Dwarves had broad shoulders, with thick muscles that evolved to offer long-term endurance, balance, and life underground. Dwarves typically stood about 4 to 5 feet tall and had low centers of balance, which allowed them to safely walk through narrow tunnels, and across uneven ground. Their bones were much denser than those of humans, and were surprisingly heavy for their size.

Dwarves were easily identifiable by the presence of small horns on the forehead or temple, that didn’t usually exceed a few inches in length. Some bloodlines had bigger or more horns than usual, making it easy to spot members of certain families. The horns were keratin protrusions that began growing when the dwarves went through puberty and were almost always useless in combat. While too feeble to gore or ram, they were still well established as a part of dwarven culture and society. A number of guilds and clans marked or stamped them with personal sigils.

Dwarves had very strong metabolisms and immune systems with a high resistance to toxins, making them immune to the effects of alcohol. Dwarves' body heat were slightly higher than humans', and their skin ranged from skin tones similar to humans, to pigments that matched stone and metal. 

There were dozens of distinct languages across dwarven culture, all written using the same runic script. These languages shared common roots, but varied wildly in vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. Linguistic divergence was especially pronounced among mining colonies in deep space, where generations of isolation accelerated language drift.

It was not uncommon for two dwarves (even of the same subspecies) to lack a shared dwarven language. In such cases, Galactic Common became the default means of communication, as there was no unifying language shared by all dwarves. This linguistic fragmentation was widely accepted in dwarven culture, where local identity was often more important than broader unification. Some guilds maintained records in multiple dialects, and automated translation systems were common in large-scale excavations involving multiple settlements.

Despite the variety, all dwarven languages retained a distinctive rhythmic structure. Dwarves often got visibly and audibly excited when interacting with anyone who knew one of their home languages (whether or not the other party was also a dwarf).

The most widely used dwarven languages were named either for the location they developed in or the guild that standardized them:

• Harrowtongue. Spoken in the Harrowdeep belt colonies; known for its clipped efficiency.
• Cindralic. A formal, structured dialect used in records by the Unknown family and its subsidiaries.
• Drakshal. A harsh-toned language from the isolated mining domes of Unknown.
• Guldruk Trade. A pidgin developed in the Unknown to allow limited cross-colony communication.
• Tharnkeld. A guild-maintained dialect used primarily in archaeological documentation.
• Vaultcant. A tightly encrypted technical language originating in deep engineering vaults.
• Stonehowl. An ancestral dialect still used by clans in the Outer Forge Colonies.
• Molgraan. The preferred dialect of Unknown, optimized for concise command chains.
• Yernic Low. A simplified speech form used by tunnel crews in the Yernic Driftworks.

These examples represent only a fraction of dwarven linguistic diversity. Most dwarves knew at least one local dialect, one trade dialect, and Galactic Common.

Dwarven names were linked to their heritage, traditions, and guild affiliations. Names were usually given at birth by the parents of the child, and generally followed ancient name records, ancestors, or symbolic achievements. Whereas the majority of dwarves employed Galactic Common and their individual names when communicating with foreigners, they would usually switch to full formal names with their own language when among their own people.

Dwarven naming conventions were strict in areas with heavy guild influence, but would often be more relaxed between drift-colony populations, where naming practice could evolve or fall apart through the passage of time. Dwarves generally introduced themselves by their full name, given name and clan name with optional modifiers of guild or region, but would stick to their first name or nickname in casual conversation. For example: Korra Feldun of Tharnkeld Forge might have gone by Korra or Kiki when with her friends..

Female Names. Korra, Belka, Tharna, Griselda, Myrn, Haldra, Veska, Dolna, Yedra, Zarna

Male Names. Borrin, Durgan, Krom, Tholgar, Branik, Varn, Harvek, Grondal, Morgrun, Fenruk

Neutral Names. Rekk, Tovra, Malgen, Drask, Halrun, Velka, Brim, Orlun, Sarn, Jekra

Clan Names. Unknown, Unknown, Unknown, Unknown, Unknown, Unknown, Unknown, Unknown, Unknown, Unknown