Races of Fold: Dwarven Subraces

Sorry it's been a while; since the last post I've lost the use of my laptop (leaving me with a laggy old desktop) and moved house as well. Step's are being taken to restore the laptop and I've just acquired a new desktop!

Last entry covered the dwarves. This time, I'll look at the 'subraces' of the dwarves.

Subraces can be a bit of a contentious issue amongst players. Some supplements give a subrace for almost any environment or reason! I want to limit the spread of subraces for my setting, providing either an environmental reason for the subrace, or maybe even a cultural one. The dwarven subraces are the Dream Dwarves and the Dvergar (aka the Duergar or Grey Dwarves).

 The Dream Dwarves aren't so much a seperate race as 'mutant offspring'. The majority of the dwarven race choose not to speculate on the origins of these births, welcoming them as auspicious. Somehow, dream dwarves hold a closer bond to the Elemental Earth than other dwarves.Dream dwarves all 'touch' upon a great subconscious presence referred to as the earth dream; a powerful force, though it is not restricted to just their subrace alone. In dream dwarves this connection manifests, physically, as slightly more mineral tones in their skin, hair and eyes, in other respects it manifests as less of a focus on the 'earthly crafts' and combat training, followed by their kin, and more consideration of philosophical matters. Dream dwarves reflexes and general agility are lower than those of their brethren, but they are generally better in matters of interpersonal relations, and are gifted in matters of diplomacy when dealing with "earth" creatures (such as some elementals and Outsiders). Upon first impressions they may seem withdrawn, but they are more often than not they are just reserved, choosing their words and time to speak carefully. Their philosophical bent also manifests as a seemingly innate facility with magic of the Divination school, also reflecting their thirst for (and love of) knowledge and lore. Dream dwarves are, more often than not, followers of druidic practises, becoming advisors on spiritual and natural matters in their communities, though some may feel drawn to other roles (such as priests, arcanists or even follow a martial path). It has also been recorded that dream dwarves are capable of seeing ethereal beings, just a clearly as they would any other material being, but can differentiate between them easily. Aside from a few minor cosmetic differences, the dream dwarves are largely physically and culturally identical to the 'prime race'.

The Dvergar are a tricky area. Less of a subrace, practically a seperate race in their own rights, the 'grey dwarves' are a grim, aggressive and hateful race with a superiority complex and a murderous streak. Some scholars believe the dvergar to have been the original race created by the ancient giants, to act as subterranean servants, their size allowing them to go where giants may not. Certainly, some of their abilities attest to this, as their ability to see in the dark is greater than that of their cousins, but comes at the cost of reduced sight in stronger illumination, and they certainly carry the innate dwarven ability to sense unusual minerals, but are also seemingly immune to poisons and paralysing effects; something frequently used by subterranean terrors. Dvergar are possessed of innate 'psionic' abilities as well, specifically those of invisibility and 'expansion'; being able to grow their body to giant proportions, and fortunately their usage of these is limited and temporary, but suggests a link to the older world, when magic was still 'young'. The giants used the dvergar to find and extract rare, precious and powerful minerals and metals from the depths of Fold, and had them produce weapons and artefacts of great power, that fell into the pages of legend as weapons of the Gods and their ilk, but few legends tell of anything other than 'the grey ones who forged'. The dvergar grew hateful of others, but highly conceited in their abilities, and delved further and further underground. Some stayed nearer the surface and began becoming more and more like the dwarves known today, while the dvergar became more and more twisted and insular. In the depths of the world, their society gathered round the figure of 'the Deep Queen', their religion touting the power of their race, but crushing their joy and individuality. The race became bizarrely prideful and encouraged individuals to excel, but not to differ from the socially accepted norm; being different practically makes a dvergar one of the lesser races. In their home in the Deepworld, the dvergar hardly encounter other races, other than the drow (dark elves), with whom they contest vast tracts of territories, or sometimes ally with to overrun other regions. Physically, dvergar are slightly leaner in build than 'mountain dwarves', with visibly corded muscles, from lives spent in tireless toil, but generally about the same height and weight. Their skin is, unsurprisingly, grey; which ranges from stony to ashen, and their eyes are universally a dull amber colour. The barbels possessed by the dvergar are longer and thinner, adding a much more alien appearence to the race, not aided by their tendency to keep themselves completely bald (and those who do have hair never grow any on the tops of their heads.)

