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Message: <blockquote data-quote="monsmord" data-source="post: 9667271" data-attributes="member: 6876475">Clearly dwarves...eat. And probably not just fungus and subterraneous beasts. Stereotypically, they also like to drink ale and beer. And do dwarves like flavouring beyond mined salt, and if so, where are they getting herbs and spices? Short of truly fantastical worlds/ecologies/biologies, dwarves must be growing and foraging "surface" food for themselves; even if robust trade is assumed, it would be foolish to rely solely on others for staples. (An argument could be made that the iconic dwarven pride is rooted in self-sufficiency.) Farming, fishing, hunting, foraging, and animal husbandry/herding on the surface seems not just plausible but almost certain. And maybe they've developed a taste for coal-smoke-cured meats, but they're probably also using wood for other things, so some forestry is likely. (I mean, axes, yes?) Hmm - if their mountainous region is not persistently cold, maybe some high-elevation step farming? Being dwarves, they likely know soil almost as well as rock, so there might be experts in irrigation and soil treatment and remediation to improve crop yields, and remediation might require sea-based materials (fish, seaweed). Supplement all that with the herding and hunting of mountain-acclimated species (goats, sheep, predators, or their fantasy equivalents)?Metal ships? YES. Enormous metal wagons that convert to boats that convert to submarines with metal appendages for hunting, acquisition, defense, or even attack (dwarf Viking pirates in a Nautilus)? YES.In a homebrew alternate Earth campaign many years ago, I had dwarves be descended from Neanderthals, too. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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