results. After some years of this, the warfare fizzled out and drew to a close, with most combatting parties retiring first to their camps and then home. Tired at this point of the constant tumultuous arrival and withdrawal of impossibly large Elven armies that never actually resulted in anything good for Dwarfkind, the Dwarves spent a while behind locked doors, developing internally and paying no heed to the outside world even though their hated enemies remained. In 300 BC, the Skorr Hold split into the holds of Brollo and Fummd due to a dispute in rulership between the two sons of a king, Bathador and Khazain Ironhand. The youngest of the two, Khazain, settled the dispute by departing Skorr with a caravan to create his own hold elsewhere, Fummd, at which point Skorr was formally renamed to Brollo.
For a while after this, the Dwarves enjoyed peace in a period they now call the Khazukâl Kåram, roughly understood in Common as ‘the Age of the Holds’. Of course, Dwarven Holds existed before this time period, and they would continue to exist after. However, the phrasing was always meant to implicatorily indicate that these were the only years in which things were as they should have been, and serve as a golden time for Dwarfkind to always look back to with fondness. It is true that many of the great works of the Dwarven people were created during this Age. Once they had recovered from their larger wars with the Isldar and were able to finally begin delving further underground once again, around 290 BC, even the Hold-Kings themselves were astonished by the sheer amounts of mineral wealth which they managed to dredge up from the depths of Ellador. [[Gold]], gemstones, [[Silver]], [[Iron]]; it all came flowing in quantities previously thought impossible. This fueled a great amount of technological advancement on the part of the Dwarves as well, and their newfound riches combined with discoveries in the field of Stonesoul Sorcery led to the creation of many of the Dwarven artifacts which drift around Ellador today. Through an increase in trade with other nations, the Dwarves were also exposed to foreign goods and luxuries for the first time, such as tea, [[Kaffee]], and chocolate. After a century of good fortune and economic success, the Tehl-Humm Hold, famous keep of the warriors, was so overfull that it permitted a caravan to depart and found the new hold of Frannam a short distance away. But in the experiment of Frannam, one of the fatal flaws of Dwarven society reared its ugly head.
A Grudge-squabble broke out among the founding crews of Frannam, and soon devolved into an all-out civil war within the nascent hold. This crisis would only be resolved with significant outside mediation from Olovomm, and by the time it was complete, the Frannam Hold had split into the two neighboring holds of Hammum and [[Grebor]]. This marked the year 150 BC, where Dwarven prosperity was at its greatest height. The buildup of economic strength and military force continued until the Dwarves became proud enough of themselves to consider fighting the Drogon cultists nestled in their countryside once again, not from simply sheer malice, but because their consistent raids on Dwarven caravans and debauched displays of cruelty on captured Dwarven merchants had become too much to bear. But when the Altalar envoys were summoned, each one danced around the question of their aid, until eventually a Prince was called from Daen to give an explanation to the assembled Dwarven Hold-Kings. This Prince definitively told the Dwarves that no help from the Allorn Empire would be coming anytime soon, because the Allorn bureaucracy was on the verge of collapse and the nation had destroyed itself with infighting. The Kings were then presented with two options: either wait for the Altalar to recover their footing, or make the choice to begin the war without them. A stormy mood took them, and they gathered up the Prince and ejected him from Ellador to cries of traitorship and betrayal while mustering their armies to engage the Isldar alone. This is the origin point of the great Grudge between Dwarves and Elves, for while Dwarven enmity is limited to the Isldar alone, their disdain for all other Nelfin races springs from this hot-blooded disagreement with the Altalar over who was in the right.
===Age of Tragedy===
After further preparations, the Dwarves deemed themselves ready. They unleashed a new generation of technology and siege machinery on the Isldar, using immense trebuchets to flatten the walls of their strongholds and automated drills to bore into their Wyvern nests and slaughter the inhabitants. This Third Dragon War began in 114 BC with coordinated Dwarven attacks all across Ellador on the locations of known Isldar strongholds. For an unknown reason, this early offensive seems to have taken the Isldar by surprise. Archaeological remnants of the battle sites from this time period mostly tend to indicate a prepared army engaging partially armed civilians, with Nelfin bodies littered around the detritus of half-rotted crossbow bolts and snapped axe handles. Now it was the Dwarves’ turn for cruelty, the angered hold-soldiers using the bodies of Isldar and Wyverns alike in malignant displays of justafixion and mockery. Indeed, they even attempted to build flying machines out of the carcasses of slain Wyverns in what some have said were the precursor designs to modern [[Airships]], though there is very little similarity. By five years into the war, nearly all Wyverns on Ellador had been killed, and the war turned to a land war. This, the Dwarves excelled at. Step by step, Spire City by Spire City, their inventions, machinery, and superior infantry pushed the Isldar back across the Elladorian landscape, rolling them further north and away from the Dwarven population centers. But having overextended, they inadvertently provided the Isldar an opportunity to regroup, which was eagerly taken. By 100 BC, much like the Second Dragon War, this engagement had fallen into a stalemate. But it was not to be. Maneuvering by the chief of the Hold-Kings, the ruler of Olovomm, had brought several of the Dwarven armies together and slipped them past the harassing Isldar skirmishes who obstructed their supply lines. With this large a host, he could make a meaningful march on their largest remaining Spire City at Assalya. But an Isldarrin army blocked his path, and at a mountain called Udillin’s Foot, they met.
The Battle of Udillin’s Foot was a cataclysmic event for the Dwarves. At the beginning, the Dwarven artillery was so effective that it massacred everything the Violet Night Dragons sent against them at an outright alarming rate. The Drogonite forces would see entire formations lost in a matter of seconds when a Dwarven explosive barrage tore through them, a pivotal charge vanished in half a minute to the cacophonous thunder of shells meeting their mark. Even the Dragons themselves began to fall to the Dwarven artifice, special hide-piercing rounds and Allorn-advised harpoons ripping through the fragile underbellies of the flying Elders. Although Frisit herself entered the battle on the side of the Isldar, it was too late to save them. As she flew back and forth, destroying cannons and catapults, her brethren fell one by one. The triumphant Hold armies continued to advance further and further, and it looked to all in command that the field was about to be won for the greatest victory in the history of the Dwarven people. They were about to begin to celebrate, when Frisit, as the last Violet Night Dragon left alive, cast an immense spell. This spell worked in not only what power she had left in her, but the Soul Essence of the other Dragons slain during the battle, combining everything into one final bid to cast off the enemies of her Nelfin protectors and subjects. And cast them off, it did. Dwarven logistic reports indicate that the around 100,000 man strong Dwarven army present at Udillin’s foot was slaughtered to a man by the cold snap generated from Frisit’s spell, and not a single survivor limped home to tell the tale. Moreover, the once fertile and green Ellador was now bathed in snow and ice, its temperature having dropped so dramatically that it was impossible to grow food aboveground. So the Dwarves, noting that their great enemy seemed to be vanquished but reeling from the loss of what was practically their entire military population, retreated into their Holds and slammed the doors again, allowing the Isldar to be created and set up their initial fortifications without any obstacles.
