Stout Folk ; The Dwarven Peoples

[sandcastles]

The Samman
Races of the Dwarves

As enduring as the earth from which they were shaped, the Stout Folk once ruled vast empires that sprawled on and beneath the surface of Faerûn. After centuries of decline, most dwarven kingdoms are gone, but the fruits of their labors survive, unbowed by the passage of time. In recent years, the Thunder Blessing has sparked a dwarven renaissance that might one day restore the Stout Folk to their former glory.


Racial History

Most nondwarven scholars believe that the Stout Folk are an interloper race, not native to Abeir-Toril, who arrived so long ago that they have become one with the earth and stone of Faerûn. However, the collective dwarven racial memory holds that their ancestors sprang fully formed from the heart of the world itself, fashioned of iron and mithral in the Soulforge, shaped by the All-Father's hammer, and then given life by the breath of Moradin. The oldest myths claim that the first dwarves fought their way up from the world's core to the mountains above, overcoming many dangers along the way through strength, skill, and force of arms.

The first dwarven settlements appeared in the great mountain range known as the Yehimal, which lies at the juncture of the three great continents of Faerûn, Kara-Tur, and Zakhara. From there, the earliest dwarves migrated into all three lands. Those who came to Faerûn settled beneath modern-day Semphar before spreading eastward, founding innumerable settlements along the way. Once isolated branch of this great migration settled amid the isolated peaks of the Novularond, and eventually became known as the arctic dwarves.

The first great kingdom of the dwarves of Faerûn was centered in the great cavern of Bhaerynden deep beneath the Shaar. The first great schism of the dwarves of Bhaerynden began more than twelve thousand years ago when Taark Shanat the Crusader led a great westward migration. The emigrants eventually became known as shield dwarves, and established the great empire of Shanatar beneath the lands of Amn, Tethyr, Calimshan, and the Lake of Steam. From their number, Dumathoin created the urdunnir, who moved into the depths and became creatures of legend. Meanwhile, Bhaerynden fell to the drow after the elven Crown Wars and the descent of the dark elves, and the dwarves of southern Faerûn were driven into exile.

In the millennia that followed, new divisions appeared among the Sout Folk. The mind flayers of Oryndoll, deep beneath the Shining Plains, enslaved the shield dwarves of Clan Duergar. Their descendants became known as gray dwarves after throwing off the shackles of their illithid masters and spreading throughout the Underdark. Some dwarves who fled Bhaerynden's collapse reached the Jungles of Chult, where they abandoned their subterranean homes. Members of this isolated branch eventually became known as wild dwarves. After the first drow kingdom of Telantiwar tore itself apart in civil war, the great cavern of Bhaerynden collapsed to form the Great Rift. Those dwarves who resettled the caverns of the Deep Realm surrounding the Great Rift eventually became known as gold dwarves. As Shanatar declined, the shield dwarves migrated north to settle the great kingdoms of the North and eventually migrated eastward along the shores of the Moonsea and into the mountains of north-central Faerûn.

Today, dwarves are found all across Faerûn, although the greatest concentrations are found in the North, the Cold Lands, the Great Rift, and the Underdark. Although the Stout Folk are easily segregated into distinct subraces with distinct racial traits, such distinctions by no means reflect the entirety of dwarven diversity. Numerous cultural, historical, political, and social divisions remain even within the ranks of a specific dwarven subrace.

Dwarven Racial Traits
(subraces may provide alternate ability score adjustments)

• +2 Constitution, -2 Charisma: Dwarves are stout and tough but tend to be gruff and reserved.
  
• Medium: As Medium creatures, dwarves have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
  
• Dwarf base land speed is 20 feet. However, dwarves can move at this 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).
  
• Darkvision: Dwarves can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only but is otherwise like normal sight, and dwarves can function just fine with no light at all.
  
• Stonecutting: This ability grants a dwarf a +2 racial bonus on Search checks to notice unusual stonework, such as sliding walls, stonework traps, new construction (even when built to match the old), unsafe stone surfaces, shaky stone ceilings, and the like. Something that isn't stone but that is disguised as stone also counts as unusual stonework. A dwarf who merely comes within 10 feet of unusual stonework can make a Search check as if he were actively searching, and a dwarf can use the Search skill to find stonework traps as a rogue can. A dwarf can also intuit depth, sensing his approximate depth underground as naturally as a human can sense which way is up. Dwarves have a sixth sense about stonework, an innate ability that they get plenty of opportunity to practice and hone in their underground homes.
  
• Weapon Familiarity: Dwarves may treat dwarven waraxes and dwarven urgrorshes as martial weapons, rather than exotic weapons.
  
• Stability: Dwarves are exceptionally stable on their feet. A dwarf gains a +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing on the ground (but not when climbing, flying, riding, or otherwise not standing firmly on the ground).
  
• +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison: Dwarves are hardy and resistant to toxins.
  +2 racial bonus on saving throws against spells and spell-like effects: Dwarves have an innate resistance to magic spells.
  
• +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against orcs (including half-orcs) and goblinoids (including goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears): Dwarves are trained in the special combat techniques that allow them to fight their common enemies more effectively.
  
• +4 dodge bonus to Armor Class against monsters of the giant type (such as ogres, trolls, and hill giants): Tish bonus represents special training that dwarves undergo, during which they learn tricks that previous generations developed in their battles with giants. Any time 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. The Monster Manual has information on which creatures are of the giant type.
  
• +2 racial bonus on Appraise checks that are related to stone or metal items: Dwarves are familiar with valuable items of all kinds, especially those made of stone or metal.
  
• +2 racial bonus on Craft checks that are related to stone or metal: Dwarves are especially capable with stonework and metalwork.
  
• Automatic Languages: Common and Dwarven. Bonus Languages: Giant, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, Terran, and Undercommon. Dwarves are familiar with the languages of their enemies and of their subterranean allies.
  
• Favored Class: Fighter. A multiclass dwarf's fighter class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing. Dwarven culture extols the virtues of battle, and the vocation comes easily to dwarves.

Source: Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 Edition - Player's Handbook page 15

The Stout Folk

Arctic Gold Gray

Shield Urdunnir Wild

Note: Only Gold dwarves and Shield dwarves are playable dwarven subraces on SFS.


Random Starting Ages

Race	Adulthood	Simple¹	Moderate²	Complex³
Dwarf (any)	40 years	+3d6	+5d6	+7d6

¹ The simple classes are barbarian, rogue, and sorcerer.
² The moderate classes are bard, fighter, paladin, and ranger.
³ The complex classes are cleric, druid, monk, and wizard.

Aging Effects

Subrace	Middle Age¹	Old Age²	Venerable³	Maximum Age
Dwarf (any)	125 years	188 years	250 years	+2d% years

¹ -1 to Str, Con, and Dex; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha
² -2 to Str, Con, and Dex; +1 to Int, Wis and Cha.
³ -3 to Str, Con, and Dex; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

Random Height and Weight

Subrace	Base Male Height	Base Female Height	Base Height Mod	Base Male Weight	Base Female Weight	Base Weight Mod
Arctic	2'8"	2'4"	+2d4	50 lb.	40 lb.	x (1d4) lb.
Gold	3'9"	3'7"	+2d4	130 lb.	100 lb.	x (2d6) lb.
Gray	3'9"	3'7"	+2d4	110 lb.	80 lb.	x (2d4) lb.
Shield	4'2"	4'0"	+2d4	145 lb.	110 lb.	x (2d6) lb. (m)| x (2d4) lb. (f)
Urdunnir	4'2"	4'0"	+2d4	180 lb.	150 lb.	x (2d8) lb.
Wild	2'8"	2'6"	+2d4	50 lb.	40 lb.	x (1d4) lb.

Source: Player's Guide to Faerûn. / Races of Faerûn.

[sandcastles]

The Arctic Dwarves

Regions: Damara, the North, Vaasa, Arctic Dwarf.
Racial Feats: Hammer Fist, Oral History, Swarmfighting.
Level Adjustment: +2

Arctic dwarves, who call themselves the Inugaakalikurit, are the isolated inhabitants of Faerûn's northernmost reaches. Native to the mountains at the heart of the Great Glacier and other northerly regions, arctic dwarves are little known to the outside world. Many arctic dwarves are rangers, barbarians, or fighters, for they hold little interest in the spellcasting arts or godly worship.

Arctic dwarves are unique among the Stout Folk in that they do not grace their ancestry back to Bhaerynden, the great cavern that later fell to the drow of Telantiwar and now lies open as the Great Rift. As such, they have little in common with other Stout Folk, lacking any common political, religious, craft, or magical traditions. In recent years, a handful of arctic dwarves have migrated across the icy northern wastes to establish new settlements along the shores of the Great Ice Sea and in the Silver Marches, but for the most part the Inugaakalikurit have dwelt in splendid isolation for uncounted generations, wholly content wit their lot in life.

Arctic dwarves are squat and hardy, with blocky bodies, pinched faces, and stubby legs. They rarely exceed 3 feet in height and are nearly as broad as they are tall. Their eyes are bright blue, their cheeks as ruddy as apples. Their skin is white, almost bluish, but because of their fondness for basking under the bright sun, many of them are sunburned red from head to toe, a condition that causes them no discomfort or other ill effects. Their fingers and toes are thick and blunt and their feet flat and wide. Curly white hair covers their heads and tumbles down their backs nearly to their waists. Males sport short beards and twisting mustaches. Both sexes favor simple tunics of polar bear fur and generally go barefoot.

Arctic dwarves are open and friendly and can be quite sociable with neighboring races, with the exception of frost giants, whom they despise. Unlike other dwarves, Inugaakalikurit have little interest in mining or crafts, instead devoting themselves to hunting, raising children, and leisure. Traditional dwarven strictures, such as those imposed by family and clan, hold little weight in arctic dwarf society, and history and the past achievements of one's ancestors are seen as little more than a source of enjoyable tales. Arctic dwarves are quite curious about the outside world, although they have little inclination to go and see it.

Arctic dwarves have the life expectancy and age categories defined for dwarves in the Player's Handbook and use modified height and weight characteristics instead. (These are provided in the first post)


History

Since the arctic dwarves have no historical record other than their own stories, little is known about the true history of this enigmatic subrace. Scholars believe that the arctic dwarves migrated into northern Faerûn around the same time as the Stout Folk who originally founded Bhaerynden, but, if that is true, they have left no trace of their passing. Some claim that the Inugaakalikurit once ruled a northern empire that rivaled great Bhaerynden, but the Great Glacier long ago crushed any ruins that it might have left.

Arctic dwarves did not always claim the towering peaks of Novularond as their home. Prior to the coming of the Ulutiuns, they dwelt in small villages across the Great Glacier. Since adapting to their alpine homes, the arctic dwarves have dwelt in quiet isolation, untouched by the passage of time.


Outlook

Arctic dwarves are friendly and outgoing, little concerned with class or clan distinctions. They enjoy life to the fullest and see little reason to accumulate wealth or material possessions. They believe in hunting and gathering sufficient food to feed themselves but otherwise have little interest in labor of any sort. They strive to spend as much time as possible in leisurely pursuits, storytelling, sports such as wrestling, and games with their children.

