Name: Dwarf (And the important tribes and distinctions that come with them)

Race: People

Sub-race: Dwarf

Place on the Pyramid of Power (PPP): Sentient to Supernatural

World: Xentos and many others (Though we are focusing on the Xentos ones in particular)

Habitat: Mainly the Northern Kingdom, though there are small tribes that have moved to Eclipse, and the Eastern Kingdom

Biology: Everyone has an idea of what dwarves are, in that they are a short race that typically lives in mountains. Typically hearty, and resilient, they dig holes to expand their homes and wealth. Because of their lifestyle and the dust of the mines and stone they dig through, dwarves have evolved to thrive in their homes. To that end, I'm going to identify the traits all dwarves have, and explain what happens if they turn into monsters.

All dwarves have beards, and this includes the females. From the shortest beards of the Beard Cutters, to the longest of the Abyss Walkers, all dwarves have a beard. Even the babies of dwarves have beards that are developed enough to protect them from dust and fine particles in the air while they breath. To shave a dwarf's beard off is the ultimate humiliation, and has very real health consequences for them.

A dwarf without a beard doesn't look exactly human either. Firstly, their facial features are more angular in shape, with sharp chins pronounced cheek bones, and large bulbous noses. Without any hair, you would notice that their heads appear larger, if slightly thicker compared to a human the same size. As you go lower towards the neck, you immediately notice three different slits that would be completely covered and surrounded by their beard.

Dwarves in this world have two different sets of lungs. The first one is smaller and attached to the trachea. This little lung about the size of one of their fists, is in charge of getting enough air to speak, pulling in air through the nose for smell, and even releasing a mucus when fine particles get inside it. Essentially the sacrificial lung, that doesn't provide the body with oxygen. It will close while a dwarf is eating, drinking, or even drowning itself in mucus to get rid of blockages.

The real dwarf lung is the reason for the three vertical slits that traces along the top of a dwarf's neck, to the center of their chest. The lung itself has the three shoots stretch out and merge behind a layer of fat and muscle. The lung itself encompasses the entirety of a dwarf's stomach, which is why a dwarf always appears to be sucking in and releasing his gut. The act keeps their muscles strong, and promotes breathing. Not a lot of people know about the slits, or the two lung system even in the world of Xentos.

As a consequence, many dwarves in foreign kingdoms can be killed because of a single stab wound. Healers that are not aware of dwarf biology will assume the slits are something unnatural and knit the flesh together to close such. Which again, leads to death as the dwarf struggles to breathe through the sacrificial lung and it becomes inflamed and they die. That said, even if a dwarf is stabbed and it pierces the lung itself, they can cause themselves to bleed out from the wound opening and closing, leading to bubbling blood. The best thing for dwarves in that situation is to cauterize the wound shut, as the fat will react to heat and close it naturally. This lung will not drown, as it has complex drainage tubes that allows them to filter out material to be digested or excreted.

Dwarf blood is red, much like most other people races. That said, their blood is typically more oily and slick. This is because dwarf blood can dissolve and carry body fat, to even distribute it along their limbs. The fat itself acts as a sealant, and with the application of heat will expand to close wounds. This fat has evolved to resistant to catching on fire, and will break through the skin if the beard itself catches on fire. While painful for the dwarf in question, a sudden decrease of fat will cause the body to go into shock and they suddenly lose feeling in the afflicted area. Giving them time to try and run, or finish a fight.

Due to their unique blood, dwarves can typically accept blood from elves and other red blooded races so long as the amount is a pint at most. Their immune system will make them feel sick as the new blood cells are destroyed slowly. This immune system mainly comes from the alcohol they consume. In that their bodies make unique compounds which aids in their blood carrying fat and oxygen through their system without issues. Hence why dwarves need a lot of alcohol to truly feel drunk.

Dwarf bones are incredibly dense and resilient things. They will bend before they break, and often have a spring like effect snapping them back into place. If a dwarf bone does break, then that bone will become tainted by the blood, as the marrow dissolves into it. Which will cause the thing to become frail and amputate the body part in question. Though in the case of ribs, they will fall apart and slowly grow back. It's more a matter of how much marrow was lost, since the places on the human body with thick marrow aren't the same as dwarves. That said a sure fire way to kill a dwarf is to break their hip, which requires a massive amount of force to actually succeed in.

