Well my friends, it's been a long, long time, with Real Life(tm) getting in the way constantly, but I finally have a nice big update to report: the first "normal" racial codex, the Pureblood Dwarves, is now complete and uploaded to the GDoc. Or right here, for your ease of reference.
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Who Are They?
The last remnants of the once-mighty Sonnlinor people, the so-called "pureblood" dwarves cling to their memories of the past with iron determination, struggling to rebuild and return to their former glory.
Physiology
In truth, the Sonnlinor do not differ that greatly from humans - the most obvious difference is in their height. Though strongly built, Sonnlinor only reach heights of 4'3 to 4'9", which is the reason behind their common moniker of "dwarf", meaning "shortened".
What they lack in height, however, Sonnlinor more than make up for in girth. Even the daintiest of their kind has a powerful frame and a broad build, which means these beings can easily weigh as much as the average human. Their bodies are compact and in perfect proportion; their limbs do not look stunted or shriveled, unlike some pitiful calibans, and they move with surefooted grace and ease. Though stocky, they are not ugly, and the ample curves of female dwarves are all the explanation one needs as to the historical origins of Muls.
The natural coloration for a pureblooded dwarf is a healthy shade of ruddy pink, which quickly tans when exposed to harsh winds and bright sun, or even just the burning heat of their beloved forges, although a few cases of more earthen skin-tones, like mud brown, slate gray or sandstone red, do pop up occasionally. Their hair likewise tends to be shades of black, brown and red, contrasting brown, amber and golden eyes; the suprise appearance of blonde hair and blue or green eyes typically warrants a little sheepishness, as it indicates a human ancestor somewhere in the family tree.
However, generations of living in subterranean seclusion or other dark environments is leaving its mark on the Sonnlinor of the present day; an increasing number are born with particularly pale coloration, from marble white to hues of gray. The Sonnlinor themselves are prone to arguing about whether or not this is something to shun, especially in those few families where such coloration goes hand in hand with stranger powers.
Personality
In the days before the Black Dawn, the Sonnlinor were known as a people of pride and passion. Living by a creedo of working hard and playing hard, they were considered good neighbors by humanity; focused, diligent, determined, loyal and brave. That's not to say they didn't have their faults; avarice and arrogance bedeviled many of the ancient dwarves, and their name was practically a byword for stubbornness. The saying "to move a dwarf" is an ancient one, which means to achieve something that is extremely difficult, if not impososible. Well was it said that once a dwarf had planted his feet, nothing under the sun could move him. But still, even despite that, they were considered humanity's closest kin and welcomed for their strengths.
In the bleak days since the Malebolge rose from the ashes, the Sonnlinor have become a darker race. The loss of their former glory has left scars on their racial psyche, and though they strive to cling to who they were, it cannot be denied that they have changed, and not so much for the better. Many of their vices have grown, twisting and warping as they feed on the circumstances of the fall of the Sonnlinor empire to bedevil the dwarves with a new array of flaws.
First and foremost is xenophobia. Most pureblood dwarves feel either fear, hatred, or some blending of the two in regards the other races. They tell stories of how elves started the war, of how the orks pushed them to the edge, of how humanity betrayed their oaths, and use such tales to fill a sense of righteous indignation in their hearts. Most pureblood dwarves choose simply to withdraw from contact with the other races; whatever other reasons they may concoct, and there are many, the most simple and practical reason is that they have far bigger things to worry about than pushing for war against their neighbors. As for those who allow the tales to boil over into hate and malice... these are the clans even other Sonnlinor are aghast at; the clans who practice murder, slavery and conquest, seeking to rebuild the ruins of the old with the bones of the new.
Not all purebloods are either total shut-ins or prejudiced hatemongers, and there are still clans who continue the old ways of diplomacy and trade with outsiders, but even so, there is an instinctive wariness between a Sonnlinor and a member of other races. A Sonnlinor who has found non-dwarves she can trust will treat them as being kin-in-spirit, showing the side of herself she would normally reserve only to her fellow Sonnlinor, but only the most unusual of pureblood dwarves treats all races with open and equal respect.