Arctic dwarves are rarely drawn to adventuring, but those who do usually evince a curiosity about other cultures so strong that they willingly forgo the life of leisure they might otherwise pursue. Instead of waiting to chance upon evidence of other cultures in their remote glacial homes, they head out to explore the world, seeking out the exotic and the new. As such, they stumble into adventures by happenstance, happily exploring any new environment they come across.


Arctic Dwarf Characters
Arctic dwarves typically make good rangers and barbarians, since they are well equipped to survive in extreme environments. Likewise, generations of battling frost giants and other monsters have given rise to a strong martial tradition. The self-sufficiency of these classes enables arctic dwarves to feel comfortable about their continued survival and hence engenders the relaxed attitude many feel toward life. Inugaakalikurit have no arcane spellcasting tradition, and their lack of religious faith precludes the role of cleric or paladin. Arctic dwarves often multiclass as ranger/fighters or ranger/barbarians.

Favored Class: An arctic dwarf's favored class is ranger. The harsh polar environment of the Great Glacier rewards those who possess excellent survival skills, and the intermittent feuding between the Inugaakalikurit and their frost giant enemies demands the specialized skills of a giant-killing ranger.


Arctic Dwarf Society

Arctic dwarf culture is remarkably homogeneous, the result of centuries of isolation from the other races of Faerûn. Compared to other dwarven cultures, Inugaakalikurit place almost no emphasis on bloodline or clan. While individual accomplishment does garner respect, rarely are such feats remembered for more than a generation. The pursuit of leisure is placed above hard work or skilled artisanship, and few arctic dwarves are driven to accomplish more than continued survival.

Arctic dwarves receive a great deal of individual attention in childhood, with all adult members of the community serving as parental figures to varying degrees. Little is expected of Inugaakalikurit youth, so they spend their days engaged in playful pursuits. As adults, each arctic dwarf is expected to contribute to the community's well-being, but there is little societal reward for doing more than the minimum required. Elderly arctic dwarves are considered to have earned the right to live out the rest of their days engaging in leisurely pursuits and are simply encased beneath the ice and snow when death finally claims them.

Arctic dwarves have emigrated in such small numbers from their mountain homes that they have very little experience as minorities within other cultures. Those who do leave usually look for individuals of similar temperament, regardless of race, and attempt to recreate the easygoing lifestyle of their native villages.


Language and Literacy

Like all dwarves, arctic dwarves speak a dialect of Dwarven and employ the Dethek rune alphabet. They also speak the dialect of Common spoken in Sossal. The Inugaakalikurit dialect of Dwarven is known as Kurit and has strong ties to Uluik, the Ulutiun tongue spoken by the humans of the Great Glacier and the Ice Hunters of the North. Common secondary languages include Uluik, Giant, Damaran, and Draconic, which enable arctic dwarves to communicate with their neighbors.

All arctic dwarf characters are literate except for barbarians, adepts, aristocrats, experts, warriors, and commoners.


Abilities and Racial Features

Arctic dwarves have all of the dwarven racial traits listed in the Player's Handbook, (as listed in the first post) except as follows:

• +4 Strength, -2 Dexterity, +2 Con, -2 Charisma. Arctic dwarves are incredibly strong, but shorter and more stout than other dwarven subraces.
  
• Small: As Small creatures, arctic dwarves gain a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide Checks, but they must use smaller weapons than humans use, and their lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of Medium-size characters.
  
• Immune to cold.
  
• Automatic Languages: Dwarven, Common, home region. Bonus Languages: By Region.
  
• Favored Class: Ranger.
  
• Level Adjustment: +2. Arctic dwarves are significantly stronger on average than most Stout Folk, and they possess an immunity to cold. They are slightly more powerful and gain levels more slowly than the common races of Faerûn.

Arctic Dwarf Magic and Lore

Arctic dwarves take a pragmatic view towards magic: It's useful if it helps them hunt, but otherwise spells and spellcasters - especially arcane ones - are a matter for tales told to youngsters.

Spells and Spellcasting
Arctic dwarves do not have an arcane spellcasting tradition. Since they do not worship the dwarven deities, they lack a strong divine spellcasting tradition as well.

Most arctic dwarf spellcasters are druids, adepts, and rangers. The druids in particular have an affinity to fire magic, because many of their most common foes (such as frost worms) fear and hate flames.

Arctic Dwarf Magic Items
Arctic dwarves rarely employ magic items, as they do not have a cultural tradition of clerics or arcane spellcasters to craft such items. Those few items that do exist are usually fashioned by druids or the rare arctic dwarf arcane spellcaster and include such items as amulets of natural armor and snow shoes of speed (identical to boots of speed).

In caves carved into the Great Glacier, arctic dwarves nurture coin-sized ice crystals of exceeding sharpness. Called kerrenderit in the Kurit tongue, these crystals can be magically enhanced to form deadly arrowheads. The kerrenderit crystals take a long time to form in their icy caves, so only the greatest hunters among the arctic dwarves carry kerrenderit arrows in their quivers.


Arctic Dwarf Deities

Among the various dwarven subraces, the Inugaakalikurit are unique in that they do not venerate the Morndinsamman or, indeed, worship any gods. A few exceptions exist, including a few arctic dwarves who have turned to the worship of the human god Ulutiu. Instead, the arctic dwarves follow a druidic tradition, venerating Talos and Ulutiu.


Relations with Other Races

Isolated as they are by their environment, arctic dwarves have little experience with members of other races aside from Ulutiun humans and frost giants. They get along well with the former and hate the latter. Since most arctic dwarves are amiable and peace-loving, they treat representatives of most races favorably unless shown reason not to. The Inugaakalikurit find other dwarves and gnomes somewhat amusing, a combination of their familiar appearance and odd (to an arctic dwarf) ways. Likewise, humans other than Ulutiuns are seen as odd since their cultures differ greatly from that known to arctic dwarves. The Inugaakalikurit regard elves and half-elves with a measure of awe, having only ever seen winged elves soaring high above their mountain homes. Halflings, half-orcs, and planetouched are exotic creatures to a typical arctic dwarf.


Arctic Dwarf Equipment

Arctic dwarves commonly employ only a handful of weapons, including battleaxes, halfspears, shortbows, and shortspears. Most arctic dwraves wear hide armor, with pelts of polar bears being most highly prized. The harsh arctic environment of the Great Glacier requires the use of dogsleds, snow goggles, and snowshoes.

Arctic dwarves favor riding dogs with heavy winter coats as pets and pack animals. When they hunt behind dogsleds, they often chase down and exhaust their prey, then finish the hunt with arctic harpoons. While the arctic harpoon can be difficult for arctic dwarves to wield, they favor it anyway, motivated by a mythic tradition of arctic dwarf harpooners who felled impossibly large polar bears and other prey.


Arctic Dwarf Region

Most arctic dwarves live on the Great Glacier. This region is appropriate for an Inugaakalikurit raised in the race's homeland in the icebound mountains of the glacier.

Preferred Classes: Barbarian, fighter, ranger, druid. A character of one of these classes may choose a regional feat and gain his choice of the bonus equipment below as a 1st-level character. An arctic dwarf character of any other class may not select one of the regional feats here and does not gain the bonus equipment at 1st level.

Automatic Languages: Common, Dwarven, Uluik.

Bonus Languages: Aquan, Auran, Common, Damaran, Draconic, Giant.

Regional Feats: Oral History, Survivor, Swarmfighting.

Bonus Equipment: (A) Light pick* or halfspear*; or *(b) riding dog or hide armor*.

Source: Forgotten Realms: Races of Faerûn

[sandcastles]

The Gold Dwarves

Regions: Dragon Coast, Dwarf (gold), Unther, Western Heartlands. Gold dwarves native to the Great Rift should select the gold dwarf region.
Racial Feats: Hammer Fist, Metallurgy, Skyrider, Stoneshaper.
Racial Prestige Class: Battlerager.

Found largely in the South in the immediate vicinity of the Great Rift, gold dwarves are the dominant southern branch of the Stout Folk. Renowned not only for their smith work and craftsmanship but also for their military prowess and legendary wealth, gold dwarves have maintained their empire for millennia, unbowed by the passage of time.

For generations, the Deep Kingdom of the gold dwarves has stood unconquered, dominating the surface lands and subterranean caverns that surround the Great Rift. As their numbers never declined in the face of endless warfare like their northern cousins, the Thundering Blessing has actually filled the great caverns of the Deep Kingdom beyond their capacity. As a result, for the first time in many years, large numbers of gold dwarves are setting out to establish new strongholds across the South and the rest of Faerun, including the Smoking Mountains of Unther and the Giant’s Run Mountains of the Shining Plains.

Averaging 4 feet tall and weighing as much as an adult human, gold dwarves are stocky and muscular. The skin of a gold dwarf is light brown or deeply tanned, and her eyes are usually brown or hazel. Both genders wear their hair long, and males (and some females) have long, carefully groomed beards and mustaches. Hair color ranges from black to gray or brown, with all shades fading to light gray as time progresses.

Like their northern kin, gold dwarves harbor a great deal of pride, both in their own accomplishments and those of their ancestors. They also share the philosophy that anything worth doing is worth doing well, and that the natural world is but raw material to be worked into objects of great beauty. Unlike the long-beleaguered shield dwarves, gold dwarves have not faced a serious challenge to their way of life for thousands of years. Confident and secure in their isolated realm, gold dwarves do not share the pessimism or fatalism of their shield dwarven brethren. To the contrary, having seen the rise and fall of countless elven, human, and shield dwarven empires, their endurance has fostered a deep-seated belief that their traditions and culture are superior to those of all other races.

Gold dwarves have the life expectancy, age categories, height, and weight defined for dwarves in the Player’s Handbook. (Provided in the first post.)


History

Founded more than sixteen thousand years ago, the original dwarven homeland of Bhaerynden occupied a vast cavern deep beneath the southern plains ruled by the elves of Ilythiir. Bhaerynden claimed great swaths of the Underdark, but remained largely unknown in the Realms Above. Little is known about the history of Bhaerynden except that a great exodus of dwarves led by Taark Shanat the Crusader left to found a new kingdom in the west about -11,000 DR. The end of the elven Crown Wars and the Descent of the Drow in the years after -10,000 DR directly precipitated the fall of Bhaerynden. The first drow civilizations arose in the southern Underdark around -9600 DR, but the drow quickly directed their anger against the Stout Folk. Within the space of six centuries, the Stout Folk had been scattered and the drow empire of Telantiwar ruled supreme in the dwarf-carved halls of fallen Bhaerynden.

The collapse of the cavern of Bhaerynden destroyed Telantiwar and created the Great Rift, scattering the drow around -7600 DR, Gold dwarves believe Moradin destroyed Telantiwar with a blow of his axe, but scholars of other races have suggested that the drow weakened the cavern roof through excessive tunneling and reliance on magic to support the ceiling’s weight. In the aftermath of Telantiwar’s fall, there was a great scramble to claim new territory in the Underdark. The Stout Folk quickly returned to their ancestral home and established the Deep Realm, occupying lesser caverns and miles of tunnels spreading out under the Eastern Shaar. Drow refugees claimed lesser caverns to the north, south, and west of the Great Rift, establishing cities in nearby lands.

