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Dwarf, Daernarthor

Appearance

Rugged, loyal, and hard-working, Daernarthor are usually the first dwarven race that non-dwarves encounter. The Daernarthor have given other dwarven kind a good name, for they are a good folk and one could hardly choose a more dependable ally. Daernarthor are known for their skill at craftsmanship - especially when dealing with tools of war, metals, and jewelry.
    Daernarthor prefer durable clothing, crafted from leather, riveted with steel, ornamented with cunningly crafted and rare metals. Rich and deep colors are typical for they show stains from sweat, dirt, and hard work the least. Most Daernarthor live in temperate climates and so woolen leather vests are a common accompaniment to the boots, heavy knit pants and button shirts. Delicate jewelry is a favorite production, but not one that the dwarves admire for their own decoration; rather they prefer extravagant and solidly built rings, bracers, medallions. Even so, a finely wrought blade, axe, or armor is a greater sign of station than any ring could ever be. When gifting a Daernarthor with gifts like those mentioned here, it is traditional for them to humbly turn down the gift once before accepting it, no matter how secretly pleased they may be by the offer.
    Physically, the Daernarthor stand roughly four to four-and-one-half feet tall, though they are barrel-chested, stout legged, and brawny armed to a degree that many are heavier built than a typical human. Their faces are broad and furrowed, exaggerating their expressions in a pleasant way so that a serious Daernarthor looks in deep and sagely contemplation but a laughing ones face is joyously expressive with their great square teeth, wrinkled eyes, flushed face, and booming with mirth. Their hair is thick, often tawny or earthen in color, and grows either in furious curls or straight and regal. Dreadlocks, weaves, or braids weighted with precious metal ornaments are frequent styles. Daernarthor are one of the few dwarven races that generally do not go bald in old age but keep their hair to their graves. With a lifespan of greater than four-hundred years, the Daernarthor are not the longest lived among their dwarven kin. Other dwarven races sometimes joke that this is because they deal too much with the shorter lifespan possessed races, such as humans. A Daernarthor is considered an adult at an age of fifty.
    All Daernarthor speak Dwarvenrish, and they speak it with relish. Thick with rumbling, rolling consonants and deep, throaty vowels. Any band of traveling Daernarthor has a member among them who can speak the common tongue in the lands they intend to travel through. They consider it a mild offense when others enter into their homeland and are unprepared to speak in the native tongue. Daernarthor consider the speaking of languages to be a highly valuable skill and many are able to speak several languages other than their own. Dwarven cyphers are some of the most elaborate and skillful to be found in the world.

Combat

There is little that a Daernarthor enjoys more than a contest of martial skill. While other races might be content with arm-wrestling, cuts and bruises are the fare of playful Daernarthor boxing, wrestling, and chaotic tussles. Unafraid, or unwilling to admit timidity in the face of a stronger foe, Daernarthor enter combat with boistrous bravado.
    Daernarthor favor the traditional weapon of their ancestors, the dwarven waraxe, a weapon with which even a dwarven warrior of meager skill has proficiency. In serious combat, the Daernarthor prize origanization and tactics, using the terrain about them to their advantage with expert skill. Dwarven sappers and engineers are highly prized by those who plan to assault a fortified stronghold.
    Dwarven Traits (Ex): Daernarthor possess the following racial traits which give them an advantage over their foes.

• Daernarthor can move at their base land speed even when wearing medium or heavy armor or when carrying a medium or heavy load (unlike other creatures, whose speed is reduced in such situations).
• 60 foot range darkvision.
• Stonecunning: +2 racial bonus to notice unusual stonework. Something that isn't stone but is disguised as stone also counts as unusual stonework. A Daernarthor who merely comes within 10 feet of unusual stonework can make a check as though actively searching and can use the Search skill to find stonework traps as a rogue can. A Daernarthor can also intuit depth, sensing the approximate distance underground as naturally as a human can sense which way is up.
• Daernarthor may treat dwarven waraxes and dwarven urgoshes as martial weapons, rather than exotic weapons.
• +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bullrushed or tripped when standing on the ground (but not when climbing, flying, riding, or otherwise not standing firmly on the ground).
• +2 racial bonus to Fortitude saves against all poisons.
• +2 racial bonus to saving throws against spells and spell-like abilities.
• +1 racial bonus to attack rolls against orcs (including half-orcs) and goblinoids.
• +4 dodge bonus to Armor Class against monsters of the giant type. Anytime a creature loses its Dexterity bonus (if any) to Armor Class, such as when it's caught flat-footed, it loses its dodge bonus too.
• +2 racial bonus to Appraise checks and Craft or Profession checks that are related to stone or metal.