It must be said that when they can bring themselves to interact with other races peacefully, the new flaw of xenophobia and the old flaw of arrogance often find a strange marriage. Sonnlinor traveling amongst other races have a pronounced tendency to flaunt the achievements of their own people, waxing rhapsodic about what the ancient dwarves achieved in order to impress others with how great they were. How pushy they are with this, and how much they openly denigrate the achievements of other races in comparison, depends on how much of a jerk the dwarf in question is.
The other flaws can be lumped together under a single defining term: melancholy. No matter how much pride they may try to take in their achievements in the present, all Sonnlinor are painfully aware of what they had and, consequently, what they lost with the Black Dawn. It is a wound that they refuse to heal, passing down their tales of grief, loss and inferiority to each new generation, keeping the pain alive. It is how a given dwarf chooses to deal with this sense of pain and sorrow that becomes its new flaw.
Many Sonnlinor become particularly gruff and surly; fueled by a sense of inferiority towards their own history, they become spiteful and cruel, venting their indignation through petty acts of aggression or malice.
Others act in similar ways, but their fuel is sorrow rather than rage. They do not wish to be hurt further, so they strive to keep others at arm's length. If you don't care for them, they can't hurt you.
Hedonism is an uncommon reaction, but far from unknown. A great many Sonnlinor seek to distract themselves from their culturally indoctrinated sense of pain and guilt by drowning it in pleasure. This is partly where the stereotypes of dwarves loving strong drink or smoking come from. Numbing one's mind through intoxicants is quite popular with those dwarves who feel their pain is overwhelming them.
Yet other dwarves turn to fatalism or nihilism, seeking to come to terms with their pain by accepting its inevitability.
These flaws do not necessarily exclude each other. Many a gruff and cantankerous dwarf hides a broken heart behind his curses, and many a dwarf uses pleasure to make the inevitability of it all more tolerable.
Truthfully, it can be said that dwarves are like diamonds. Many flaws, any one of which could potentially lead to an individual shattering utterly... but, at the same time, they have equal potential to shine so brightly instead.
Courtship
In the days before the Black Dawn, Sonnlinor took a surprisingly practical viewpoint of the topics of sexuality and romance. Oh, marriages could be political affairs, and often were, but they understood the driving power of their heart and were certainly far from afraid of the pleasures of the flesh. Although a dwarf might be expected to give up their freedoms and wed as the clan dictated should the need arise, the norm was to give the young free reign to follow their hearts, with no more than a knowing smirk or a dirty-minded wink as to what went on in the more private parts of the clanholds.
Unfortunately, those innocent days of casual dalliances and marriages of love being the norm have been lost with the Black Dawn.
In the modern era, the Sonnlinor face a crises they did not before the Black Dawn, and this has prompted a drastic change in their courtship behaviors. Prior to the Black Dawn, Sonnlinor fertility was somewhat inferior to their human kindred - females became fertile only every three or four months, and carried their offspring for a full year before delivery - but hardly to a dangerous extent. But since the Malebolge came into existence, those dwarves of pure breeding have found their fertility drastically impaired. At least 55% of all Sonnlinor pregnancies "go wrong" and fail to produce a healthy, living pureblood baby. Of such disastrous pregnancy, 70% result in stillbirths or miscarriages, and a mere 30% result in the birth of forgeborn dwarves.
With this grim reality, and the sheer amount of casualties their race took both during the Doom War and when the world burned in the Black Dawn, the Sonnlinor have been forced to acknowledge that they must prioritize breeding if their people are to have a hope of surviving.
The consequence of this are manyfold.
Firstly, arranged marriages are the norm for pureblood dwarves. Most surviving pureblood dwarf infants have spouses arranged by their parents during their first few years of life, even if the marriage does not actually take place until they have reached majority. Dwarves do take practical steps to try and ensure that the couple can at least tolerate being together, but the goal of a dwarf marriage is procreation and love, alas, is distinctly unimportant in comparison.
