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Language
Name
Gadroku
Epithets
Most players will call the Gadroku “dwarves,” though more RP-oriented players may call them by their indigenous name, Gadroku. The giants of Adu also refer to them interchangeably as Gadroku or dwarves, depending on if they are speaking formally (Gadroku), or informally (dwarves). It is considered impolite among dwarves for outsiders to refer to them as dwarves unless that outsider is on close personal terms with them.
Gadroku is the sort of term that has no depreciating quality. It is not possible to call a dwarf a “Gadroku” and not do him honor. All ceremony, all awards, and all manners of respect use the term Gadroku. Dwarf, however, is alternatively a term of endearment among those who are close, or a term of great insult if said in a disparaging way, or a stranger or an enemy.
Spoken Language
Dwarves speak the Droku language. The languages of the dwarves and the giants are very similar, and share a similar root language. When the two groups separated, the giants going up, and the dwarves going underground, their languages changed subtly.
They still understand each other pretty well because of the common origin to their languages. Though Droku is a derivative of the original Aduan language, it is still its own distinct language. If an individual can communicate with giants, that same individual will be able to follow a conversation in Droku on a basic level, and miss mostly different inflections and conjugations and region-specific words. The relationship here is as if Latin were the original Aduan language, and the language of the dwarves and giants were Spanish and Italian.
The original Aduan language has long since died away. Scholars of both races still retain manuscripts in the mother language, though no one uses it anymore for anything but linguistic scholarship.
Written Language
Both giants and dwarves are impeccable record keepers. The colder temperatures of Adu have preserved even their most ancient writings. Not all individuals read and write, but literacy is available to any individual who wishes to learn.
Among dwarves, families are large and sprawling, and great care is taken to trace one’s bloodline through all family relations. Usually, among each family, one member is given to the scribes for training, to continue to record that family’s history, births, deaths, announcements, honors, etc. It is considered a great honor to be chosen as the family scribe, and an elderly and aging scribe often trains several apprentices among younger family members, but then selects only one to follow in their footsteps when they pass away or are too feeble to read or write.
Non-selected scribes-to-be go on to do various jobs within their families. They can either help copy manuscripts (rather than doing original writing and record keeping), or they might go with family traders to other towns, to keep accounts of transactions to bring home. They may also be posted at other towns and cities where the family has interests, to be the correspondence person for those areas.
Every family warren inside their mountain homes has at least one library, with records of every generation of that family all the way back to the Religious Wars that separated the original island race.
The written language of the dwarves is phonetic.
Foreign Languages
Dwarves and giants can understand each others’ languages for the most part, but not all dwarves speak common. The dwarves value education, however, and any dwarf wishing to learn common tongue can learn it. Usually, common tongue is learned by dwarves preparing to leave their mountain homes for one reason or another.
Highly educated dwarves, dwarves that study linguistics, or dwarves with a mental aptitude, can learn other languages as well, though a dwarf never looses the guttural, harsh accent that seems to pervade all their spoken interactions.
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Appearance
Physical Appearance
Dwarves are generally shorter and stockier than humans. Females rarely grow over 4 feet tall, and males generally do not grow much taller. They have great strength, which is evident by their wide chests and muscular arms and legs. Dwarves have large, rounded ears, and excellent hearing, which allows them to navigate their dark, subterranean homes with more than just eyesight. The earlobes are also large, rather fatty, and are often decorated or adorned with big, sometimes elaborate earrings of precious metals and gems. Dwarves have broad faces, wide noses, small almond shaped eyes with heavy eyelids, and strong brows.
Dwarves tend towards very neutral colors. Their skin tone ranges from pale white, through all shades of gray, and even black. Their hair color reflects the same tones, and their eyes are very pale neutral colors — silvers, grays, icy grayish blue, and light grayish green. Hair is very important to dwarves, and females spend long hours coiling their hair up into elaborate weaves, often threading beads or bells into the strands. Male dwarves crop their hair short, or wear it bound close to their heads. Female dwarves do not grow facial hair. Males do grow facial hair, but it is rather sparse and silky… more along the lines of a fu-manchu or goatee than a full, bushy beard.
Environmental Adaptation
Most of it the dwarves’ physical appearance is due to environmental adaptation. When dwarves went underground, their bodies eventually grew shorter in stature, as shorter individuals were able to move more freely, and more quickly, through low tunnels, away from dangers or predators.
