Dwarf
From Illapedia
The race of the Dwarves is described here.
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[edit] 1 The Race of the Dwarves
The Dwarves are an old race. According to history, they were the third race who developed their own writing. In the very beginning it was based on pictograms – a simple and easy to carve picture of the true meaning of the word. It was mainly used to record the history of the dwarves and for religious purposes, thus being of a more sacrosanct nature and having no real value for daily life. But over the centuries these pictograms developed and became more simple, corresponding with the need of a writing being useful for daily life. In the end the old dwarven writing developed into a rune like writing, only few are still able to read or write the old pictograms.
A dwarf is smaller than a human, but taller than a halfling. Dwarves have very broad shoulders and strong, stable bones. In their legends, Irmorom, the God of Craftsmanship, has carved the first dwarves out of a rock, that was given to him by Ushara, the Goddess of Earth. In early times, most dwarven clans dwelled in Mountain Valleys, where they discovered strange rocks that started to burn when exposed to fire - coal. They started to dig for it, and traded the coal with other races. Deeper and deeper into the earth they were driving the tunnels to get access to coal and in this process they found other rocks: iron ore, jewels and even gold. After several hundred years, the iron replaced most of the earlier copper tools.
Than one day many orc tribes were forced to seek new hunting grounds. They travelled into dwarven territory. Several clashes and confrontations arose from this and the dwarven clans, one by one, agreed to retreat into their mines and caves and to take their animals and resources with them. They easily resisted the orcs with their advanced weaponry and armour and went into the prepared and hidden mines during one single winter. The orcs, who scouted the valleys in springtime, found left cottages and villages without anything useful left. They thought that the dwarves, who had been very strong enemies, must have suffered from a mighty curse and vanished. These rumours were aided as every orcish scout who approached the mines or found an entrance by accident or superior scouting skills, vanished and was never seen again.
The orcish tribes left the „cursed valleys“ and moved on to find new hunting grounds while the dwarves dug deeper and deeper into the mountains and discovered beautiful caves. They decided to stay in their caves and mines and built great halls and vast underground cities. Few dwarven houses were left on the surface, mainly for trading purposes or for growing natural resources.
Dwarves are not very interested in magic, except for Rune crafting magic. They prefer good handwork, and fine crafted items. They love the shine of gold and the cold fire of beautiful jewels. They love the taste of a good dwarven, strong beer. Their towns and caves are lightened by different light sources: Huge, thick glass-structures that direct light from the mountains deep into their halls, torches and lamps, as well as different gemstones, crafted with strong runes to produce light and warmth where they are needed. The dwarven counterpart to a mage is a „Rune Crafter“ or „Rune Master“ - they carve the magic instead of speaking it. This is a more „safer“, but less spontaneous magic, since possible failures do not hurt the crafter, but only the item it was carved on.
The crafting of runes has different effects, triggered by actions, words, movements or thoughts. These items recharge with a certain, slow rate or can be „reloaded“ by a rune crafter or mage. Some of the weaker effects work all the time without necessity to be „recharged“, others draw their magic energies from the owner himself. These rune-magic has more practical than aggressive use.
Dwarven Society is organized in clans. A dwarven city can consist of one or two bigger or several smaller clans. The leader of a dwarven clan is called „Clan Lord“ or „High Lord“, the leader of a dwarven town is called „King“. Every Clan in a dwarven City has a great hall, where the Clan Lord resides. The family buildings or caves, called „Family Halls“ surrounds the Great Hall. Only the king's family quarters are connected with the Great Hall. Most dwarven clan halls have a separate shrine for the clan god. In most cases this would be Irmorom but also Ushara is highly praised, sometimes even Cherga is worshipped.
Every dwarven clan consists of several families. A typical dwarven family consists of a man, his wife, and the children. A common number of children is two to four. When getting married, a new family is founded and they choose a new family name. This is the reason why dwarves tell their names by „Son of... and ... Son of...“ etc., female dwarven name their mothers and grandmothers. The actual, self-chosen family name is not mentioned and never told to strangers. This is done to prevent curses against the family.
Dwarven cemeteries lie underground, too. Buried deep beneath the surface, they are located outside, far below the towns of the living. Every Dwarven family has a family tomb. Most dwarven tombs are double graves, for the man and the woman. Every child that dies before getting married is buried in the tomb of its parents. Dwarves do not enclose golden gifts into the graves. Gold is an element of the living and has nothing to do with the dead. Dwarven grave gifts are often beautiful stone or jewel coins representing the good things a dwarf did in his life. At a special place in front of the grave the story of the dead one's life is placed and sometimes his whole life story is carved into the grave walls. Dwarven warriors are often buried in stone armour with stone weapons and often a stone mask is placed upon their face - their spirits may protect the clan in times of great trouble.