Secondly, marriages amongst pureblood dwarves are contractual in nature; although they may potentially serve political purposes, the primary purpose of all dwarf marriages is to produce offspring. If a union proves unsuccessful in producing children, it is expected - if not legally required - that the union will dissolve in order to find newer and hopefully more fertile partners.
Finally, all dwarves must marry. Celibacy is usually illegal in a pureblood dwarven clanhold, and both divorcees and widows/widowers are expected to remarry as soon as possible. Those who have been in one marriage are usually granted more freedom in trying to find a new partner, but if they take too long, their clan may start looking for them.
This only covers the basic laws for dwarves; how they are actually implemented is another story altogether. For example, concubinage is often accepted as a necessary evil in dwarf clanholds; a spouse for progeny and concubines for love, or so the saying goes.
This further builds on into greater convolutions. When a dwarf couple love each other, but have no success in producing children, it's far from unheard of for one or both spouses to secretly take another to their bed in hopes of producing living children. Likewise, those homosexual dwarves who choose to stay with the clanhold rather than striking out as adventurers will acceed to gritting their teeth and doing their duty, before finding love with someone more to their tastes.
So long as children are produced and raised, a dwarf clan will typically turn a blind eye to such loophole abuse.
Needless to say, this dedication to breeding gives provenly fertile females quite a bit of power in dwarf society, and although it is a difficult game to play, it's not unheard of for unmarried dwarf women willing to use their fertility as a bribe to go far without officially taking a single husband.
Culture
At its core, dwarf culture has become extremely conservative, a consequence of the drastic shakeup of the world and the falling back on tried-and-tested values and beliefs. Though this can be a strength, it can also be a weakness.
At its core, dwarfin culture cherishes the upholding of its traditional virtues. Digiligence in one's duty, courage in the face of fear, loyalty to one's kith and kin, dedication in one's labor, and respect for one's origins. A dwarf is expected to give his or her all for whatever task it is required, especially if doing so will provide for the clan. Individual strength is cherished, but aloofness is scorned; the clan respects the need of its children to make their own way, but there is no shame in turning to one's kith and kin for help.
Although this gives dwarves a justified reptuation for working hard, what few outsiders remember these days is that dwarves equally in playing hard. They acknowledge that hard work without rest soon proves more than body, mind and soul can bear, and indeed many clans reject the notion that the purpose of life is to work. Work is done well, but there is certainly more to living than just working!
So it is that dwarves have many ways to relax after a hard day's labor. Deny it though they might, most dwarves have an epicurean streak, and hearty meals washed down with strong liquors are a traditional favorite for dwarves. The race is known for producing skilled brewers, whether their liquor is distilled from mountainside fruit groves or cereal farms, or distilled from subterranean fungus, and dwarfin chefs are masters in the arts of meats, vegetables, fungus, pastries, gravies and sauces. Clans often have particular recipes unique to them, and these can be a source of great pride; to insult a dwarf's ancestral recipe for hetchil dhoar (a pie made of eel, apple & potato with venison gravy) can start a feud.
The use of drugs for pleasure or stimulation is a controversial one. More prosperous clans tend to look askance at the idea, whilst those less fortunate tend to accept their use tacitly, though rarely openly. Because their use is generally looked down upon, few dwarfin drugs are alchemically refined or enhanced, mostly consisting of herbs or fungi that can be eaten, chewed or smoked.
For more group pleasures, dwarves are fond of music and story-telling, and eagerly accept any opportunity to indulge. Most clanholds have a feasting hall, which doubles as both a cafeteria and a theatre, with storytellers, musicians or singers providing entertainment - either through the quality of their efforts or through their efforts at dodging flying drink steins and rubbish. Dwarves tend to have a rather earthy sense of humor.
Indeed, the large clanholds of the past often had dedicated theatres, and dwarves have their own unique art form they call "opera"; a blending of performance art and musical epics in which elaborately costumed performers act along to dedicated musical performances, telling stories through gestures, props and songs.
Perhaps one of the most subtle yet telling marks of how dwarfin culture has been scarred is in how modern opera performances tend to focus exclusively on tales of tragedy and drama. There are happy operas, even comedic ones, but these are rarely performed these days.