There are several theories about their coloring. One theory, commonly held by non-Aduans, is that the dwarves evolved into neutral tones because it helped them blend into their rocky environment better, and thus enabled them to escape detection by predators or enemies.
The dwarves themselves hold the belief that their coloration is directly influenced by the mineral content in their blood. For example, dwarves with an abundance of calcite, rhodium, silver, and tin in their blood tend towards pale gray and white skin. Those with an abundance of nickel and chromium might have green eyes. Traces of vanadium dioxide, titanium, cobalt, or copper might cause their eyes to have a blue tint. Natural radiation inherent in certain minerals, such as pitchblende, deep in the mountain is said to cause the black coloration of skin tone in some dwarves. The blood-mineral content of an individual is set at birth, 75% being family heredity, and 25% being the minerals the mother was exposed to while gestating.
No one really knows the true reason behind the range in coloration among dwarves, which is why non-Aduans still think it is a camouflage feature. Most likely it is a matter of pride for dwarves to believe their theory, which makes them “of” the mountain, a part of the mountain, and means that the mountain is in their blood. This is not so much a superstition as a racial belief.
Dwarves have developed night vision that helps them see in dark, subterranean tunnels. They still rely on light to see as all other races do, but their ability to discern things in very little light is considerable. They also have large, rounded ears that help channel sounds more efficiently. Dwarves are also well adapted for the harsh Aduan climate, and are able to bear the high altitudes and thinner air almost as well as giants. Like their giant cousins, dwarves have a subcutaneous fatty layer that insulates them from the extremely cold temperatures found in their homeland. Dwarves tend to feel most secure in confined spaces, and are more prone to nervousness or fear in wide-open spaces.
Lifespan
Dwarves live to 150 years of age.
Home Environment
Dwarves live in a world of stone and perpetual night. They build their roads and cities deep in the mountain interiors, and have carved incredible realms out of stone and rock. Not all dwarven areas are close or cramped. Some subterranean chambers are so vast that it can take hours of travel to go from one end to another. Because of the shadows, most ceilings cannot be seen, but the dwarves use their canny stonework to create an illusion of the night sky. They set up torches to reflect off of quartz imbedded in the chamber ceilings, and over the most ancient cities, arrange the quartz to mimic the constellations of the actual night sky.
Dwarves use natural oil and gas deposits found deep in the earth to illuminate their cities, as wood is considered relatively rare and valuable.
Views on Nature
Dwarves revere all things as “gifts” of the mountains, including the stone, crystals, minerals, gemstones, oil and gas deposits, rock fungi, mosses, lichens, etc. If it comes from the mountain, earth or rock, it is part of their ideology. If it is not a “gift of the mountain,” then it is not part of the dwarven realm, and though dwarves will not go out of their way to abuse the surroundings of another culture, they will not necessarily know how to appreciate it entirely.
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Home Life
Dwellings
Dwarves live in extensive cities deep within the mountains. These cities and communities are built in natural caverns, as well as in caves, tunnels and buildings dug out by skilled hands. The caverns range in sizes and styles, from small complexes of several caves opening into a main room, to vast caverns up to a mile long and many hundreds of feet high. Homes themselves can be caves, or buildings constructed of stone edifices and blocks. Dwarves have the most amazing skill working with stones of any peoples, and some of their buildings and homes are practically unbelievable in their complexity and beauty.
For instance, in the most ancient city, the cavern is riddled with polished quartz imbedded in patterns across the ceiling, which sparkle like twinkling starlight in the flickering light of the dwarven lamps and cavern lights. Dwarves use natural gas and oil to illuminate stone lamps carved into the cavern walls, and many homes have gas channeled directly into lamps carved inside their homes. Different chemicals found in the rock and earth can cause the flames to burn in different colors, and the dwarves find great delight in changing the color of the flames in accordance with their festivals and holy days.
Despite the abundance of flames, fires are rare due to the incombustibility of stone. Explosions, however, have been known to happen, when gas pipes get blocked up and exposed to a single spark or source of flame. Boom! There is a myth of a city reduced entirely to rubble when an earthquake diverted gas channels in town, and a member of the populace struck flint to stone in order to bring light to see by… the rest is infamy.
Dwarves find great pleasure in beauty, and will work ceaselessly to make their homes more spectacular than their neighbor’s.
Family Homes
Dwarves generally house all members of their family within their huge, sprawling homes. Granted, there are exceptions, but dwarves identify very closely with their families, and often live in family homes for their entire life. Some of the wealthier families have more than one home, building houses in other cities or towns where they have financial or historical interests.
