Dwarf Race Packet
“Valor forged. Virtue honed. Creating the tools to build a better world.”
Dwarves have explored the very edges of Fortannis. They take the finest materials and the rarest knowledge and seek to craft the greatest society. Dwarves pride themselves on the quality of life they seek to build for themselves. They craft the finest weapons, cut the finest gems and stones, weave the finest cloth, and brew the finest ale. No Dwarf would ever admit the beaty of an item crafted by a member of another race exceeds that which a Dwarf could create. Their dedication to searching for new resources borders on obsessive, and their extraction of those resources borders on callous. Dwarves believe that the virtue and honor of an individual can be built like a fortress, yet few remark on their deep-seated flaws leaving cracks in the walls.
Make Up, Prosthetics, and Roleplay
All Dwarves must wear a full or partial beard, either as a prosthetic that is attached to the skin or worn with straps. A player that has a full or partial beard that can be braided may do so instead of wearing a fake beard. Shape and style are up to the player but it must be recognizable as a fake or braided beard from roleplay distance.
Racial Benefits
Dwarves may purchase Smithing at reduced cost. The urge to create with stone and steel is a fundamental part of the Dwarven spirit. Combined with a pride for well-made objects and materials, this leads many a dwarf to craft weapons and armor for themselves and adventurers alike. A Dwarf in their forge is a sight to behold.
Dwarves may purchase the Resist Element and Resist Poison skills, and may purchase the Hardy skill at reduced cost. Countless generations of exploration and mining have left an impression on the Dwarven spirit. Even less traveled Dwarves find it easy to train their bodies for harsh conditions and treacherous environments. It also does not hurt that Dwarven resilience can be trained, in part, from being so close to places of forging and manufacturing.
Racial Drawbacks
While Dwarves do not suffer a specific mechanical drawback, there is a consistent cultural expectation for Dwarves to actively defend their family and clan’s honor and well-being. Criticizing a dwarf’s craftsmanship is held in the same regard as questioning a dwarf’s honor. These questions will result in choice words at best and an entire clan’s retribution at worst.
Lifespan and Family
Dwarves live for centuries, with most living to nearly five hundred years, much longer lived than humans and the like, but lacking the millennia of the elves and Biata. Adulthood comes slowly for dwarves, as decades are spent in adolescence. Full adulthood in Dwarven society is often granted with rites of passage rather than merely the milestones of age alone. Predominant ideology within Dwarven society believes those able to scale mountains or forge mighty weapons are considered adult enough by dwarven standards to uphold their own honor. Regardless, adulthood is celebrated with presentations and celebrations of an individual’s personal, family, and guild history, going as far back as any can remember.
In addition to families, dwarves will often organize into larger structures made to serve a common goal or suited for a common craft, called a guild. These guilds are considered extensions of a Dwarf’s family. Dwarves may also form chosen families within these guilds, and so it is not uncommon for a single dwarf to have multiple guild and family relationships. Dwarves find partnership for both romantic and practical purposes, and are not strictly limited to those within Dwarven society.
A Dwarf’s bond or partnership is permanent. To revoke or abandon one’s friendship or promise is considered a great stain on a Dwarf’s pride and honor. Divorce or desertion of one’s guild is a process that is as long and arduous as creating a master craft, and can often leave those involved mired in a storm of emotions that can lead to families or even guilds remaining at odds for generations beyond.
Nature is a Resource
Dwarves view nature as an obstacle to overcome or a resource to mine, rather than something to preserve or be maintained. Metal is to be mined. Stone is to be quarried. Trees are to be felled. To the Dwarven mind, it is more practical to find new mountains and forests to harvest than to plant new trees or to conserve what remains of an old forest when there are no more usable resources to extract. This puts Dwarves at odds with other races and societies who have adapted to subsisting on the renewable bounties of nature.
An Ancient Hatred
Dwarves are often first to call for violence against the unknown. They are often the first to encounter monsters as they plumb the depths and far reaches of Fortannis. Trolls, Goblins, Kobolds, and Lizardfolk have all encountered Dwarven steel at one time or another, and this violent exchange has left a scar on both sides. Perhaps in all that time forging hammers, Dwarves have begun to see those in their way as nothing but nails.
The Foundations of Fortannis
The foundation elementals of Stone, Lightning, Ice, and Flame are the raw supernatural components of Fortannis given physical form. Some Dwarves have an admiration for these creatures, as they manipulate and alter the very land around them with ease. If Dwarves could harness elementals like they harness nature, they would have a powerful tool indeed, but one must be cautious when trying to tame living lightning and sentient flame. While they admire the raw natural force and potential of the Foundation elementals, Dwarves as a whole know that there is an inherent danger behind the allure of elemental power; in short, “one cannot simply reason with a mountain.
