Dwarves, sometimes called the Stout Folk and Deep Folk, were a natural humanoid race common throughout parts of Falanar. Dwarves were a tough, tradition-abiding folk known for their strong martial traditions and beautiful craftsmanship. The Dwarves of Falanar were, specifically, the first to discover and use gunpowder in any meaningful way and guard their secrets closely.
Description
Dwarves were a short race, as their name implied, standing from 4'3"–4'9" (1.3–1.45 meters) on average, with gold dwarves a bit shorter. What dwarves lacked in height they made up for in bulk; they were, on average, about as heavy as Humans. A dwarf could weigh anywhere from about 160–220 lbs (73–100 kg). Dwarven males were a bit taller and heavier than their female counterparts. Like humans, dwarves had a wide variety of skin, eye, and hair colors, typically pale among shield dwarves and deeply tanned or brown amongst gold dwarves. Hazel eyes were common throughout the race, with blue eyes more common amongst shield dwarves and brown or green eyes found amongst the gold dwarves.
Male dwarves were often bald and grew thick facial hair, which was sometimes used to display social status. Unusually for humanoids, both sexes naturally grew ample facial hair, though the majority of shield dwarf females shaved their beards off. This hair was often dark in hue, though among shield dwarves blond or red hair was just as common. Gold dwarves took the care of facial hair to an extreme, carefully oiling and grooming it, with some adding perfume and ornamentation.
Dwarves were a long-lived race, though not so much as elves, and reached physical maturity somewhat later than humans. A dwarf was traditionally considered an adult once he or she reached age fifty. Dwarves aged much like humans but over a longer period of time, remaining vigorous well past 150 years. Most dwarves lived to see their bicentennial and a few lived to be over 400. A dwarf was considered to be young until they reached the age of 50.
Personality
Whether or not the dwarven claim that they'd been carved from the world's stone was true, dwarves shared many qualities considered similar to the stone they lived with. Strong, hardy, and dependable, dwarves were polite, particularly to elders, and possessed a wisdom beyond that of many other races. Dwarves valued their traditions, regardless of the subrace they came from, and looked for inspiration from ancestral heroes. Dwarves were also known for their stubborn nature and cynicism, traits widespread amongst the dwarves but which contributed to and were commonly offset by their bravery and tenacity.
Dwarven friendship was hard to earn, but was strong once won. Naturally dour and suspicious, the stout folk were slow to trust others, specifically those outside their family, suspecting the worst of an individual until the outsider had proved their good will many times. Once this trust was gained, dwarves held their friends to it and viewed betrayals, even minor ones, with a vicious propensity for vengeance. A common gnomish oath, remarking on this dwarven sense of justice, was "If I'm lying, may I cross a dwarf."
For dwarves, loyalty was more than a word and they felt that it should be both valued and rewarded. Dwarves believed it a gift and mark of respect to stand beside a friend in combat, and an even deeper one to protect that ally from harm. Many dwarven tales subsequently revolved around the sacrifice of dwarves for their friends and family. Just as dwarves were known for their dependability as friends and allies, dwarves also harbored grudges far longer than many other races. This might be on an individual basis between a dwarf and one who had wronged them, or against entire races, even if warfare with the enemy had long since ceased.
Dwarves were careful and deliberate, with a more serious disposition than other races, who they sometimes viewed as flighty or reckless. A dwarf did all things with care and a stubborn resolve, with brash or cowardly behavior unusual for them. However, dwarves did succumb easily to wrath or greed, which were their most common vices.
Dwarves who left their homeland to become adventurers did so for a number of reasons. In part, a dwarf might be motivated by simple avarice, given the dwarven love of beautiful things. As often, however, a dwarf might be motivated by a drive to do what was right for others (particularly their clan) or a love of excitement because, as settled as dwarves were, they rarely tired of thrills. But even these wayward dwarves retained the spirit of their brethren, hoping that their accomplishments abroad could bring honor to themselves, their clan, or both. Given that successful dwarven adventurers were likely to recover rare items or defeat enemies of the dwarven people during such challenges, this was a hope not entirely without merit.Abilities
Dwarves were unusually tough for humanoids, in more ways than one. Dwarven stomachs, for instance, were resistant to virtually all poisons and it took less effort for a dwarf to get back on their feet than other races. Dwarves also had dense bodies and were difficult to push around as a result, as well as having the capacity to bear loads that other races might find hindering with little ill effect. Dwarves also had a sense about them that few races did, with a preternatural awareness of their surroundings useful for a subterranean race as well as good judgment all-around in general.