In the 20 years following Udillin’s Foot, the Frannam Hold colonized the [[Aldruin]] Hold, further spreading the Dwarven populace. The Dwarves were not idle in these 20 years, nor the 20 years that followed, starting to construct means of transport and mining entirely underground, fearing a future surface-attack by the Isldar. This sort of comes to pass, as in 53 BC Isldar Mages cast a catastrophic spell that drops the temperature in the Olovomm Hold to minus two hundred degrees, wiping out nearly the entire hold populace in minutes. This has been interpreted as the Isldarrin response to eradicating their peoples and mocking Wyvern remains in their earlier conflicts. The surviving Dwarves were shocked and initiated a full lockdown, burying their Holds and the entrances in the mountains. A few clever Dwarven craftsmen begin constructing secretive passages only revealed under certain conditions in the mountains above their holds, and as such, few Dwarves are seen on the surface leading into the [[Cataclysm]]. It is worth noting that some Olovomm families survived these chaotic few decades, thanks to being on visit to other Holds, and with them were carried some information and relics from Olovomm, but these were few and far between.
===Age of Travel===
The Cataclysm, while hugely important to Aloria as a whole, is not noted so heavily by the Dwarves. It was not until 26 AC that the Skorr, digging deep and blissfully unaware of the Cataclysm above, dug into the Dakkar Under-Caverns. The Dakkar would soon unleash a crusade upon the Dwarves, and Skorr as a Hold was destroyed within the year. A few Skorri families fled to other Holds, and live on to this day, remembering the loss of their home, and dreaming of recovering the ruins of Skorr. A year later, in 27 AC, Fummd Hold lost contact with Skorr, destroyed by the Dakkar as well, but not before giving out a desperate warning to all other Dwarven Holds. Very, very few Fummd families survive into the present day, being absorbed into the Brollo population. Ostrey Hold fell in 76 AC to the Dakkar, a magmatic expanse flooding the upper and lower levels alike. However, the Ostrey population would escape and survive due to the construction of a great flotilla of steam-powered barges, coming to be known as the “Dredgefleet” and spawning the Dredger culture. This culture still sails and roves along the seas and coastlines of Ellador and the North, illegally stripmining as it goes.
For roughly a hundred years, the Dwarven people slowly dwindled down in population as they kept the Dakkar at bay, with those few Dwarves who departed the traditional Holds finding some small success. In 176 AC, Aethramm Hold was destroyed. Most of the population made its way to Ailor-settled lands in [[Hedryll]] and [[Kausis]], which forms the very first Human-Dwarven contact. The Ailor welcome the stout folk, but moreso out of a need to compensate for their lost manpower following the [[Vampire Wars]] than anything else. Two years later, Brollo Hold was destroyed by the Dakkar, though this time much of the population successfully escaped and builds a mighty fleet to sail south of Ellador. Bad maritime skills and plain old bad luck caused them to blow far off course from their intended target of [[Silbrae]], and land in [[Farah’deen]]. The entire Brollo population was quickly enslaved by the [[Songaskians]]. In 180 AC, the Tehl-Humm Hold, the legendary home of the most warlike clans, suddenly silenced all contact with the other Dwarven Holds. All the underground passages to Tehl-Humm were closed, and no contact from Tehl-Humm is heard of again. Assumed lost to the Dakkar, the other Holds carried on with their long war with the Dakkar, but none discovered the truth of this sudden silence. A few scant Tehl-Humm families are seen in Frannamar during the time of the disappearance and survive into the present day. In 190 AC, the Dwarves developed ground-powder technology, which severely hampered the efforts of the Dakkar. Ground-powder technology consists of depth charges designed to tunnel a certain distance and then explode, which became a great boon to possess when one’s primary enemy comes from below.An unknown Dwarven craftsman developed this technology and quickly disappeared from the Holds, but his work led to the Great Fiery Peace from 200-270 AC. The Dakkar ceased their crusades during this time, and an uneasy absent-peace followed that allowed the Dwarves to recover as a people. In 216 AC, during this peace, the Brollo families (as well as the surviving Skorr and Fummd peoples who fled their own destructions) were liberated by [[Qadir]] raiders. In several major Pearl Cities, high-profile raids on slave houses resulted in an agreement in Al-Alus and Mooriye. All underground works and land was given to the recently liberated Dwarves, in exchange for minerals and ore to be used in their clockwork studies, for free. While the Brollo, Skorr, and Fummd families that remained were hesitant, they ultimately agreed to the proposal, and founded the first Hold outside of Ellador; Konrak-Al, just under the surface of Al-Alus. These peoples would shift to become the Saendr Dwarves, but uphold Skorr, Brollo, and Fummd names as a means to pay homage to their lost holds. Within this Hold, the Dwarves know relative peace, though are halted from any growth or expansion by their commitments to the Qadir above them.
In 271 AC, the Hammum were suddenly struck by an underground volcanic eruption. Much of the Hold City was destroyed, but a few families flee to Aldruin and Grebor. This is the last Dwarven Hold that is destroyed, with Aldruin, Grebor, and Konrak-Al remaining more or less whole. About a decade later in 280 AC, the Aldruin Hold, being the weakest and least militarized of the Dwarven Holds, has internal strife and panic. A sizable portion of the Aldruin Dwarves, known thereafter as the “Leavers” to all other Dwarves, eventually become the Aldor Dwarves (mixed with Ailor) who live in Ailor societies and adopt Ailor cultures. Those few that remain in Aldruin are the Ruin-Khuur, who open the doors of Aldruin and become a major trade hub in the area between the Dwarves, [[Humans]], and other [[North Belt]] kingdoms. Humans would come to settle in their Hold as well, being the first known Humans to do so, but the Ruin-Khuur remain genealogically separate through strict anti-racial mixing laws. Still, these Ruin-Khuur resin relatively open minded and progressive Dwarves, with the “Leavers” or “Aldor”, becoming far more similar to tiny Ailor. The panic in Aldruin turns out to be unwarranted, as Grebor would come to take the brunt of the Dakkar assault.
In 290 AC, Grebor successfully deployed a Deep-Set-Siege tactic, wherein they end up blowing open massive caverns around their hold. This was done to both clear causeways of magma from which Dakkar attacks could be seen hundreds of yards away, but also to become a more easily defensible Hold. Grebor would become the final stand of the Dwarves, and they successfully repelled a final assault from the Dakkar in early 291 AC, in what would be known as the “Battle of the Khaldor-Bridge”, so called for the final defense of the Khaldor Bridge, which saw King Regorn of Grebor Hold slay 20 Dakkar single handedly, causing the eventual collapse of the Dakkar forces. The Dwarves of Grebor feared a counter-attack, but a sudden disease spread among the Dakkar that solidified the Dakkar to stone on the surface. King Regorn would allow a few [[Allar]] chemists into his hold to use the disease on the Dakkar armies, which was staggeringly successful. The Dakkar were ultimately decimated and retreated deep down, never to be seen again. The Greborrin peoples became less racist and unwelcoming after this victory, but were still highly suspicious of all outsiders. They remain war-like and have a particular hatred for Isldar, ever fearing another attack from the north.
