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Dwarf
Dwarves are short, stocky people of the mountains and highlands. Their close-knit clans favour sophisticated arts and crafts, home, hearth, and celebration.
At a glance
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Short, stocky humanoids with varied skin, eye and hair colours. |
| Origins and communities | Ancestral roots in the Vashnar mountains; clans favour mountains and highlands. |
| Culture | Close-knit clans, sophisticated crafts, home, and hearth; religious traditions include Dhar and Ivoln. |
| Racial abilities | Alcohol Consumer; Tremor Sense; Goldluck |
Origins and culture
The first Dwarves emerged from the Vashnar mountains in the southwest of the continent some epochs ago and began migrating northward and eastward during the rise of the Dark Empire. Formerly known as the Hlugna, they took the name Dwarf – originally a point of mockery – and galvanised it into a proper name for themselves. Favouring the mountains and highlands, the Dwarves are a small but close-knit people, though extensive clan divisions persist even into the present day. Many are divided between the Gods Dhar and Ivoln, who once formed a unified God the Dwarves revered. Dwarves share cultural elements that favour sophisticated arts and crafts, as well as an appreciation for home, hearth, and celebration. Dwarves most closely resemble short, stocky Humans with widely varying hues of eye, skin, and hair that correspond to Human variation.
Racial abilities
Level 1: Alcohol Consumer
This ability is passive.
There is no greater friend than an alcoholic beverage after a hard day of work. When consuming alcohol, it will act like food and satiate your stomach. The amount of ‘nutrition’ a drink provides depends on the alcohol content.
Level 31: Tremor Sense
Syntax: TREMORSENSE
Your feet have become sensitive to the earth’s vibrations. You can now sense adventurers burrowing through the ground below.
Level 61: Goldluck
This ability is passive.
Luck is not always on everyone’s side, but when it comes to gold, it definitely finds you. When you defeat denizens of the realm and they drop gold, you find an extra 1 to 5 gold on top.
Class ideas for roleplay
These are potential starting points for a character’s story and are offered as suggestions only. You can make almost any class/race combination work in Aetolia, since your race gives no special advantage with these classes; availability follows the usual class and guild rules.
Teradrim
A Dwarf devoted to Ivoln could turn an ancestral respect for the mountains into service as a Teradrim. Within the Apostles of Bloodloch, stone-working becomes the animation of golems and the building of monuments to an Empire that seeks divine backing for its conquests.
Earthcaller
A Dwarven warrior-priest might carry clan traditions of endurance and craftsmanship into the Earthen Dirge. Among Bloodloch’s Apostles, they would uphold their faith after Ivoln’s sacrifice and work to spread the Empire’s rule, rather than settle for a well-defended hearth.
Runecarver
A Dwarf who honours Dhar could settle in Duiran and study death as a necessary part of renewal. Runecarving gives them a religious practice centred on bones, decay, and regrowth, bringing mountain traditions into conversation with the Praadi’s defence of the Cycle.
See also: The Races of Aetolia · The World of Aetolia · Character Classes