When dwarves marry, the couple lives in the wife’s family home, or, more rarely, will strike out to expand the family holdings into another city or town. If families grow too fast to fit in a home, new tunnels are dug out, or new rooms built. Because of this practice, some ancient dwarven homes are literally palaces of stone. Sometimes a family might have had its heyday in centuries past, when its house was expanded to upwards of a hundred rooms or more, only to have the family line grow weak, and the house currently inhabited by a mere ten or fifteen individuals.
Family Organization
If you were born into a family, your family consists of mother, father, siblings, grandparents, great grandparents, great-great grandparents (if alive), aunts, uncles, great aunts and uncles, great-great aunts and uncles, nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews, children, grandchildren, and cousins of all degrees.
If you married into a family (only males marry into families), then you count your born family and your wife’s immediate family as your “blood.” Your wife’s extended family is your married family.
Attitude Towards Children
Dwarves absolutely love children! Daughters are highly valued, since only females can own and hold property, but males are also valued, because they are generally the ones who go out and bring new wealth and honor into the family, through adventuring, traveling, trading, mining, metal and stone crafting, politics etc.
Attitude Towards the Elderly
Both male and female elders are revered. Matriarchs run vast family empires, and no marriages or family alliance moves can be made without their consent. Patriarchs make up the city councils and are the political force in the city, and trade agreements, new mining ventures, work crews, adventures and expeditions, war and general civic works are under their jurisdiction.
Kinship Ties
Kinship ties and politics weave together in many ways. Because family matriarchs arrange all marriages, they choose which males enter into the family. By this, they choose which male may one day be delegated as the family Patriarch, who represents the family’s interests in the Councils. A male can never represent his own “born” family in politics. Therefore, if he has political ambitions, he must do his best to woo a family where he is highly esteemed and has some chance of winning the heart of the female most likely to become the matriarch. It can get rather complicated, and a gamble, but dwarves thrive on such intricacies.
Matriarchs also arrange family alliances, so when the Council determines if the dwarves will go to war (with another city, a critter race, an invading force), the females arrange alliances and pacts with other families. Since dwarven families are so large and sprawling, Matriarchs often try to build alliances with other families with whom there is some common ancestor.
New family lines are not common, but do happen once a generation or so. In such cases, a female of some family rebels, with enough support from a different family to gain an esteemed husband, and gives herself a new family name and move into a new home. The female must have independent wealth (gained from adventures or travels, etc), the ability to arrange a strong marriage, and have somehow gained the respect of the city Council and the majority of Matriarchs.
Extended Family
Dwarves value their entire family, and their family trees are quite twisted and complex. It is a passion of most dwarves to be able to recite their lineage back at least ten generations or more, depending on how studious the dwarf. To aid in these tasks, dwarves keep Family Scholars, individuals whose main duties are to record all births, deaths, marriages, and other important events for their families. When it comes time for alliances or marriages to be made, , these records are consulted very carefully. It is not uncommon for distant cousins to be in different family groups, but to still consider themselves cousins. Such bonds are strong, and lend an almost unquestionable loyalty between families.
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Nourishment
Food
If not for a constant trade alliance with the giants, the dwarven diet would seem rather limited to others, but dwarves eat fairly well just from food gained in their subterranean realms. There is a creature called a thakha that looks a bit like a pig, but is actually a descendent of the mountain sheep that live above ground. Thousands and thousands of years of selective breeding have created a nearly hairless sheep that lives underground with the dwarves and subsists on mushrooms and other cave fungi, which grow in abundance all through the underground. The thakha provide the dwarves with milk, cheese, and meat, hides for leather, and manure to fertilize their mushroom caves. Dwarves also eat a variety of mushrooms, fungi, and fish and other aquatic creatures found in the subterranean rivers and lakes. Rho grubs are very plentiful and found naturally in the cold earth of Adu. They are about two to three inches long, and one-half to one inch in diameter. They are a yellowish white when alive, but when steamed will turn a rosy pink, and when roasted will become crispy and brown on the outside, and soft and squishy white on the inside. Dwarves have learned to cultivate rho grubs over the centuries.
Dwarves trade extensively with the giants, exporting metal goods, which the giants prize. They thoroughly enjoy the meat of yak, which giants bring down in small herds to trade with the dwarves. Occasionally, some dwarves have a thirst for the fermented yak milk the giants brew, though the most common dwarven brew is distilled from red lichen, which is a mild hallucinogen (rather handy when viewing the quartz-star ceiling, or convincing oneself that marrying ones’ second cousin twice-removed is a good thing…).