For happy tales, dwarves in the mood for such light-hearted fare turn to the so-called "lesser" performers and jesters. In some clanholds, there is a certain enmity between the two classes of artist.
As mentioned above, dwarfin culture has grown very conservative since the Black Dawn. What this means in practical terms is that most clans are staunchly traditionalist; anything new or innovative is regarded with wary distrust - at best, it must be slowly and painstakingly proven, at worst, it will be rejected out of hand for simply being "not the way our ancestors did it". As one can imagine, this makes dwarves somewhat slow to react to changes, and less than innovative, which is only hindering their efforts at retaking their former territory.
Between their cultural value of honor and their natural tendency to hold grudges, vendettas and blood-oaths are important parts of dwarfin culture. Indeed, they are so important that one of the few truly modern developments in dwarf culture are the traditions of the Grudgebearer and the Shameslayer. These are berserker warriors who fuel their battle fury with either rage over the ancestral wrongs done to their people, or shame at their own dishonor. Although some can eventually cool their fury and leave the path, most dwarves who take up these roles are regarded as walking dead by other dwarves.
The two paths do have some differences, though. Grudgebearers are given respect and honor, if often tinged with horror. They tend to wear heavier armor and fight more defensively; though not afraid to die, their goal is vengeance, and that is better serve through living on the deaths of their enemies. Shameslayers, in comparison, are discretely shunned or pitied by their people; driven by their own sense of shame, although honor commands they fight with all their skill, many would secretly welcome death. As such, Shameslayers often wear minimal (or no) armor, and tend to favor the largest weapons they can wield to maximize their damage-dealing potential.
One commonality between the paths is that both often decorate themselves to be more intimidating; lurid body modifications such as piercings, tattoos, flamboyantly styled and/or colored hair are popular, as are ornately and shockingly designed armor or other worn ornaments.
It goes without saying that dwarfin punishments tend to be harsh, but the harshest of all is considered to be exile, a fate from which few dwarves if any ever return.
Settlements
The vast majority of dwarven clanholds are built out of the ruins of those that existed before the Doomwar. The lucky ones either rode the Black Dawn out intact or were easily repaired after the devastation. The unlucky ones were reduced to absolute ruin. The vast majority of dwarf clans now squat in the ruins of their former glory; ideally their own ancestral holdings, but many clans perished to the last in the Doomwar, and so some ruins have been colonized by new up and coming families. The rebuilding of such locales goes slowly, but surely; in this, dwarfin patience is infinite, for dwarves know that they will always get it right in the end.
Most dwarves live in their ancestral homeland of Nidavellir, building their setlements simultaneously upon and inside mountains. Some dwell in fortresses carved from the slopes and the peaks, others live in the more tameable valleys, but all are adapted to live in a land wracked by earthquake, avalanche, storm and volcanic eruptions. Amongst other things.
Dwarves build their settlements to be like fortresses. The difference between defensive locations and sustainable resources is always carefully measured, for even the mightiest fortress will fall if its only wellspring runs dry. Heavy walls, traps and static defenses are used to guard against assailants; dwarves build with a seige mentality in mind, always anticipating that somebody is inevitably going to find them and to want to take what they have.
Dwarven clanholds outside of Nidavellir are very rare - the majority of such clans are found in the Underdark, having fled the chaotic reality-storms of the surface and taken refuge in the dark womb of the earth. No matter where they are found, however, dwarves stick to the tried, tested and true patterns of their ancestors. Which has been a weakness on some occasions.
Adventurers
Pureblood dwarfin adventurers are a rarity, but not unheard of. They may be exiles, striving for redemption, or to pursue a cause that exile was worth, or just trying to make a life for themselves beyond the clanhold. Or they may be emissaries from their clan, pursuing a cause or mission so important that allying with outsiders is a viable option.
To play a Pureblood Dwarf, use the stats for a Hill Dwarf from the PHB. To represent a "deep clanner", one of the mutant dwarves endemic to the Underdark clanholds, use the states for a Duergar from the SCAG; such dwarves are still, culturally, purebloods in all relevant details.
