Dwarf Details

Dwarves, also known as the Depth-Dwellers, are a short and stocky people who often make their homes underground, in the mountains and hills of Kamiato. They value both the martial arts and fine craftsmanship. While many dwarven communities are reclusive and insular, those who manage to gain their trust, or friendship, find them to be warm and loyal companions.

Appearance and Physiology

Dwarves are humanoids distinguished by their short and stocky stature, with adults standing between four and five feet tall on average. They are one of the longer-lived peoples of Kamiato, living up to 200 years on average. Their birth rate is between that of humans and elves, and they reach maturity around the age of 40. The rate of facial hair growth in dwarven men increases quite significantly around this age. Even some dwarven women also begin to grow light facial hair that can eventually rival that of human men, though it rarely competes with the beards and moustaches of dwarven men. Prominent noses and ears are characteristic dwarven features.

Society

Dwarven societies vary quite significantly based on their bloodline. Regardless of region, mountain dwarves and hill dwarves tend to have more in common than two bloodlines from the same general region. Mountain dwarves are rarely found living in places outside of their mountain holds. They typically find life in outside cities uncomfortable. Hill dwarves, on the other hand, can be found in non-dwarven settlements, as well as their own fortresses located amidst the hills.

Dwarf Bloodlines

There are two dwarven bloodlines, distinguished by the environments they have chosen as their homes.

Hill Dwarves

The hill dwarves come from dwellings in the lowland hills. They are the most prominent bloodline across Kamiato, and are more open to the outside world, and time spent on the surface, than their mountain kin. While all dwarves are considered fairly reclusive, the hill dwarves have a reputation as they friendlier of the two bloodlines. They make up the majority of dwarves found in non-dwarven settlements.

The most well-known hill dwarf communities dwell in the foothills surrounding the Spiritwood. Their settlements and fortresses often begin on the surface, as they lack the towering peaks and mountains to build their settlements into. Hill dwarf settlements typically have a single structure aboveground, sometimes urrounded by a wall and gate, while the rest of the settlement is located underground, with tunnels connecting different chambers that fulfill the functions of a typical overground settlement.

Mountain Dwarves

The mountain dwarves, as their name suggests, live in the mountains. They are most concentrated among the Iron Fangs, where mountain dwarf tribes and clans have lived since before the times of the empire of Hinode and the Shogunate of Steel. Said to be the prime bloodline from which the hill dwarves are ultimately descended, the mountain dwarves are slightly taller on average, and more reclusive than their lowland kin.

Fortress and settlements of the mountain dwarves are carved directly into the sides of mountains and volcanoes, forming vast networks of interconnected chambers that stretched deep beneath the mountains. Their structures are often grim and austere, especially in the harsh volcanic landscape of the Iron Fangs. This environment has shaped the grim and militaristic culture of the mountain dwarves, and incursions by human empires, raids from the Dragon Sea, and bands of roving oni have only served to reinforce it.