The main drive in a dwarf’s life is to expand his family, to increase his wealth, and to defend his city against the denizens of the deep. To this end, the dwarves are active traders, constantly traveling through subterranean tunnels to other towns, communities and cities, in their own mountain system and in others. Dwarves love to gather together, share stories, and accumulate wealth.
A few stalwart dwarves manage the trail to Chamkha to trade for their communities with other parts of the archipelago. The dwarves trade their metal and stonework, gems, and alcohol, in exchange for ale, salt, walrus and seal meat, plus such items as fabrics, furs, and spices. A smart male trader will always acquire some sweets and honey, which is disdained by most males, but highly coveted by the females of the race.
The dwarves did not begin trading with the outside world immediately. The giants were more natural sailors and traders, but slowly, as the giants increased their prosperity from trade, the dwarves began to feel they needed a piece of the action. Those dwarves who do not mind leaving the security and beauty of their subterranean homes venture off the island for fame, money and as many sugar- chocolate- and honey-laden tidbits as they can carry. Any successful family Patriarch will tell you that to get to the top, you have to serve a lot of desserts to your women.
As the big, wide world has opened up, so have many younger dwarves, feeling overlooked by their large families and wanting to make a name for themselves, have headed off to make their own fame and fortune on the trade routes of the archipelago.
Food Production
Dwarves keep mushroom farms in large chambers some distance from their main cities (since they do not tend to smell very pleasant from all the sheep-manure fertilizer). Some dwarves also cultivate the rho grub, and others tend flocks of thakha. A complex network of caves and tunnels allows plenty of room for food cultivation and storage within the heart of the mountains. In fact, most of what dwarves eat can be cultivated to some degree, including the red lichen, though it is grows slowly and is consequently very valuable. Attempts to control fish and water-life through hatcheries were long ago given up as useless. Fishing the deep subterranean lakes and rivers is a fine sport that provides tasty rewards. The rest of the dwarves’ food is acquired through trading.
Special Dishes
Thakha and mushroom stew is a staple in the underground. In fact, a typical meal might consist of thakha and mushroom stew, smoked white caps (a type of mushroom with a nutty, starchy flavor), slivers of poached eel, blue fungi stuffed with cheese, and honey-roasted rho grubs for dessert.
Unpalatable Dishes
Dwarves feel that greens are for feeding yaks. A healthy diet to a dwarf consists of slabs of meat, an abundance of mushrooms, and a bottomless mug of brew.
Tool Use in Eating
Whether food is eaten with tools, or with hands alone is up to the individual. The most cultured dwarves eat with finely crafted utensils made by their own silversmiths. The Matriarchs of most families eat with gem-encrusted and ornate utensils. A dwarf’s social status can often be determined by the value of his eating utensils. Children of all backgrounds often grab food with their hands and run off into the warrens, giggling and eating out of view or earshot of the ever-watchful adults.
Family Dinners
Most families try to eat together, but this is an impossible task for all but the smallest and most controlled families. In practice, the kitchens prepare food all day long, especially in large families where there might be a hundred or so individuals to feed, and a hungry dwarf will come in and serve himself or herself. Since wealthy dwarven families often have younger family members or poorer relations working as servants, the Matriarch and Patriarch are usually served and fussed over quite generously at mealtimes.
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Personal Adornment
Clothing
Clothing is rather functional in dwarven society. Because each individual performs the tasks which he is most suited for, dwarves tend to wear utilitarian clothing, and not much attention is given to the clothing itself, as long as folks are clean and not tracking muck all through the house. The only people who tend to wear extravagant clothing are the Matriarchs, because their job is purely administrative, and because they control the wealth. So, each dwarven adult wears clothing appropriate for his profession, be he clergy, warrior, miner, craftsman, child caregiver, cook, etc.
Most clothing is made of leather and wool from outdoor sheep and yaks, and fur (wild fox, rabbits, etc). An exception to this is that with steady trade with Chamkha, many of the wealthiest families import more exotic fabrics into their households, though such fabrics are used for formaland ceremonial garb, and not oftenfor daily wear. Dwarves also craft many shirts, vests, and capes of a fine metal mesh called Durzul, which, though it is armor quality, is also flexible and provides excellent maneuverability. Using their skill in metalworking, they also create a metallic thread that they weave into many of their garments. It is one of the few ornamentations they use on clothing. Though they have gems in plenty, garments themselves are rarely set with gems. Gems are mostly reserved for use in jewelry and utensils.