So there we have the two prominent dwarven subraces. More updates will come soon as I continue to move my files across and get back into writing this up semi-coherently.

Races of Fold: The Dwarves

Previously I spoke briefly about the basics of the races of D&D. Now, I wanted to do something special with my setting; I wanted to keep the races familiar, but with a twist. Something to make them stand out, but not wanting it to feel arbitrarily tacked on in an attempt to shoehorn interestingness into them.

The dwarves presented an interesting challenge, as they are such a stalwart fantasy race, with such an established image, and this whole stigma attached to them of being obsessed with beards, axes, gold and beer; it's arguable that many games have existed where an axe-wielding dwarven warrior who is immensely proud of his facial hair and almost constantly drunk has been the centre of attention at the table. Now, I'm not saying I don't like the idea of the dwarven warrior with his axe; it's one of those iconic images (harking back to Gimli from The Lord of the Rings), but it doesn't have to define the race. I'm not against them having a cultural relationship with beer or gold, but again; do they need to define the race? I think what I'm railing against so much is the "race of hats" ideology that crops up in sci-fi and fantasy so often. Again, referencing Eberron, they included this idea that the "Dragonmarked House Kundarak", the Dwarven Dragonmarked house, was in charge of banks and loans and finances (and associated security) within the continent of Khorvaire. I like this idea that dwarves are involved in accounting, and it may be something I incorporate.

So, what do I think are important aspects of the dwarven race, considering the abilities they're given in D&D? First and foremost; they're granted an increased Constitution (the value by which their health, hardiness and physical fortitude are measured) but a decreased Charisma (the value by which their interpersonal skills and force of personality are measured), suggesting physical toughness, but a guarded, brusque or blunt manner. Despite being smaller than humans and as such, slower, they're not slowed by heavier armour or loads, and they are given "darkvision" the ability to see in black and white in dark environments, which ties into the concept of them living underground, and as such, I see this as possibly the most important aspect of the dwarven race. They live underground, but why? There are ancient eldritch horrors and cruel humanoid races in the depths of Fold... Perhaps they evolved to where they are from an earlier lifeform? In connection to my world's creation story (more on this later), dwarves are derived from giants; specifically bred to be smaller without sacrificing too much strength, to venture into the deepest caverns to mine ore for the giants, which brings me to the next point; they have this affinity for working stone and metal, even the ability to detect unusual stone workings (such as hidden stone doors, stone-based traps etc.) and can even determine how deep underground they are as easily as a human can tell which way 'up' is. I went about thinking 'How do they do this? What kind of biological advantage would provide this kind of "sixth sense"?' This lead me to thinking about about fish, who have sensory receptors that detect electrical fields of other creatures in the water, and the barbels (the fleshy whiskers) on some species of bottom-feeding fish, such as catfish and the plecostomus species, and how these sometimes appear as a moustache and/or beard on these creatures. Plus I'd been watching a lot of Farscape at the time... And as such, my dwarves lost the iconic beard and gained barbels (tipped with some hairs), which grant them the ability to notice subtle changes in electromagnetic fields, even granting their own minor magnetic field (which can explain their racial bonus to resisting certain spell effects). And there we have it, we have the appearance of my dwarves. Though, this is still in its R&D stages, and being refined as a visual.

