Editing Category:Demi-Human Races (section)

=Dwarves=
1 in 10 of Flanaess’ civilized population is a Hill (70%) or a Mountain (30%) Dwarf.

=='''Physical Identification'''==
The Dwarven skeletal structure is blockish, and big boned in healthy specimens. Dwarves have short legs and slightly longer arms. Their arms hang from broad shoulders down to where their fingertips can touch their knees. They are stocky and walk erect, like thick little men. They are between 4' to 4'5" (122 - 137cm) in height and between 150 to 226lbs (68 - 103kg) in weight. They are surprisingly agile in movement but not graceful, tending to throw their weight when they walk rather than carry it. Their skulls are proportionately larger than a Human's and flat. Their eyes are spread far apart on either side of a large nose. They are square-jawed. A Dwarven mouth has larger teeth, all thick molars. 


'''Hill Dwarves’''' skin ranges in colour from red, when flaking on hands and face, to a healthy feldspar or silvery blue. Their dry skin is thick and leathery in texture, possibly as a result of living in the deep heat of the subterranean. '''Mountain Dwarves''' are less pale in comparison to their deeper dwelling cousins. Their tough skin tends to be tanner in colour, almost like deer hide.  


The hair of '''Hill Dwarves''' is coarse and ranges in colour from dark brown to crimson red. '''Mountain Dwarves’''' coarse hair is coloured lighter ranging from strawberry blonde to sandy brown.


To protect their skin from the boiling heat far below the earth’s crust, '''Hill Dwarves''' grow their hair and thick beards long and they grease and braid both their hair and their beards, sometimes into one braid design. This can create the illusion that both beard and hair are darker and grow together as one and the same.


The popular misconception that all Dwarven women grow beards is often due to an intricate beading of their long greased hair worn down the front and back. Another myth is that Dwarves, when shaved and naked, are indistinguishable from stone.  Wisely, no one living has attempted to prove either hypotheses.

=='''Music, Dress and Customs'''==

Dwarves enjoy percussive music with heavy resonating drumbeats mixed with the sounds of wind instruments such as shrill horns, brass trumpets, and bellowing tuba. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPcnJZYERhQ 


'''Hill Dwarves'''

Hill Dwarves prefer cotton with rugged leather outer garments such as long coats, belts, pouches, boots and backpacks. They prefer deep earth tone colours: dirt brown, stone grey, red earth, and marble yellow as well as royal blue and deep purple. The common weapon of a Hill Dwarf is a one-handed Warhammer slung over the shoulder or the two-handed, dual weapon, Dwarven Urgrosh – so large it can only be strapped across a Dwarven back. The Urgrosh is an excellent weapon against charging opponents. A heavy crossbow is a common ranged weapon. 


Outside of old-time Grasslanders who are responsible for Dwarven settlements above stone, Hill Dwarves tend to be more unfriendly towards outsiders and certainly more unwelcoming towards those who leave them alone (such as Elves). This reflects attitudes of Stoneholders who rarely leave their impressive subterranean cities and mines.  


'''Mountain Dwarves'''

Mountain Dwarves prefer outer garments made from skins indigenous to animals living in mountainous regions such as goat, big cats, and bear. Clans may pen goats and sheep for milk and wool, which they weave into thick, unfinished tunics, sweaters, trousers, leggings and backpacks. They tend to colour their fabrics very rarely as dye ingredients are traditionally a scarce commodity at higher altitudes. Clothing that has been coloured are prized possessions. Common weapons include the one-handed Dwarven Warhammer and the famous Dwarven War-Axe. Simple wooden stone-tipped spears are common ranged weapons.
 

Mountain Dwarves are friendlier towards people who venture into the mountains, often acting as guides. They enjoy the role of advisor to travellers. On rare occasion, and if the weather is unsuitable even for a Mountain Dwarf, outsiders may be invited into the upper city or the mines for shelter. Few, if any outsider, are ever invited into the city centre proper.

=='''Habitat'''==

Dwarven folk are mostly encountered in rocky, hilly terrain, though Mountain Dwarves are more often encountered at higher elevations. These are study and rugged folk who hold together in clans that are neither mutually exclusive nor hostile to one another but they are competitive. 


=='''Rite of Passage'''==

Upon reaching maturity, a Dwarf is required to undergo a Rite of Passage and live above ground for a period of time. This has led to the establishment of Dwarven settlements in atypical places, associated with the clans that send their youth topside, and the formation of countries within Flanaess' political framework. The Rite requires Dwarves to "gain an understanding of trees above their roots" by direct experience of the Grassworld. 


Grassworld settlements are typically youth-oriented but older Dwarves help run the settlements and form the core of its leadership.  


After completion of the Rite, the majority of Dwarves return underground. However, some few remain above stone to assist the settlements, seek political office above ground as official legates or simply seek their fortune as merchants, builders or adventurers.

=='''Celebrated Facts'''==

Dwarves are non-magical by their nature. Neither do they readily use magical spells nor are they easily susceptible to its power. 


Dwarves are known for their ability to see in total darkness (up to 60’) and they possess powerful upper body strength, particularly in their arms. Their physical strength and their tradition as a disciplined Spartan people, combine in Dwarven defenders making them formidable opponents in hand-to-hand combat, often encountered in highly defendable positions due to their slower movement. 


The cast iron quality of Dwarven stomachs is a widely reported tale of Dwarves. The race exhibits superior constitutions in handling both food and drink from the exotic to the deadly poisonous. 


They are world-renowned engineers, stonemasons and miners of legendary proportion, able to sense slope and depth underground as well as building detail in stonework. Their cities are one of the wonders of the Flanaess, built deep into Oerth's bedrock 1,000's of feet below the surface of the ground onto carefully surveyed subterranean terraces. Their dwellings and underground mines form layers of multi-levelled stepped terraces that are sinewed by roads cut into the towering rock, running deep into the earth, and often lit in a variety of colours by glowing florescent fungi.  


The predominant feature of Dwarven architecture is the use of Doric, Ionic and Corinthian fluted columns, both for decoration and for function. Columns and design indicate the status of a building for example. The practical designs of Dwarven dwellings tend to have stylish immovable furnishings, which are cut directly from the stone interior. Moveable furnishings are made from wrought iron or other metals easily mined from the deep such as brass, though it is possible to find furniture of highly polished wood made from the roots of dead trees in the homes of nobles and merchants. Despite the high status associated with wooden furnishings, Dwarves have never become adept wood at carving. Rarely will furnishings from the outside be seen underground. While the former articles created of wood enjoy a status from their novelty, their owners would revere these latter pieces.

=='''Game Mechanics'''==
Like all Demi-Human races, Dwarves are limited to their progress in classes where they have less affinity.  They may only progress to the 12th level as clerics or rogues, and to the 16th level as fighters. Rarely do Dwarves become legendary barbarians but in this class they have unlimited potential for progress. 


Dwarves continue to advance in Saving Throw Bonuses as if they had unlimited class level progression. Their ongoing Saving Throw bonus progression is based on their continued development of a superior constitution rather than due to any class advancement. 


Otherwise, the race is unchanged from official guidebook. 




===Naming Conventions===
Types of stone

Metal 

Iron working

brute strength


'''Typical Dwarven Names'''
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