In the millennia that followed, the Stout Folk of the Deep realm became known as gold dwarves. Once the borders of their realm were firmly established and defended, they set about building great subterranean cities and harvesting the bounty of the earth. While external threats from the drow and other Underdark races such as aboleths, cloakers, illithids, ixzans, and kuo-toa never entirely abated, no other race could match the unity of purpose evinced by the gold dwarves, and the sanctity of the Deep Realm was never challenged. The dwarves profited in trade with each successive human empire that reached their Great Rift, including ancient Jhaamdath, the folk of Mulhorand and Unther in their heyday, the Shoon Imperium at its height, and in more recent centuries the mercantile Chondathan nations of the Inner Sea.

In 1306 DR, the Thunder Blessing shook the gold dwarves out of their millennia-long quiescence. In the decades that followed, a burgeoning population forced the gold dwarves to seek out new caverns to claim and settle across the South, upsetting the long-held status quo of the southern Underdark. The largest exodus to date from the Deep Realm began in 1369 DR, when the Army of Gold set out on a great crusade to reclaim the caverns of Taark Shanat and restore the glory of Shanatar, the ancient kingdom of the shield dwarves. That expedition has become bogged down in warfare with the Army of Steel, dispatched by the gray dwarves of Underspires. Fierce battles rage in the tunnels beneath the Lake of Steam and the Cloven Mountains.


Outlook

Gold dwarves measure others by how much honor and wealth each individual garners as well as the status of his or her bloodline and clan. To gold dwarves, life is best lived through adherence to the ancient traditions of the Deep Realm. The very persistence of their own way of life indicates that other short-lived cultures are inherently flawed. As such, those who lack a meaning cultural tradition or reject their elders’ dictates are untrustworthy and possibly dangerous.

From birth, gold dwarves are taught to conform to the traditional strictures of their society. Every important decision, from choice of profession to their mate, is dictated by the circumstances of their birth. Those who do not act honorably in their dealings are shunned from an early age, breeding a tremendous societal pressure to fit in.

Gold dwarves lack the longstanding tradition of adventuring found in their shield dwarf cousins in the north. However, population pressures induced by the Thunder Blessing have given birth to a new generation of gold dwarf adventurers. Most gold dwarves who wander beyond the familiar confines of the Deep Realm do so in order to found new strongholds of their own, but many find the lure of adventuring hard to ignore once it has entered into their blood.

Gold Dwarf Characters
Gold dwarves are painfully aware that many once-proud empires have been brought low, and they are therefore vigilant about maintaining their own. The keen awareness gold dwarves hold of the dangers too their eternal rule ensure that all gold dwarves are trained to fight from a young age. Most are trained as fighters, although clerics, paladins, rangers, rogues, and even the occasional arcane spellcaster play important roles in defending the Deep Realm. Gold dwarf sorcerers usually trace their ancestry back to a powerful dragon or some creature of elemental earth or fire. Common multiclass combinations include fighter/cleric, fighter/paladin, and fighter/expert.

Favored Class: A gold dwarf’s favored class is a fighter. Only a strong and fierce military tradition has kept the Deep Realm secure from its enemies above and below, a result of generations of gold dwarves training as fighters.

Prestige Classes: Battleragers are legendary dwarven warriors who can enter a battle frenzy through ritual singing. Given to drinking, rowdy and boisterous singing, and drunken dancing, battleragers love to plunge into close-quarters battle, heedless of any danger. Most battleragers are shield dwarves, but a small number of gold dwarves rebelling against the discipline and tradition of their society have joined the ranks of the berserkers.

More disciplined gold dwarves lean toward the dwarven defender or divine champion classes.


Gold Dwarf Society

Gold dwarf culture does not exhibit a great deal of variability, the result of generations of gold dwarves insulated from outside influences. Class and clan divisions are strong among gold dwarves, and great importance is attributed to bloodlines when ascribing social status. However, the Deep Realm is so swamped with petty, decadent royals and nobles that little real power is invested in anyone but the governing council of clan elders. Commerce and craftsmanship both play an important role in gold dwarf society, as does the never-satiated grasping for more riches. Pride and honor play an important role in all aspects of daily life, for disgrace applies not only to oneself, but also to kin, clan, and long-dead ancestors.

Gold dwarves are raised in tight family unites, but the clan elders play an important oversight role in the upbringing of every child. Book learning is common, as is an apprenticeship to learn a trade. All adults are expected to support themselves and their family as well as bring honor and riches to the clan. Ostentatious displays of wealth are important for maintaining one’s prestige, so poorer gold dwarves often scrimp and save to keep up appearances. As gold dwarves age, they are accorded increasing respect for their wisdom. Clan elders form a ruling gerontocracy that strongly enforces traditional practices. Families and clans are expected to honor their elders in death with elaborate funeral rites and tombs befitting the deceased’s reputation.

Outside the Deep Realm, gold dwarves hold themselves apart, forming small, insular enclaves that attempt to replicate traditional clan life. Few gold dwarves have any interest in adopting local practices except where it furthers their ability to hawk their wares.


Language and Literacy

Like all dwarves, gold dwarves speak a dialect of Dwarven and employ the Dethek rune alphabet. They also speak Common, the trade language of the Realms Above. The primary gold dwarven dialect (sometimes referred to as Riftspeak) has changed little since the glory days of Bhaerynden. Gold dwarves dwelling in the colonies in Unther and the Giant’s Run often learn the languages of the nearby lands.

Common secondary languages reflect the extensive trading contacts maintained by gold dwarves with their neighbors in the South and include Shaaran, Untheric, and, to a lesser extent, Durpari, Dambrathan, Mulhorandi, Halfling, and Halruaan. Gold dwarves who have extensive contact with other subterranean races often learn Terran, Gnome, or Undercommon.

All gold dwarf characters are literate except barbarians (who are very unusual among the folk of this ancient civilization).


Abilities and Raciel Features

Gold dwarves have all of the dwarven racial traits listed in the Player's Handbook except the following:

Forgotten said:

• +2 Constitution, -2 Dexterity: Gold dwarves are stout and tough, but not as quick or agile as other races.
  
• +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against abberations: Gold dwarves are trained in special combat techniques against the many bizarre creatures that live in the underdark. (this replaces the attack bonus against orcs and goblinoids.
  
• Automatic Languages: Dwarven, Common, home region. Bonus Languages: Giant, Gnome, Goblin, Shaaran, Terran, Untheric

Gold Dwarf Magic and Lore

Gold dwarves have a strong divine spellcasting tradition, with many of the Stout Folk called to serve the Morndinsamman as clerics, paladins, rune casters, or runesmiths. Arcane spellcasters are much rarer, but they do exist.

Spells and Spellcasting
Gold dwarves favor spells that aid their abilities in combat or assist in craftwork or mining. Most are divine spellcasters, but the gold dwarves’ millennia-old civilization has ensured both ancient libraries of wizardry and strange, sorcerous bloodlines.

Spellcasting Tradition: Many gold dwarves take the Gold Dwarf Dweomersmith feat, which grants them advantages when creating or enhancing weapons with magic.

Unique Spells: Gold dwarves have created many spells over the years, many of which are now employed by the Stout Folk across Faerûn. One such example is detect metals and minerals.


Gold Dwarf Magic Items

Gold dwarves favor magic items that aid in combat, facilitate craftwork, provide personal protection or comfort, guard against theft, or are adorned with fine metals and gems. Blades and axes are commonly crafted with keen, holy, lawful, mighty cleaving, sundering, and stunning special abilities. Hammers and maces are commonly crafted with holy, impact, lawful, returning, stunning, sundering, and throwing special abilities. Armor is typically crafted with fortification, invulnerability, reflection, and spell resistance special abilities, reflecting a long tradition of battles against the drow and other creatures of the Underdark.

Common Magic Items: Magic items particularly prevalent in the Great Rift and the trade cities at its edge include anvil of the blacksmith, belt of dwarvenkind, forge of smithing, hammer of the weapon smith, and tongs of the armorer.

Iconic Magic Items: Gold dwarves have fabricated many unique magic items, but they are best known for the stonereaver greataxes.


Gold Dwarf Deities

Gold dwarves have venerated the dwarven deities of the Morndinsamman since the founding of Bhaerynden, but centuries of relative isolation and security have made their culture far less religious in nature than their shield dwarven kin. Among gold dwarves the churches of Moradin and Berronar are so predominant and have been for so long that many lesser dwarven deities enjoy little more than token obeisance.

High-ranking clerics of both faiths command a great amount of institutional authority in gold dwarf society. The clerics of Berronar’s faith are responsible for preserving records of the extraordinarily ancient genealogy of the noble families and serve as the guardians of tradition in the home and community.

All gold dwarves revere the Soul Forger as the founder of the dwarven race, and his church is the predominant faith of the Deep Realm, centered in the monastic city of Thuulurn. Moradin’s clerics sponsor many crafts folk, particularly armorers and weapon smiths, and serve as the principle judges and magistrates of gold dwarf society. The Soul Forger’s faithful are drawn primarily from those who labor as smiths, craft folks, or engineers, but he is also seen as the protector of the entire dwarven race and is thus worshiped by many lawful good dwarves regardless of profession.


Relations with other Races

Confident and secure in their remote home, gold dwarves have a well-deserved reputation for haughtiness and pride. They look down on all other dwarves, even shield dwarves and gray dwarves whose achievements and kingdoms have matched the glory of their own. Gold dwarves regard elves and half-elves with suspicion after generations spent battling their deep-dwelling cousins. Gnomes, particularly deep gnomes, are well regarded and welcomed as trading partners. Their impression of halflings is shaped by the strongheart inhabitants of Luiren, whom gold dwarves find to be suitably industrious and forthright.

Gold dwarves know little of half-orcs, but usually lump them in with the rest of orc and goblinoid scum. Gold dwarves are very cautious in their dealings with humans, having found great variability in their dealings with Chondathans, the folk of Dambrath, Durpari, Mulan, Shaarans, and Halruaans. Planetouched are almost unknown but are usually viewed in the same light as the Mulan, since most plane touched the gold dwarves encounter are either Mulan aasimar or earth genasi followers of Geb.


Gold Dwarf Equipment

The gold dwarf craft guilds have had centuries to master their artisanship, so almost any finished good has some filigree, runic mark, or other decoration that marks it as unmistakably the work of the gold dwarves. Even a simple bucket will have carefully marked gradations along the inside, graven runes identifying its owner, and a curved handle shaped to fit a thick dwarven hand.

Common Items: Sunrods, thunderstones.

Unique Items: Gold dwarves commonly employ well-engineered equipment such as mobile braces and rope climbers. The hippogriff-mounted skyriders of the Great Rift are known to employ drogue wings and exotic military saddles.

Arms and Armor
Gold dwarves favor a wide range of weapons, including battleaxes, crossbows, gauntlets, hand axes, heavy picks, light hammers, light picks, mauls, throwing axes, and war hammers.

More unusual weapons include dwarven urgroshes and dwarven waraxes. Typical forms of armor include breastplates, half-plate, full plate, scale mail, large steel shields, and small steel shields.

Common Items: Battleaxe, light crossbow, heavy picks, dwarven urgrosh, scale mail, full plate armor. The gold dwarves manufacture adamantine heavy picks and battleaxes for those who can afford such things; adamantine weapons are available at a 10% discount in the Great Rift.