Dwarf muscles are also uniquely dense and compact. Which gives them more strength than an average human. That said, their strength cannot really be improved upon even with ample exercising. Instead because of their biology and how they can actively digest certain rocks, soldiers and warriors are made stronger by ingesting certain minerals. These minerals in question will make the muscles even denser, although it is a rather painful process to endure. That said, it should be noted that no dwarf can actually float on water, and all of them will sink without something to aid them.

All of these are traits that the dwarves evolved for dealing with an environment rich in blunt force trauma or being crushed. A dwarf is more than able to take multiple concussive strikes to the face, and shrug it off, while other races would be down for the count. If their leg or arm is caught in a cave in, as long as the bone doesn't break, they can call for help or hack it off and use oil and fire to seal the wound. If the Dwarf's entire body is caught in a cave in, and they aren't crush, they can sit there for as long as air filters to where they are. They can effectively take blows from any blunt object as long as it doesn't hit them in the head too often and the skin remains unbroken.

As for the beards themselves, they are a mixture of fine and thin hairs that naturally weave themselves together to make a sort of mesh. Typically dwarves have different critters running around inside their beards. The kind that are lice, spiders, or even unique bugs. This is a symbiotic relationship as the dwarf lets the things eat whatever falls into their beards, or even other bugs that they catch or squish from time to time. These bugs will pluck out hairs that are frayed, or outright eat such, and allow new hairs to grow in. Most beards actually connect with the chest hair, or even stomach hair, to allow it to grow longer. Giving the illusion that the beard itself stretches past their waists, though that varies based on tribe.

Dwarf eyes are typically beady things, looking smaller than they should. The pupils are larger, with their irises being thinner. Most dwarves typically wear glasses when dealing with other races to hide such. These eyes are able to see decently in the dark, allowing a crude sort of dark vision. Though dwarves themselves cannot see very far away, and are rather short sighted beings. Typically anything past 110 meters (360.84 feet/ the size of a football stadium), they cannot actively see. When in the dark, their vision is roughly half that amount. Which is a lot less than humans who can apparently see up to 4.83 kilometers (3 miles) away with light. Though I'd argue a lot more than humans can see in the dark. This naturally comes without the light sensitivity that most other races with dark vision have. Specifically dark elves in this case.

Dwarves can hear better in loud environments, their brains actively filtering out background noises. Their eardrums are padded to allow them to keep their hearing despite intense noise, but also sensitive enough to pick up on the talking of others around them. They can be hard of hearing in a silent environment, given that they need ambient noise to help them hear the other sounds around them.

With all that in mind, Dwarves are a race that can become monsters if they are infected with black blood, or eat tainted meat. When a dwarf becomes a monster, they typically become gnomes (which I will put in a poll to explain later with the other monster types). Which essentially makes them smaller and more compact, but increases their magic. Gnomes reject living in tunnels and chose to spread out above ground, which means other races have to deal with them. Dwarf women are subject to the wails of the youngest banshee, which means that dwarves can become other types of humanoid monsters as well. Though it is far more likely for them to become a gnome.

Diet: It was mentioned that dwarves could eat certain rocks and minerals. This is very true, their bodies have stronger stomach acid. Most dwarves would prefer meat and even the green stuff to minerals, but the deeper you go the less likely you are to get that. Hence why they are able to subsist on such. The most important thing to them is that they get ale. Ale is like water to a dwarf, in that they will die within a week without any to drink.

Concept: With the biology handled, I'll use concept to throw out the tribes we'll be seeing. Which will follow and build their culture. I should mention that dwarves typically live between 150 and 300 years old (with the exception of metal beards). This will also cover some key biological differences between the tribes, as well as some other neat little facts.

Beard Cutters: Starting with the most notorious of the kingdoms, and the one that outsiders deal with the most. The Beard Cutters are a tribe of dwarves that have shorter beards, just barely covering their three air flaps. Naturally they take beards from families that join them, rekindling those bonds when a new chief takes their place, by having those same or new leaders of such families give a fresh lock to them.

These are the guys that we based most of the dwarf physiology on. If you see a dwarf tribe wandering the tunnels, or even in other kingdoms, chances are they came from this tribe or it's kingdom. They are the most adaptive of the other dwarfs, typically only needing a couple generations to adapt to a new environment. All tribes were born from the Beard Cutters, despite revolutions leading to lost history and other tribes disputing such.