In 305 AC, that fear was realized as the Isldar of the North declared open war on the Dwarves and laid siege to Grebor. They declared that Ellador belonged to them alone, and the Dwarves responded quickly and harshly. In contrast to the defensive war they fought against the Dakkar, they threw themselves upon the Isldar in a desperate attempt to not lose what few Holds they had left. The Dwarven population lost nearly half of their fighting force in the war, many dragged off to the Spire Cities of their old foes in chains. Grebor maintains contact with Aldruin through a silver-spun bridge across the magma caverns deep below Ellador’s surface, allowing some Greborrin to leave the Hold and reach out to the world. Many such Dwarves made for the [[Regalian Empire]], attempting to petition for aid against the Isldar. More recently, the Isldar have begun to occupy the Human colonies in Ellador, but there has been little lasting interest from [[Regalia]] to aid the Greborrin or the Human colonies. The Greborrin have since reluctantly settled in Regalia along with the Aldor and the Ruin-Khuur traders that already live there, in the hopes of eventually convincing the [[Regalian Government]] to help Grebor. This effort has seen little success over the past few years, but hope remains that the Empire will step in to lift the siege of Grebor and return some semblance of peace to the Dwarven peoples.
==Society==
Dwarves model their societies and personal identities in three forms. The Family is the primary form for a Dwarf, and what they base all other decisions and duties upon. Sometimes referred to as Clans, a Dwarven Family operates as a tightly knit unit, with each member taking on specific duties under the guidance of the Patriarch, and all families reside primarily in a Hold that carries their namesake. Older families (usually those dating back to the founding of a Hold) may stylize their Patriarchs as “Kings” of their Clan, but this is rarely done nowadays out of respect for the general turmoil and struggle the peoples have been going through. Beneath the Patriarch, Dwarven society is split based upon working occupation and skill more than anything else, nearly functioning off a well-behaved meritocracy. The most skilled of the Blacksmiths is recognized by the Family, with very few disputes of who is more fit to lead a particular Family or occupation. Dwarves are a practical lot, and that is reflected in how they effortlessly organize themselves based on what will be best for their family. It is worth noting that Dwarves greatly value all blood relations, treating a Cousin with as much loyalty and service as they would a sibling. The secondary form of a Dwarf’s identity is his Hold. A Dwarven Family may have ties to the Frannamar Family, but may reside primarily in Aldor or Greborrin. They acknowledge their home hold in this way, and so the idea of Hold and Family can be both distinct and one in the same for a Dwarven family, depending on where they find themselves. Finally comes the Dwarves’ tertiary form, that of the Culture. This is more greatly expanded upon in the Culture section, but in brief each Dwarf has particular mental and physical attributes that are molded by their Culture, and to a lesser extent their Family and Hold history.
===Grudges===
Perhaps the most important single concept espoused by Dwarven society is the concept of a Grudge. This concept can be boiled down to: when someone wrongs me, I will write it down, and avenge it later. Grudges have led to entire families dying out from infighting, and are oftentimes the phenomenon responsible for a reality wherein lineages of Dwarves die out fighting the Isldar because a Drogonite bowman threw an ice shard at their grandfather. Different Dwarven societies have different interpretations of how one holds a proper Grudge and records it, but the idea is shared between all of them except, notably, the Aldor. Dwarven Kings and lords like to make a show of keeping a book of all the grudges of all their subjects, but this is physically impossible and mostly for flair and posturing. However, each Dwarf does tend to keep somewhere in a pocketbook on him, scrawled in pencil, the names of the people who have duped or insulted them and how they are to be served their just desserts. Grudges can be held on the individual level, but also on the communal or racial level. At present, the only Races the Dwarves hold a Grudge against are the Isldar, and to a lesser extent, the Altalar. The Isldar for their status as their hated enemies, to be denied refuge and treated with hostility at every turn, and the Altalar as partially responsible for their demise, to be mocked and debated on the qualities of their ancestors (a concept the equally lineage-obsessed Altalar take very seriously) without end. The Grudge against the Isldar is called the Zarak Khazal, the Lieless Oath, and is one that can never be resolved under any circumstances.
Grudging is a phenomenon which stretches beyond the individual. When a Dwarf has a Grudge, he will seek out other, like-minded Dwarves to fulfill that Grudge with him. There is nothing more stubborn, churlish, and resolute in Aloria than a band of Dwarves seeking to resolve a common Grudge. Most of the time, this takes the form of a band of short men on the warpath smashing up a Dragon Temple or beating a stray Isldar, but those who trifle with the livelihood of one of the Stout Folk would do well to tread with caution. For next they know fifteen of them might show up at their door, clubs in hand and scowls on their faces. Unfortunately, serious Grudges tend to end with the death of the Dwarf in question, because pursuing a Grudge is not a business which can be resolved with a monetary or verbal apology. Those who have gotten on the bad side of the Dwarves tend to pay with their blood, but not everyone lies down and just takes it. Just as many Dwarves have died over petty insults and squabbles as non-Dwarves have, a fact which a Greborrin on a rampage would be more than unlikely to admit. Despite being a destructive force which inherently handicaps the advancement of Dwarven society at its base, Grudging is also an unparalleled driving power which allows Dwarves to commit themselves to a goal with absolute certainty and have no doubt in the faith and conviction of their comrades.
===Slang===
Another fact shared between Dwarves is their tendency to use Hold Slang in place of Common words when it suits them, they want to be particularly obtuse, or they are in the company of other Dwarves in the know. What this means is that they enjoy randomly inserting words from the Dwarven language to replace proper nouns and basic concepts where they feel they should be replaced. Oftentimes, this means that when a Dwarf spins off into a list of insults, it sounds something like ‘’Tarûkhal a-mâruhad kårar ûkhnelgi!” and is frequently unintelligible to those who are not intimately familiar with their linguistic tradition. Of course, the intent remains perfectly discernible even if the words are obscured, because a shouting Dwarf with a red-colored face and one raised fist can mean only one thing: that a fight is surely on the doorstep. Players are free to make up their own Dwarven slang as long as it does not excessively conflict with the lore, and as long as it does not replace an obnoxious number of words. The occasional substitution here or there is fine, but please do not go overboard.
===Economy===
Dwarves have always had a particular affinity for blacksmithing, craftsmanship, and stonework. Even the lowest Dwarf is capable of using a hammer and pick, with the most revered of Dwarven craftsman being able of metal and stonework that rivals the finest Altalarrin works. Dwarven artifacts and treasures are eagerly sought after by adventurous sorts, and the metal-work creations of a Dwarf fetch a high price anywhere. Stonework is their more common primary export, as are ores, gems, and jewels from their expansive mining systems. Dwarves tend to prefer to set up mining operations in large expansive caves, and begin tunneling excavations at a downward slant, ensuring any Dwarven community has a bountiful access to coal, copper, iron, and other basic materials, as well as more rare treasures beneath Aloria. As expansive and glorious as their underground systems may be, the Dwarves are no slouches when it concerns surface-business. Above ground, Dwarves are skilled in woodworking and forestry, and sawmills are a common sight near their Strongholds. In more recent times, the Dwarves have traded more than ever before in a bid to keep their food stores stocked in Grebor, and to gain allies in the fight against the Isldar. With that said, it is worth noting the Dwarves have a long tradition of avoiding selling their goods to other races, believing that any Dwarf-made treasure falling into another’s hands, without the character of the buyer being assured, is a shameful and risky business. Still, Dwarves tend to be skilled in bartering when their greed and pride is kept in check, and are quick to strike up trade agreements and deals in their favor. When dealing with a people who can seemingly craft the finest of treasures and shape the course of Aloria itself with their hands, it is difficult to turn them down.
