Dwarves

Dwarf female. Image © unknown

Dwarves are the race with the second largest population in the Empire (behind Humans of course).As a race they can be found almost anywhere in the Empire but the largest Dwarf settlements are in the hills and mountains of Thorast, the Dwarven homeland.

Appearance

Short and stocky, the average Dwarf stands at about 1.2m (4 feet) and 1.5m (5 feet) tall but weighs as much as an average adult human. Dwarves are still considered to be “Medium” sized humanoids when determining equipment used. Despite living underground for much of the time, Dwarves have a healthy complexion. Their hair is typically brown but can be almost any colour from blonde, through red all the way to black. White hair is usually associated with Duegar and is considered a sign of bad luck. Those Dwarves with naturally white hair will always seek to colour it in some way. While Dwarves may go either grey or bald in their later years they will always try to keep whatever hair they have long and well-kept. Hair is an important feature of Dwarven culture and the braiding of hair and beards is often taken to extremes in it ornateness.

Lifespan

In comparison to Humans and Tieflings, Dwarves are a long-lived race. They reach maturity in their early 20's and most can expect to live in excess of 300 years. the oldest recorded Dwarf was 377 years old but it widely thought that she lied abut her age and that she wasn't a day older than 350.

Origins

Dwarves believe that their Gods roamed Oberon in search of a place where their people could settle. Eventually Moradin found a series of caves under the mountains and it was there that he set up his forges and produced the Dwarven race. This event is assumed to have occurred about 45,000 years ago and, if true, would make Dwarves the first humanoid race to walk upon Oberon.

Religion

The Dwarven people worship a small pantheon of six deities. The Pantheon is known as 'The Clan'.

Culture

All Dwarves are instilled with a great regard for their heritage from an early age. Despite this Dwarves also have a dry sense of humour and like to spread lies about themselves (such as all Dwarves speaking with a Scottish accent and Dwarven women only being fertile once every six years) just to confuse gullible humans.

Dwarves take care to point out that they are distinct from “just” short humans, noting that they have a rich heritage in the arts and crafts including, but not limited to poetry, painting, sculpture, carpentry or blacksmithing. As such they are widely considered to be experts in anything that produces a real, tangible object. Although Dwarves are among the least magical of Oberon’s many races they are still capable of producing sorcerers, warlocks and wizards as skilled as those of any other race.

Dwarven culture is based around immediate family first, then clan, then king. There are dozens of Dwarven “kings”, each chosen by the clans that swear allegiance to them. The Empire ignores them and their authority.

In addition to “High Merebian”, Dwarves have proficiency in “Dravanic” (what other races refer to as "Dwarven").

The Dravanic name for Oberon is Parak-ta (pronounced "Pa-rahk-tar") which translates to "Father's gift" (with the sense of it being a gift FROM a father, not to). To Dwarves, the word "Oberon" unfortunately actually sounds like the Dravanic word "Ebaerun" which is the word for the brackish water found in mineshafts. Most Dwarves find this a little amusing but try not to focus on it too much.

Names

Dwarven names follow a 'surname-forename-clanname' arrangement. Around humans they will tend to use 'forename-surname' as it is generally understand that humans are ignorant of important matters, such as names.

Outlook

Oberon Dwarves have a respect for Elves as a fellow “original race”, although they consider themselves superior craftsmen. They tolerate Gnomes but don’t understand their lack of family ties. They are both curious and wary towards Humans in equal measure but appreciate human technology. Dwarves tend to be wary of Tieflings due to their infernal origins. Ymirkin and Dwarves should be better friends but stark differences in sense of humour and family bonds make this difficult.

Trivia

All Dwarves know the tales of the Old War in which the first Dwarves fought hordes of Demons that escaped from the bowels of Oberon. Most think it to be a morality tale, warning against over-ambition and hubris, with little basis in truth. Some think that it, as all good legends, has its roots in truth but distorted through the lens of time. A few believe it wholly true.

Two Dwarves. Image © WotC