Frost Beards: The kingdom of ice, the tundra hunters, the snow's fury. This kingdom has claimed a trio of mountains and have adapted to survive hunting in below zero climates. Their entire body is typically covered in insulating white hair that helps them hide in their hunting grounds. They thrive in colder weather, and typically dwell inside their mountains with gaping holes to let the cold in. They do not dig very deep, only having a few tunnels to connect with other kingdoms.

Thanks to their location, and unique body structure, they are the only true masters of ice magic. While extremely rare for anyone to actually encounter them, they are often confused for yeti children by other races. Which doesn't help with the fact that they will tame wild yeti and other creatures to help in their hunts. They typically provide the other kingdoms with water from the snow around them, and fresh meats when hunts are good.

Lately there have been monsters moving about the snow, and the meat is becoming tainted with black blood. The first gnomes were ice gnomes that came about from an unfortunate group of hunters that chose to eating tainted meat, versus cannibalism.

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Abyss Walkers: These dwarves have their kingdom to the Northwest of the Beard Cutters. Which puts their area right in the thickest part of the mountains, on the border of the black cloud. They have long black beards, and are the most powerful compared to the other kingdoms. They keep many secrets, while digging the deepest.

They tend to keep to themselves, rarely sending one of their dwarves to commune in the council once every fifty years or so. In truth they have slowly adapted to eating tainted flesh, by draining all the blood out of a monster's hide. While it doesn't taste good, they are one of the few creatures that can eat monster flesh without risk of turning, or suffering from disease.

They also know a lot about dark magics, and bloody rituals, which keeps the other kingdoms from wanting to do much with them. They were the first kingdom to go silent before everything with the mimics happened, and while many suspect they died, the truth is quite the opposite. They are slowly but surely carving their way back up and working to secure tunnels to go back to trading as if nothing happened.

Metal Beards: The dwarf kingdom that dug into the magma chambers and developed a unique way of creating weapons. They are the ones that discovered soul crystals, and how to use a ritual to bind a soul to such. Their tribe is essentially made out of golems that move thanks to the magic of these crystals. Naturally they cannot reproduce naturally, and accept all unwanted children, and even criminals into their midst. Back in the days before Eclipse, criminals were often given the choice of joining the metal beards, or taking their chances with the monsters in Dark Fall.

Thanks to their numbers not actively dying to age, they've had quite a long time to hone their craft and do not actually have any monster problems, save for the fire worms that swim in magma. They are working with the Abyss walkers since their tunnels were the first to be reclaimed, due in part to both knowing how to deal with monsters in their own ways.

These guys are also the reason homunculus exist, since they did trade soul crystals and instructions on how to use them. The idea being a simple one, in that other races could join them as well. This also helped to kick start the magic to make golems, as well as people discovering how to make such magical constructs with their own power. Which fuels rumors about the dwarves having an army of golems at the ready, and can probably deal with the fire kingdom themselves. Which in turn made the dwarves public enemy number one to said kingdom. Now they just keep their runic knowledge and fancy weapons to themselves.

Wet Beards: This kingdom is located below the Beard Cutters to the South, while the Metal Beards are located to the North and a bit deeper. These guys have set up around the start of the Underneath tunnels. Originally they wanted to keep monsters and creatures out of such a place, but over generations they were unable to, and with a horde of monsters making their way inside, more beasts were allowed in. Which resulted in the largely untamable lands, that then pushed the Wet Beards further to the surface, and below the massive river itself.

Currently they are being guided by a mimic queen, and are kind of working together to keep the monsters of the Underneath from swarming back out or attacking them. Because of this, the most dangerous stuff tends to be right where the river carves into the tunnel, versus hanging around and going under Eclipse.

Wandering Tribes: The rest of the tribes are basically a loose collections of different dwarves. They technically qualify as their own kingdom to the East, and Southwest, and are made up of various families and towns without any real cities. From tribes like the Ember Beards, to the Moss Beards themselves. They pretty much covered the top side around the Beard Cutters in all directions, and made up roughly half the dwarf population.