===Combat and Warfare===
A Dwarf rarely fights alone. Their combat techniques and strategies all revolve around the idea of a group battle, as to be caught without allies is to be caught off guard, and a Dwarf is never off guard. Their synergy in combat is matched only by the most elite [[Tenpenny]] regiments, but their individual striking maneuvers are judged by the other peoples of Aloria as being very simplistic and predictable in nature. There is a simple parable which dictates Dwarven fighting styles: “The hammer is for the front of the knee, the axe is for the back.” They prefer to form large shieldwalls and attack the lower bodies of their often far taller and lankier opponents rather than separate and try to fight alone. As well, the height of a Dwarf is deceptive when it comes to their strength: they have the muscle mass of an Ailor despite being rather short, and pack quite a bit of heft behind their blows.
All Dwarves who serve in the militaries of the Holds are trained in the usage of a shield, oftentimes a large round shield with a bossed center. Besides this, there is the choice of a main weapon, oftentimes either a halberd or other kind of polearm for longer-range combat or an axe for shorter-range combat. The favored weapon of Dwarven self-styled heroes and generals is, however, a warhammer. Not all Dwarves are trained in the wielding of this culturally significant and extremely heavy weapon, and when one encounters a Dwarven army in the field, it is a bristling wall of spears that is to be expected, backed up by the latest in a line of increasingly complicated steam-powered innovations. Technology thus also plays a critical role in Dwarven warfare. The Dwarven armies of Ellador are famous not necessarily for their infantry, which is not half bad either, but for their sappers. Frequent use of field fortifications, tunneling, and rudimentary explosives with airship scouting capabilities means that the combat effectiveness of Dwarven forces tends to be far higher than their often low numbers might suggest. It is technology which has always been their critical edge against their numerous foes, and when innovation lags in the holds, it is said to be bad news for the fate of Dwarfkind. But having invented [[Airships]] and being at the forefront of steam technology, it does not look like progress will be lagging again anytime soon.
Dwarven Empire history comes to a quick, unexpected, and violent end during the Dregodar conflict. While the Nelfin who fled the Allorn Empire for Dragon Worship persecution had somewhat chilly relations with the Dwarves on the surface, open conflict was unthinkable because the Dwarves had no reason to go to the surface, and because the Dregodar loved building castles high up in the mountains, far away even from the surface ground. It was through the insidious infiltration, manipulation, and demagoguery of Allorn agents using magic and other foul tricks to deceive the Dwarves into thinking that the Dregodar were actually plotting their destruction. Eventually the Allorn agents succeeded, and three wars with the Dregodar over a timespan of about 100 years were the result. The first two wars were largely inconclusive, while the third war caused a calamity for the Dwarves.
===Religion and Holds===
At the apex of the third war, the Dwarves threw hundreds of thousands of soldiers into pitched battle in the Valley of the Long Song, where they faced the collective forces of the Dregodar in a pitched battle to protect Aurora, their Violet Dragon. The battle was disastrous for the Dregodar at first, who were unable to defend themselves with their feeble weapons and pacifist attitude against the Dwarves who came with vast engines of war.100 years of preparation had more than equipped the Dwarves for victory, all the while the Allorn agents sat back and wasted no Allorn lives on the destruction of the Dregodar heretics. In a pivotal moment of the battle, Aurora was supposedly slain by a Dwarven Wyvern-killer weapon, but unleashed a massive magical spell that warped Ellador into a hellish frozen wasteland.
Within each Hold, there is a sort of “Founder God”, along with their associated Artifact, that is credited with giving the Dwarves of said hold their resilience and power. Olovomm is looked upon as the Great Founder, and as such is revered more so than the others, but each Dwarven God has a specific set of strengths and duties on behalf of the Dwarven peoples, and as such all of the Pantheon is known to the Dwarves. They do not revere their Gods or pray very often, turning instead to the practical use of each God’s Dogma, which is usually recited verbally as a Dwarf calls upon their God. While the verbal component is actually completely unnecessary, a Dwarf will call upon their own Soul when accessing their respective powers, and use that concentration to defend, attack, craft, or otherwise serve as their God’s Dogma demands. These Souls are based on the Hold a Dwarf primarily calls Home. Each Hold also has a particular Artifact or treasure that their God was known to carry in their mortal years, and they are highly sought after by the more adventurous Dwarves, even though records of their existence are very scant.
Further Dwarven abilities are determined by their culture. Abilities are determined by Hold and Culture and allows for mixing with different end results. A Culture Ability is determined at birth, and is dependent on the family’s culture (An Olovomm survivor family would start with their Olovom Culture ability, and then choose a Hold Ability depending on where they settle). This factors in for Dwarven Families being so dispersed that you could, for example, find Olovomm survivor families and Skorri in both Aldruin and Qadir lands. An Olovomm survivor family would retain their Olovomm Culture Ability (Soulwarding Shield), but if they settled in Aldruin or grew close to Aldruin dwarves, their Hold ability may change to the Aldruin Hold Ability (Zeal by Adoption). Dwarves start with a Culture Ability that is set and cannot be changed from birth, while the Hold Ability can be changed, at most, once per month.
The whole Dwarven army was killed by frost on the spot, while all the Dregodar became Isldar. The nearby hold of Rammtuunh which had its gates open to supply the battle also saw its forge die down in a near instant, and all inhabitants freeze to death in a matter of minutes. Recent historical review, following the outbreak of the Isldar Civil War and subsequent discoveries of the true fate of Aurora, have pointed out that it was not Aurora who committed this act of grand genocide, but the Glacial Ordial God who preyed on Aurora’s moment of doubt and weakness about her cause, and invaded her mind, using Dragon Magic to inflict death on the world while holding Aurora’s soul hostage in an undead Dragon’s rotting vessel. This was made worse by the awakening of the Dakkar; fanatical Power [[Arken]] worshipers who started a religious war against the Dwarves from the far deep, manipulating their tunnels and giving the Dwarves a rude awakening that they were not the only race living in the deep tunnels by flooding many of the holds with lava and armies of stone-scaled lizard-men. Hold after Hold fell with millions of Dwarves being killed in the process, and several million more afterwards dying of famine and isolation caused by the collapse of the vast network of tunnels.
{| class="wikitable"
When the dust of the conflict settled and the final defensive lines held, there were only two holds left: Grebor which was once a cattle farm for the Dwarven Empire, hastily converted to a defensive hold, and Anduin, which once acted as the bureaucratic capital of the Dwarven Empire, but now had ledgers upon ledgers and cabinets upon cabinets of data stored for an Empire that no longer existed, instead melting its desks and boxes into barricades and using the bureaucratic paper as fuel for the furnaces. Both of these Holds are on the southwestern tip of Ellador, and all other Holds, including the connections to them across the oceans, were lost. Some went silent without a word, some died in calamitous manners like volcanic submersion, or mass-slaughter by the Dakkar. The surviving holds are still routinely under attack by the Dakkar, and some even by Isldar who want to keep Dwarven reclaimers away from their territory, but are generally considered stable, even if both barely have 80,000 inhabitants between them left. Many Velheim have also moved in, supplementing both defenders and caretakers of the local economy so that there is a roughly stable position from which the Dwarves could consider reclaiming their empire, but there are still millions of Power seduced Dakkar living in their old collapsed holds, and the Isldar and Vampires also make expansion on the surface hellish.
