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Description
Below the leaden peaks of the Pikes in Outland, in the boiling Cauldron of Ymir in Orcneas, and the crumbling ruby mountains of Alfarland itself lie the burrows of the dwarfs. This vermiform species is one of the Primordial Races, the ancient rulers of the world. Living in tunnels and cave systems deep below the world, few surface dwellers will ever see a dwarf. They move two and fro in near-lightless caverns, filling rooms with great plaques and tablets of gold and copper, or digging for rare stones with strange engines. When they venture above ground it is as traders, researchers, or soldiers. They either want to trade with you, learn from you, or kill you - other forms of interaction are considered, by the dwarfs, a pointless waste of time. Their homes are dug from the rock, bewildering mazes of stone - plus a few great caverns to serve as great palaces or temples.

Biology

Dwarfs are pejoratively referred to by many of the Young Races as ‘maggots’, an insulting, if accurate, name that Dwarfs regard as deeply offensive. Physically an average adult dwarf is approximately 8-12 feet long, and around 2 feet in girth. The front of the body is held upright much of the time, the average dwarf ‘standing’ 3-5 feet tall. The body is vermiform in structure, with no clear distinction between the trunk and the tail. Large fat reserves cover thick musculature, which when combined with the gripping pads on the underside of the creature allows movement with surprising speed. The body is covered in relatively thick skin, which secretes an oily substance, in order to provide protection and aid movement. This skin is also reinforced with small sub-dermal plates of bone, which give the dwarf protection akin to chain mail even before they put on their armour. The head is relatively large, and highly developed, indeed its complexity seems oxymoronic when compared to the relatively simple structure of the rest of their bodies.

Unlike the rest of the dwarfish form, the head is covered in solid chitinous bony plates. Two distinct ‘horns’ emerge from the armoured head, making a dwarfish head resemble a horned helmet. These horns are in fact the same structures as elfish ‘ears’, but they lack most of the complex sensory organs of the elves. Instead they have become adapted into toothed grinding instruments to aid with burrowing through softer rocks. However they are capable of perceiving the eldritch fabric to a lesser extent, albeit mostly in a more limited fashioned adapted to their life underground. The chitin of the head is darker than their elfish cousins, with a deep shining black being the most common colour. It is also a lot thicker and more robust.

Tucked behind the helm are a series of muscular vents, through which the dwarf breathes. Backward-facing, the positioning of these breathing systems allowed primordial dwarfs to breathe even while digging. In these more civilised times it allows them to sing even while drinking and feasting. They are perfectly capable of speaking the languages of other races, albeit with the strange buzzing tone common to all the primordial races, but their own language is almost impossible for non dwarfs to pronounce (you would need more than one throat). Dwarfs have four small beady black eyes, protected within deep sockets rimmed with bone and chitin. Dwarfs have excellent night vision, being capable of seeing in even the lowest light levels.

Like elves, dwarfs have a set of sharp fangs concealed behind a pair of mandibles. Dwarfish mandibles are considerably larger and stronger than their elven equivalents, and resemble axe-heads. Dwarfs are omnivorous, but chiefly subsist on meat and fungal sources of nutrition. Surface vegetation is regarded with deep suspicion by most dwarfs, and valued primarily as fodder for livestock or as ingredients for the creation of alcohol. Below the mandibles is the beard. From a distance this may look like a normal beard of braided hair, but it is actually a mass of hanging tentacles. These arms, many in number, serve as the dwarf’s main manipulatory organ, allowing them to maintain an advanced civilisation despite their lack of limbs. The arms are solid muscle, with no skeletal component, and are extremely strong. They have gripping pads on their inner surface, but do not have discrete suckers as octopoids do. In battle dwarfs use their beard to hold their weapons, largely esoteric magical devices of highly destructive purpose.s If severed these arms will grow back, and more develop as the dwarf ages. A particularly well developed beard is regarded as a sign of great wisdom and experience, and also gives the Dwarf greater dexterity and manipulatory abilities.