Animals and Pets
Gold dwarves favor small lizards such as the spitting crawler and shocker lizard for pets and familiars. Deep rothe are the preferred type of livestock. They employ pack lizards and mules as beasts of burden, usually breeding the latter from Lhesperan or Meth horses crossed with donkeys. Gold dwarves commonly use riding lizards as steeds in subterranean locales, and war ponies for travel in the surface lands. The gold dwarf skyriders of the Great Rift employ hippogriffs as aerial mounts.

Source: Forgotten Realms: Races of Faerûn

[sandcastles]

The Gray Dwarves
~ Deep dwelling Duergar ~

Regions: Dwarf (gray), The North, Turmish, Vaasa, Vilhon each. Most duergar characters have little contact with other cultures and choose the gray dwarf region.
Racial Feats: Arachnid Rider, Hammer Fist, Iron Mind, Stone-shaper.
Level Adjustment: +2. Refer to the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting entry for gray dwarf racial abilities.

Dwelling in great subterranean cities of the Underdark, the gray dwarves are deep-dwelling cousins of shield dwarves, known for their cruelty and bitterness. Like their surface-dwelling kin, gray dwarves are famed for their smithwork and craftmanship, but unlike their brethren in the Realms Above, the duergar are grim and cheerless, living lives of endless toil. Like their gold and shield dwarf kin, the duergar have forged great empires, founding such realms as the Deepkingdom of Gracklstugh and the Steel Kingdom of Dunspeirrin in the endless darkness of the Realms Below.

Averaging 4 feet tall, gray dwarves weigh nearly as much as an adult human. While other dwarves tend to be round-bodied and stoutly muscled, duergar are wide of shoulder by wiry and lean, their limbs corded with tough muscle. The skin of a gray dwarf is light or dark gray, and his eyes are dull black. Both genders are usually bald, with males having long gray beards and mustaches.

Gray dwarves are consumed with bitterness, feeling their race has forever been denied what was rightfully theirs. The duergar expect and live lives of never-ending drudgery. While their work rivals that of shield and gold dwarves, they are relentless perfectionists who take no pleasure in their craftsmanship. Only cruel jokes and petty torments bring a moment's smile to most gray dwarves, and they delight in tormenting the weak and the helpless.

Gray dwarves have the life expectancy and age categories defined for dwarves in the Player's Handbook, but use modified height and weight characteristics instead.

Random Height and Weight

Subrace	Base Male Height	Base Female Height	Base Height Mod	Base Male Weight	Base Female Weight	Base Weight Mod
Gray	3'9"	3'7"	+2d4	110 lb.	80 lb	x (2d4) lb.

Source: Forgotten Realms: Races of Faerûn

Random Height and Weight

Subrace	Base Male Height	Base Female Height	Base Height Mod	Base Male Weight	Base Female Weight	Base Weight Mod
Duergar	4'1"	3'7"	+2d4	110 lb.	80 lb.	x (2d4) lb.

Source: Forgotten Realms: Underdark

History

Gray dwarves trace their history back to the establishment of Barakuir, one of the eight kingdoms of Shanatar. The Iron Kingdom was dominated by the shield dwarves of Clan Duergar, who venerated Laduguer as their kingdom's patron. Although they swore allegiance to the Wyrmskull Throne, the rulers of Clan Duergar thought their king should have been selected to rule Shanatar at the conclusion f the Second Spider War. Consumed with bitterness, the dwarves of Barakuir largely turned away from the rest of the empire. The foolishness of this action was quickly proved when war broke out with the illithids of Oryndoll, a city that lies deep beneath the Shining Planes, around -8100 DR. Although Shanatar battled the illithids to a stalemate, the enemy's armies managed to cut off Barakuir from outside reinforcement. By the time the Mindstalker Wars had ended, Barakuir had fallen to the illithids, and most of its inhabitants had been enslaved as thralls.

After millennia of enslavement and countless illithid breeding experiments, the descendants of Clan Duergar were transformed into a new dwarven subrace: the gray dwarves. Roughly four thousand years before the start of Dalereckoning, the duergar rebelled against their illithid and eventually freed themselves of the mind flayers' dominion. These newly liberated gray dwarves carved out their own holdings in the northern Upperdark beneath the Orsraun Mountains and in isolated caverns deep beneath the Great Glacier.

In the North, gray dwarves founded Gracklstugh, City of Blades, in -3717 DR. As the first city of their kind in the North, its holdings grew without rival throughout the upper and middle underdark. The Deepkingdom reached its peak around -2600 DR, but in -1803 DR, the kingdom fell into a slow decline after smashing the quaggoth nation of Ursadunthar which lay deep beneath the Spine of the World. For centuries thereafter, the overextended duergar battled barbaric quaggoths (who were incited by the drow), as the Deepbear Battles raged until -1350 DR.

In the heart of Faerûn, gray dwarves founded Dunspeirrin, City of Sunken Spires, beneath the Orsraun Mountains. In time, the holdings of Underspires, as the city was also known, grew to encompass the Underdark of Turmish and the Dragon Coast, and the gray dwarves grew strong. In -1850 DR, under the leadership of their greatest queen, Duerra, the gray dwarves launched a series of attacks against the drow of Undraeth, the illithids of Oryndoll (from whom Duerra is said to have wrested the secrets of the Invisible Art), and other Underdark races. Duerra's armies turned their simmering hatred against the remnants of Deep Shanatar sometime around -1800 DR. The gray dwarves overran Ultoksamrin and Holorarar and conquered the caverns of Alatorin for themselves. Laduguer rewarded Duerra with divine ascension. Afterward, Dunspeirrin fell into a centuries-long decline, from which it has only recently begun to emerge. The return of Deep Duerra during the Time of Troubles has sparked a new age of empire-building, but the city's Army of Steel now finds itself locked in a three-year-old conflict with the gold dwarf Army of Gold over control of the caverns of ancient Shanatar.


Outlook

Gray dwarves view the world with bitterness, convinced family, clan, and other dwarves, and the rest of the world have cheated them of their birthright and their due. They see life as nothing more than endless backbreaking labor, a torment from birth through death. The duergar evince little mercy for the helpless or the weak and enjoy tormenting those they can prey upon. From a young age, gray dwarves are quickly schooled in the harshness of the world, taught that their lot in life is nothing more than never-ending labor accompanied by betrayal and then death.

Gray dwarves rarely adventure out of choice. Those who are exiled or flee imminent banishment often gravitate to the life of an adventure simply in hopes of surviving. Adventuresome duergar are usually focused on the acquisition of material wealth, caring little for the plight of others.

Gray Dwarf Characters
The ever-present dangers of the all-enveloping darkness are taught to gray dwarves from a young age. Most receive some training as fighters or rogues to better defend their homes against those who would steal their hard-earned wealth. Clerics are common as well, for those who serve the duergar gods claim positions of relative influence within their clan. Experts who combine traditional smithcraft with skill in the arcane arts are also much respected. Wizards are much more common than sorcerers among the gray dwarves. Common multiclass combinations include fighter/cleric, fighter/expert, and fighter/rogue.

Favored Class: A gray dwarf's favored class is fighter. (If your DM uses the Psionics Handbook in your game, this could be changed to psychic warrior at the DM's option.) The Underdark is a harsh and unforgiving environment, where only the strongest can survive. Gray dwarf fighters have formed the bedrock of duergar armies for generations, enabling them to hold off such varied threats as aboleth, drow, illithids, kuo-toa, and svirfneblin.

Prestige Classes: Gray dwarves gravitate toward prestige classes such as assassin and blackguard. A few become dwarven defenders. As with their cousins, the shield dwarves, they gray dwarves have a tradition of rune magic, and so a number of clerics become runecasters.


Language and Literacy

Like all dwarves, gray dwarves speak Dwarven and employ the Dethek rune alphabet. Gray dwarves also speak Undercommon, the trade tongue of the Realms Below. The primary gray dwarven dialect, Duergan, is an offshoot of the shield dwarven dialect, heavily influenced by drow and illithid words and language constructs found in undercommon.

Common secondary languages reflect those spoken by traditional foes, including Draconic, Elven (the drow dialect), Giant, Goblin, and Orc. Those who have extensive dealings with creatures of elemental earth often learn Terran, while those who trade with inhabitants of the Realms Above often learn the trade tongue Common.

All gray dwarf characters are literate except for barbarians.


Abilities and Raciel Features

Gray dwarves have all of the dwarven racial traits listed in the Player's Handbook except the following.

• +2 Constitution, -4 Charisma. Duergar are extremely withdrawn and guarded.
  
• Darkvision up to 120 feet.
  
• Immune to paralysis, phantasms, and magic or alchemical poisons (but not to normal poisons). Duergar acquired immunity to some illusions and many toxic substances during their servitude to mild flayers.
  
• +4 racial bonus on Move Silently checks. Gray dwarves excel in stealthy movement.
  
• +1 racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks.
  
• Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day - enlarge and invisibility as a wizard twice the duergar's level (minimum 3rd level). These affect only the duergar and whatever it carries.
  
• Light Sensitivity: Duergar suffer a -2 circumstance penalty to attack rolls, saves, and checks in bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.
  
• Automatic Languages: Dwarven, Undercommon, home region. Bonus Langauges: Common, Draconic, Giant, Goblin, Orc, Terran.
  
• Level Adjustment +2: Duergar are more powerful and gain levels more slowly than most of the other common races of Faerûn.

Gray Dwarf Magic and Lore

Gray dwarves have a strong divine spellcasting tradition, with many of the Stout Folk called to serve Laduguer or Deep Duerra as clerics, runecasters, or runesmiths. Arcane spellcasters are much rarer, but wizards skilled in the crafting of magic items are much respected.

Spells and Spellcasting
Gray dwarves favor spells that aid their abilities in combat, assist in craftwork or mining, or facilitate stealthy movement.

Spellcasting Tradition: Some gray dwarves take the Duergar Mindshaper feat, part of the lore they stole from the mind flayers.

Gray Dwarf Magic Items
Gray dwarves favor magic items that aid in combat, facilitate craftwork, shield the mind, or enable stealthy movement. Blades and aces are commonly crafted with bane, keen, lawful, mighty, cleaving, sundering, stunning, unholy, and wounding special abilities. Hammers and maces are commonly crafted with bane, impact, lawful, returning, stunning, sundering, throwing, and unholy special abilities. Armor is typically crafted with etherealness, shadow, slick, silent moves, and spell resistance special abilities that facilitate stealthy movement.

Common Magic Items: Cloak of arachnida, dust of tracelessness, rings of mind shielding, and whetstones of keen edge. Duergar are notoriously suspicious of outsiders, but duergar merchants trade throughout the Underdark. These items are commonly available at 10% discount in any duergar settlement of at least large town size.

Iconic Magic Items: Gray dwarves have fabricated many unique magic items, such as absorbing shields, bolts of battering, and stonereaver axes.


Duergar Deities

Laduguer, the Gray Protector, is the harsh taskmaster of the duergar and the patron of their subrace. Although the duergar nominally venerate all the dwarven deities of the Morndinsamman, in truth they venerate only Laduguer and his daughter, Deep Duerra. Before the rise of Shanatar, each of the shield dwarven subkingdoms had its own patron deity. The kingdom of Barakuir, dominated by the dwarves of Clan Duergar, honored Laduguer and never accepted the ascension of Dumathoin as the patron deity of shield dwarves. The ancestors of the gray dwarves continued to honor Laduguer during their long enslavement by the illithids of Oryndoll. Unlike their shield dwarven brethren, the duegar did not evolve their religious practice toward the veneration of the pantheon as a whole.