* If there would be any type of person who hates the Ordial, it would be Dwarves. There was something so sickeningly evil (in the eyes of the Dwarves) for the Glacial to use Dragon Magic to cause death just to empower herself and for the glee of it, and then further to also lie about it and pretend to be a Dragon all along.
| Type
* Just because Dwarves and Velheim Ailor are closely allied, does not mean they are incapable of struggling with one another. Dwarves and Velheim both are somewhat ignorant and very stubborn people, so conflicts frequently arise over who has the best warriors and the most honor.
| Range
* Contrary to popular belief, you can always tell the difference between a short Ailor and a Dwarf, purely by looking at the length of their arms and the size of their feet and hands in comparison to the rest of their body.
| The Dwarf, if standing on solid stone, may summon a small dome shield formed around them and two other people within a 1 block radius of them that makes them completely immune to physical mundane Melee Attacks and Default Arrow Attacks from outside of the shield. Any of these attacks bounce of the shield. The Dwarf can maintain this defensive shield indefinitely as long as they can keep their hands pressed to the stone, and cannot utilize any other Abilities or take any other actions. Anyone can enter or leave the shield, and it will not protect them from the inside.
| The Dwarf may target one person per day as their Skaal. When within Emote Distance of the Skaal, the Dwarf may Transmute any Sorcery Spell or Magic Spell cast on that person to themselves. The Skaal will be unharmed, and any effects of the Spell will harm the Dwarf instead. Any physically damaging effects of the Spells are halved on the Dwarf, while any other aspects function as-is. This has no effect on Area of Effect Abilities.
| May always retain their sense of direction while underground or in a building, having a perpetual sense of the quickest way to the exit, even if they were blindfolded in it. They can also determine where they are in Regalia at all times.
|-
| style="background-color:#dcd5f2; width:10%;" | Rock Companion (Skorr Hold)
| Racial Spell
| Self
| Followers of Skorr have a pet rock familiar, being a small, non-flying creature made of pebbles and rocks. The familiar can be collapsed into dust and given basic directions on verbal command and reformed if destroyed, though the reformation process takes a day. The familiar can only follow extremely simple verbal instructions, and cannot harm or interfere with others in an aggressive or combative function
|-
| style="background-color:#dcd5f2; width:10%;" | Iron Roots (Ostrey Culture)
| Racial Passive
| Self
| The Dwarf is Immune to Knock-Down, Knock-Back, or any Displacement Abilities that would shove or push them away.
|-
| style="background-color:#dcd5f2; width:10%;" | Grand Lifting (Ostrey Hold)
| Racial Spell
| Direct Touch
| The Dwarf can lift any object, even up to 2 tons in a vertical motion, but cannot throw them. This could be anything from holding up a collapsing mine-tunnel or lifting a bar from a person who was pinned underneath one.
| When a Primal Power is cast within in Emote distance of the Dwarf, once per day, they can choose to Cancel it and prevent that power from being cast again for 1 minute.
|-
| style="background-color:#dcd5f2; width:10%;" | Grand Resilience (Tehl-Humm Hold)
| Racial Passive
| Self
| The Dwarf is Immune to Control Powers and Target Curses (cannot even perceive them).
| The Dwarf can conjure torch sparks in their hand which shines through Mundane and Ability-Created Darkness. These sparks additionally sooth painful wounds when held near them, but not heal them.
| The Dwarf is incapable of contracting or being infected or changing into any type of Affliction (including but not limited to Vampirism, Werebeastism, Witchblood, Dragon Wardens etc.). Additionally, the Dwarf can temporarily restore the Mentality of a person within Emote Distance if that Person is afflicted with a Mind-Altering Affliction (Such as Vampirism, Werebeastism, Etc.) This only lasts for as long as the Dwarf is within Emote Distance of the Person, and is telegraphed by a faint glowing light around the Dwarf and the Target.
| The Dwarf gains a Ghostly-Bird Companion, which can be a Falcon, Hawk or Eagle of their choice (though possibly any reasonably and similarly sized predator bird). This Bird appears to be made of translucent ghostly substance, with stone-etched glowing runes on it. This Bird cannot be harmed or captured, and if at risk, will flee the scene and return to the Dwarf when it is safe. The Bird is capable of minor aesthetics for the Dwarf, such as sitting in their hand when feeding or playing. The Bird must always remain within the same street of its owner. Through the usage of their bird, the Dwarf gains +5 Perception through their bird communicating things to them. (The bird's communication is purely aesthetic, the character cannot perceive things only the bird can see).
| The Dwarf can learn up to 1 Sorcery Level (or 3 Whimsy Spells) for free. These do not cost Proficiency Points, but do obey limitations on Sorcery Caps and Sorcery Schools. If the Dwarf is also a Ritualist, Sorcery Levels gained from this Racial do not count for the normal limitations on Ritualism when combined with Sorcery. (Any further Sorcery Levels gained will remove this, however.) For example, if some Mutation or Affliction does not allow Sorcery learning, this Racial Passive is disabled.
|-
| style="background-color:#dcd5f2; width:10%;" | Grand Sensory (Fummd Culture)
| Racial Spell
| Direct Touch
| The Dwarf can Smell any metal for instant accurate identification. Additionally, the Dwarf has an exceptional eye for Metal Armor, and can know where to strike at its weak points. Once per day, the Dwarf can strike at a single piece of armor (for example an arm-guard or bracer, or a helmet, or cuirass) and render it useless. It remains attached to the body in a broken state, but no longer provides protection against further attacks. This Ability does not work on Artifacts, but can work on Ability Armor. If such Ability Armor has some form of “disappears after 3 hits”, or some similar conditional durability, it is instead instantly destroyed, if it does not have conditional durability, it responds like normal armor.
|-
| style="background-color:#dcd5f2; width:10%;" | Grand Metalworks (Fummd Hold)
| Racial Spell
| Emote Distance
| The Dwarf can assist someone else in a Metallurgy Science related creation, giving them +5 Proficiency while creating the object, which can exceed the Proficiency Cap. This Ability can only be used once for any singular creation, even with Multiple Dwarves.
| Can rub metal dustings on crafted objects like furniture or woodwork, which then turns that rubbed metal dustings to gold flake, silver flake or patina flake for decorative purposes. They can also put these metal dustings on weapons or armor for aesthetics, but this carries no functional value.
| The Dwarf an Stone-Sing to any hand-held stone, infusing it with messages just like written letters, requiring them to be held in hand to playback in one’s mind. The Dwarf can create an infinite number of stones this way, but the Stone cannot contain more than a "page's" worth of information (or three full In-Game Emotes).
| The Dwarf gains +5 Shielding while standing shoulder to shoulder with another Grebor and holding up a shield (they must also be holding up a shield). Stacks indefinitely up to a cap of 30 Shielding (including native Shielding Stat).
|-
| style="background-color:#dcd5f2; width:10%;" | Call to Arms (Hammum Culture)
| Racial Spell
| Announce Emote Distance
| The Dwarf can blow the Hammum Horn, an Announce Emote Distance (60 blocks) sounding horn that calls the Dwarves to battle to where the Hammum has blown the horn. Only Dwarves can interpret where the sound came from.
