The Dwarven People

 The Dwarven People 

Home Nations/ Regions:

The Dwarves live primarily on the surface of Bil Hanna and prefer grassy, hilly areas. While they will build into the earth, the majority of their time is spent above ground. They organize themselves into familial clans.

Life Span:

Long lived Dwarves can reach their late hundreds. They are considered mature at forty and pregnancies last two years.

Physical Appearance:

Shorter and squatter than the Truefolk with long elaborately braided beards worn by both men and women. They prefer muted earth tones in their clothing and, when they wear jewelry, it is often made polished or lacquered wood or bone. Armor is considered a normal part of dress and ceremonial and elaborate arms are one of the few things that distinguish a dwarf’s social standing.

Origin:

The Dwarven people believe that when the moment of light touched the surface of Bil Hanna the Maker was born. He raised his great hammer and struck Bil Hanna’s shell and from its sparks the Dwarven people sprang.

Faith:

The Dwarven people worship the Maker exclusively, bound by a strong sense of duty to their creator. They speak of him in a familial tone and take slights to his honor just as seriously as they would if it was directed at one of their flesh and blood clansmen.

Culture:

The dwarven people are a people in stagnation. Most of their villages are inside the Eternal Empire. Most of their strongholds stand empty and the one Legion that exists, trains and is lead by Generals sent by the Empire. If this does not change, their forges will fall silent. Their halls will only ring with tired old ballads. There has not been a hero amongst them for several generations now. Day in and day out, they are losing what is to be Dwarven.

The Dwarven People live in a clan based society. Clans are normally ruled over by those strong enough to rule, be it by wit or by arms. It is also very honor driven. Social debts and allegiances play a heavy role in the political structure that brings both families and clans together. They are in general a passionate people with love for wine and companionship.

This culture tends to live/eat/work/sleep all in a single hall. The community is the very essence of Dwarven identity. If you earn coin, it is for your clan. If you go to war, it is for your clan. If you marry, it is for your clan. (Though, as a passionate people they are prone to star-crossed relationships, especially when young) If you give your life, it is for your clan. The identity of a clan is a powerful one. One does not bring shame on your clan without serious repercussions. This communal glory is in sharp contrast to the Pennyfists (Truefolk) who they are often conflated with.

While the family tree is a powerful thing, dead branches are quick to be trimmed. Dwarves who have shamed their clan, fallen ill, or have gotten too old to help uphold their duties are armed and sent to face an impossible foe. Before they are sent, their beard is trimmed unevenly to mark them as one who has fallen short of their clans expectations. If they succeed, then they bring great honor to their Clan and their beard is made even by the head of their line. If they fail, then they have died courageously, and the beard trimming is burnt as their proxy in a funeral pyre to help heat the Maker’s forge.

Dwarven courts are harsh by their nature. The accused is brought before the leader of their clan who will hear testimony from those who would defend him. If found guilty of the most heinous crime (i.e. failure of duty or honor to his family/clan) the accused is brought to a circle of his peers who surrounds him while the accused pleads their case a final time. The surrounding dwarves have the option to either continue to face the guilty party as they speak or turn their backs.

When the accused finishes speaking, if even a single dwarf continues to face them, that dwarf will pull their knife and dry shave the offender before banishing the former clanmember from all of dwarven kind. However, if not a single dwarf is still facing him when the accused finishes speaking, the members of the circle will fall upon the guilty party in a flurry of bloodshed. While many would see the former act as one of mercy, to be barred from their society and clan is a great shame to a dwarf. This shame is multiplied if, as many do, the dwarf makes their way to the Truefolk’s Fortuneless Cohorts in order to scrape by some sort of life.