Deep Duerra, the Daughter of Laduguer, is said to have been a great warrior queen who stole many secrets of the Invisible Art (psionics) from Ilsensine, god of mind flayers. Deep Duerra is venerated primarily by duergar who study the Invisible Art and by those militant gray dwarves who would rather crush their subterranean neighbors than trade with them. Her faith is particularly strong beneath the Osraun Mountains of Turmish, where her followers rule Dunspeirrin, the City of Sunken Spires.


Relations with Other Races

Dour and suspicious of outsiders, gray dwarves have uniformly bad relations with all other races, including other dwarven subraces. The duergar regard their shield dwarf cousins with particular bitterness, dating back to the shield dwarves' failure to succor Clan Duergar during the Mindstalker Wars. The Kin Clashes forever cemented the mutual animosity between the two dwarven subraces, a hatred that continues today. Gray dwarves regard their gold dwarf cousins as arrogant rivals and potential threats, but trade is possible between the two groups.

Gray dwarves view the surface-dwelling races - elves and half-elves, gnomes, halflings, half-orcs, and planetouched - with suspicion but willingly trade with those who are foolhardy enough to venture into the depths. The duergar harbor a longstanding hatred of their subterranean rivals, the drow and the svirfneblin. Nevertheless, they regularly trade with both groups, pitting them against one another whenever possible.


Gray Dwarf Equipment

Duergar carve an emboss scenes of bloodshed into many items they craft. Though they have fierce appreciation for fine craftsmanship, they are pragmatic enough to shun ostentatious decoration (such as glittering gems) when it prevents them from creeping unseen through the Underdark. Duergar traders may be richly appointed or seem poorly equipped, depending on the sort of bargaining advantage they seek.

Common Items: Exotic military saddles, thunderstones, and any poison.

Unique Items: Gray dwarves have perfected armor lubricant to assist armored warriors in stealthy maneuvering.

Arms and Armor
Even more so than other dwarves, duergar favor weapons clearly derived from the craftman's tools They favor hammers and picks of all sorts.

Common Items: Heavy pick, light crossbow, light pick, maul, warhammer, breastplate, chainmail.

Animals and Pets
Gray dwarves favor common bats, hairy spiders, osquips, and spitting crawlers as pets and familiars. Deep rothe are the preferred type of livestock. They employ pack lizards as beasts of burden. Although gray dwarves are known for their use of steeders as mounts, some clans employ riding lizards as well.

Source: Forgotten Realms: Races of Faerûn

[sandcastles]

The Shield Dwarves

Regions: Damara, Dwarf (shield), Impiltur, the North, Silverymoon, Vaasa, the Vast, and Western Heartlands.
Racial Feats: Azerblood, Batrider, Hammer Fist, Oral History, Stoneshaper.
Racial Prestige Class: Battlerager.

Found largely in the northern reaches of western and central Faerûn, shield dwarves are the dominate northern branch of the Stout Folk. Renowned for their smith work and craftsmanship, shield dwarves have endured a centuries-long decline in the face of never-ending wars with orcs, goblins, giants, and trolls.

Shield dwarves are descended from the founders of Shanatar, a legendary dwarven empire that once ruled the caverns beneath modern-day Amn, Tethyr, and Calimshan. After Shanatar fell, the shield dwarves migrated north, founding kingdoms such as Ammarindar, Delzoun, Gharraghaur, Haunghdamar, Oghrann, and Sarbreen. Although those kingdoms have also largely fallen, the Stout Folk of the North endure. The Thunder Blessing has served as a welcome reprieve for the beleaguered shield dwarves, giving hope that the descendants of ancient Shanatar may one day reclaim the glory of their forebears.

Taller be half a foot than their gold dwarf cousins, shield dwarves average 4 ½ feet tall and weigh as much as an adult human. The skin of a shield dwarf is fair or lightly tanned, and her eyes are usually green or silvered blue. Both genders wear their hair long, and males (and a very few females) have long, carefully groomed beards and mustaches. Hair color ranges from light brown to red, with all shades fading to silver or white as time progresses.

Shield dwarves keep to their word, whatever the cost, and are incredibly stubborn, unwilling to concede an inch unless there is absolutely no alternative. Such intransigence has enabled dwindling shield dwarf population to hold on to ancient strongholds with just a fraction of their original defenders. However, it has also led to clan feuds and long-standing misunderstandings with other races that have sapped the strength of the Stout Folk. Shield dwarves love worked beauty, seeing the world as raw material to be forged and shaped into something more than the original.

Shield dwarves have the life expectancy and age categories defined for dwarves in the Player’s Handbook, but use different random height and weight characteristics. (Provided in the first post.)


History

Shield dwarves trace their history back to Taark Shanat, third son of the great ruling clan of Bhaerynden. In the legendary times more than twelve thousand years ago, the Great Crusader and his eight sons led a great westward migration of dwarves from Bhaerynden in hopes of founding a new homeland. The Cloaker Wars pitted the dwarves who followed Shanat against the mysterious inhabitants of Rringlor Noroth, who rose from the depths of a great chasm in a battle for control of the caverns of Alatorin. The Stout Folk eventually prevailed, after Taark slew four blue dragons who claimed the Rift of Dhalnadar as their demesne. By the hand of one of the dwarven gods, probably Dumathoin, the skulls of the four wyrms came together with a throne that emerged from the cavern floor to form the Wrymskull Throne. Taark renamed the wyrm’s lair Brightaxe Hall and founded of the kingdom of Alatorin. Shield dwarves mark the founding of Alatorin as the beginning of the First Great Age of Shanatar.

Once Alatorin was established, the eight sons of Taark Shanat set off to found their own kingdom in the caverns to the north (beneath modern-day Tethyr and Amn). Each son claimed one of the children of Moradin as his patron deity and so each of the subkingdoms they established became tightly linked with the church of that particular god or goddess. Around -9000 DR, skirmishing broke out between the eight northern kingdoms, as each fought to extend its borders at the expense of its neighbors. Over time, the skirmishes evolved into open warfare, pitting thousands of dwarves against one another.

While these wars raged, the drow of Guallidurth took advantage of the dwarves’ distraction to attack the caverns of Alatorin, which were far removed from the frontlines of the fighting. The First Spider War was fought from -8170 DR to -8150 DR and ended with the capture of Brightaxe Hall and the collapse of Alatorin. Aghast at their folly, the eight reigning kings of that era forged an armistice, and turning their armies against the drow. The Second spider War raged from -8145 DR to -8137 DR, and ended with the drow retreating from the caverns of Alatorin.

In triumph, the eight kings marched their armies back into Brightaxe Hall, pledging never again to fight one another. Seeking to reclaim the vision of Taark Shanat, the eight kings pleaded with their gods to pick one of them to sit on the Wyrmskull Throne. In response, the gods revealed the visage of the reigning king of Ultoksamrin, high priest of Dumathoin. Shield dwarves mark this event as the beginning of the Second Age of Shanatar and the elevation of Dumathoin as patron of their race.

Despite their newfound unity, dissension still lurked within the breasts of many of Shanatar’s citizens. The kings of both Barakuir and Drakkalor both thought that they were entitled to sit on the Wrymskull Throne, backed by the whisperings of their gods who had sought to have Moradin name them the patron of the shield dwarves. Before such dissent could erupt into open strike, the illithids of Oryndoll attacked the eastern subkingdoms in -8100 DR, beginning a conflict that came to be known as the Mindstalker Wars to the dwarves and the War of Cloven Thoughts to the mind flayers. The illithids were driven back by -8080 DR, but in their wake the surviving Stout Folk discovered that the caverns of Barakuir, which had been cut off in the early days of the fighting, lay empty. Clan Duergar had been carried back to thralldom in the mind flayers’ realm.

The Second Age of Shanatar lasted for nearly 1,800 years. Around -6150 DR, the drow of Guallidurth once again attacked the caverns of Alatorin. The Third Spider War lasted nearly thirty years but ended with the Stout Folk abandoning Brightaxe Hall to the Drow. The dwarven refugees brought the Wrymskull Throne with them, marking the end of the Second Age of Shanatar.

As the Third age of Shanatar dawned, the emperor of Shanatar made plans to establish a new subkingdom in the Realms Above. Dwarven scouts were sent up to the surface around -6100 DR, where they allied with the humans of the region to oust the remaining djinni despots. The alliance between the dwarves and the humans quickly foundered because the rulers of Coramshan turned to evil gods. In response, the dwarves claimed the surface lands of the Marching Mountains as their own, establishing the kingdom of High Shanatar around -5960 DR.

High Shanatar flourished for centuries under the rule of House Axemarch, but the seeds of its destruction were planted within a century of its establishment. A conflict over a looted tomb led to a skirmishing and eventually open warfare. The First Kingdom of Mir was established after Iltaker fell to Murabir Mir of Coramshan in -5330 DR, marking the beginning of the centuries-long expansion of Calimshan at the expense of High Shanatar. By -2600 DR, the last known dwarves of High Shanatar had fallen on the northern banks of the Sulduskoon River, and high Shanatar was no more.

As High Shanatar struggled to hold on to its territories in southwestern Faerûn, Deep Shanatar struggled with challenges of its own. Successive waves of emigration led many young dwarves north to found new realms but also depleted the ranks of those who remained. Over time, the northern kingdoms of Drakkolor, Korolnor, Sondarr, Torglor, and Xothaerin slowly dwindled away as their inhabitants migrated north. The kingdom of Oghrann was established beneath the Plains of Tun in -5125 DR. The coastal realm of Haunghdannar was established in the northern Sword Mountains and along the north Sword Coast in -4974 DR. Ammarindar was found beneath the Graypeak Mountains around -4160 DR, the Delzoun, the Northkingdom, rose beneath what is now the Silver Marches around -3900 DR.

Unfortunately for the shield dwarves, their conquests in the North proved illusory, and the glory of Shanatar was never reborn. Oghrann fell in -3770 DR, and Haunghdannar in -3389 DR. Delzoun and Ammarindar lasted many more centuries, but the Northkingdom eventually succumbed in -100 DR, and Ammarindar was overrun in 882 DR by lingering horrors unleashed by the Netherese of Ascalhorn.

In the South, after centuries of decline, the final fall of Deep Shanatar was precipitated by the Stout Folk themselves. Impelled by centuries of bitter resentment, Clan Duergar invaded Ultoksamrin and Holorarar around -1800 DR in a series of conflicts known as the Kin Clashes. Only Iltkazar survived the gray dwarf invasion, leaving Shanatar fallen in all but name.


Outlook

Despite their centuries-long decline and deserved reputation for dourness and cynicism, shield dwarves have never succumbed to fatalism. Shield dwarves have traditionally been divided into two camps - The Hidden and the Wanderers - although such divisions have begun to fade since the Thunder Blessing. While members of the former group have literally hidden themselves away from the outside world, content to pursue their traditional way of life, members of the latter group have gone out into the world, unbowed by their race’s relentless decline.

