Editing Alia:Peoples (section)

==Dwarves==

For racial traits of dwarves see [[Alia:Player Races#Dwarves|Dwarves]].

Mountain Dwarves may purchase magical items from their families at cost. 
(50% of book price), but may need to wait for completion and delivery 
or may need to travel home to receive the goods.

===Mountain Dwarves (Scattered and of Cragmore)===

Dwarves are known for their lost empire of Krondheim in the mountains to the west.
Their downfall to the might of the giants casts a shadow over all of
them.  The dwarves greatest desire as a people is to re-capture their
lost days of glory.  Most wish to fight back and recapture their
ancient home.  Many realise that the dwarves may need centuries to
regain the might required to accomplish such a task.  Dwarf women are
very uncommon outside their communities.  It is seen as their solemn
duty to bear as many children as they can, while the men fight to
carve a kingdom for themselves.

Dwarven men do not marry until they have proven themselves worthy.
After recovering a great lost dwarven treasure or fighting and killing
many giants, a dwarf will retire as a respected hero, take the title
of thane, marry several young dwarf women, sire as many children as he
can and start his own clan-like family. About 1 in 3 Dwarf men reach
retirement, and about half of those are awarded the title Thane by the
council of Thanes.  Typically a Thane is a 10th to 15th level
character, usually at least partly a fighter.  Dwarves who retire and
do not become Thanes are called Keepers are usually 5th to 9th level
fighters and are greatly respected.  Keepers guard Dwarven communities
and see it as their duty to serve the Dwarven race by protecting the
lives of their Thane and his children.

Dwarf women usually live cloistered lives.  Leaving the dwarven
community once to travel from their home, to the home of the Thane
they are to marry and otherwise remain in the safety of their Thane's
halls.  All Dwarven women train in battle, gain 250xp per year of
their adult life.  Often they train as clerics of Umos.
 
Dwarf women are supportive of these social changes even though this was
not the way of the old Dwarves.  There are a few who refuse to live a
cloistered life.  Also, some who have proven to be infertile and have
joined with the men in their quest.  One famous rebel, who left to
fight giants in the west, is the venerable "Thane" Griselda, who is
responsible for the deaths of more than twenty giants, and who lives
in a manor in Nolton with three aging Dwarven Keeper husbands.  She
bore 10 children in her childbearing years (more than average), two of
whom have are well on their way of becoming Thanes in their own right.
Although it is a break from their new tradition, most Dwarves
grudgingly respect Griselda for her abilities and her accomplishments.

Cragmore is the largest dwarven community, and is located some 200
miles north of Nolton, and is home to 500 Thanes, 2000 Keepers and a
population of about 25000 (and about 5000 Dwarf adventurers who call
it home).  Many smaller Dwarven communites are scattered throughout
the northern empire, most are Clan-homes (Thanes and Keepers from the
same family) with typically at least 100 dwarves in residence: 
3 Thanes (10-14), 9 Keepers (6-9), 30 Wives (5 level 1, 10 level 2, 10
level 3, 5 level 4), 60 children/young adults, non-combatant).  A
typical Thane has at least 10 wives, each having several children).  

A community such as this would support 20-30 adventuring
dwarves with same level distribution as the wives.  
Typical activities in a clanhome include crafting of armor, weapons, and magic items for adventuring children.  (Many Thanes and
Keepers take up the mantle of Master Crafter after retirement.)
Some agriculture and herding is done in dwarven communities, but the primary occupation is production of trade goods.

====Dwarven Population Breakdown====

 1%  Thanes
 4%  Keepers
 15% Clanwives 
 20% Children
 15% Unmarried Women
 15% Married Women (elsewhere)
 30% Unmarried Men

A typical residence will have 1 thane, 4 keepers, 15 wives, 10 boys, 10 girls, 15 unmarried women.  It will support around 25 adventuring men, and will have about 15 married daughters who have joined other clans.

This distribution is an average.  New clans will be smaller and will consist of only the thanes, keepers and clanwives and children.  Clans that have been established carry on after the death of their Thane, with the wives re-marrying a newly annointed Thane.

About one in three Male Dwarves survive to retirement.  One in five of those become Thanes.  

Thanes, Keepers, Clanwives, Unmarried Men, and about half of Unmarried Women are considered to be combatants, or about half of the overall population and about a third of a clanhome.

===Dwarves of the Depths===

Many thousands of Dwarves have been enslaved by the southern empire,
where they live at their slave-masters bidding.  When the southern
human empire captured their mountain home, Silverpeak 60 years ago,
Dwarves swore vengeance on them.  Many fled to the north, joining with
their brethren in Cragmore, who welcomed them.  Even in the north,
Dwarves have little trust for humans.  Others have decided to make
their way down into the depths and have become Deep Dwarves.

Deep Dwarves are insolar and have abandoned their racial quest to
recapture their lost halls in favour of starting anew in the depths of
the earth.  They tend to hate humans, and distrust surface dwellers of
all kinds.  They have no quarrel with Dwarves who have remained on the
surface but have no desire to return.  Deep Dwarves do not have many
wives like the dwarves of the surface, but have returned to their more
traditional ways.  They do not send out their sons to prove
themselves, but rather, all fight side by side protecting the family.