Psychology

Dwarfs are traditionalistic, irritable, and utterly obsessed with the past. They have eidetic memories, often resulting in them ruminating over past slights and insults for centuries. Dwarfs don’t forget, and even if they do forgive an offence they will often continue to grumble about it. Indeed in old age most dwarfs have actually been driven slightly mad by centuries of perfect recollection, often finding it difficult to distinguish between the present, and centuries ago. As with almost all of the primordial races dwarf psychology is highly alien. An illustrative example is the act of killing. As far as a dwarf is concerned the main moral problem with killing is the consequent destruction of information, rather than the act itself. This makes most dwarf cultures disturbingly tolerant of infanticide and other such crimes, while punishing the killing of an elder with the most savage fury.

History

Like all the primordial races the dwarfs are believed to be descended from an acnient progenitor race, predating even the Primordial Empires by many millions of years. In the legends of elf and dwarf this ancient race is remembered as Alfar, the mythical progenitor of both races. According to the most common version of the legend Alfar was the first thinking creature in the world, the first being to crawl from beasthood and look towards the stars with wonder. He had two sons (exactly how is not recorded), the elder called Ydalir, the younger Ymir. As the elder son Ydalir inherited Alfar’s most treasured possession, the lands above the Earth. The children of Ydalir would walk in sun, moon and starlight, and would never die. To Ymir was left what remained, the dark caves beneath the earth, the caverns and rocks below. The children of Ymir would crawl in darkness, and although long-lived would ultimately perish to the relentless march of time.

Alfar then went away.

The dwarfs are believed to have been one of the species responsible for the creation of the primordial Empires which ruled the world long before the rise of the Young Races. The history of these empires is completely lost - indeed it is uncertain whether there where multiple primordial empires, or a single great realm covering the world. Many dwarf holds do have ancient bas-reliefs dating back to the Primordial Empires, but even the dwarfs find the interpretation of these unfathomably ancient records almost impossible. In recent millennia, as the young races have grown more and more sophisticated, dwarf-kind found much of its influence over the surface world severely restricted. As the young races went from family bands to tribes and ultimately great kingdoms, the ability of the dwarfs to lever their greater sophistication into dominance declined precipitously. Different dwarf holds have dealt with this unprecedented shock in different ways. Those in Outland have found the rise of kingdoms and empires good for commerce, in recent decades producing vast amounts of alchemical steel for the Outlandish Empire’s armament effort. By contrast in Orcneas the holds of Ymir’s Cauldron have taken the unprecedented step of banding together, forming a new pan-dwarfish government to assert the supremacy of the primordial races against the upstart mammals.

Society

Dwarfish society is organised around holds, isolated kingdoms under the autocratic rule of a single lord. With the exception of Ymir’s Cauldron, dwarf holds do not form leagues with one another, and are stubbornly independent. Lordship passes down to the eldest child, irrespective of the child’s gender. While dwarfs possess distinct sexes, they do not place great significance on gender and do not regard it as important in matters of inheritance. Every hold’s ruler is titled ‘Lord’ irrespective of their gender, although it must be stated that this is an imperfect translation from the original dwarfish. The Lord occupies a position at the apex of the hold’s religious, economic and political hierarchy. He is responsible for directing the mining works, the ceremonies and rituals and embassies to other holds that form the day-to-day business of the hold. The lord holds his position based upon the fact that their family always has done, and ergo, it is right that they do so. Below the lord dwarfs do not posses the concept of a hereditary aristocracy - social organisation instead being largely meritocratic. Socially, dwarfish society is organised into three rough tiers. At the top are the historians, whose sacred work is the entire point of existence. Next come the artisans and craftsmen, with the miners, farmers and fishermen at the bottom. A craftsman or artist may at least make something of lasting value and significance, while a manual labourers only function is to serve. That being said master miners or fishers are accorded some respect, both for their age and their skill in their chosen craft.