Shield dwarves are traditionally slow to trust and slow to forget slights, but a dawning realization of their race’s plight has left many willing to seek out new ways of doing things unconstrained by traditional prejudices or practices. Shield dwarves have a long and proud tradition of adventuring, and many shield dwarves follow this route simply in hopes of equaling or exceeding the deeds of those who have come before. Others seek to recover long-lost strongholds and treasures that have fallen to orcs or other beasts. Since the Thunder Blessings, the question for many young shield dwarves is not why they should become adventurers, but why they should not.


Shield Dwarf Characters
Constant warfare with orcs, goblins, trolls, and giants have imbued a strong martial tradition in shield dwarf culture. Most dwarves learn to defend their homes and clan, with fighters, paladins, and martial clerics being commonplace. Other shield dwarves focus on time-honored skills, following the path of the expert or the rogue. Arcane spellcasters are quite rare, with few of sorcerous inclination. Common multiclass combinations include fighter/cleric, fighter/paladin, and fighter/expert.

Favored Class: A shield dwarf’s favored class is fighter. For centuries shield dwarves have fought a war of genocidal destruction against the orcs, goblins, trolls, and giants of the North. Fighters have always served at the core of shield dwarf armies, ever defiant in the face of overwhelming odds.

Prestige Classes: Battleragers are legendary dwarven warriors who can enter a divine battle frenzy through ritualistic singing. Given to drinking, rowdy and boisterous singing, and drunken dancing, battleragers love to plunge into close-quarters battles, heedless of any danger.

Shield dwarves of some accomplishment frequently adopt the dwarven defender prestige class, and many of their clerics become runecasters.


Shield Dwarf Society

Although clan and class divisions were once strong among shield dwarves, generations of decline have largely broken their once-dominant influence. While shield dwarves are still incredibly proud of their bloodlines, individual accomplishment now counts for more than longstanding tradition or the dictates of clan elders. Shield dwarven life among the Hidden is still dominated by craft and forge, but increasing numbers of shield dwarves are making their own way in the world as adventurers or as crafts-folk dwelling in human dominated communities.

Shield dwarves are raised in tight family units, with clan elders playing a diminishing role in overseeing their upbringing. Book learning is common, and most children are apprenticed to learn a trade as they near maturity. Adult shield dwarves are expected to support themselves and their family as well as bring honor and riches to the clan. While shield dwarves do not shy away from displays of wealth, they avoid ostentatious or decadent behavior. As shield dwarves age, they are honored for their wisdom and accorded respect for their past accomplishments. Families and clans are expected to honor their elders in death with solemn funereal rites and tombs befitting the deceased’s reputation and accomplishments.

Generations of Wanderers have created large and thriving dwarven enclaves within most human settlements, with all shield dwarves welcome as part of the loosely knit dwarven “clan”. Shield dwarves occupy the roles of smith or craftsmen in many human communities and are well respected for their skill as artisans. Few shield dwarves turn away from veneration of the Morndinsamman, but most are quick to learn the local trade tongue and make friends with other races.


Language and Literacy

Like all dwarves, shield dwarves speak Dwarven and employ the Dethek rune alphabet. They also speak Common. The primary shield dwarven dialect, Shanatan, dates back to the founding of Shanatar and is still spoken by dwarves along the Sword Coast from the Shining Sea to the Spine of the World. To the east, in northcentral Faerûn, most shield dwarves speak the Galenan dialect, strongly influenced by the Damaran human tongue.

Common secondary languages reflect the extensive trading contacts maintained by shield dwarves with their neighbors in the North and include Chondathan, Illuskan, and, to a lesser extent, Elven and Gnome. The shield dwarves of northcentral Faerûn are more apt to learn Damaran than Illuskan as a secondary language. Many shield dwarves also learn the languages of their traditional foes, including Draconic, Giant, Goblin, and Orc.

All shield dwarf characters are literate except for barbarians.


Abilities and Racial Features

Shield dwarves have all of the dwarven racial traits listed in the Player's Handbook, (as listed in the first post) except as follows:

• Automatic Languages: Dwarven, Common, home region.
• Bonus Languages: Chondathan, Draconic, Giant, Goblin, Illuskan, Orc.

Shield Dwarf Magic and Lore

Shield dwarves have been engaged in a perpetual war against goblinoids and giants for centuries, so their magic reflects a martial bent. Anything that helps slay more giants is a welcome addition to the shield dwarf arsenal.

Among the Hidden, magic from Illusion and Abjuration schools are immensely important, because they guard a dwarf clan from discovery and attack. The Hidden create layer after layer of protective spells to guard every entrance to their strongholds. Many an invading orc horde has been tricked into leaving or frustrated into exhaustion without ever seeing the shield dwarves they’re fighting.

Spells and Spellcasting
Shield dwarves have a strong divine spellcasting tradition, with many of the Stout Folk called to serve the Morndinsamman as clerics, paladins, runecasters, or runesmiths. Arcane spellcasters are much more rare, but increasing in number.

Spellcasting Traditions: Shield dwarves often take the Shield Dwarf Warder feat, which reflects their knack for creating armor and shields with magic.

Unique Spells: Shield dwarves have created many divine spells over the years, including mindless rage and shape metal.

Racial Magic Items
Shield dwarves favor magic items that aid in combat, whether offensively or defensively. Whether magic is best employed to protect or attack is a centuries-old argument among the shield dwarves, with Wanderers favoring magic weapons and Hidden favoring magic armor. In any case, all shield dwarves revere any magic item that facilitates craftwork, because the urge to create flows strongly in dwarven blood.

Axes and other blades are commonly crafted with keen, holy, lawful, flaming, flaming burst, mighty cleaving, sundering, and stunning special abilities. Hammers and maces are commonly crafted with holy, impact, lawful, returning, shock, shocking burst, stunning, sundering, and throwing special abilities. Armor is typically crafted with fire resistance, fortification, and invulnerability special abilities, reflecting a long tradition of battles against orcs, goblinoids, trolls, and giants, and a deep understanding of metalworking.

Common Magic Items: Common examples of items favored by shield dwarves include anvils of the blacksmith, belts of dwarvenkind (often as gifts to nondwarves who help a dwarf clan), boots of the winterland’s, forges of smithing, hammers of weaponsmith, tongs of the armorer, and whetstones of keen edge.

Iconic Magic Items: Shield dwarves have fabricated many unique magic items as well, such as doorbreakers, hammers of staggering blows, and stonereavers. They are justly famous for foesplitter axes, which are +1 keen battleaxes.


Shield Dwarf Deities

Shield dwarves have venerated the dwarven deities of the Morndinsamman since the dawn of Shanatar, although their mythology has evolved significantly over the millennia. Taark Shanat and his followers in Alatorin venerated Moradin and Berronar, but worship of those two deities receded as Taark’s eight sons set out to found their own kingdoms, each choosing a patron deity of his own from among their eight children: Dumathoin, Laduguer, Abbathor, Clangeddin Silverbeard, Vergadain, Sharindlar, and the twins Diinkarazan and Diirinka.

When the eight kings came together to choose who would first sit on the Wrymskull Throne, Moradin selected the king of Ultoksamrin, who was also the high priest of Dumathoin. This act cemented the Silent Keeper’s position as patron deity of the shield dwarves but strongly disappointed Dumathoin’s chief rivals, eventually leading to Laduguer’s bitter exile and Abbathor’s enduring corruption. By the fall of Shanatar, the shield dwarves had abandoned the worship of Laduguer, Diinkarazan, and Diirinka, while younger gods such as Thard Harr, Gorm Gulthyn, Marthammor Duin, Dugmaren Brightmantle, and Haela Brightaxe had arisen.

Dumathoin is considered the patron of shield dwarves, and his church has by far the most adherents among shield dwarves. Miners and smiths venerate the Silent Keeper, but he also has a small following among those good- and neutral-aligned shield dwarves seeking secrets of arcane lore. The Mountain Shield is also considered the guardian of the dead and is propitiated by most shield dwarves during burials. Dumathoin’s clerics take charge of all burials, inter the dead in secret vaults, and guard the funereal wealth of great shield dwarves.

Marthammor Duin, the Finder-of-Trails, is venerated by those shield dwarves who consider themselves Wanderers. He watches over good-aligned adventurers, craftsfolk, explorers, expatriates, travelers, and wanderers. Marthammor has a secondary aspect as the dwarven god of lightning, which curiously has attracted a small but growing number of wizards and sorcerers who specialize in evocation magic.


Relations with other Races

Shield dwarves get along well with most other dwarven subraces, although they regard gold dwarven arrogance as naïve and have little understanding for their barbaric wild and arctic dwarven kin. Shield dwarves have a longstanding enmity for the descendants of Clan Duergar, dating back to the Kin Clashes that marked Shanatar’s final chapter, and they attack Duergar on sight.

Despite centuries of squabbling with elves and half-elves, shield dwarves have always managed to put aside their differences with the Tel-quessir in the face of outside threats. Shield dwarves have always gotten along well with gnomes, particularly rock gnomes and deep gnomes. Colored by their experience with lightfoots, shield dwarves find Halflings to be somewhat unreliable but easy to get along with. Shield dwarves get along well with most humans, particularly Illuskans, Tethyrians, Chondathans, and Damarans.

Shield dwarves see half-orcs as little better than their hated brethren, although exceptions do exist. The Stout Folk of the North associate most planetouched with the horrors of Hellgate Keep and view them with suspicion. Earth genasi are a notable exception and are commonly welcomed in dwarven delves across the North.


Shield Dwarf Equipment

Shield dwarves commonly employ equipment such as armor lubricant, mobiles braces, rope climbers, thunderstones, and sunrods.

Arms and Armor
Shield dwarves favor a wide range of weapons, including battleaxes, crossbows, gauntlets, handaxes, heavy picks, light hammers, light picks, longswords, halfspears, short swords, mauls, throwing axes, and warhammers. More unusual weapons include dwarven urgroshes, dwarven waraxes, horned helmets, spiked chains, spiked gauntlets, spiked helmets, and spike shooters. Typical forms of armor include breastplates, chainmail, half-plate, full plate, large steel shields, and small steel shields. Less common forms of armor include dwarven plate, grasping shields, and large mithral shields.

Whenever possible, shield dwarves fashion their armor from mithral; their love of the metal matches the gold dwarves’ admiration for adamantine.

Animals and Pets
Shield dwarves favor bats (especially the common bat), canaries, and small lizards such as the spitting crawler as pets and familiars. They use pack lizards and mules as beasts of burden. Shield dwarves commonly employ ponies or war ponies as steeds, except in Iltkazar, where riding lizards are still the norm. Favored breeds include the Island pony, the Nether pony, and the Whiteshield (war pony). The shield dwarves of the Far Hills employ dire bats as steeds (fitted with exotic military saddles) to navigate the subterranean wells they call home. Shield dwarf barbarians and battleragers often employ dire boars as steeds.

Source: Forgotten Realms: Races of Faerûn

[sandcastles]

The Urdunnir
Orecutter Dwarves of the Deep Underdark

Regions: Dwarf (shield), Lake of Steam, the North, Tethyr, Urdunnir Dwarf. Small numbers of urdunnir dwarves live among the shield dwarf citadels of the North, but most urdunnirs hail from their own secretive kingdom in the deep Underdark.
Racial Feats: Stoneblood, Stoneshpaer, Stonewalker Fist.
Level Adjustment: +4.