Many dwarves were difficult to like and lacked the charm of many other smaller races, such as halflings or gnomes, though this was not a trait common to all dwarves and some possessed a great deal of charismatic power. Furthermore, dwarves were not entirely unsocial and more than a few had a natural knack for bartering or judging the value of an offer, something that sat well with their legendary crafting abilities.
Dwarves could see in the dark, out to about 60 feet (18 meters).
Many dwarves had an affinity for the caverns in which they lived,
possessing a knack for recognizing unusual patterns in stonework that
could seem almost supernatural at times.
A trait unique to Falanar Dwarves was their measured knowledge of siegecraft and engineering, a dedication usually found in gnomes. Falanar Dwarves spent centuries advancing the art and technology behind many of the most common siege weapons found on the continent today, and for each technique or weapon passed on to the other races they had three more kept closely guarded in secret.
Relations
Dwarves highly valued the ties between family members and friends, weaving tightly knit clans. Dwarves particularly respected elders, from whom they expected sound leadership and the wisdom of experience, as well as ancestral heroes or clan founders. This idea carried on to relations with other races and dwarves were deferential even to the elders of another, non-dwarven race.
Most dwarven societies were divided into clans built along family ties and political allegiances. These clans were usually led by hereditary rulers, often monarchs of a sort and descended from the founder of the clan. Dwarves strongly valued loyalty to these rulers and to the clan as a whole and even objective dwarves tended to side primarily with their kin over other races or communities.Most dwarven clans focused on one or two kinds of crafting, such as blacksmithing, jewelry, engineering, or masonry. Dwarves strove to avoid overspecialization by sending some of their youths to other clans to serve as apprentices, which also helped to foster racial unity. Because of their longevity, these apprenticeships might last decades.
AlliesDwarves and gnomes had a long history of pleasant relations, seeing each other mutually as family, however distant they may be. One dwarven myth proposed that the gnomes were simply, at one time, dwarves that a long-lost dwarven deity of magic known as "Garal" had taken and turned those who were devoted to him into gnomes. Dwarves tended to hold common outlooks in strong regard, looking upon gnomish culture with affectionate bemusement whereas gnomes tended to see dwarves as having a grounded understanding of greater truths that they themselves lacked. However, long term contact between the two tended to cause unrest and irritation, as the gnomes envied the dwarves but were wholly unwilling to stick to their lifestyle. The dwarfholds of Falanar were always open to the gnomes, but few dwarves held comfort long enough with the gnomes to stay long in their settlements.Not unlike the gnomes, dwarves tended towards a fondness for halflings comparable to an older sibling's concern for a younger, awkward, skittish sibling. Dwarves prized the halfling talent for fitting in and lending a hand, ever making themselves useful and accepted in unfamiliar places; while halflings admired the strong familial ties and stout industrious nature of the dwarves. However, dwarves were typically provincial and planed in contrast to the more adventurous and nomadic halflings. Halflings who shirked martial prowess tended to view dwarves as too war-like, and in turn some dwarves took their disinterest for inability which could prove patronizing, yet halflings were quick to quietly dismiss the overbearing attitude as part of the dwarvish nature. Dwarves remained pleased with the relations besides vague concern and diplomatic offers of military aid.
Perhaps more than the other races, humans had a capability for dwarven behavior beyond others, readily absorbing the virtues and valuing them almost equally. They looked up to honor, conviction, and traidtion that dwarves held, and also kept the familial values central to who they were. They admired dwarven martial skill and affinity for building, going as far as to model many of their cities after the dwarves, a point of no small amount of pride and joy for the dwarves themselves. However, humans were almost too morally and ethically flexible that they could come off elf-like to the dwarves, seeming flightly to their slow-paced ways. What all human nations seemed to share was a short memory, and their adaptability was countered by cultural inconsistency which dwarves found almost lacking. Still, the hidden potential of humans was never given up on by the dwarves, even in the darkest of hours.