Barbarians: Dwarf barbarians follow the traditions of either the Grudgebearer, seeking vengeance upon the enemies of dwarfdom even if it costs them their lives, or the Shameslayer, a dishonored dwarf who seeks redemption through blood and battle. In terms of paths, Grudgebearers tend to favor the Battlerager, Ancestral Guardian and Ancestral Guardian paths, whilst Shameslayers tend to favor the Berserker path. Storm Heralds and Zealots are both extremely rare, but not unheard of.
Bards: Despite common presumptions amongst other races, dwarves actually produce many bards. All of the traditions are well represented in dwarfin culture, though adventuring dwarf jesters and dwarf loremasters are slightly more common than the others. The former have a tendency towards an independent streak that doesn't always rest well at home, whilst the latter are often driven on quests to seek out lost clanholds and reclaim the secrets of their ancestors.
Fighters: There are few dwarven adventurers more iconic than the trusty dwarven fighter. Naturally tough and hardy, dwarves easily take to the role of a warrior. Most of the styles of warrior can be found amongst dwarves, although knights and cavaliers are extremely rare, and eldritch knights and arcane archers are uncommon due to certain prejudices against magic.
Monks: As with bards, although some races may think otherwise, dwarves are actually quite well-suited to the monkly lifestyle, as its focus on discipline and dedication meshes naturally with their general mentality. Dwarves have multiple traditions of the Way of the Kensai and of the Four Elements, with the later favoring earth and fire powers. The other traditions are extremely rare, although the Mountain Ghosts, a school of dwarven ninjas, is growing in numbers due to its skill at stealth.
Rangers: Dwarves do need their scouts, and so they have plenty of use for rangers. The most iconic of dwarven rangers is perhaps the deepstalker, whether they hail from one of the Underdark clans or simply a cave-probing warrior, but all of the traditions have appeared.
Rogues: At once the least and most iconic of dwarven adventurers; though dwarves strictly punish those of their race who turn to thievery, those dwarves who break this law always either are exiled or flee into the wilderness to escape a death sentence, and thus they make up a disproportionate number of dwarven adventurers.
Sorcerers: Dwarven sorcerers are comparatively rare, and almost invariably draw their power from those elements close to the dwarven heart - storm, earth and fire. Though strong and valuable, in many clans they are held apart, as there is a growing belief amongst dwarves that sorcerers have an increased likelihood of fathering or giving birth to forgeborn offspring.
Warlocks: Very few dwarves make the pact and become warlocks, as modern dwarf culture considers them dangerous aberrations or otherwise outside of the acceptable norm. Those brave souls willing to defy tradition and embrace the powers usually become servitors to Fiends or Great Old Ones, succumbing to the lures of beings whispering in the dark depths of the earth. Warlocks sworn to Undying patrons are very rare, given the strong dwarven cultural antipathy to necromancy, but do exist... the tales of elven perfidy and fey treachery makes the idea of swearing allegiance to an Arch-Fey all but unthinkable even for these mavericks, however.
Wizards: Most common of the magic-wielding dwarves, those purebloods who study the arts arcane tend to focus on either elemental magic of earth, fire or metal, due to these being their traditional fields of mastery, or on the field of abjuration, for its use in countering the wild magic and mad mages that now infests the world. Of the remaining fields, artificers and bladesingers are perhaps predominant, followed by evokers and theurges calling upon powers of Life, the Forge and the Grave. Enchanters and conjurers are considered on a clan-by-clan basis; some clans bitterly reject them as being too thematically similar to the magics of the elves, whilst other clans consider it only fitting that inferior races be made to make amends for their crimes against dwarfdom. Only the field of necromancy, mastered and crafted by the elves, is culturally forbidden to dwarves on a universal level; those rare mavericks who study it are invariably outcast or executed for their crime.
Mystics: The field of mysticism is a new one, something arisen in the world born of the Black Dawn, and so most dwarf clanholds reject it as foreign, untested and potentially dangerous. Although a dwarf may find he or she has powers of the mind, it's more than likely that they went into exile to have the freedom to pursue mastering their skill.
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