|-
| style="background-color:#dcd5f2; width:10%;" | Grand Instrumentalism (Hammum Hold)
| Racial Spell
| Direct Touch
| The Dwarf can craft Steam-powered Play-boxes that make music, or play a specific instrument, and then play an orchestra or a band as a solo performer with play-boxes. The quality of the sound is determined by the Dwarf's Proficiency from any [[Muscial Skill Category]], but the proficiencies are interchangeable with the Play-Boxes. (For Example, if a Dwarf with 10 Proficency in Woodwind Instrument makes a Play-Box with Brass Instrument, that Brass Instrument Box will play with 10 Proficiency.)
| The Dwarf can touch a pebble and cast this Object Illusion onto it, making the pebble appear as a Gold Coin or Regal. They can only create a handful of these at a time, but hold up to even physical inspection. This illusion lasts for a day before fading.
|-
| style="background-color:#dcd5f2; width:10%;" | Zeal by Adoption (Aldruin Hold)
| Racial Passive
| Self
| If the Dwarf is staunchly Unionist, they gainaccess to the Primal Sorcery School of [[Union Blessings]]. The Dwarf gains additional Constant Passives from Union Blessings, even if they do not spend Proficiency to acquire Spells. Aldruin Hold Dwarves with this Ability are exclusively Unionist in belief, and believe wholeheartedly in the Spirit and the Creeds. They cannot be swayed from their faith or be converted, and will hold onto their belief in the Spirit and the Emperor until their dying breath.
|}
==Trivia==
{{Peoples}}
*Dwarven [[Artifacts]] are highly sought after by both adventurers of other races, and the Dwarves themselves. Many bloody conflicts have come between greedy adventurers and proud Dwarven families, over the long lost relics of the past.
*Some Dwarves have considered Grudging the Regalian Government on a level similar to the Altalar, for the exact same reason. While this movement does not have the societal approval to take hold, it enjoys a worrying popularity among the Greborrin, and may soon become a reality.
*Ancient carvings and scattered records found deep within the Olovomm Hold indicate the existence of other Dwarven subraces lost to time. Only one name survives into the present day. The Smiluanr are depicted on ancient tablature as being a dwarf rising high above the mountain. No other knowledge or references to the Smiluanr have been discovered.
*Dwarves are susceptible to the same Afflictions as Ailor. It is noted that any Affliction in a Dwarf means complete and total societal rejection by all Dwarves, even the more accepting Aldor and Ruin-Khuur.
Stout, mountain-dwelling people who show unerring perseverance and skill with crafting
Maximum Age
200 years
Eye Colors
brown, gray, green, and blue.
Hair Colors
Blond, brown, black, red, and (when older) gray or white.
Skin Tones
Secretive and proud, the Dwarves are the only known civilization to live underground in the world of Aloria, building their grand holds with vast tunnel networks that run like highways across the various continents. The Dwarves are equally a very ancient Race, predating many of the modern races in the world, and potentially even the Allorn Empire in having a civilized state structure, though keeping themselves distinctly isolated from the rest of the world. While ignoring most of the woes of the surface world, the Dwarves faced calamity after calamity in the last 1000 years, resulting in a staggering loss of life and a decline of their Empire. In present times, the Dwarves constantly struggle against extinction and the world forgetting about them, too proud to accept being consigned to a footnote in history, but equally pushed into a corner by forces beyond their control.
Core Identity
Playing a Dwarf
To play a Dwarf, is to specifically choose for the backstory of belonging to a race which seems to be facing extinction, but tries to spit into the face of fate and go down kicking and screaming. Dwarven history is full of catastrophe, but far from becoming depressed about it, the Dwarves continue to battle against what most Ailor scholars have already consigned them to, and should the unthinkable become true, they will at least fight to make sure the world does not forget them. To be a Dwarf is to struggle with the constant realization that there are perhaps only an estimated 150,000 Dwarves left in the world, but to also not give room for self pity or just being mad at everyone around them. Being a Dwarf, is not to endlessly complain about the misery that has befallen the Race, but salvaging what can be found out of a bad situation, that which the Dwarves are known for.
Tunnel Empire
The Dwarves once had a vast underground Empire that spanned several continents and could in total sphere of influence even be compared as a rival to the Allorn Empire in its height. Dwarven holds were built primarily on Ellador before it froze over, but also on Northbelt, with partially still existing tunnels connecting all of them, showing Dwarven engineering prowess as they built through solid stone and even under oceans, something even modern civilizations can only dream of. While many surfacers (Dwarves born and living mostly on the surface world) have gotten used to the open air, many of those who once lived underground (or continue to do so in Regalia) are uncomfortable lacking a clear ceiling above them.
Facing Extinction
Possible extinction or Racial integration among Ailor is a constant concern for the Dwarves, and one that has led to many disastrous attempts to reclaim the old homeland, as well as the creation of fringe terrorist groups of Dwarves who inflict their rage on the world. The majority of the Dwarves however are far more focused on attempting to salvage what they can, and mostly finding wealth in what others consider scrap. Dwarves are the perfect salvagers, able to fix up broken and discarded weapons and tools in no time, and even repairing technology mid-combat. Their ingenuity especially shines in moments where odds for them look bleak, giving rise to their sturdy reputation.
Grudge Tellers
The Dwarves have a great deal of grudges, and are commonly known as people who do not forgive, and do not forget. There is a great deal of racial animosity that they have towards the Nelfin Races, with varying degrees for the different types. Dwarves do not care for Suvial, Fin'ullen, or Solvaan, and have a moderate to high distaste for the Isldar, because they frequently clashed with their re-conquest plans. The group the Dwarves hate the most are the Teledden, because of their scheming and backstabbing nature, and because they are largely the reason why the decline of the Dwarven Empire was set in motion. Only the most supreme of hatred among Dwarves is reserved for the Evolist Isldar, once called the Death Isldar, who often worship the Glacial, the mother of all genocide on the Dwarves. This hatred is in spite of the recent greater division in Isldar society, which have seen less extreme factions of the Evolists emerge. Dwarves in general try to avoid being backstabbers, traitors, or swindlers, the truth and honor to their word is immensely important, as are bonds of alliance and friendship. Dwarves can even on a personal level, declare some action as a grudge, meaning that they declare a vendetta against a persona until their crime has been settled. This is sometimes where a Dwarf’s pettiness will shine through, declaring a grudge over a spilled drink, only to retaliate by burning someone’s house down.
Foundry Hearts
The Dwarves are, despite all the attempts of various other Races, unbeaten in the heat of a forge. They have the most skilful hands, the quickest grasp, and the easiest execution of complex forging techniques passed down through the generations. While Ailor and Nelfin may make more aesthetically pleasing items in a forge, Dwarves build to last and endure, and also forge with a purity of metals not quickly equaled by other Races. Nearly all Dwarves have a complex cultural understanding of geology, engineering, architecture, and knowledge of metals and ores that makes them excellent prospectors and explorers of soil riches.
Design
Mental Characteristics
Dwarves are resilient yet adaptable, stubborn yet empathetic, and hardworking yet playful. These contradictions all come together to create the Dwarven mentality of life. Having suffered betrayals and warfare against an assortment of enemies, even to the point where their once-great empire has crumbled to a few remaining Great Holds, Dwarves have an uncanny ability to take whatever is being thrown at them and launch it right back with greater ferocity. Dwarves as such have a very strong survival instinct and look to find ways to maintain their footing in Aloria, lest their Race slip into irrelevance and squander what their ancestors had accomplished. Dwarves are known to stick to their plans and see them carried out, but also know when a plan needs to change for the greater good and can abandon them with a sense of accomplishment and understanding.