Religion

Dwarfish religion is confusing, multi-faceted and often misunderstood by outsiders. The idea that dwarfs ‘worship gold’ is not completely true, although dwarfs certainly imbue it with great spiritual significance. Gold is regarded as the essence of perfection, the essence of creation unsullied by aeons of decay, and in some way touched by the divine. The idea that they worship their ancestors, or Alfar, is equally incorrect. They do venerate and respect their ancestors, drawing up incredibly elaborate genealogies (some of which go back over a hundred thousand years) and venerate Alfar as being the closest to the beginning, and thus, creation. The dwarfish conception of reality is declensionist, they believe that everything, inevitably, gets worse and worse. Dwarfish religion is thus concerned with preservation, the preservation of ancient tradition, the preservation of ancient artefacts, the preservation of ancient knowledge. Dwarfs do not concern themselves with who made Alfar, or the world, but simply try to preserve the creation (or the bits of it they think are important) as best they can. They do believe in the immortality of the soul, and believe that these efforts to preserve the glories of creation will be rewarded, but do not dwell on it very much.

Clothing

Dwarfs like armour. They really, really like armour. Even casual wear for dwarfs will typically incorporate ringmail. The dwarfish obsession with armour is a consequence of dwarfs loathing for anything perishable. Steel plate and mail, if properly maintained (and dwarfs are almost incapable of improperly maintaining anything) will lost a lot longer than feeble fabrics. For much the same reason thick cured leather is also favoured. Robes of steel and leather are used to cover the upper side of the dwarf, secured on small bony spines that emerge from the dwarf’s thick skin. Dwarfs do not wear helmets, obviously. Considering that dwarfish heads have evolved to grind through rock, they are considerably tougher than most metals. Occasionally dwarfs will hang veils of mail from their horns and the bony protrusions of their skull, to shield their faces.

Clothing for dwarfs is a matter of status. A dwarf that has to make its living from mining will have to go naked. Digging for a dwarf involves burrowing trough the earth like the worms they so resemble, or using the strange magical engines perfected by their ancient forbears. Either way, the practice is not conductive to the forms of clothing that dwarfs are capable of wearing. A dwarf that holds the more prestigious positions of a craftsman or trader will be able to wear leather or mail robes. Professional soldiers will of course wear armour. Lots and lots of armour. The highest ranks of dwarf society, the hereditary priest-kings and historians (although the dwarfs do not see much of a difference between these professions), who spend their time labouring over books and worm-eaten scrolls, will wear robes of gilded leather and fine jewels, as befit their exalted position.

Description
Below the leaden peaks of the Pikes in Outland, in the boiling Cauldron of Ymir in Orcneas, and the crumbling ruby mountains of Alfarland itself lie the burrows of the dwarfs. This vermiform species is one of the Primordial Races, the ancient rulers of the world. Living in tunnels and cave systems deep below the world, few surface dwellers will ever see a dwarf. They move two and fro in near-lightless caverns, filling rooms with great plaques and tablets of gold and copper, or digging for rare stones with strange engines. When they venture above ground it is as traders, researchers, or soldiers. They either want to trade with you, learn from you, or kill you - other forms of interaction are considered, by the dwarfs, a pointless waste of time. Their homes are dug from the rock, bewildering mazes of stone - plus a few great caverns to serve as great palaces or temples.

Biology

Dwarfs are pejoratively referred to by many of the Young Races as ‘maggots’, an insulting, if accurate, name that Dwarfs regard as deeply offensive. Physically an average adult dwarf is approximately 8-12 feet long, and around 2 feet in girth. The front of the body is held upright much of the time, the average dwarf ‘standing’ 3-5 feet tall. The body is vermiform in structure, with no clear distinction between the trunk and the tail. Large fat reserves cover thick musculature, which when combined with the gripping pads on the underside of the creature allows movement with surprising speed. The body is covered in relatively thick skin, which secretes an oily substance, in order to provide protection and aid movement. This skin is also reinforced with small sub-dermal plates of bone, which give the dwarf protection akin to chain mail even before they put on their armour. The head is relatively large, and highly developed, indeed its complexity seems oxymoronic when compared to the relatively simple structure of the rest of their bodies.

Unlike the rest of the dwarfish form, the head is covered in solid chitinous bony plates. Two distinct ‘horns’ emerge from the armoured head, making a dwarfish head resemble a horned helmet. These horns are in fact the same structures as elfish ‘ears’, but they lack most of the complex sensory organs of the elves. Instead they have become adapted into toothed grinding instruments to aid with burrowing through softer rocks. However they are capable of perceiving the eldritch fabric to a lesser extent, albeit mostly in a more limited fashioned adapted to their life underground. The chitin of the head is darker than their elfish cousins, with a deep shining black being the most common colour. It is also a lot thicker and more robust.

