Dwarves

Dwarves are a race of small humanoids.

Describe key characteristics

## Biology

Dwarven Biology is remarkably similar to human biology with a few key deviations; the most immediately apparent differences are their height and their skeletal structure. Dwarves are shorter and stockier than humans, possessing both shorter and far thicker bones. Furthermore, the Dwarven ribcage extends further down their abdomen, protecting more of their vital organs but hindering their flexibility. Another obvious distinguishing characteristic of Dwarves is their massive beards. Male Dwarves grow obscene amounts of lush hair over most of their bodies, experience the most rampant growth on the lower half of their faces. For female Dwarves, their levels of body hair exist on a spectrum. Some females are equally if not hairier than their male counterparts, possessing some of the most legendary beards among Dwarven kind, while others have entirely smooth skin save for their scalps, but such "body bald" females are viewed as unattractive among Dwarves. Beautiful beards are a source of pride among Dwarves and they will go to great lengths to groom and maintain them; there is also an age-old adage among Dwarves that you should "never trust a shaven  Dwarf," an adage that is reinforced through Dwarven legal customs of shaving the beard of a criminal convicted of committing dishonorable deeds.

Dwarves also possess a secondary liver known as the Urd that is entirely devoted to processing alcohol, a necessary adaption given the Dwarven fondness of hard drinks. It is worth noting that the primary function of Urd is not to remove alcohol from their system but rather to regulate it; Dwarven mental and physical performance are at their highest when they are in a partially inebriated, or "buzzed," state. After a night of binge drinking, a dwarf will not be hungover but will instead still be quite drunk and will be able to maintain a healthy buzz for the week to come. Despite possessing this specialized organ, death due to alcohol poisoning is actually far more common among Dwarves than it is to humans due to their tendency to continue to drink in excess even when they have already done so the night prior. The Urd increases the Dwarven capacity for alcohol in their system, but it also increases their retention of alcohol, leading to fatal consequences if they do not drink responsibly.

## Psychology

Describe general personality traits that are considered common among the species as a whole

## Society

Dwarven society is highly stratified by class and profession, and there is almost no social mobility. Nobility is determined by birth and no amount of ability or valor can ever grant a common dwarf the right to enter their ranks. While nobles are the rulers and at the top of the social order, compelling all common dwarves to cater to their every want and need, they are often not the most respected members of the dwarven race. Dwarves generally rank the importance of professions as follows: craftsmen, soldiers, gatherers, workers, artists, merchants, managers, and finally bureaucrats.

Dwarven nobles are all direct descendants of the Mountain King, the first King of the Dwarves. Some suffer from severe genetic deformities due to millennia of inbreeding. Even before the Advent of Sin, Dwarven nobles were infamous for their avarice, whereas ordinary dwarves have always to value professional skills and good craftsmanship far more than gold. It is worth mentioning that absolutely all positions of formal political authority are determined exclusively through birthright and that there is no amount of incompetence or severity of congenital defects that will deny a noble from their rightful throne and assassinations and intrigue to steal positions of power is exceptionally rare among dwarves. In cases where a baron is born mentally or physically deformed to the point that they are functionally incapable of communicating with their fellow dwarves, their administrators will either act on their own discretion or attempt to fulfill what they interpret as their leader's intention. In cases of extreme failure in authority, common dwarves, especially those responsible for delivering orders or justice, will tend more to their own discretion.

## Dwarven Law

The dwarven legal system is entirely in the discretion of the local nobles, who serve as both judge and jury to any accused of crimes in their domain. While the legal authority of the nobles is almost limitless, it is worth noting that there is no death penalty or life sentence in Dwarven society; however, there is still intense forms of imprisonment and corporal punishment, the most extreme of which comes in the form of Hammerings. Hammerings are a "Correctional Measure" which involves a sentenced criminal resting their head face-down against a carved quartz slab while a Hammerer, a common dwarf that can only be appointed by the High King, pounds their skull with a silver hammer. It is not uncommon for one robust swing to be enough to kill a dwarf, but the average dwarf will often survive three. A sentence of fifty swings is the most formal sentence for the highest of crimes that would warrant an execution among any race of Ib, and in such cases, even after the indicted's brain has been reduced to nothing but pink paste, the Hammerer must continue until he has swung the full fifty times. The number of strikes that the Hammerer must perform is decreed by the noble; however, the Hammerer has full discretion over how hard he chooses to swing. In extreme scenarios, the Hammerer may choose only lightly tap the accused for each strike, as can be seen in one case where Urist the Terrible sentenced a jeweler to fifty swings for failing the impossible task of casting him a pair of slade earrings, which would have required smelting a material which not even the heat of a star's core can melt, or when Urist the Mad sentenced an arbalist to one-thousand swings for failing to shoot the sun out of the sky, which he deemed to be too bright that day. Jailors too are given a great deal of discretion in handling criminals as they can only be appointed by princes and nobles can only order the conditions of their imprisonment, not its duration which is left entirely to the jailor's judgment. Even the most torturous of holding conditions must still be lax enough that the accused's survival is guaranteed; if jailor believes they are too severe, they may release the criminal immediately, which will require them to be indicted and sentenced by the noble once more. While they can be accused and sentenced for the same crimes again immediately as there are no restrictions related to multiple jeopardy, the threat of further delay of punishment is often enough to force the impatient and vindicative nobles to compromise with jailors and acquiesce to their demands for moderation. Because of these institutional checks on noble decreed punishment combined with aristocratic codes that demand a noble give up all rank if they take matters into their own hands and personally administer corporal punishment, if a noble wishes to enact a criminal sentence that is questionably just or certainly unpopular, the most common method of doing so is through exile.

## Dwarven Engineering

While Dwarves are well known for their engineering and architectural prowess, dwarves themselves are not known for making any scientific innovations. They are excellent at perfecting existing technologies but not at making breakthroughs of their own.

## Variants

Mountain Dwarves - Hair typically Rich brunette, Grey, or Black, often braided, more conservative

Hill Dwarves - Hair Typically ginger or light brunette, more liberal

Island Dwarves - Boats, Bridges, Blonde, Ginger, and Dirty Blonde hair, do not recognize nobility

Deep Dwarves - Pale Skin and Black Hair