Now, culture, where to take this? The "planet of hats" preconception for dwarves is one of a race of loutish, blunt, beer-swilling, bearded brawlers with a severe hatred of goblins. Now, the D&D 3.5e sourcebook "Races of Stone", goes into some detail concerning dwarven culture and psychology, but I know not every D&D player will either own or have read this fully. Suffice to say, the entries regarding the dwarves have inspired some thoughts. First, I want to focus on their underground life, and how this would affect a society. First and foremost; clothing, without access to flax for linen, cotton plants and probably sheep fleeces, they're very limited in terms of materials. Races of Stone posits the use of underground roots and similar plants, probably leading to hardy but rough and uncomfortable articles, and also the use of fungi to make a kind of silk, which I find a little far-fetched (even for fantasy), however, I've no doubt that underground there is a plentiful supply of cocoon-spinning grubs from which silk could be derived, as well as the cured or tanned hides of various beings, such as reptiles and moles. Clothing would ostensibly be practical and hard-wearing, as an underground lifestyle would lead to a neglect of finery (dark, possibly damp conditions, potential hazards that would damage such items), probably sticking to muted earth tones, and colours that matched the type of stone they live near.
Second, I want to touch on the 'boozing' aspect of dwarven culture; I'm not saying that I don't agree with the idea of them being fond of drinking regularly, but it shouldn't be the defining characteristic. Also, where does an underground race get malted barley and hops from? As such, I turned to a throwaway gag from Dragon Age: Origins, made when Oghren the dwarf berserker you meet tells you about how much he loves surfacer beer, marveling at beer made from wheat, commenting on how beer in Orzammar (a grand dwarven city) is made from fungus. Beers, wines and spirits made from fungi, molds and subterranean plants all the way, and in a culture that drinks to celebrate another day ending, which leads to my next idea.
The dwarves are a race of dichotomies; they're immensely serious and prideful workers but as soon as the working day is over they like to unwind in large social groups, with communal bathhouses. They're also incredibly withdrawn around strangers or outsiders, but share openly with close family and friends, making them strangely gregarious and sociable, but they are oddly guarded about themselves as a result of their lack of personal privacy. And, either because of these close familial bonds, or the bonds resulted from this, the dwarves place a lot of honour on veneration of your ancestral line, and the 'collective' ancestral concept of the Forge Father, a deified figure connected to their love of crafting and the protection of the home; telling of the dwarves' lack of any traditional kind of god, even before Godfall. Dwarven homes are often, but not always, a married or bonded couple working in tandem, with one living as a breadwinner and the other as 'homekeeper', but this isn't exclusively a male-female divide. The breadwinner will often be working in the forges or mines, or as a warrior or sage, while the homekeeper obviously maintains the home (seen as an honourable deed owing to the cultural emphasis on family) but is also in charge of finances. No household has two breadwinners, for that is the highest taboo. Dwarven education is often undertaken by the homekeeper, but is also publically provided by the clergy in their communities, as well as some scholars and genealogists (frequently Bards and Archivists), and sometimes even Wizards and Druids.
Dwarven weapon selections are unusual given their underground lives. The favoured weapons of warriors are various kinds of axe, though spears are sometimes preferred. Axes are typically seen as tools for chopping wood, and require space to swing, so would be unsuitable in confined tunnels, which is where spears can be more useful. That said, the caverns beneath the surface are often vast and spacious, and one weapon overcomes this; the urgrosh, a combined axe and spear. Hammers are seen as a little more sensible, being favoured by their Clerics and priests, something of a metaphor in their positions as teachers, as hammers are tools frequently used by carvers, sculptors and smiths.

In dwarven society, life is regimented into 'classes'. I will admit now, I have taken a lot of inspiration from Dragon Age for this, as while the dwarves in this were visually very dull (short humans with big noses), their culture fascinated me. In Dragon Age, the dwarves are born into their caste (Noble, Merchant, Warrior, Smith, Scholar, Casteless and Surfacer) and their children share their caste. If a Warrior were to marry a Noble and produce a child, the child would share the caste of the parent with the same sex (Noble mother, Noble daughter, etc). I wanted something similar, but different for my dwarves. There's a caste system, in that certain jobs and professions are regarded more highly than others. There is no caste that is seen as being 'scum' or worthless; everyone has a place within society.