Tucked behind the helm are a series of muscular vents, through which the dwarf breathes. Backward-facing, the positioning of these breathing systems allowed primordial dwarfs to breathe even while digging. In these more civilised times it allows them to sing even while drinking and feasting. They are perfectly capable of speaking the languages of other races, albeit with the strange buzzing tone common to all the primordial races, but their own language is almost impossible for non dwarfs to pronounce (you would need more than one throat). Dwarfs have four small beady black eyes, protected within deep sockets rimmed with bone and chitin. Dwarfs have excellent night vision, being capable of seeing in even the lowest light levels.

Like elves, dwarfs have a set of sharp fangs concealed behind a pair of mandibles. Dwarfish mandibles are considerably larger and stronger than their elven equivalents, and resemble axe-heads. Dwarfs are omnivorous, but chiefly subsist on meat and fungal sources of nutrition. Surface vegetation is regarded with deep suspicion by most dwarfs, and valued primarily as fodder for livestock or as ingredients for the creation of alcohol. Below the mandibles is the beard. From a distance this may look like a normal beard of braided hair, but it is actually a mass of hanging tentacles. These arms, many in number, serve as the dwarf’s main manipulatory organ, allowing them to maintain an advanced civilisation despite their lack of limbs. The arms are solid muscle, with no skeletal component, and are extremely strong. They have gripping pads on their inner surface, but do not have discrete suckers as octopoids do. In battle dwarfs use their beard to hold their weapons, largely esoteric magical devices of highly destructive purpose.s If severed these arms will grow back, and more develop as the dwarf ages. A particularly well developed beard is regarded as a sign of great wisdom and experience, and also gives the Dwarf greater dexterity and manipulatory abilities.

Psychology

Dwarfs are traditionalistic, irritable, and utterly obsessed with the past. They have eidetic memories, often resulting in them ruminating over past slights and insults for centuries. Dwarfs don’t forget, and even if they do forgive an offence they will often continue to grumble about it. Indeed in old age most dwarfs have actually been driven slightly mad by centuries of perfect recollection, often finding it difficult to distinguish between the present, and centuries ago. As with almost all of the primordial races dwarf psychology is highly alien. An illustrative example is the act of killing. As far as a dwarf is concerned the main moral problem with killing is the consequent destruction of information, rather than the act itself. This makes most dwarf cultures disturbingly tolerant of infanticide and other such crimes, while punishing the killing of an elder with the most savage fury.

History

Like all the primordial races the dwarfs are believed to be descended from an acnient progenitor race, predating even the Primordial Empires by many millions of years. In the legends of elf and dwarf this ancient race is remembered as Alfar, the mythical progenitor of both races. According to the most common version of the legend Alfar was the first thinking creature in the world, the first being to crawl from beasthood and look towards the stars with wonder. He had two sons (exactly how is not recorded), the elder called Ydalir, the younger Ymir. As the elder son Ydalir inherited Alfar’s most treasured possession, the lands above the Earth. The children of Ydalir would walk in sun, moon and starlight, and would never die. To Ymir was left what remained, the dark caves beneath the earth, the caverns and rocks below. The children of Ymir would crawl in darkness, and although long-lived would ultimately perish to the relentless march of time.

Alfar then went away.

The dwarfs are believed to have been one of the species responsible for the creation of the primordial Empires which ruled the world long before the rise of the Young Races. The history of these empires is completely lost - indeed it is uncertain whether there where multiple primordial empires, or a single great realm covering the world. Many dwarf holds do have ancient bas-reliefs dating back to the Primordial Empires, but even the dwarfs find the interpretation of these unfathomably ancient records almost impossible. In recent millennia, as the young races have grown more and more sophisticated, dwarf-kind found much of its influence over the surface world severely restricted. As the young races went from family bands to tribes and ultimately great kingdoms, the ability of the dwarfs to lever their greater sophistication into dominance declined precipitously. Different dwarf holds have dealt with this unprecedented shock in different ways. Those in Outland have found the rise of kingdoms and empires good for commerce, in recent decades producing vast amounts of alchemical steel for the Outlandish Empire’s armament effort. By contrast in Orcneas the holds of Ymir’s Cauldron have taken the unprecedented step of banding together, forming a new pan-dwarfish government to assert the supremacy of the primordial races against the upstart mammals.