Most clothing retains its natural brown, beige, or black coloring. However, red, blue, and green dyes are fairly common in dwarven society, as they create these pigments from the minerals found in their mines. The dwarves have learned how to mix these colors with metals in their forges, and therefore, can produce metals with blue, red, and green tints. Purple dye is an import item, and yellow is quite rare and treasured among the dwarves, who have so little opportunity to see yellow. Yellow fabrics have become a status symbol in dwarven society, and are usually reserved for the Matriarchs. If a Matriarch is particularly pleased with an individual, she may bestow upon him a scrap of yellow cloth, that they can add to their clothing as a sign of honor and blessing.
Jewelry is a different story. Dwarves take great pride in their craftsmanship of beautiful objects, and jewelry is considered one of their finest crafts. Females often wear jewelry in their hair, about their throats, in their ears and along their arms. Males may wear jewelry depending on their duties. Miners and soldiers do not wear jewelry while working, but may don a prized piece while in the comfort of their homes, or when attending a social event. The clergy usually wear jeweled beads in their beards, depending on their rank. It is believed that the clergy need to attract the attention of the gods, and will often string tiny, bejeweled bells in their hair and beards to do so.
Symbolic Clothing
Dwarven clothing is mainly functional.
Clothing Reflecting Status
Yellow is indicative of highest status, and or favor by the Matriarchs. In general, clothing is not used to determine status.
Social Status
Status is measured in two ways: the wealth of a family; and the size of a family. The more family members in a household, the more wealth (potentially) that family can produce, and also, the more wealth it takes to support such a household.
There are large but poor families, usually those with unsuccessful trading ventures or those whose members have not been able to master any crafts. These families are often the ones from which adventurers stem, looking for brighter opportunities out in the world beyond their home. There are also small but rich families, which are not nearly as powerful politically as those families who are wealthy and large.
Special status is given to families with members holding esteemed positions in dwarven society or politics, such as the City Matriarch, the Military Commander, the City Magistrate (leading Patriarch), and the Red Priest.
Social Stratification
Social stratification exists, but it is loose. There is a power structure to dwarven society, but no one is respected less because of the work they do. The general pyramid of power goes like this:
City Matriarch, City Magistrate
Military Commander, Red Priest
Matriarchs
Patriarchs
Generals, Blue Priests
Crafts and Trade Masters
Family Scholars
Family Martial Masters
White Priests, Warriors
Craftsmen, Traders
Rest of the populace
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Men and Women
Primary Caregiver
Large families usually have one or more nannies, women designated to watch over the children. These women are often the new mothers, and those whose children are already grown. No woman is forced to care for children if it is not her desire, and no woman is ever forbidden the opportunity to raise her own child. Men do not raise children, and serve as more of an educational source, than as caregivers.
Gender Relations
The sexes treat each other with respect. Most trades, crafts and positions can be learned and mastered by either men or women, and as such, individuals of each gender are given respect by virtue of their talents, not their sex.
Roles of Men
Role of Family Patriarch
Patriarchs make up the City Council
Patriarchs select City Magistrate
Patriarchs select Military Commander
Rise in ranks within the religion
Manage defense of tunnels and cities
Manage public works
Collect, manage and allocate taxes
Maintain trade routes
Organize and fund expeditions
Diplomatic representatives to other Cities and Races
Acknowledge Trade and Craft Masters
Expand mines and holdings
Traders, farmers, miners, other grunt workers
Roles of Women
Role of Family Matriarch
Select City Matriarch
Property holders
Arrange marriages
Negotiate family alliances
Manage finances and family holdings (mines, trade, etc)
Hire servants
Manage households
Assign family Masters
Select family Patriarch
Traders, farmers, miners, caregivers, and other grunt workers
Marriage
Marriages are almost always arranged with the families’ political ties in mind, but some Matriarchs pay more attention to love matches than others. Dwarves live long lives, and are usually considered marriageable after the age of twenty-five. All dwarves under the age of twenty-five are considered children.
Marriage Ceremonies
Traditional marriages are held before the Heartstone with a considerable “donation” given to the clergy (depending on the rank of the families involved). The higher the donation, the fewer couples get married at one time. If someone pays 10,000 draks, they might be entitled to a private marriage ceremony, complete with the Red Priest. Someone who donates 5,000 draks you might share their ceremony with another couple, or have their ceremony presided over by a Blue Priest. Someone who tosses 1,000 draks into the donation bin and might be in a small group of individuals all getting married at the same time, by a White Priest.
