One of the proudest races in Calsin, the dwarves were carving out mountains when many of the other races were still building huts. Regardless of who the dwarf is, you can be certain that they're confident in what they're doing and that they'll fight you to the death over that certainty.
Most dwarven historians will claim that they crawled up from the Internal Flame itself, born of fire, forged from fire. However, historians of other nations (most notably Elsinor and Delsinar) will note that the dwarves were born from the ashes of a war, must like the aqahartis that they themselves helped create. One of the first conflicts that Calsin ever saw was a war between the orcs and the trolls, as the orcs tried to invade the Dark Realm, which the trolls called home. While the high elves doggedly refused to participate, the dark elves were more than happy to use the opportunity to further their connection with the mysterious dimension. During that war, in an attempt to create a weapon to be used against the trolls, the orcs and dark elves used magic to fuse together the blood of ogres, orcs, trolls, and elves. Their intent was to create a creature that could win all wars. Instead, the mixture created a tiny species that simply thought it could win all wars. After creating several thousand of the dwarves, the scientists grew bored of the experiment, and the dwarves tunneled out of the laboratory and into the wild. Thousands of years after that event, following the events of the Dwarven Civil War, the dwarves were divided. Some of them remained underground, in the mines of their ancestors, but others began to explore the surface world. A thousand years after this schism, this has actually resulted in distinct physical differences between the mountain dwarves and the plains dwarves.
Height: 3-4 feet(Mountain), 3.5-4.5 (Plains)
Unusual Characteristics: - While not obese, dwarves are far heavier than other races of equal height. - Extreme hair growth, particularly on the face.
Coloring: Pale (Mountain dwarves, as they rarely see the sun, are often quite pale. The dwarves of the plains, though, often exhibit a much darker spectrum of skin tones, though they still tend to be paler than other races).
Lifespan: 400-600 years
Magic: Dwarves can draw magic from rocks and minerals and apply them to physical objects in the form of enchantments.
Worshiped gods: - The dwarves worship Elementals, or powerful forces that can intervene on the dwarves' behalf. While the mountain dwarves only recognize the Internal Flame as a legitimate Elemental, the plains dwarves recognize a total of fourteen, with four primary and ten minor. - The Internal Flame - Overwhelming Wind - Consuming Wave - Brilliant Light - Morning Star - Dappled Stag - Winding Stream - Washed Stone - Floating Leaf - Swirling Sand - Polished Steel - Striking Hammer - Violent Spark - Rushing Storm
Other notes: - One of the most defining characteristics of a dwarf is his family. Most dwarves will appear at a glance to only have one name. However, their family name and their given name are usually shown together. For example, Garnisic hails from the Isic clan, with his given name being Garn. Talking to a dwarf without using his family name is one of the most insulting things you can do to a dwarf, a fact that he usually won't abide unless he happens to be too proud to make the correction.