With two mimic Queens pitting them against each other, most of the single tribes have gone extinct or flat out have all been turned into Doppelgangers. The Moss Beards did try to stop such a fate, but by the time anyone realized such, it was too late for them. A good number of them have fled to the larger cities, placing a strain on resources, while doppelgangers also followed them. Monsters have turned small towns into breeding grounds, and really it's all just one big mess that needs to be cleaned up and will take years to do so properly.

Relationships: With the presence of mimics, and their queens. All dwarf tribes are essentially at war with each other. Some are to the point that they will attack on sight, while others will at least try to hear the other side out. Given the fact that the Beard Cutters have made airships, and the Moss Beards traveled the world in caravans; most kingdoms have decent views on the race as a whole.

Eclipse: The people running Eclipse are aware of the multiple tribes in the Northern Kingdom. In general the people of Eclipse like dwarves because they make really nice weapons and armor. The average person knows that they always need food, and it makes sense to them since mountains aren't a great place to farm. On the other hand, the dwarves trade for knowledge, runes, and just about anything they can use. If the dwarves didn't have a wealth of precious metals and ores that were needed, they would be much worse off.

Still given Oswald's reputation and how he's a prominent figure from the Northern Kingdom. The dwarves and Eclipse have a trusting relationship with each other. Multiple treaties are in place, and the Northern Kingdom gets the best prices on food, and other supplies. While Eclipse gets exclusive trade deals, and has groups of guards and other services bought or rented as needed. If the Eastern or Western Kingdoms attack, Eclipse will move to flank and dispose of such invaders.

Kingdom of Light: The elves running the Eastern kingdom are on tense terms with the Northern Kingdom. While not openly hostile to each other, many elf leaders view the dwarves with disdain for not even trying to see the difference between all the tribes. It also doesn't help that envoys from the Beard Cutters tend to call their envoys 'beast fuckers,' whenever it suits them. Especially when trying to make deals in a room full of Eclipse nobles.

Because of the various grudges both have towards each other, the two typically take actions that might hinder the other party out of spite. For the most part the Moss Beards were an exception to elf hostility, but since their tribe was wiped out, the situation has only gotten worse. Thankfully the elves are more than happy to wait out a few generations of dwarves, hoping someone more agreeable might come along. Plus they have the fire kingdom to deal with, so a war won't be started unless the dwarves attack first. Which is unlikely to happen anytime soon.

Kingdom of Dark Fell: Ruled by the monster king that wants to kill anything that isn't a monster. The dwarves are effectively at war with the Western Kingdom. That said, numbers do not amount to much when flesh and fang are forced down narrow tunnels, and trapped spaces waiting to cave in. If not for the first hordes failing at Eclipse, the Northern Kingdom likely would have fallen themselves under the amount of forces.

Ironically, the monster king was not responsible for the current issue in the Northern Kingdom. Granted he aggravated it with his hordes, but the mimics were already there and repelled such without his knowledge. To that end, the monster king is slowly allowing his monster armies to raise their numbers for a massive attack on the dwarves in the future. He is hoping to take the mountains and use them as a breeding grounds in turn for future attacks on Eclipse and even the Kingdom of Light.

Kingdom of Fire: While most of the time the dwarves trade exclusively with Eclipse and the Kingdom of Light, they will head further South to the kingdom of Fire. Here, they are protected and welcomed by the best of the fire kingdom. Pirates are forbidden from attacking the dwarf air ships, with the threat of their entire bloodline being hunted down. The relationship is best described as the Fire lord trying to get the dwarves to attack Eclipse, or form exclusive deals with them; while the dwarves just appreciate that their gear sells for a lot more in such a kingdom.

Naturally they haven't forgotten the propaganda about the Fire Kingdom being the best kingdom, or how dwarves were the ones coming down in their airships to steal jobs from humble blacksmiths. Even if it was a couple generations ago for the humans since Eclipse sprang up and became their number one enemy. Which effectively means that the Dwarves have no real intentions of every actually allying with such a volatile kingdom.

Romance: Dwarves follow the rules that other races adhere to. They can mate with other races that are not monsters without any issues. They cannot reproduce with beasts, and many dwarves look down on the elves for creating the beast tribes. Even the beast tribes that were around before the elves, have been blamed on the debauchery of elves mingling with beasts. Because of that, you rarely find dwarf and elf pairs.