The actual marriage ceremony includes such rituals as an exchange of marriage jewelry (commissioned especially for the partner), drinking from a shared cup (often the bride’s family chalice), and then a feast at the wife’s family’s home. This feast will include all of the wife’s family, all of the husband’s family, and all friends and notable personages. After the ceremony and feast, a man and wife are literally locked into their room or suite by family members, and not permitted to leave for three entire day and night cycles. During this time, the bride’s family will serve all the couple’s needs.
Visible Signs of Marital Status
A traditional item of jewelry is exchanged during the wedding ceremony. Females generally receive a neckpiece or bracelet, and men traditionally receive a wristband of some sort. The ornateness of the piece is dependent on the status of the family, and the duties of the individuals. The piece does not necessarily look different from other jewelry; it is just a piece that one dwarf has commissioned and made special for another. The jewelry will be worn often, especially during family occasions and holidays, but it is not uncommon for wedding jewelry to be removed. Every dwarf is a little different. For example, if a young female dwarf gives her warrior husband-to-be a gorgeous sapphire-studded platinum wristband, he may wear it when at home, or during dinners with the extended family, but he probably would not wear it while out on patrol (lest the gems reflect light and give away his position, or it might become damaged, or an intelligent critter might try to rob him of it). However, if a dwarf husband gives his bride-to-be a choker of rubies, and she is a stay-at-home, she may wear the rubies often. It's all a matter of practicality. Dwarves are a drearily practical people.
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Education
Education
Education is handled within the family until the age of twenty. Children’s education begins very young, but for toddlers and youngsters, is done in short bursts by the nannies. At age four, children begin attending a more formalized setting within their house, and are taught by the House’s Knowledge Master. By age twelve, most children can read, write, do basic math and understand basic financial transactions, understand their racial history, and understand earth lore.
At age twelve, the child’s ongoing education is supplemented by work in weaponry, which is taught by the Martial Master of the House, and religion (in wealthier homes, a ranking member of the clergy will come to the house, in poorer homes, the children will go to the Temple for their religious education). Also at this time, children spend required time with the family scribe, helping transcribe ancient tomes and documents, and giving the Scribe an opportunity to select his successor.
At age twenty, a child begins studying various trades and crafts. This may entail a young dwarf spending a month in the mines, a week herding thakha, six weeks studying gems with the lapidary, or going on less dangerous trade journeys to other towns. By the age of twenty-five, a dwarf is expected to choose a particular field in which they will make their profession. At this time, a dwarf may also choose to go into the clergy. Each house is required to give one son or daughter to the religion every five years, so that if no child shows an aptitude for religion, one is chosen by the Matriarch to enter into religious life.
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The Arts
Art
Despite all preconceptions, dwarves are great admirers of all things magnificent and beautiful. The main difference between how a dwarf sees art, and say, a Naktul sees art, is that for a dwarf, all things are functional, whereas the Naktul believe in art for art’s sake. So dwarven art is always functional, such as a home, a bedframe, a sword hilt, a shield, a fork, or a bracelet, rather than a painting on a wall. There really is not much painting done in dwarven cities, since most construction uses stone. Their main arts are stone carving, lapidary, architecture and metalworking.
Since dwarves admire beauty to such a degree, they aspire to make everything they craft beautiful. Walking into a dwarven community is supposed to awe the visitor: each town or city will try to out-do the other. It is a matter of community pride.
Artisans
Master craftsmen can come from any dwarven family, but once they are dubbed “Master,” they set up a public shop in town. This is so they can take on apprentices and teach, and so they can display and sell their wares more readily. It is a matter of prestige to have a shop on Master’s Row, and this brings extra honor and financial rewards to the House the Master comes from. Lesser artisans can also have public shops, and there will often be many excellent craftsmen who are not masters. Some lesser artisans do not bother to move a shop into town, and will keep studios in their family homes. These are the Family Craftsmasters, and can teach the family youngsters more readily.
Being a master is a title granted a craftsman by his superiors, and not a title they get just by having a shop. Dwarf craftsmen must master while living in a dwarven city. If a dwarf went to Chamkha and set up shop, he would not necessarily be a master, unless he was “mastered” in another city, and for some reason, left. If a dwarf were to go to Komadas, open up shop, and call himself a master, no one would really know the truth but other dwarves!