Habitat/Society

Daernarthor dwell in massive fortresses carved from the stone faces of hills, cliff sides, and mountains. Their homes display a rugged beauty that compliments the land about it. The largest Daernarthor populations are Grimmerhore, Deependelv, and Dwarvenrish, both magnificent kingdoms of stone built into the Cruth Mountains; Stronmountain, where rock and precious metals mined from the earth form incredible towers built into the mountainside; and the Aken Halls, where the most reclusive of the Daernarthor dwell atop the tallest of mountaintops and mine gold said to be so plentiful that it colors the rivers that roll down the slopes. They can also be found in the Wildridge Mountains to the south of the Desert of Three Winds and scattered throughout the mountains near Elderkyn. Near and beneath their cities and fortresses are vast mines from which come their precious metals and gems.
    Daernarthor civilizations are organized into clans called Thûrs, which are led by a Thûrbardane, or clan lord. Each Thûrbardane holds a seat on the Ulud, a council which advises and petitions their needs to the Thane, the king of the dwarves in that nation. Two special positions rest just beneath the Thane in power: the Tholindukar, a high priest of that faith closest to the Thane's liking, and the Khazadukar, the Thane's champion and general of war. These two positions are appointed by the Thane. Rulership is inherited, though can be taken away by the Ulud if both the Khazadukar and the Tholindukar agree to a vote of no-confidence. Following such a rare occasion, the throne of the is held for a descendant of the Thane to come of age. Daernarthor are deeply loyal to their leaders, countrymen, and other dwarves. Even clans that normally fight against each other will join together in the face of a common enemy. These ties, traditions, and loyalties are passed down from generation to generation and they form powerful bonds.
    The Daernarthor welcome trade with other races, though they are wary of forging long term trade agreements with shorter lived races since such deals have in the past proven fickle to keep with such races often changing leadership and politics.
    Men and women Daernarthor share equal positions in dwarven society. Each has its traditional roles, but there are plenty of female warriors of renown and the menfolk do not begrudge the desires of women willing to lead a militant lifestyle. Daernarthor prize large families and are happy to recount for strangers the lengthy history of their clan, cousins, third cousins, and so forth. Many outsiders find Daernarthor family structures to be puzzling and often they wonder at how each dwarf can have such a great family and yet their civilizations are modest compared to those of humans. Some privately joke that all dwarves are related to each other and that to ask one of his heritage is to ask for the history of their race. On the other hand, the Daernarthor are proud to be able to claim such a tight knit relationship with their kin.
    Daernarthor worship the same deities as all other races, but know them by different names and aspects. Most Daernarthor worship not one, but several gods. Clannadigan (Brakah) the Earth Mason is worshiped as creator of all things. His two sons Khazadul (Daer-Koch) the Warrior and Tholin (Lathidus) the Temper of Law watch over most day-to-day affairs of Deep Home society. Madalin (Illustree) the Shard, wife to Khazadul, is both a historian, bard, and fertility goddess. Her children are Harn (Zhakrin) who guards the gates of the afterlife, counts all that is to be counted in the realm of mortals, and tests the souls of the dead; and Thase who consumes the wicked (Azhull) that are not fit for the afterlife that Clannadigan has prepared for all good dwarves.

Ecology

Daernarthor hunt the hills and mountains for food to feed their kin, grow farmlands on terraced hills, and trade manufactured goods to other races in return for foodstuffs to supplement their diet. As is well known, dwarves also spend a fair amount of energy concocting alcoholic brews, drafts, ales, beers, stouts, lagers, and the like of which even the most poorly crafted still fetch a pretty penny when sold to the taverns of other races. Daernarthor tend to settle their clans in one place for many, many generations, defending it to the death if need be. Usually their cities are built in places that are just a little out-of-the-way for other races to get to. This way, there's no mistaking when one is in dwarven lands and when one is not.

Variants and Resources

Daernarthor of Deep Home: An overview of the country called Deep Home.