Urdunnirs, sometimes known as orecutter dwarves, are a long-forgotten offshoot of shield dwarves who have become one with the earth and stone. Thanks to the blessing of Dumathoin, urdunnirs can walk through earth and stone as if it were air and shape metal and stone with their hands. Many orecutter dwarves are clerics of Dumathoin, expert smiths, or expert gemcutters.

The Children of Dumathoin, as they call themselves, believe that the Silent Keeper transformed their ancestors in order to create a race of dwarves who could appreciate the true beauty of the subterranean landscape without needing to destroy it in the process. They have dwelt ever since in splendid isolation in Oldonnar, the legendary Lost Kingdom of Shanatar, deep beneath the Alimir Mountains.

Averaging 4 1/2 feet tall but weighing much more than an adult human, orecutter dwarves are stocky and muscular. The skin of an urdunnir is light gray, and their eyes are always silver. Both genders wear their hair long, and males (and some females) have long, carefully groomed beards and mustaches. Hair color is uniformly gray, with varying degrees of silver and black highlights.

Urdunnirs see the world as a work of living beauty, walking through stone and earth much as a diver might explore the wonders of the ocean depths. The Children of Dumathoin regard themselves as particularly blessed, for they are not forced to cling to the exterior of Dumathoin's creation like other races but can wander through the heart of the world itself in an endless search to uncover the Silent Keeper's hidden secrets (gems).

Urdunnir dwarves have the life expectancy and age categories defined for dwarves in the Player's Handbook but use modified random height and weight characteristics instead. The extra weight reflects the high mineral composition in the orcutter dwarves' bodies (Stats Provided in the first post).


History

Shortly after Taark Shanat and his followers first claimed the caverns of Alatorin, Dumathoin transformed a small group of devout shield dwarves into urdunnirs, in hopes that they would be better able to appreciate the beauty of his creation. These early orecutter dwarves broke off from their fellows and set out to esbalish their own realm, deep in the heart of the world. Miles beneath the Alimir Peninsula, they discovered the Corundumdelve, a vast dodecahedron composed entirely of tightly packed amethysts, rubies, and sapphires, each larger than a dwarven helm. Seeing this as a sing from the Silent Keeper, the urdunirrin established the kingdom of Oldonnar around the Hidden Gem of the Depths and have dwelt there in splendid, unchanging isolation ever since.


Outlook

Secure in their otherworldly fastnesses and isolation from external threats, orecutter dwarves have never experienced great wars with other races. As such, urdunnirs lack the martial traditions of their gold, gray, and shield dwarven cousins. Strangely enough, urdunnirs share with druids and elves a deep understanding of the natural world. From a young age, orecutter dwarves are taught to live in harmony with their environment. They see Dumathoin's vast creation as a great sea of earth and stone, ever-changing and always beautiful. They view their role in the world as that of both observer and artisan, working in harmony with Dumathoin's creation to unlock the secrets the Silent Keeper has hidden within.

Thanks to their relative isolation, orecutter dwarves are rarely drawn to the adventuring way of life. However, those who encounter other races or stumble across doings in the Realms Above often find their curiosity piqued, becoming driven to understand those who have not been blessed by Dumathoin.

Urdunnir Characters
Their cultural focuses on craft skills has made most urdunnirs experts in their trade. Others choose to serve Dumathoin directly as clerics. Fighters, rangers, and paladins are relatively rare, for few orecutter dwarves have ever been forced to defend their holdings from other races. Those who practice the arcane arts are even scarcer, with those evincing the powers of sorcery usually tracing their powers back to creatures of elemental earth. Common multiclass combinations include expert/cleric and expert/fighter.

Favored Class: An urdunnir's favored class is expert. Far removed from endless battles that have plagued their kin, the deep-dwelling urdunnirs have the luxury of concentrating on their craft skills, forever seeking the buried treasures and secrets of Dumathoin.

Prestige Classes: Urdunnir characters rarely multiclass into prestige classes but those who do favor divine disciple, hierophant, loremaster and runecaster.


Urdunnir Society

The isolation of urdunnirs has preserved traditional family and clan strictures in a form largely unchanged since the founding of Shanatar. In that respect, orecutter dwarves have more in common with their gold dwarf cousins than they do with the shield dwarves of the North. Class divisions are almost nonexistent, for there is little concept of wealth among the Children of Dumathoin, but clan divisions are quite strong and govern most societal behavior.

Orecutter dwarves are raised in tight family units, with clan elders playing a strong oversight role in the upbringing of each child. Book learning is common, albeit in forms not well understood in the Realms Above, and most children are apprenticed to learn a trade as they near maturity. The greatest artisans use their skills to unveil Dumatoin's secrets and shape his creations into new and pleasing forums, all without disturbing them from their original resting place. As orecutter dwarves age, they are honored for their wisdom and accorded respect for their past accomplishments. Families and clans are expected to honor their elders in death by weaving their bodies into gemstone veins that wind through the earth in a fashion befitting the deceased's reputation and accomplishments.

Orecutter dwarves are almost unknown outside their own communities, but those who do leave usually seek out other dwarven communities in which to dwell. They typically organize themselves according to ancient clan strictures that suggest little understanding of the cultures in which they dwell or changes in the world since the birth of their race.


Language and Literacy

Urdunnirs speak Dwarven and employ the Dethek rune alphabet. They also speak Undercommon, the trade language f the Realms Below. The only known urdunnir dialect, the archaic form of Shanatan, dates back to the founding of Shanatar.

Common secondary languages include the dialect of Gnome spoken by the svirfneblin and Terran, the language of the elemental earth. Some urdunnir learn the language of their foes, including the drow dialect of Elven, Kuo-Toan, Beholder, and aboleth. Few venture close to the surface, but those that do occasionally learn Common, Alzhedo, or Illuskan.

All urdunnir characters are literate except for barbarians, who are very rare among this people.


Abilities ane Racial Features

Urdunnir dwarve have all the dwarven racial traits listed in the Player's Handbook, except as follows:

• +4 racial bonus on saving throws against poison: Urdunnirs are even more resistant to toxins than other dwarves.
  
• Stone Walk (Su): Urdunnirs can pass through stone and earth as if it were air. They can carry up to twice their own body weight with them in this manner. Urdunnirs (and anyone carried with them) cannot breath while within stone or earth and most hold their breath while traveling in this manner.
  
• Stone Shape (Sp): At will as an 8th-level sorcerer.
  
• Shape Metal (Sp): At will as an 8th-level sorcerer once per round. This power works just like the shape metal spell, except that urdunnirs can only affect 5 cubic feet of metal. Using this ability is a full-round action.
  
• Automatic Languages: Dwarven, Undercommon. Bonus Languages: By region.
  
• Favored Class: Expert
  
• Level Adjustment: +4. Urdunnirs have the ability to walk through stone and earth and two unusual spell-like abilities. They are more powerful and gain levels more slowly than the common races of Faerûn.

Urdunnir Magic and Lore

To the urdunnir dwarves, magic has no inherent interest, but it is a useful tool to help them delve through the heart of the world. They favor divination magic to commune with Dumathoin, and illusions to keep the rest of the Underdark away.

Spells and Spellcasting
Orecutter dwarves have strong divine spellcasting tradition, with many of the Stout Folk called to serve Dumathoin as clerics, runecasters, or runesmiths. Arcane spellcasters are almost unknown.

Spellcasting Tradition: Urdunnirs favor spells that assist in craftwork or mining or enable close communion with Dumathoin, such as make whole, meld into stone, and stone shape. Orecutter dwarves have created many divine spells over the years; one such example is commune with earth.

Many urdunnirs take the Runesmith feat because they have difficulty finding many material components so far beneath the surface.

Urdunnir Magic Items
Urdunnirs favor magic items that facilitate their craft skills or further their communion with Dumathoin. When they make weapons of war, they favor blades and axes with holy, lawful, mighty cleaving, sundering, and thundering special abilities. They also wield hammers and maces with holy, impact, lawful, returning, sundering, and throwing special abilities.

Common Magic Items: As befits their name, orecutter dwarves favor magic items that improve artisanship, such as anvils of the blacksmith, belts of dwarvenkind, forges of smithing, hammers of the weaponsmith, necklaces of prayer beads, tongs of the armorer, and whetstones of keen edge.

Iconic Magic Items: Urdunnirs are unquestioned masters of magically enhancing dendritic armor, which they call earthskin. They lucky purchaser who can find the urdunnirs in the first place can obtain a 10% discount on such armor.


Urdunnir Deities

The Children of Dumathoin have always venerated the Silent Keeper and see him as the patron of their race. The Keeper of Secrets under the Mountain is revered by all urdunnirs, whose mythology holds (correctly) that he created their ancestors by transforming a small number of shield dwarves from ancient Shanatar. To the urdunnirs, Dumathoin's "secrets" are literally gems buried within the strata. Their patron's greatest gift was the ability to move through the earth, seeing the beauty of his creation that others can only experience through destructive mining.


Relations with other Races

The deep-dwelling urdunnirs have little exposure to other races aside from those that dwell in the Underdark. They are deeply suspicious of elves and half-elves thanks to centuries of dealing with their dark cousins. They get along well with shield dwarves and gold dwarves, but dislike the gray dwarves. Halflings, humans, half-orcs, and most planetouched are almost unknown to the urdunnirs. However, they have good relations with earth genasi, whom they sometimes encounter exploring the depths of the earth.


Urdunnir Equipment

Urdunnirs encrust almost everything they make with gems and other treasures of the earth. They have almost no access to wood or other similar materials and find something as simple as a bow fascinating.

Arms and Armor
Urdunnirs favor a wide range of weapons, including battleaxes, gauntlets, halfspears, handaxes, heavy picks, light hammers, light picks, longswords, mauls, short swords, throwing axes, and warhammers. More unusual weapons include dwarven urgroshes and dwarven waraxes. Unlike races that live closer to the surface, orecutter dwarves use metal even for the hafts of their bladed weapons. This increases their durability in combat (increases the weapon's hit points by 50%) but doubles the weight of the hafted weapons.

Typical forms of armor include breastplates, chainmail, half-plate, full plate, large steel shields, and small steel shields. More unusual forms of armor include dwarven plate, earthskin, and large mithral shields. Urdunnirs commonly employ equipment such as armor lubricant and thunderstones.

Animals and Pets
Urdunnirs generally eschew pets and familiars, sine their subterranean homes are inaccessible to most creatures not of the Elemental Plane of Earth. Those very few urdunnirs who turn to arcane magic sometimes employ earth or magma mephits as familiars.


Urdunnir Region

Most urdunnir characters take the urdunnir region as opposed to the regions of the surrounding human lands.

Preferred Classes: Expert, cleric, fighter, paladin. A character of one of these classes may choose a regional feat and gain his choice of the bonus equipment below as a 1st-level character. An urdunnir character of any other class may not select one of the regional feats here and does not gain the bonus equipment at 1st level.

Automatic Languages: Dwarven, Undercommon.

Regional Feats: Stoneblood, Stoneshaper, Stonewalker Fist.

Bonus Equipment: (A) Heavy pick* or heavy mace*; (B) chainmail*; or (C) Dwarven urgrosh, large steel shield*, and 3 thunderstones.


Source: Forgotten Realms: Races of Faerûn

[sandcastles]

The Wild Dwarves

Regions: Chult, Tashalar, Wild Dwarf.
Racial Feats: Disentangler, Hammer Fist, Jungle Stamina, Swarmfighting.