Physical Characteristics
Dwarves are known to be the shortest Race in Aloria, with all of their members being shorter than five feet tall. Often mistaken for shorter Ailor, Dwarves tend to have wider frames if they were scaled up to the size of an Ailor, and also have greater development of muscle mass in comparison, especially in their arms and torso. Their skin is known to be tougher than others, with their hands and feet often remarked to have a leathery texture, as if they are callused, yet lacking the hardness that is associated with them in Ailor. Many Dwarves often have semi-exaggerated facial features, such as more pronounced brows, ears, and jaws, though it is also just as common to have very Ailor-like features. Dwarves also grow their hair faster than other Races, with the men often fastening various ornaments to them as a cultural fashion. Dwarves are capable of the full range of skin tone complexions. Dwarven hair colors equally have a large range, from black to blonde and anything in between, while eye colors can be green, brown, blue, or gray. Half-Dwarves are an average height between both parents, but retaining the Dwarven bodily proportions, thus appearing like a stocky short Ailor with more pronounced arms and facial features and body hair. Women Dwarves can grow beards, but many also don’t (or shave).
Heritage Traits
When designing a Character, Proficiency Points allow for a limited Ability selection with Point Buy Packs. Heritage Traits adds free Packs and Mechanics on top of that to help with cultural themes. Free Packs grant Abilities usually, while Mechanics change the way a character functions in Roleplay through subtle, and usually out of Combat ways. In essence, Mechanics just add aesthetic flair that invest in the niche of each culture. Free Packs never raise Proficiency Points, but the character must be able to purchase them normally. (ex. if a character is a certain Affinity that locks them out of a category, they cannot take that specific free pack and must choose the alternative option.) If a Free Pack grants Magic of some type, that Magic can be of any Alignment the character can normally choose, or limited to a select alignment, which will always be written in the Free Pack description.
Mixed Heritage characters (i.e. characters born from two parents of different Cultures) may take one parent's 'Free Packs' and mix and match up to 5 Mechanics from both parents, although some Peoples cannot produce Mixed Heritage children (due to Magical/Fantasy reasons).
Free Packs
Dwarves can choose one Pack from either the Training or Athletic Point Buy categories.
Dwarves can choose one Pack from either Tech or Athletic Point Buy categories.
Mechanics
Dwarves gain +1 Main Defense Stat while another Dwarf is within a 5 block range, which can break Cap up to 11. This mechanic can stack up to a +2 bonus.
Dwarves are barely affected by Alcohol that gets other people drunk, needing insanely high proof, and always being able to keep their drinks down.
Dwarves have perfect vision (night vision) underground and in dark surroundings, needing no light.
Dwarves are masters of the forge, able to perform feats of metallurgy in half the time of other craftsmen. Additionally, any metal item that a Dwarf produces is considered master class when compared to others.
Due to their vast understanding of architecture and metallurgy, Dwarves may gain additional insight from event items that may not be obvious to others (inquire with DM/Event Hoster for opportunities).
Culture
Language
The Dwarves speak a fantasy language called Barrudh, which is not comparable to any real life language. The base for its design is taken from old Norse, but distinct norse sounds are replaced by much harsher tones. For example, the Norse word for War is Krig (pronounced as Kreeg), which is then changed to the Dwarven Kraag (close to the word Crag). This produces a more guttural language with a somewhat norse base, but with a more fantasy like spelling. Most Dwarven Fantasy name generators are good to generate a name, however a couple of gendered names are provided as examples below.
Dwarven naming customs does not officially support a Unisex or Non binary naming style, but both male and female can technically be unisex.
Magic Chains
The Dwarves have a dubious attitude towards the Occult, notably because there is no real historical context to Magic usage in their Empire. They are not incapable of using Magic, but Magic has a difficult place in their society due to Magic being involved with their greatest collective traumas. Mages simply did not exist for 21,000 years among the Dwarves, until the Allorn agents first used it to convince them to turn on the Dregodar. Somehow, Magic started appearing among their people after it was first used on them by the Allorn agents, causing Mages to be born, and Magic to also be taught to some of them. As the Empire collapsed, Dwarves became hostile to the concept of Magic, and started persecuting their own magically inclined population. As time progressed however, simply killing magically inclined Dwarves became more impractical as their population sharply declined. Instead, since then, the Dwarven elders have agreed to the Magic Chaining policy, where Dwarves who use Magic are tolerated, but only while they have a non-Magic using Dwarf retainer. The Magic using Dwarf is clad in ceremonial robes, and finally has a heavy anti-Magic collar and shoulder guard piece installed kept in place by chains that blocks their usage of any kind of Magic (this cannot be reproduced on other Races, it somehow only works on Dwarves). The retainer is then given a key, which they can use to unleash the chains, which allows the Dwarf to cast Magic freely. The retainer is always trained and drilled into ensuring that the Mage-Dwarf only ever uses Magic in the interest of Dwarven society, or for assistance in the forge, for example by casting fire magic to heat up a furnace. Regalia adopted part of this policy of Mage-collaring in the latter half of the 3rd century AC, but did away with it when Regalians overwhelmingly voted that it was cruel, while the Dwarves continue to maintain their policy to this day. They generally believe that independent and freely operating Magic users are a danger, and that they are in part at risk of being seduced and controlled by the Elven Evil, and other evil Magicness (as they call it).
The Velheim Bond
The Velheim people are considered “Bonded” by the Dwarves, and them in return by the Velheim due to their close cooperation. Since the Dwarves lost most of their holds from the Dakkar invasions, and the spill-over of the Dregodar conflict, the Dwarves were in a near state of collapse, only to be pulled back from the edge by the Velheim in Ellador. The Velheim had been living and trading peacefully with the Dwarves for centuries, though both largely ignored each other, and the Velheim also didn’t take a side during the conflict between the Dwarves and the Nelfin who would eventually become the Isldar. However, when the Dakkar struck, the Velheim sent food and medicine into the Holds, asking for nothing in return (despite lacking food themselves). Then, when things got really bad and around Cataclysm, even while the Ailor towns were under attack by Vampires, they still found time to send soldiers into the mines with the Dwarves to help build defenses against further Dakkar attacks, teaching the Dwarves (who had never fought a war against anyone in pitched siege battles of their cities) how to build defensive structures. The Dwarves eventually answered in kind by sending squads to the surface to protect coastal villages from Vampire attacks, using their inherent immunity to Vampire powers to sniff out parasites and purge them. This shared trauma, but also alliance, was finally solidified when in the fires of chaos in Dwarven society, the god Dáuw was born, supposedly to mundane parents, and led the Dwarven people to unify religiously with the Velheim people, after convincing the remaining elders he was a god in his own right. The Velheim people were apprehensive to accept Dáuw as a god at first, but with the intervention of Halfvel, who approved, news of him spread, and he was adopted into the pantheon. This is the reason why Dwarves can (nowadays) always be found in Velheim cultural festivities, Velheim districts, or generally around Velheim people, and vice versa, because these people share a unique cross-racial bond of friendship and alliance. Many Dwarven cultural expressions have adopted Velheim norms, and vice versa, while many Dwarven children being born are also half-Dwarf half-Velheim. That being said, Dwarves are always sure to protect quintessentially Dwarven customs, so while the two are very strongly related, they are not the same, and never will be.