Society

Dwarfish society is organised around holds, isolated kingdoms under the autocratic rule of a single lord. With the exception of Ymir’s Cauldron, dwarf holds do not form leagues with one another, and are stubbornly independent. Lordship passes down to the eldest child, irrespective of the child’s gender. While dwarfs possess distinct sexes, they do not place great significance on gender and do not regard it as important in matters of inheritance. Every hold’s ruler is titled ‘Lord’ irrespective of their gender, although it must be stated that this is an imperfect translation from the original dwarfish. The Lord occupies a position at the apex of the hold’s religious, economic and political hierarchy. He is responsible for directing the mining works, the ceremonies and rituals and embassies to other holds that form the day-to-day business of the hold. The lord holds his position based upon the fact that their family always has done, and ergo, it is right that they do so. Below the lord dwarfs do not posses the concept of a hereditary aristocracy - social organisation instead being largely meritocratic. Socially, dwarfish society is organised into three rough tiers. At the top are the historians, whose sacred work is the entire point of existence. Next come the artisans and craftsmen, with the miners, farmers and fishermen at the bottom. A craftsman or artist may at least make something of lasting value and significance, while a manual labourers only function is to serve. That being said master miners or fishers are accorded some respect, both for their age and their skill in their chosen craft.

Religion

Dwarfish religion is confusing, multi-faceted and often misunderstood by outsiders. The idea that dwarfs ‘worship gold’ is not completely true, although dwarfs certainly imbue it with great spiritual significance. Gold is regarded as the essence of perfection, the essence of creation unsullied by aeons of decay, and in some way touched by the divine. The idea that they worship their ancestors, or Alfar, is equally incorrect. They do venerate and respect their ancestors, drawing up incredibly elaborate genealogies (some of which go back over a hundred thousand years) and venerate Alfar as being the closest to the beginning, and thus, creation. The dwarfish conception of reality is declensionist, they believe that everything, inevitably, gets worse and worse. Dwarfish religion is thus concerned with preservation, the preservation of ancient tradition, the preservation of ancient artefacts, the preservation of ancient knowledge. Dwarfs do not concern themselves with who made Alfar, or the world, but simply try to preserve the creation (or the bits of it they think are important) as best they can. They do believe in the immortality of the soul, and believe that these efforts to preserve the glories of creation will be rewarded, but do not dwell on it very much.

Clothing

Dwarfs like armour. They really, really like armour. Even casual wear for dwarfs will typically incorporate ringmail. The dwarfish obsession with armour is a consequence of dwarfs loathing for anything perishable. Steel plate and mail, if properly maintained (and dwarfs are almost incapable of improperly maintaining anything) will lost a lot longer than feeble fabrics. For much the same reason thick cured leather is also favoured. Robes of steel and leather are used to cover the upper side of the dwarf, secured on small bony spines that emerge from the dwarf’s thick skin. Dwarfs do not wear helmets, obviously. Considering that dwarfish heads have evolved to grind through rock, they are considerably tougher than most metals. Occasionally dwarfs will hang veils of mail from their horns and the bony protrusions of their skull, to shield their faces.

Clothing for dwarfs is a matter of status. A dwarf that has to make its living from mining will have to go naked. Digging for a dwarf involves burrowing trough the earth like the worms they so resemble, or using the strange magical engines perfected by their ancient forbears. Either way, the practice is not conductive to the forms of clothing that dwarfs are capable of wearing. A dwarf that holds the more prestigious positions of a craftsman or trader will be able to wear leather or mail robes. Professional soldiers will of course wear armour. Lots and lots of armour. The highest ranks of dwarf society, the hereditary priest-kings and historians (although the dwarfs do not see much of a difference between these professions), who spend their time labouring over books and worm-eaten scrolls, will wear robes of gilded leather and fine jewels, as befit their exalted position.