Music
Dwarves are not known for their mellifluous voices. They prefer spoken word with musical accompaniment, rather than attempt to sing in their harsh, guttural syllables. There are songs in dwarven cultures: songs sung by mothers to their children, and a nice assortment of drinking songs that do not sound half bad when you are drunk off your rocks. Dwarves admire a beautiful voice, as they admire all things beautiful, and traveling dwarves have been known to become hopelessly smitten with celebrated singers of other races. On rare occasion, a dwarf may actually be moved to tears by a skillfully sung aria or prayer.
The dwarven clergy do not sing hymns to their gods, but chant instead. Chanting is very popular with dwarves, and suits their voices very well.
Music is a favored past time of dwarves, though there are rarely any professional musicians. Professions tend to be more useful, working to actually produce something tangible, but many dwarves have musical hobbies. Dwarves carve beautiful flutes of stone (piccolos, recorders, etc), create an assortment of drums, and craft fine bells, chimes and cymbals.
Crafts
Dwarves are renowned for their skill in lapidary, metalworking, architecture, jewelry making, minting, metallurgy, and stone carving (both in gigantic statue form and in impossibly small reverse relief inside gemstones).
Commodities
Commodities include (raw materials): gems, gold, metals and ores of all types found in the Aduan mountains.
Wealth
Wealth is the doorway to power.
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Social Issues
Physical Impediments
Physical impediments are not as big a handicap in dwarven culture as they might be in others. Marriages are by arrangement, not appearances, and there are many crafts and trades which a dwarf can do despite physical challenges. If a child is born with an impediment, or a dwarf loses a leg or arm in battle, that individual is simple redirected to a task or craft that they can excel in, and if they excel, they are just as honored as any other dwarf.
For example, a dwarf who loses an arm might then tend the herds of thakha. Lose a leg and your current skill of jewelry making might not be influenced much at all. If a child is born blind, they may learn a skill like carving, which can be felt with their hands, or create exquisite-sounding flutes, or join the clergy to chant prayers to the gods.
Dwarves believe there is a place in their culture for all individuals.
Mental Disease
How the dwarves treat mental illness depends on the disease: if a dwarf is born mentally challenged, perhaps slower in learning and reflexes than other children, that individual is probably destined to be treated somewhat like a child their entire life. As he grows, he may be given simple tasks to perform, to give them a contributing role, such as working for his House as a servant, tending the mushroom gardens, sweeping, hauling and transporting items between shops for craftsmen. Such individuals are not usually given in marriage, and some seek out the refuge of the gods in their declining years.
If a person is deranged, that individual is often shut away in the family house somewhere. For some individuals, this arrangement is fine— they are paranoid or schizophrenic, and living in a single room does not change their reality at all. Some individuals recoil from being kept hidden and become dangerously deranged. If an individual becomes dangerously deranged, they are often let loose in tunnels far from cities or towns, with a skin of water and some meat. Most die in the tunnels, but a few have gone down in the history books as having survived and lived out the rest of their crazy lives among the critters and spirits that live deep in the bowels of the mountains.
Slavery
The practice of slavery ended over ten thousand years ago, when a general peace was made between dwarves and giants. Dwarven culture also became very wealthy, and it became a moral imperative to pay for help and assistance, rather than force people into slavery.
There are servants, but servants are usually younger, physically disabled, or old and feeble members of the family and are paid in some way, coin, goods, education, or room and board, and are entitled to the same rights as anyone else.
Murder
Murder is not condoned. Murderers are often exiled into the tunnels or up to the surface. Often, the fate of the murderer is put in the hands of the victim’s family. It is not uncommon for murderers to be maimed in some way (i.e.: putting out an eye, knocking out the teeth, loosing a hand or a foot, etc) before being exiled. While the dwarves do not themselves inflict the death penalty, exile to Mount Rubd or Mount Rulduk is effectively a death sentence, as they are very dangerous locales.
Infanticide
Since status is often associated with family side, infanticide is a terrible taboo. No one would ever think of killing baby. It is simply not done. Plus, it is an atrocity in the eyes of the gods.
War
Dwarves are quite comfortable in battle, and always maintain some semblance of battle readiness. Dwarves keep a standing militia in all towns and cities, and send patrols twice a day into the depths of the tunnels. Skirmishes in the lower levels are a common occurrence, and the dwarves are constantly on guard against the denizens of the deep. Dwarves have not had any battles with the giants in over ten thousand years.
In general, Adu is too mountainous to be easily invaded by other races. Also, from the surface, it does not seem like Adu has that much to offer, and the climate is very harsh for anyone not adapted to living in extreme temperatures and altitudes.