Wild dwarves, who call themselves "dur Authalar" (the People), are the primitive inhabitants of the Jungles of Chult and the Mhair and Black Jungles. They have largely rejected the clan-based craft- and smith-oriented culture of their gold, gray, and shield dwarf cousins, choosing instead to live in hunting bands with ever-shifting memberships. Eschewing all trappings of civilization, wild dwarves live like beasts, engaged in an endless hunt for survival. Only those who dare the shadowy depths of Faerûn's southern jungles are even aware of the existence of this barbaric dwarven subrace, for these elusive hunters keep to the depths of their woodland homes.

Wild dwarves are dark-skinned, short, and stout, with dark brown eyes. Their heavily tattooed bodies are covered with grease to ward off insects and make them hard to hold. Wild dwarves wear little except their long, woven hair, which serves as adequate clothing. They plaster their hair and skin with mud to form a crude armor when going to war.

Dur Authalar have more in common with the beasts of the jungle than they do with their dwarven kin, viewing life as an endless hunt and each day a struggle to kill or be killed. Wild dwarves distrust all intruders into their jungle domain and, if confronted, are apt to attack first without question. Much like the beasts they strive to emulate, wild dwarves care little about goings-on in the world at large, the doings of those who are not wild dwarves, or material possessions.

Wild dwarves have the life expectancy and age categories defined for dwarves in the Player's Handbook but use modified random height and weight characteristics instead. (Provided in the first post.)


History

The drow conquest of Bhaerynden sometime around the year -9000 DR forced the Stout Folk of that realm to scatter to isolated holdings across the South. One of the largest groups of dwarves to flee the destruction made their way overland to the Chultan peninsula before splintering into small tribal groups. There they emerged as a distinct subrace known as wild dwarves. Dur Authalar have never reversed their rapid descent into barbarism and have largely forgone the strictures of clan life. Although several great empire shave claimed their territory from time to time, including the Chultan realm based in Mezro, the yaun-ti empire of Serpentes that arose after the fall of Netheril, and the City of the Seabreeze that came together to form the kingdom of Tashtan, the wild dwarves have never been conquered. Instead, they have chosen to simply melt into the depths of the jungle until such time as they could peaceably reclaim their old hunting grounds.


Outlook

Wild dwarves see the world in terms of hunter and prey. In the minds of the dur Authalar, civilization is but a veneer that obscures the endless cycle of prey and predation. Wild dwarves care only about securing their next meal and surviving the ever-present dangers of the natural world. From a young age, wild dwarves join in the hunt, and the lack of strong family or clan ties ensures that each wild dwarf understands just how alone he or she is in the world.

The few wild dwarves who have chosen a life of adventure usually found it thrust upon them. Many were once captives of Calishite slavers who escaped and must now make their own way in the world. Lacking the support of the pack in which they were raised, many see the close camaraderie of adventuring bands as a close approximation of their traditional hunting bands and thus seek out such groups.

Wild Dwarf Characters
The primitive way of life lead by wild dwarves ensures that the skills of the barbarian are highly prized. Rangers and fighters who are capable of defeating potential predators and hunting for food survive longer than those who must rely on the beneficence of the pack. Clerics and druids of Thard Harr spread the teaching needed to survive in the harsh jungle environment, while rogues skilled in making and setting traps bring much needed bounty to the nightly feast. Common multiclass combinations include barbarian/fighter, barbarian/ranger, barbarian/druid, and ranger/druid.

Favored Class: A wild dwarf's favored class is barbarian. Unlike their more civilized kin, the dur Authalar have retreated into barbarism beneath the thick jungle canopy of Chult. In the face of many dangers that stalk their homeland, survival demands the heightened senses, fast movement,and battle rages of a barbarian.


Wild Dwarf Society

Wild dwarves organize themselves into loose, ever-changing hunting bands and pay little heed to distinctions of family or clan. They live nomadic lives that revolve around the hunt and escaping from more powerful predators. Material wealth and goods mean very little, with weapons being the only objects to which they evince any real attachment.

Wild dwarven children are raised communally, with only faint familiar bonds ever acknowledged. Book learning is non-existent, and the young are taught to hunt as soon as they can keep up with the pack. All adults are expected to contribute to the communal life, whether it be watching over the young or leading the hunt.

While the wild dwarves respect the wisdom of elders, those who grow too weak to keep up through persistent sickness or old age are eventually left behind by their kin. A few choose their own deaths, suicidally attacking a great beast single-handedly. They are remembered for their bravery in nightly tales that gradually grow into myths.

Few wild dwarves ever leave their traditional way of life in the southern jungles. Wild dwarves encountered beyond the jungle are usually loners who have either been captured and enslaved or voluntarily chosen exile. Most such wild dwarves eventually find their niche alongside rangers, hunters, or druids, although a few join packs of lycanthropes and other sentient beasts in an attempt to recreate their traditional way of life.


Language and Literacy

Wild dwarves speak a dialect of Dwarven, as well as Common. Those rare individuals who are literate employ the Dethek rune alphabet. The wild dwarf dialect, Authalan, is distantly related to the dialect of the gold dwarves, and betrays a subtle Chultan and Tashalan influence.

Common secondary language reflect the dominant languages of the Chultan peninsula and include Chultan, Draconic, Goblin, Shaaran, Tashalan, and Yaun-Ti.

No wild dwarves are literate, except for those who select a Player's Handbook character class other than barbarian.


Abilities and Racial Features

Wild dwarves have all the dwarven racial traits listed in the Player's Handbook except as follows:

• 
  
• Small: As Small creatures, wild dwarves gain a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but they must use smaller weapons than humans use, and their lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters those of Medium-size charatcers.
  
• Wild dwarf land speed is 20 feet.
  
• Proficient with the handaxe and blowgun. The blowgun is such an integral part of wild dwarf life that all wild dwarves learn to use the weapon. This replaces the normal weapon familiarity.
  
• Poison Use: Wild dwarves work with poisons from an early age, and they never risk accidentally poisoning themselves when applying poison to a weapon.
  
• Fire resistance 5: Wild dwarves are inured to the oppressive heat of Chult.
  
• +3 racial saving throws against poison. This replaces the standard dwarven bonus against poison. Wild dwarves are immune to wild dwarf knockout poison.
  
• +4 racial bonus on saving throws against disease. Wild dwarves have developed a strong resistance to disease of all types.
  
• Wild dwarves are not nearly as capable or familiar with stone and metal as their more civilized kin. They do not receive the dwarven stonecunning trait or the bonus on Appraise and Craft checks related to stone or metal.
  
• Automatic Languages: Dwarven, Common, home region. Bonus Languages: Chultan, Draconic, Goblin, Tashalan, Yaun-ti.
  
• Favored Class: Barbarian.

Wild Dwarf Magic and Lore

Wild dwarves take what magic they know for granted. The blessings of Thard Harr, transmitted through the tribe's cleric, are no more unusual than the chieftain's prowess in warfare or the healer's ability to find beneficial herbs in the jungle. Conversely, wild dwarves are often anxious around magic they've never seen before, which includes most arcane magic and any magic items based on manufactured goods.

Spells and Spellcasting
Wild dwarves have a strong divine spellcasting tradition, with many of the Stout Folk called to serve Thard Harr as clerics, druids, or rangers. Arcane spellcasters are almost unknown.

Spellcasting Tradition: Wild dwarves favor spells that interact with the natural world and aid in the hunt, such as barkskin, calm animals, commune with nature, dominate animal, entangle, hold animal, repel vermin, and wall of thorns. Wild dwarves do not appear to create many spells, or, if they do, they are not widely known and disseminated.

Wild dwarves often augment their magic with extra grunts, gesticulations, and herbs gathered from their jungle home. Many take the Primitive Caster feat.

Wild Dwarf Magic Items
Wild dwarves favor magic items that aid in combat, facilitate fast movement, or provide personal protection. Common examples of such include amulets of natural armor, anklets of springing and striding (identical to the boots of the same name), anklets of speed (identical t o the boots of the same name), and all manner of magical oils.

Iconic Magic Items: Wild dwarves have fabricated many unique magic items as well, such as anklets of freedom of movement (as the ring, but worn on the feet), ointment of barkskin, and tanglepatches.


Wild Dwarf Deities

Although the wild dwarves occasionally make offerings to the other dwarven deities, they truly worship only Thard Harr, Lord of the Jungle Deeps. In the folklore of the dur Authalar, the Morndinsamman are reduced to little more than powerful spirits, often associated with specific landmarks or natural phenomena. The Lord of the Jungle Deeps is the protector of wild dwarves, aiding them against marauding beasts and intruders into the jungle fastness. Nearly all wild dwarves venerate Thard Harr, viewing him not only as patron of their kind but also as a source of great wisdom and experience. He teaches the wild dwarves to both respect and emulate the ways of beasts, particularly great jungle cats, and live in harmony with nature.


Relations with Other Races

Hidden away in their vast jungle, wild dwarves have little exposure to races that do not dwell in significant numbers on the Chultan peninsula. Wild dwarves have good relations with other dwarven subraces after centuries of peaceful contact with a small number of shield dwarves who have emigrated to Chult. Wild dwarves have almost no knowledge of elves, half-elves, gnomes, halflings, half-orcs, or planetouched, although they get along well with the ghostwise halflings on the rare occasions they meet.

Wild dwarves have mixed feelings about humans. While they get along well with Chultans, they see Chaliishites and Lantanna as cruel exploiters and view most Tashalans as servants of the yuan-ti. Wild dwarves reserve their greatest hatred for the goblins of Chult.


Wild Dwarf Equipment

Wild dwarves generally eschew any form of clothing, choosing instead to wear their hair long and cover their bodies with tattoos and grease. In times of war, they plaster their bodies with mud, forming effective but crude mud armor. When defending their home caves, they like to use all manner of pits, snares, deadfalls, and other traps.

Unique Item: WIld dwarf knockout poison.

Arms and Armor
Wild dwarves commonly employ weapons such as halfspears, handaxes, and the ubiquitous blowguns with barbed darts coated with knockout poison.

Animals and Pets
Wild dwarves favor bats, ocelots (lynxes), snakes, and toads as as familiars; they prefer hunting cats, such as leopards and tigers, as pets or animal companions. The wild dwarves' reverence for the great felines of the jungle is so great that most refuse to hunt them.

Wild dwarves eschew the use of pack or riding animals, although from time to time those who dwell in the Jungles of Chult attempt to harness triceratops for the latter role.


Wild Dwarf Region

Wild dwarves typically select either the Chult or the wild dwarf character region.

Preferred Classes: Barbarian, druid, fighter, ranger. A character of one of these classes may choose a regional feet and gain her choice of the bonus equipment below as a 1st-level character. A wild dwarf character of any other class many no select one of the regional feats here and does not gain the bonus equipment at 1st level.

Automatic Languages: Common, Chultan, Dwarven.

Bonus Languages: Draconic, Goblin, Ignan, Shaaran, Tashalan, and Yaun-Ti.

Regional Feats: Disentangler, Jungle Stamina, Survivor.

Bonus Equipment: (A) Hand axe* or halfspear*; or (B) ointment of barkskin and 3 doses of wild dwarf knockout venom.


Source: Forgotten Realms: Races of Faerûn