[edit] 2 Religious directions of the Dwarves
Worshipped Deities:
The national creed of the dwarvenkind reflects the dwarven traditions. Although the dwarves believe in the existance of the other Gods and they are present in their mythologies, it is extremely rare that a dwarf would forget his upbringing and pray to any other deity than Irmorom, Ushara, or Cherga. The other deities have nothing to do with the dwarves—with Irmorom's assistance, of course, they have created the other races.
Irmorom, also titled as the „Dwarven Father“ or „Longbeard“, is supposed to be the creator of the dwarves. He had hewn them from the stone itself, and under the eyes of the dwarves he created the bones of the other races and animals, because bones are naturally made of stone—their light weight is explained only in that Irmorom was so wise to punch tiny holes into them, as so they could be lighter and more sturdy. Who else other than a God would be able to perform such pieces of artwork?
Among the dwarvenkind, there are many interpretations and philosophies of the happenstances during the era of creation. For the sake of example, „The Revelation of Tialdin“ is detailed here. It deals with a partially interpreting compilation of copies of ancient dwarven scripture, which the king had discovered in an old mine of the legendary „eighth mountain“ of the dwarven realms. The majority of dwarvenkind believes that Irmorom himself had hewn Illarion from a stone from the cliff of the mountain Borag-Urubur, the „Mountain of Origin“, and thus created the world. Ushara, by Irmorom's bidding, covered the bare rocks with earth; Tanora added some water, and Findari encompassed all with air; upon which Brágon brought fire to provide Illarion with warmth and illumination. The other Gods created the plants and the creatures. When Irmorom created the dwarves and gave them bones of stone, the other Gods bid him for the stone bones as well, so they too could devise sturdy creatures with them. Moshran on the other hand, crafted creatures from Chitin for them to have a shell, and filled them with mucous (which he had stolen from Nargûn when the God of Chaos had suffered a cold). These creatures served the sole purpose to disgust the dwarves and other races and instill them with fear, and in some cases, eat them. Irmorom however recognized some of their potential, and so it came that he blessed some of their kind, making them to nutritious delicacies.
In consequence, Moshran was so frustrated that even he bid Irmorom for bones of stone and Brágon for assistance to create the orcs - the race that, till today, holds the potential to drive the most patient dwarves into a frenzied rage, and hold absolutely no potential for delicacies, rather as a target.
It is the belief of the dwarves that in the afterlife, Cherga leads them to an infinitely huge mountain, the „Borag-Urubur“. This mountain is the home of the Gods and so large, that the world of Illarion was hewn from a single stone of its slope.
There, the ancestors await them and accompany them to the eternal halls of the mountain. Irmorom will ask them personally about their lives, and every dwarf who speaks truthfully and has lived honorably and righteously, shall be accepted by him into the eternal halls. Those who lie and lived dishonorably are banished into the land outside of the gates to the halls, where they dwell as peasants and shepherds; which wouldn't be all too bad, if it was not for the forests of the „Longears“ (Elves) and the plains of the „Pignoses“ (Orcs) being immediately nearby. The more honorful, reputed, and glorious the life of a dwarf was, the more glorious and honorful will his afterlife be.
It is also a common belief among dwarves, that Irmorom sometimes already rewards a wise dwarf with fortune and loyal fellowship in their lifetimes.
[edit] 3 The revelations of Tialdin
((Only the first revelation is translated, see Moonsilver. So, nothing is added yet.))
[edit] 4 The names of Dwarves
Traditionally, the dwarven names begin with consonants B, D, F, G, T or with the vowel A. The male name usually comprises out of two and female name from three syllables. Male names often end to an R, K or N, while the female names commonly end to an A or I.
Examples: Borak, Belegi, Fjalara, Thorik, Dagur.
The dwarven surnames are mostly related to the profession of the dwarf, the name of his clan or family. It is common that when a Dwarf moves away from his home or clan, that he takes entirely new surname to represent his new position. Outcasts of the dwarven community tend to abandon their old names aswell. Dwarven women usually take the surname of her husband after marriage. They are usually two words put together, a substantive + verb OR adjective. Examples of common subjects in names: Iron, Bronze, Gold, Stone, Axe and Digger, Finder, Hammer, Master, Shaper, Forger.
Name examples: Bronzehammer, Axeforger, Stonemaster, Goldshaper, Irondigger.
[edit] 5 Cities of the Dwarves
[edit] 6 See also
- Silverbrand
- Dwarves, sorted alphabetically