Taboos
Infanticide
Desecrating the Heartstone.
Incest. This is another reason why the written family histories are so important; what is acceptable and what is not is very intricate and complex, thus, marriage-arranging is considered a great skill.
Punishment
Breaking a taboo always results in exile.
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Politics
Political Organization
On a city level:
Power positions- City Matriarch
City Magistrate (Patriarch)
Military Commander
Red Priest
Political substrata- Matriarchs (speak for the families)
(in order) Patriarchs (speak for the public, civic needs)
Sub-commanders, Blue Priests (speak for religion and military)
Trade and Crafts Masters (speak for the working populace)
Political meetings are held in a civic building, and led by the City Magistrate. The City Matriarch and the Red Priest join the Magistrate on a dais, but the Magistrate leads most of the talking. The Military Commander has a seat nearby, but will not speak unless there is a military issue. Otherwise, the Magistrate gives a report of the Military to the assembly at large.
The Patriarchs, Matriarchs, Sub-commanders of the military, the Blue Priests, and the individual Trade and Crafts Masters will fill the rest of the seats (in a particular order depending on rank), and will have opportunities to raise issues, answer questions, etc.
The dwarven “nation” does not really exist, but it does in a way, because the dwarven families are allied to each other. There has not been a technical “dwarven nation” since the wars with giants thousands and thousands of years ago. It is generally accepted that the principal dwarven city inside Mount Ghabd will unite the other towns and cities in times of crisis, and that the principal city’s Matriarch, Magistrate and War Commander will lead.
Political Figures
City Matriarch, City Magistrate, Military Commander, Red Priest
Religion in Politics
Religion underlies everything the dwarves do, but does not gain control over the power granted to wealth and crafts. Dwarves revere their religion, as they worship the mountain gods, which shelter them, feed them, and make them rich. Most important decisions are taken into consideration with the Red Priest. If there is discord, or strife, or moral issues, the Red Priest will consult with the gods. If there is trouble, or a food shortage, or a mine collapse, it is often thought that the gods are displeased, and the Red Priest is used as a go-between to find out what must be done to return the city to favor.
Wealth in Politics
Wealth is one of the primary factors for determining who has power.
Kinship in Politics
The more important personages (priests, masters, etc) are associated with your Family, the more power your family wields.
Caste
There is not really a caste system in dwarven society, and definitely nothing rigid.
Attitude Towards Other Races
Dwarves definitely lean more on the xenophobic side as a race. The more adventurous individuals go into trade professions, or conduct expeditions outside their mountain homes. Generally though, dwarves have isolated themselves within their mountain communities, and are content to be left alone. The exception to this might be giants, with whom the dwarves have a special friendship.
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Cities and Towns
Cities
Dwarven cities are intricate tunnels, buildings and caverns of stone. They channel in their water from underground rivers, and channel in natural gas to help light their cities. Wood is very rare, and they are not very skilled with it at any rate. The dwarven people tend to dress rather simply, but their homes and buildings are monuments to fantastic architecture and style.
Every mountain has a “heart,” a massive stone (always red) that can be found miles and miles into its center. Religiously, dwarves believe that this is the life pulse, the heart of the mountain, and therefore it is the center of their worship. Every city is built around a Heartstone, and colonies or towns cannot be carved out without them having a shard of that mountain’s Heartstone. For this reason, the more massive the Heartstone in a mountain, where many shards can be chipped off without hurting the stone, the more towns and villages can be built within that mountain.
Public Works
The dwarves absolutely value public works. Dwarven citizens pay a tax, which is used to improve roads, tunnels, water and gas channels, public buildings, etc.
Since taxes are used to pay for public works, the Patriarchs will seek out craftsmen who are willing to do the job with the allotted sum of money. Some craftsmen will do the work for even less money, because the person who builds public buildings adds tremendous honor to themselves, their craft and their Family. Often, a craftsman will rise in rank after completing a public project. Generally though, providers are paid for their work, if not in huge amounts.
For the most part, public works are truly public. The super-wealthy commission similar works for their own private houses. A few exceptions to this might be with channeled water and gas: it is common for wealthy homes and city streets to have gas lamps, but not common for poorer families to have gas lamps or indoor plumbing. The Patriarchs do make sure there are plenty of public wells to provide water, but sometimes, channeled water projects tend to help the super wealthy, because they can afford to have the water piped into their homes and afford the necessary fixtures.
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