The dwarves weren't actually seen by humans until a century or two into the Age of Mortals, and not until some exploration into the subterranean caverns of the world unearthed giant statues with an abstract and highly geometric interpretation of bearded, stout humanoids. Further expeditions revealed vistas and cities designed in a similar fashion, from the very stone itself, before eventually the first contact was made. Initial reports listed dwarves as being bearded, hence numerous jokes regarding facial hair as opposed to their actual barbels. Now, they are frequently found on the surface, usually as industrial workers, traveling merchants, mercenaries or 'guards-for-hire' or representatives of dwarven trade families.

Religion in Fold, and the affect on Clerics

In the world of Fold, the Prime brought forth complex reality; the initial creative force/intelligence/urge in the universe. The Prime was responsible for the great elemental forces, including life, and created the Titans to safeguard the life allowed to grow unguided, protecting them from the Elder Evils that manifested in opposition to the Prime's works. The Titans grew bored of safeguarding and chose to make their own lifeforms, the Elder Titans creating the new Titans, who made the giants. The Elder Titans also sowed the seeds of human evolution, and even made the Gods. Weaving the threads of divine magic into their being, whilst weaving the giants from the threads of the arcane, the gods were intended as shepherds of the elements and aspects of existence. Their rise ended what is known as the Age Before and began the Age of Gods.

The gods helped in the formation of the worlds; creating life and vistas. Their being was suffused with divine essence; an essence that has been known as Godspark. The gods became prolific, some becoming cruel and arrogant, others zealous and egotistical in their 'righteousness', and they were all praised by the humans (their flock) and other races that populated Fold, and their power grew. And then, it happened. Something the gods themselves were powerless to stop; some monstrous malevolence threatened all and in battling it, the gods vanished; their power scattered back into the aetheric winds of existence, their presence, felt by all the mortals, snuffed out. They'd vanquished their foe, but at a terrible cost. Simultaneously, a number of human empires toppled. From the advanced Marru, to the magically adept "Weavers" and many others included.

Now, these causes something of an interesting dilemma, as deities are frequently something of a "linchpin" for D&D, where they act in a manner similar to the gods of Greek myth, walking the mortal world and influencing events. They have conflicts and enmities and grant miraculous powers to their followers... These are the 'Cleric' base class. Clerics are "divine" spellcasters, and pray/meditate every day for an hour to gain their spells for the day, and the powers and spells of two of their deity's "Domains", and are frequently just dismissed in games as 'priests' and 'first aid kits', as one of their primary abilities is being able to sacrifice their spells to heal as and when needed. When you think about it; it's practically abuse of their powers. Priests exist in D&D, but they're not all necessarily Clerics. Clerics should technically be revered as miracle workers; people who the gods have heard and responded to. So where does this leave Clerics in Fold; following the events of Godfall?

One of the concepts put forwards in D&D's Player's Handbook regarding Clerics is that they can follow a philosophy or set of principles instead of a deity or similar (as the Archdevil Dukes of Hell and Demon Princes of the Abyss can be worshiped/petitioned for power). Their devotion still gives them the spells that a cleric can access, as well as access to Cleric Domains. So, where does this power come from? If the deities are so willing to 'share' this magic that anyone who has faith in something can use it, why worship them? If it's a 'universal energy source' deal, what's the point in deities? Cue Godfall; the removal of the deities in "modern Fold", making it a world without Abrahamic Monotheism, or Olympian Polytheism, but rather a slightly more Buddhist/Messianic approach to religion. Religions formed around principles and philosophies; such as "The Order of Illumination" (an organisation primarily concerned with truth and 'enlightenment', as well as rooting out and destroying evil) and "Genesis" (life and birth worshipers), deified individuals from the early days after Godfall such as St. Cuthbert (justice and order) and Wee Jas (dark magic and restful deaths) and even powerful extraplanar beings such as Bahamut and Tiamat (opposing good and evil forebears of the draconic race), Cas (a vengeful fiend-lord) and the Wild Hunt (fey, elven lord of a spectral hunt across the skies on auspicious nights). When the gods vanished, their essence was disseminated across the multiverse; weaving it into the very being of reality, allowing divine powers to be drawn from near-enough anywhere, but the nature of sentient beings leads them to drawing together for support and a sense of community. Hence the existence of the new religions... And the presence of their Clerics and Paladins.