Religion
Dwarves nearly exclusively follow the Fornoss Religion, though a small minority has converted to Unionism also. Exact data on this is hard to track, because Dwarves in general are spread far and wide over the world. The majority still holds onto the remnants of their subterranean empire. Some have started communities above ground, others have joined Ailor communities, and others yet travel the world. Some of those traveling the world or joining Ailor communities in Regalia have joined Unionism, but Fornoss is still dominant. Dwarven religion was originally called Duindún, a faith in which it was believed that Dragons breathed the fire of life into the earth that birthed the Dwarves, and that those Dragons then turned into Dwarves and became the founders of the various Holds. With the calamities occurring, and the damage done to their society by a Dragon, the Dwarven Race collectively abandoned the faith of Duindún and mass converted to the Fornoss faith. This coincided with the sudden appearance of Dáuw, who proved his godhood, and then led the Dwarven people to join forces with the Fornoss Velheim in particular.
Families
Dwarven families are fairly nuclear (meaning two parents and children) though Dwarves inherently dislike children and find any reason to ship them off to daycare. Dwarven society has a strong daycare system in place where (ironically) Velheim Ailor are paid to take care of the children until they grow old enough to behave in the household, and be taught Dwarven culture and traditions. Dwarves are the only race with a very strong communal elderly care system in place, where elders are moved to retirement and veteran homes where the elderly and war maimed convalesce together. Dwarves have no overt attitude towards same-sex relations or gender-identity, with exact gender identity being already somewhat fluid between Dwarven sexes as men and women and everything in between roughly looks the same.
Fashion
Much of Dwarven fashion has been lost to Velheim fashion out of pure necessity. The Dwarven Empire was once set up in such a way that each great Hold produced something useful for the Empire, and the weaver’s hold was one of the first Holds to go down during the Dakkar invasion. As such, Dwarves had since then mostly used cured leather and hides which put a severe strain on the cattle ranching Hold which was still existing. When the Velheim sent supplies, clothes were some of the most well-used, as Dwarves wore much less cold-resistant clothes from Ellador being much warmer than it had gotten around Cataclysm. Their clothing industry lacked a design for heat resistance (as the tunnels themselves were often quite hot and prone to humidity) so the Velheim clothes became the new norm eventually due to the ease of trade. Dwarven elements still incorporated into the clothes are Dwarven patterns and an overabundance of jewelry and decorative rare-earth metals.
History
The Dwarven Empire has existed for as much as perhaps 20,000 years, making it one of the longest living Empires in the world and also one of the most stable. Dwarves tell tales of the wealthy and massive holds, vast sprawling urban caves and underground cisterns housing millions of Dwarves and spanning continents. Each Hold had a specialty it delivered and Dwarven society lived in communal unity in their disregard for surface dwellers. A curious thing to note was the complete absence of Magic among Dwarves for the better part of history, until Cataclysm at the least. Scholars have speculated that because there was no magic underground and the Dwarves largely ignored surface situations, that the Demons who cyclically invaded during Void Invasions did so blind to their presence.
Dwarven Empire history comes to a quick, unexpected, and violent end during the Dregodar conflict. While the Nelfin who fled the Allorn Empire for Dragon Worship persecution had somewhat chilly relations with the Dwarves on the surface, open conflict was unthinkable because the Dwarves had no reason to go to the surface, and because the Dregodar loved building castles high up in the mountains, far away even from the surface ground. It was through the insidious infiltration, manipulation, and demagoguery of Allorn agents using magic and other foul tricks to deceive the Dwarves into thinking that the Dregodar were actually plotting their destruction. Eventually the Allorn agents succeeded, and three wars with the Dregodar over a timespan of about 100 years were the result. The first two wars were largely inconclusive, while the third war caused a calamity for the Dwarves.
At the apex of the third war, the Dwarves threw hundreds of thousands of soldiers into pitched battle in the Valley of the Long Song, where they faced the collective forces of the Dregodar in a pitched battle to protect Aurora, their Violet Dragon. The battle was disastrous for the Dregodar at first, who were unable to defend themselves with their feeble weapons and pacifist attitude against the Dwarves who came with vast engines of war.100 years of preparation had more than equipped the Dwarves for victory, all the while the Allorn agents sat back and wasted no Allorn lives on the destruction of the Dregodar heretics. In a pivotal moment of the battle, Aurora was supposedly slain by a Dwarven Wyvern-killer weapon, but unleashed a massive magical spell that warped Ellador into a hellish frozen wasteland.
The whole Dwarven army was killed by frost on the spot, while all the Dregodar became Isldar. The nearby hold of Rammtuunh which had its gates open to supply the battle also saw its forge die down in a near instant, and all inhabitants freeze to death in a matter of minutes. Recent historical review, following the outbreak of the Isldar Civil War and subsequent discoveries of the true fate of Aurora, have pointed out that it was not Aurora who committed this act of grand genocide, but the Glacial Ordial God who preyed on Aurora’s moment of doubt and weakness about her cause, and invaded her mind, using Dragon Magic to inflict death on the world while holding Aurora’s soul hostage in an undead Dragon’s rotting vessel. This was made worse by the awakening of the Dakkar; fanatical Power Arken worshipers who started a religious war against the Dwarves from the far deep, manipulating their tunnels and giving the Dwarves a rude awakening that they were not the only race living in the deep tunnels by flooding many of the holds with lava and armies of stone-scaled lizard-men. Hold after Hold fell with millions of Dwarves being killed in the process, and several million more afterwards dying of famine and isolation caused by the collapse of the vast network of tunnels.
When the dust of the conflict settled and the final defensive lines held, there were only two holds left: Grebor which was once a cattle farm for the Dwarven Empire, hastily converted to a defensive hold, and Anduin, which once acted as the bureaucratic capital of the Dwarven Empire, but now had ledgers upon ledgers and cabinets upon cabinets of data stored for an Empire that no longer existed, instead melting its desks and boxes into barricades and using the bureaucratic paper as fuel for the furnaces. Both of these Holds are on the southwestern tip of Ellador, and all other Holds, including the connections to them across the oceans, were lost. Some went silent without a word, some died in calamitous manners like volcanic submersion, or mass-slaughter by the Dakkar. The surviving holds are still routinely under attack by the Dakkar, and some even by Isldar who want to keep Dwarven reclaimers away from their territory, but are generally considered stable, even if both barely have 80,000 inhabitants between them left. Many Velheim have also moved in, supplementing both defenders and caretakers of the local economy so that there is a roughly stable position from which the Dwarves could consider reclaiming their empire, but there are still millions of Power seduced Dakkar living in their old collapsed holds, and the Isldar and Vampires also make expansion on the surface hellish.
Trivia
If there would be any type of person who hates the Ordial, it would be Dwarves. There was something so sickeningly evil (in the eyes of the Dwarves) for the Glacial to use Dragon Magic to cause death just to empower herself and for the glee of it, and then further to also lie about it and pretend to be a Dragon all along.
Just because Dwarves and Velheim Ailor are closely allied, does not mean they are incapable of struggling with one another. Dwarves and Velheim both are somewhat ignorant and very stubborn people, so conflicts frequently arise over who has the best warriors and the most honor.
Contrary to popular belief, you can always tell the difference between a short Ailor and a Dwarf, purely by looking at the length of their arms and the size of their feet and hands in comparison to the rest of their body.
