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Dwarves of Beru

by admin published Jun 02, 2015 01:38 AM, last modified Jun 02, 2015 01:38 AM
by Hawke — last modified Jan 28, 2015 01:35 PM — Found in all lands to greater and lesser degrees, and in various forms, Dwarves are generally rugged wherever they may be, whether noble or shady.

Northron Lands

The dwarves of the far north lands are more solitary. They are tough and rugged as Mountain Dwarves, but often corrupted by greed and the long nights of the far north. They constantly crave gold and golden treasure, enjoying lighting up great areas with gold, some would argue to make up for not seeing the sun during the long darkness of the winter months.
They are sneakier than many other dwarves (though not quite as much as the dwarrow), and think of themselves as very cunning. Some have passed a genetic trait that leads them to become hunchbacked in their middle years. This is considered a sign of prestige since they believe it proof they are kin to Mime.
All the alignments are seen in their kind, but the dominant alignments are generally Chaotic Neutral to Chaotic Evil. They are rarely ever lawful, and mostly interested in their own goals. They can be unified in times of great need though, but usually requiring the constant exertion of will from a very strong personality and physical presence of a dominant leader to do so.
The most famous of these Northon dwarves is Mime, though hunchbacked, he is revered as one of the sneakiest, most cunning of their kind and a master smith of anywhere from weapons and armor to as small as golden rings.
They generally follow the same pantheon as many of the other races/cultures in these ice-bound northern lands, generally the Norse and similarly related (Finnish, etc.).
Many suspect that the Northron Dwarves are cousins to the Dwarrow, though calling any Dwarf a Dwarrow (except a Dwarrow) is significantly offensive and likely "fightin' words".

Oriental Lands

In their own lands they are often referred to as Korobokuru,
Short of stature, agile, and skilled at fishing.
Some lands revere them, and make offerings, and the Korobokuru reward those folk in return, while other lands fear and loathe them and drive them away whenever they can.
Shorter and more slender than other Dwarves, but larger than halflings and more muscular.

Sapientium Lands

The Sapientium dwarves are Hill dwarf cousins of the Dragonspine Dwarves.
While elves are very much feared and mistrusted by the lower humans of Sapientium, Dwarves are not feared, but are mistrusted. Legends have mixed the Northron kin with the more civilized and trustworthy clans of the Sapientium lands.
Calling themselves the Kh'arth, they form small surface and slightly subterraneum villages. Not the mighty cities of the Dragonspine Mountain Dwarves, the Kh'arth are considered "quaint" in comparison.
The Kh'arth are hearty, trustworthy, loyal, swift to laughter and slow to anger.
The Royal Court of Regnum Sapientium has positive relations with both the Kh'arth and the Dragonspine Mountains, so the folk in Camelot are used to seeing dwarves in their city, while the country folk are much more wary.
The further from the capital, the more misgivings folks have about the Kh'arth, again mixing them with other dwarven folk that are of lesser repute.
They are adept traders and salesmen.
They often act as middlemen for their Dragonspine dwarven cousins.
The Kh'arth are excellent stoneworkers, but not as adept at metallurgy as the Dragonspine dwarves. Since the the Dragonspine dwarves do not like to travel, the Kh'arth often work deals to transport materials and payment in return between the other cultures and lands.
Better at making friends than war, most others should not be fooled into thinking they can not defend themselves, they are very adept warriors if necessary.

Dragonspine Mountains

Calling themselves the Drakh'har'ntath, these burly mountain dwarves are taller, stronger, grimmer, and broader than their hill kin the Kh'arth.
They are more guarded than the hill dwarves, more serious and less jovial. Slower to trust, but once a bond is developed can be loyal for life.
Somewhat xenophobic they build massive underground cities, avoiding the deeper underdarks of the followers of Lolth (and the underdark folk try hard to not be detected by the Drakh').
Rather than traveling to trade their goods, they rely heavily on their "lesser" kind the Kh'arth hill dwarves.
They are master stoneworkers and are famous for the quality of their metallurgy and smithing craft skills for weapons, armor, mechanical devices, and more.
The neighboring Wood Elves and the Drakh'har have an uneasy truce, staying out of each others lands, but with no love lost between them.
The High Elves once traded heavily with the Dragonspine Dwarves, but that has dwindled to a trickle in recent decades.

Aridia

The dwarves of the dry lands east of the Dragonspine Mountains are nomadic and travel in very small clans of only 20-50.
They travel during the night over the sands of the surface, and during the day use the multitude of tunnels deep underground.
They are darker skinned than their mountain brethren.
They are a very war-like culture, warring between other clans over water and land rights, and easily provoked into battle with other races/cultures.
They are more slender than the both the mountain and hill dwarves, but not are lithe as the Korobokuru.
They do not create much of their own, preferring to plunder the goods of others.
They were once part of a greater kingdom of the southeast, before the lands were destroyed by the great battle with the Drow changed the lands.
Due to this, they have a deeply seated hatred of the Drow and all their minions. If they find such dark folk, they usually break into a blind rage with only the singular purpose of slaying them.

Grecos

The dwarves of the isles of Grecos are olive-skinned like the trees that make their lands famous.
They are famous as some of the best wrestlers in any land.
With rich, black, curly, profuse hairy more than any of their kin. They originally came from the lands of another continent to the far west of the and northern cold lands, they prefer to stay in the highest (and coolest) elevations, building networks of tunnels and mines, but usually prepare to live on or near the surface.
The rest of the folk of Grecos respect and revere the Grecos Dwarves.
Much of the culture of this island is due to the nature of these dwarves, that had settled the lands before any of the other races.
They love to dance, drink, perform complex political theater pulling no punches in their attitudes toward political leaders, are boisterously loud when arguing (one of their favorite past times), but also a bit flighty in their relationships. They make friends easily, but they also are not especially loyal depending on their whims.
They believe in living life in the moment as richly as possible, and do not like to be "weighed down" with a great number of material belongings. They typically wear very light weight clothing and sweat profusely when in warmer areas, seeking waters to soak in to cool themselves whenever possible.
They are fair coastal and river shipwrights and sailors.

Dwarrow

Also known by their Dwarven kin as "Petty Dwarves", they are generally servitors of Lolth and the Drow, living deep in the underdeeps, scorned by all their kin. They can be found on any of the continents or greater island chains. Skulking, lurking, thieving, spying, and backstabbing.