Dwarves



The dwarves of Avas dwell not only in cities carved from the mountains and deep below the earth, but also within the great cities of humanity. They are skilled artisans and stoneworkers, but also shrewd merchants and bankers. Traditional dwarven religion emphasizes the accumulation of personal wealth by whatever means a dwarf is best suited to, be it craftsmanship, mercantile pursuits, or the art of warfare.

Physical Description
Dwarves are short and heavily-built, standing on average between 4 and 4½ feet tall, but weighing close to 200 lbs.

Dwarves take great pride in their hair, decorating it with intricate braiding and all manner of accouterments. Male dwarves grow beards throughout their lifetime, adding braids, rings, and clasps that signify their status and accomplishments. The rare female who is able to grow a full beard, called a helgryt (lit. Daughter of the Gods), is a revered figure in dwarven culture, considered to be blessed by the gods, and having a helgryt ancestor is a point of pride for any dwarf.

When a dwarf has dishonored themselves past any hope for redemption, they perform a ritual known as kasraugh (lit. to seek death), ritually shaving their hair and beard before setting out alone to seek death in battle. The dwarf, called a dorcarach (lit. red slayer), is required to dye their regrown hair bright orange and shave their head into a distinctive mohawk. As they must relentlessly seek out more and more powerful opponents in their attempt to die with honor, slayer with a tall mohawk and long beard is a skilled and deadly opponent.

Personality
Dwarves have a reputation for being dour, humorless, and greedy, but in truth dwarves are simply slow to trust strangers, and often take a few decades to warm up to new people. However, to those few that have earned a dwarf's trust, they are unfailingly kind, generous, and loyal.

Dwarves value gold, gems, jewelry, and art, and most spend their lives amassing as much material wealth as possible, at least partially due to religious beliefs. Those same beliefs instill a strong sense of pride in their work, whether as a craftsman, merchant, or warrior.

A strong sense of justice, combined with a suspicious mind and a long memory, leads many dwarves to hold grudges for decades or even centuries. A common saying among non-dwarves is "If I'm lying, may I cross a dwarf."

Society
Dwarf culture is characterized by a love of stonework, passion for stone- and metal-based craftsmanship and architecture, a strong work ethic, and their fierce hatred of giants, orcs, and goblinoids.

Due to the inherent danger of life lived underground, dwarves are particularly literal-minded, and those who have not spent much time among people of other races are often flummoxed by the use of idioms and metaphors. This tendency towards speaking bluntly has resulted in many considering dwarves to be coarse and disagreeable, as they rarely sugar-coat their words.

Relations
Dwarves and orcs have long dwelt in proximity to one another, and share a fractious history. As a result, dwarves generally distrust and shun orcs. They find elves to be too frail and "pretty" to be worthy of proper respect, and the tengu's reputation for thievery and roguish behavior means many dwarves avoid them as much as possible. Dwarves respect humanity's industrious nature, though their relative impulsiveness can be trying for the orderly dwarven sensibilities.

Racial Lands
Dwarven clanholds, multi-layered city-states buried deep below the earth, are found throughout the mountains of Avas, the highest concentration being in the Wyrmspine mountain range that stretches across the western half of the continent. However, many dwarves live outside of the clanholds, with most human cities featuring sizable dwarven populations.

Alignment and Religion
The race's typical alignment and religious beliefs are covered in this section.

Language
If the race has its own language, it is described in this section. The languages most often spoken by the race are listed here as well.

Names
Lists of names, separated by gender, are presented in this section.

Male Names: Name, Name, Name.

Female Names: Name, Name, Name.

Family Names: Name, Name, Name.