CulturaSoruce

NONE OF THIS IS TO BE CANON, just took it as a reference

**Core Values:** Honor and Discipline

Dwarven society is a strictly hierarchical one who places honor, defined as following: at the top are the artisans and engineers (interestingly enough, the dwarves view farmers as artisans as well, referring to them as artisans of the land) , followed by the warrior caste, which in turn is followed by the merchant class. The clerical caste is split between the other three castes and each cleric specializes into a specific aspect of Moradin best suited for the worship in each caste (his Creator aspect for the artisans and engineers, the Warrior aspect for the warriors and the Merchant aspect for the merchants). This caste distribution is based on order of birth: the first born will be assigned to the artisans and engineers caste, the second born to the warrior caste, the third to the mearchant caste, the fourth to the clerical caste, and from the fifth born onwards the cycle repeats. It is viewed as un-honorable for one to go against its designated role, dishonor upon both the individual and the clan he is part of, and such, this act often brings the banishment from one's clan.

**Dress Code:**

Dwarven clothes, like everything else that comes out of their hands, is a work of art. Carved leather tunics, embroidered shirts and dresses, with various metallic accents, sometimes engraved with gemstones for the more lavish and wealthy.

Almost every dwarf possesses a crafting apron. These garbs are a mix of leather and heat resistant metals and are comfortable enough to use around a forge or a crafting bench. They are very practical and simple in design.

A dwarf's pride is his armor. Carefully crafted over the years or sometimes inherited from generations before, dwarven armor is a sight to behold. Dedication in crafting shows in every layer of metal, in every binding and lock, and in every pattern etched. A fully armored dwarf leaves many stunned at their perfection. Extreme care is given to every piece of armor, and a dwarf even has a particular time of the day where, much like prayer, they exclusively dedicate time to the upkeep and maintenance of their weapons and arms. Their designs are broad and custom made, and no armor is the same as another.

Literary arts and dwarves don't make such a good combination although there are two exceptions to this: haikus and comedies. Haikus came quite natural to dwarfs, due to the fact that it pairs quite well with their language and way of thinking. Short, yet elegant and profound, dwarven haikus became quite a continent spanning phenomenon.

As for comedies, their particular style of absurd, slapstick comedy hasn't found much success beyond their nation's border, but there are some who travel from far away places to watch the comedy festival in Straborn.

**Sculpture and painting:**

Painting didn't catch on in the dwarven society. Sculpture however is basically ruled by the dwarves, the vast majority of the great sculptors are dwarves and the figure of the sculptor is very popular and appreciated in dwarven society. The most popular types of sculpture are stone and metal sculptures, wood and bone sculptures being a few and far between.

**Music:**

Dwarven music is characterized by its rhythmic structure and prominent use of drums and didgeridoos. Vocals are seldom used, and when they do make an appearance they do so in the forms of chants that follow the rhythm of the drums. (example)

**Architecture:**

Contemporary dwarven architecture is similar with German baroque architecture.

If one thing is for sure, that is the fact that dwarves love to eat and they are quite good at it. Meat is a staple in dwarven cuisine, the most common types being pork and beef, among other fatty and gamey meats (there are certain regions in which bear and wild boar are also very common). The cooking method is usually simple, most meats being either roasted or seared and lightly seasoned with salt and pepper. However, there is one technique a tad more complex borrowed from the orcs that became a staple in dwarven cuisine: sausage making.

As for vegetables, dwarves tend to prefer root vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, beetroots, and so on; but also a large variety of mushrooms. Taking into account all of this, it’s quite natural that we find stews such a prevalent type of dish in dwarven households.

**Beverages:**

There are few things in this life that go as well together as dwarves and alcohol. The fact that dwarves could go toe to toe with a Hill Giant in a drinking competition is already a pretty well known fact all over the world, and them being such heavy and prominent drinkers also made them some of the finest producers of alcoholic beverages, mainly beer and whiskey. The most known and appreciated types of beer are made by dwarven monks all over the territories of The Mountain's Republic.

**Law and Justice:**

The dwarven justice system is heavily tied to their caste system, as every caste has their own judges and no judge from one caste can sentence a member of another. There is a set of universal laws (the basics, such as: no stealing, no killing and whatnot), but it's caste has its additional set of laws and regulations (for example, the artisans and engineers caste has a law against stealing one's invention or business idea, as those fall under what dwarven law calls intellectual proprietary).

The Republic of Karregh is ruled by two consuls, a dwarf and an orc. There are also a number of other positions in the government and one must serve in all of them in order to have the right to run for consul (yeah, like the Roman Cursus Honorum).

**Coming of age ritual:**

The dwarven coming of age ritual is based on one's caste. When a dwarf reaches the age of 20 he enters an apprenticeship in service of a respectable member of his caste. Once he reaches 50 years of age, the dwarf will be presented with a test in order to fully become a recognized member of its caste and dwarven society at large.

The artisan and engineer caste's test is developing an invention or a new product or artwork, that is then graded by a council.

The warrior caste's test has the young dwarf gear up into the armor and weapon of his own making and survive for a week in the Underdark. The test is usually taken in groups of five.

The merchant caste's test consists in planning a trading route and leading a caravan, trying to bring in as much profit as you can (with the caveat that disingenuous trade practices will result in an automatic failure).

**Funeral ritual:**

The funeral ritual for dwarves involves a ceremony in which he is put into his armor and turned to stone. More wealthy dwarven clans have entire mausoleums for their ancestors, while more impoverished clans would contract a wizard to shrink the statues for ease of storage.