The dwarves of Athas have the stature of their kindred in other worlds—short, sturdy, and thickly muscled. Most dwarves have deep tans from lives spent toiling in the hot sun, with wide, callused hands and feet. They usually have little or no hair; the flowing beards that are the pride of male dwarves on other worlds are never seen on the Athasian variety.
Dwarves are known for their stoicism and singlemindedness. They fix their minds on the task at hand, whether it is a challenging feat of engineering, an intricate work of craft, a struggle for survival, or a quest for revenge. It’s just not in their nature to abandon a task or leave work half done; dwarves set aside the object of their focus only after much grumbling and coercion.
Dwarves have no lands of their own and live among the other folk of Athas. They reside both in cities and in the countryside, and they tend to be builders and farmers instead of nomads or raiders. Despite the current absence of dwarven cities or strongholds, dwarves have a rich cultural history passed down from generation to generation in great sagas and secret traditions. Long ago, dwarven cities were the marvel of the world, and the dwarves keep the tales of their past glories and bitter defeats alive across the centuries.
Dwarf Backgrounds
Although the dwarves of present-day Athas carve no great citadels and retain few of their ancient holdings, your people remain the most talented stoneworkers and engineers in the world. Dwarf-made wells, cisterns, and canals are marvels of design, and dwarven metalwork—rare though it might be—is the finest to be found.
Desert Miner: Great toil often yields great rewards. You come from a clan of miners who laboriously scratch and claw buried treasures from the bones of the earth. Perhaps your clan’s mine is played out, and now you search for a new deposit to work, or maybe raiders destroyed your family’s holdings and scattered your group to the four winds. Do your kinfolk still wait for you somewhere? Are you motivated by the dream of founding a rich holding of your own someday?
Skilled Artisan: Your clan resides in one of the city-states, where its members are respected as expert artisans or engineers. Perhaps you left the clan after striking back against the oppression of the templars or nobles, or maybe you discovered that you had no passion for the work and left to find your fortune elsewhere. What trade do your kin follow—are they armorers, stonemasons, or well diggers? Are they free or slave, poor or well off? Why did you leave?