Dwarves and elves got along poorly to say the least. Their relations tended to be infamously volatile, and their vastly disparate perspectives on world and society as a whole resulted in countless misunderstandings and feuds. Falanar dwarves were not above subjugating the individual in favor of the group, and while that worked for the dwarves, it did not tend to work for the elves and often made it hard for the two to agree on specific plans. Dwarves were both frustrated and mused by their apparent flightiness, lack of focus on family, and irresponsibility of a race that, given their long lives and tendency towards magic, should be most responsible of all. The emotional elves tended to see the reserved and stoic dwarves as too dour and foolishly fialing to express their opinions. Despite this, however, the relationship of both races tended to be that of squabbling siblings, and when an outside force threatened either, the other would jump to their defense despite the threats, insults, and shouting. It is said, originally, that the ancient dwarves learned to forge starlight itself with the helps of the elves, this became known as mithril, and is used widely in modern Falanar.
As competitors for underground resources, dwarves and kobolds frequently fought over subterranean claims. The anti-social sentiments and persecution complex of the kobolds made diplomacy difficult, and while the two didn't always attack each other, neither side needed much provocation to start fighting. Not helping their relations was how dwarves frequently allied with or fought for gnomes against kobold tribes. However, if the two ended up working together due to circumstance, they could discover a common work ethic able to form the foundation of respectful friendships.
There was, however, one despised and hated breed for which there was no love lost, no shared fondness, no kindred spirits. The orcs, greenskined raiders were despised by dwarves across Falanar, an abhorrent disease on the land that needed to be expunged at every opportunity. Dwarves viewed the orcs as savage warmongers with no honour, no loyalty, and no real traditions or culture to speak of, which spat in the face of everything they stood for. An opposed force in every sense of the word, dwarves did not permit orcs or their ilk to stain dwarven lands. Orcs were the primary motivation for dwarven weapon crafting to begin with, the stout folk needing more and more ways to cull the growing tide of orcs and goblins. The orcs, in turn, viewed the dwarfholds and cities to be pre-made for them to inhabit, seeing them as challenges to be conquered and prizes to be won. Many a life was lost on either side of their unending conflicts, and many a new tool had been created to rout the barbaric menaces.
The dwarven hatred for orcs extended to the goblins as well, as they shared enough of the same undesirable traits and warring tendencies, but with the added cowardly streak that dishonoured not only the goblins, but left a stain on the dwarves who had to drive them out.
History
Like many races, the exact origins of the dwarves were lost in myth and legend. While many non-dwarven scholars believed that dwarves were not native to Abeir-Toril or its successor worlds, most dwarves believed that their ancestors came from the heart of the planet itself, given life by Mordain after being made by the All-Father's hammer in the Soulforge. These legends held that the dwarves fought their way to the surface world, overcoming the dangers they faced below through strength of arms and skill.
The first known dwarven settlements on Falanar originated from the southern mountains below Mount Ash These dwarves settled beneath the sprawling mountain range, and built in all directions beneath it. The mountains offered them endless space and bountiful resources. These dwarves squabbled and pushed back against one another as time went on, but eventually unified under one Clan Nornvar, which brought about the most profitable and industrious age the dwarves had ever known. Those who did not join the clan migrated north and into the northern underdark, becoming the underdwarves, in league with the drow of the area as well, or the Akarn-dwelling gold dwarves who have not been heard from in many years.it was there that the dwarves of Clan Nornvar prospered for centuries but gradually began to endure schisms, fractures, and tragedies which slowly drove the dwarven clans apart. The worst of these schisms was the assassination of the last King of Nornvar, Barriz-Dur, who had succumbed to madness in the 38th century of the clan's existence. It was from there that the great divide of clans began, causing the one massive clan to break off into dozens upon dozens of smaller clans, and migrate out from the southern mountains to the rest of Falanar.
Many years after that, only three prominent dwarven clans remain to this day. The Bronze Keep holding the ever-expanding and greedy Bronzeknob clan, the underdwarves to the north who still ally with the drow, and the Gold Dwarves of Akarn, resurfaced after the many tragedies that have befallen the land.