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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Agamemnon" data-source="post: 1924652" data-attributes="member: 2567">The Mountain FolkProbably the most often-seen and commonly accepted demihuman race, the mountain folk (called Thoaken by themselves and dwarves by outsiders) can be found almost everywhere. The greatest of their strongholds is Karrak, located under, over and within the great mountain known to humans as Mithrilpeak. Personality To the Thoaken, life's supreme virtues are dedication, perseverance, wisdom and loyalty. Usually, all these apply only to individuals of the dwarf's own clan. Humans can expect the Thoaken to be lofty, disinterested and impartial.Despite the slanderous rumors of humans, dwarves value the lives of themselves and their fellow mountain folk higher than gold and gems. It's just that they value gold and gems significantly higher than humans. After all, a good diamond is hard to come by, whereas there are humans popping up all around the world. Physical DescriptionThoaken stand approximately one foot shorter than humans. They are broad-shouldered and powerful and weigh more than the average human. The eyes of a dwarf are pupilless orbs the color of amber, and they glow faintly in the dark, and they're are famous for their strong baritone voices, which are ideally suited to echo in the halls of their subterranean home. The skin of a dwarf is ash-gray or black in color and their hair is typically red or yellowish blond. The mountain folk's attraction to long beards is exaggerated by other races, but they do spend a great amount of care and time polishing their appearance. Thoaken have a natural smell of wet earth about them that no amount of washing or scrubbing will remove.Relations Thoaken hate the elves intensely and are uninterested in the affairs of men. They sell weapons, armor and metals to anyone who can afford their prices, even the elves (in which case a neutral third party is used). Gnomes have managed to infiltrate the mountain folk society and often fill positions of arcane power. Alignment Thoaken are mostly lawful neutral, with priests leaning towards lawful good. Mountain Folk Lands The mountain folk are almost as widespread as the human race across the islands. Their mountain cities and strongholds are marvels of engineering that no human or elf could ever hope to surpass.Religion The mountain folk god is called Azarath, the Lord of the Realms of the Under-Earth. The faith of Azarath is a simple one, with veritably few commandments and restrictions. The faithful refuse to eat the meat of any flying creature and must pray at least twice a day. Priests of Azarath tend to occupy seats of power, but are rarely rulers themselves.Languages The mountain folk language (Harak) is based on a runic alphabet of 25 characters designed for carving into stone and clay tablets. It is possible for a human to learn the language, but speaking it for a length of time tends to give the speaker a sore throat. The mountain folk tend to respect outsiders who bother to learn their language. Names See the PHB. Adventurers Most of the the Thoaken who leave the safety of the mountain halls are common mercenaries or wandering clergymen. Those of the race blessed with the gifts of arcane ability usually also take to the road after completing their basic training with their clan wizard. The Ke-UrAmongst all Thoaken cities, the city of Ke-Ur is an exception. Its folk shave their beards and heads and seek enlightenment through unarmed combat. This is due to some great dishonor a long-dead king of the city committed, and the price of which his people are still paying, after over five centuries. Other mountain folk treat Ke-Ur with a mixture of unease and respect. Other races find these monastic dwarves a strange deviation from the otherwise unified race. Despite speculations of others, the penitence of the Ke-Urrian actually comes from within and not as a result of the scorn of the other clans. Indeed, the traditional goodbye by a dwarf of another clan to one of the Ke-Ur clan is "Jane ver ferefen" ('You are forgiven') and the traditional answer is "Za wod" ('Not yet'). The favored class for the Ke-Ur clan is the Monk. Mountain Folk as Characters+2 Constitution, -2 Dexterity. Mountain folk possess the toughness of stone, but are slow on their feet. Size: Medium Base speed: 20 feet Darkvision 60 feet Stonecunning: see PHB Weapon Familiarity: Dwarves may treat dwarven war-axes as martial weapons, rather than exotic weapons. Stability: A dwarf gains a +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing on the ground (but not when climbing, flying, riding, or otherwise not standing firmly on the ground). Hard-headed: All dwarves have a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against mind-affecting spells and effects. +1 morale bonus on to-hit and damage when fighting elves. +2 racial to any two Craft, Knowledge or Profession skills. Whatever the mountain folk do, they do with patience and perseverance Automatic Languages: Thoaken, any one human language Bonus Languages: Giant, Gnome, Goblin, human languages, Nohrak, Terran Favoured Class: Fighter. </blockquote>

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