Beyond that, they typically like to court for a decade or two before committing to a relationship. Most dwarves will often put up with whatever human they enter a relationship with, since the human will die long before it becomes an issue to a dwarf. It is not uncommon for them to make arranged marriages to gain exclusive deals with certain human groups, just because of this fact.

For a dwarf, nothing is more relaxing and pleasurable than the sensation of their breath flaps being lightly stroked or even massaged. While typically silent, when a dwarf is properly enjoying themself, they will make a sort of purring for their partner to enjoy with them. Which is why they view intricate works of art and carvings so highly. They aren't in it for the looks, but how deft and practiced those fingers are. A dwarf's beard will even twitch at the end if they are properly aroused by such a work or gesture.

Creation: You may want to skip this one if you don't want spoilers.

The earliest records of Dwarves can be found in the ancient tomes. The same tomes that speak of ships that sailed among the stars, and impossible machines that could create fake worlds with a line of code. In truth, Dwarves were made as a race based off the genetics of multiple creatures in a civilization advanced enough to know what every bit of genetic code could and would do. They were made synthetically by the 'gods' of Xentos to be a subservient race that mined ore and resources for their masters. They were supposed to be expendable, and procreate so that they did not have to be remade.

Then the darkest night happened. The influence of the abyssal king collided with the magic of Xentos, creating the first demons that sought to serve their creator. The machines that had not yet failed, suddenly became silent and buried during the fight with the abyssal king. The dwarves were given freedom with the elves, and synthetic humans. The beasts that were created fled to the East, while the Dwarves took about their tasks as they always did. This time for themselves, unable to parse the idea of an abyssal king. Such a figure was forgotten save for the monoliths that told the story of such a fight.

To this day, there is no dwarf 'god,' as they believe themselves to have been carved from the stone itself by ancient lost magics. The mountains of the North was where they were born, and they will defend it until they die. Even if the gods themselves ordain to come, they will be ready.

Purpose: Masters of their own fate. Dwarves are free to chose what they wish to do with their life, and how to go about such. Not all dwarves have the luxury of such a choice, but the majority certainly do. Even if the choice leaves them starving in the tunnels with empty bellies, and monsters breathing down their necks.

Ideally the dwarf in question would chose to serve their family, by becoming a productive member of their family. They will try to unite other families under them, and slowly become prominent enough to take over the kingdom itself. To that end, every dwarf seeks to somehow do something amazing in their field, or work hard enough to keep their families fed. Life is hard in the tunnels, and they can only survive by working together.

Lore: Few tribes have actually had much impact on the lore of Xentos as a whole. While the tribes themselves can each be considered to have their own unique lore and backstories, I feel such is better examined through the story naturally. If you want to talk about who had the most impact, it would definitely be the Metal Beards in introducing golems and such other magics to the world. Followed by the Moss Beards and other wanderers, who traveled the world in caravans and traded with other races to spread their ideas. The Beard Cutters would be a good third place, especially if you consider that Oswald technically came from them.

Beyond that, they really haven't influenced the world that much. They are content to dig their holes, and protect their lands. They trade for the things they need to survive, and are more interested in disputes between their chiefs versus the world outside at large. While they could have created farms on the mountains and grew crops on the plains around such, or even moved earth and such to try and sustain the idea. They ultimately feel the time spent towards such an endeavor would only make them weaker as a race. Hence why wanderers like the Moss Beards were looked down on, and they refused to actually ask for help long before everything got covered in shit.

Fun Ideas: Dwarves are unique and you could put them just about anywhere. The idea is that they are survivors that will adapt to just about any environment. Want them in space? Make Space beards, a race that no longer needs to breath, but has thick skin and can absorb energy from the stars and radiation around them. Just imagine setting sail in a space ship and hitting one of those fuckers, only to have it slowly shamble on board and start using sign language.

You can even make Fire Beards, who are dwarves with beards literally on fire. The world is your oyster, and if you want a special kind of dwarf for your campaign, then just do it! They can be bad guys, good guys, anything your heart desires. They are a perfect race for supply depots, cities in otherwise uninhabitable places, and even small towns or villages. As with the Abyss walkers they could be on the verge of becoming monsters, and with those breathing flaps on their necks you suddenly have horror.