Born within the core of the land, the Dwarven folk have naturally developed to be compact in shape yet tall in honor. They take great pride in their oaths, bonds, and certainly the reaps of the earth’s bounty. It is said the dwarven kind have almost explored every avenue of the earth beneath, taking pride in its cavernous gateways they’ve forged but do not assume them to be lackluster in the arcane arts; they are more than eager to imbue their armaments with its touch.
They are known for forging relics, sharing none of their coveted methods to craft the rarest of materials they’ve ripped out of the earth -- or even harvested with great care to defend land or to craft jewellery out of.
Their tongue is abrasive in nature, adorned with glyphs and runic letters that make up their intricate tongue and which they often embellish upon their creations too. If you were to come across a dwarven-make without a rune from their language, it is said to be considered a curse within the land.
Clan-bound, their first flocks stood from stone in the earliest years of Life’s emergence. Many of them thought, with time, that their origination was to defend the stone of Life and to ensure, as its ordained protectors, to ensure it is not harvested without reason. Though, the shine of a gem and thought of strong steel to strike against in a forge is a difficult dream to resist for a stone-born.
The First Realms
The dwarven families, in the earliest of ages, found themselves gathered in union to form the most formidable of fortresses in the land. The stone and earth welcomed them with respect, and to siege a mountain-hold was a task none dared to embark on. Their halls were tall and mighty, filled to the brim with various ore and material harvested from the depths of the caverns beneath, and drink was brewed within their containers from travels beyond the safety of the walls. Peace endured, for many years. However, a leader was naturally to be and with the years did the first King sit upon the dwarven throne: the Bronzebeard King. Fair-haired and stout, he was known to be the greatest smith of the land, able to forge even the most arduous of materials with a flick of his wrist. He would go on to rule, for many, many years.
Physical Traits
A dwarf with a goat helmet.Dwarves stand broad and compact, though no more or less than four to five feet tall. Their frames are naturally denser than usual with muscle, bone, and fat which makes them capable to take a blow or two and keep working. A dwarf would nearly weigh double that of a human, causing them to be quite hard to topple, drag, or even push akin to that of a goat.
Skin, Hair, and Beard
Depending on their origins, a dwarf can carry many different telltale signs. They can carry tones of the earth within their skintone: ash-gray, clay-red, sandstone, deep umber, or even pale like marble. Their hair is naturally quite thick and that shall spread across their skin quite rapidly too. Their beards are considered a matter of honor and respect, denoting their age and effort where many of them braid it with rings, runes, small beads of metal for marking taken oaths or renowned deeds.
Eyes
Dwarves' eyes are naturally deep-set and often will catch light with their ranges of amber, slate, garnet-brown or cold gray colors. They see equally well in dim light and can pick the grain of rock and glint of ore from the depths of darkness unlike other kin.
Endurance
They resist poison, sickness and the cold of the deep places better than most.
They age slowly, and many live for centuries. A dwarf of two hundred years may only now be called a master or considered an adult.
They can see in low light and sense unstable stone, shifting tunnels and hidden veins of metal.
Heavy-footed: Dwarves are poor swimmers and uneasy on open water.
Mental Traits
The dwarves usually considers an oath spoken once kept for life and breaking one brings great shame to one. They are slow to promise anything and certainly even slower to forgive a broken promise to avoid such a fate. Furthermore, to make something is to leave part of oneself in the world in their society. Dwarves are patient and exacting where they would rather spend a decade on a single masterwork in their name while being fiercely secretive about their methods with rare techniques only passing to trusted apprentices and kin of shared blood.
Their persistence is their greatest strength and equally their worst flaw. Once a dwarf has decided, an argument will rarely move them to change their mind and they hold grudges for generations. Dwarves see themselves as the ordained guardians of the stone of Life where they feel a deep duty to take only what is needed from the earth, yet greed for gems and gleaming steel may still tempt even the most devout of their kin.
Dwarves prefer practical enchantment and are not fearful of the arcane but binding power into runes, weapons, armor and jewelry is often more common than casting spells themselves. Behind the gruff exterior, dwarves are unexpectedly warm to those they trust. Long nights of ale and song are the heart of their halls, and a guest who has shared a drink under a dwarven roof is rarely forgotten and often made into a song for the tomes to remember.