On the Topic of Dwarves









At this point, things can go a couple different ways.






9 thoughts on “On the Topic of Dwarves

  1. Rob Donoghue Post author

    Dwarven Language reinforces this split but also keeps it internal to the culture. There are two different ways to say or write many words, like “city”, and intonation and emphasis determines whether it means upper or lower (or, in dwarven terms, real and fake). To an outsider, this can seem like a simple matter of accents, as the lower intonations are often perceived as “high class”, but in reality it’s one more tool used to reinforce the status of the upper city as lesser.

    Outsiders almost always learn “upper” dwarven, and while they may attempt to mimic an upper class accent, if they don’t actually understand the cultural significance of they’re intonation, it will almost certainly come across as false (at best) or mocking (at worst). Many dwarves, particularly those born outside the Deep City, never quite grasp the nuances of the lower tongue.

  2. Rob Donoghue Post author

    Dwarven lifespan and Fertility rate are both fairly open ended questions. The very nature of the issue makes it difficult to study, but it seems that the energies of the deeps have a explicit biolgical effect on the dwarves, who live there, rendering them longer lived. It may also make them more fertile, but that is harder to measure. There is no documented case of a deep city having difficulty restoring its population after a great loss (such as a war or plague) but there are precious few records of these things, and there was a secondary population (the upper Dwarves) to draw on.

    It is also whispered that the deep dwarves are rather more different in more ways than culture. The magics that preserve and empower them also bring them closer to the Earth, making them hardier, reducing their need for food and water and so on. There is no real evidence to support this, though the existence of Azer suggests that it’s possible that it is a ture elemental affinity to earth (which has been somehow corrupted to fire in the Azer’s case). But Azer are crazy, and most dwarves deny any relationship, so there’s not a lot to be found there.

    An additional upshot of this is that Dwarves born on the surface are a rarity. Most of the population comes from below (a fact that has some other interesting implications, as the new arrivals have a lot of social and fiscal capital, but little position) so the birth of a child is a rare thing, one given a great deal of weight, both good and bad. Some view them as corrupted, born outside the depths, while others (usually their families) view them as blessed, untouched by whatever taint caused them to be cast out.

    This makes for an interesting childhood, and it is perhaps unsurprising that these children tend to either excel (in or out of the city) or burn out.

  3. Rob Donoghue Post author

    There are few things in this world that can compare with a dwarven music hall.

    Dwarven music, *great* dwarven music (which, of course, means Lower dwarven music) is designed to be used underground. it is all low registers and deep percussion as the body of the work, with higher notes serving in percussion’s stead of providing more emphasis than sophistication. Dwarven music is designed to account for its own echo and resonance within a space, to be heard two or more times. The greatest Dwarven performers can layer their own echos seven deep, though there is but once concert hall in the upper world capable of supporting such a performance, and no known musicians capable of giving it. Underground, the space for such sound is magnificent, and has a religious quality to it. The lower city very nearly *thrums* with music.

    The music of the surface is a pale reflection of this at best. The concert halls are magnificent testimonies to dwarven engineering in that they at least come close, clsoe enough that they are one of the touchstones of dwarven culture, for a great piece of dwarven music is the closest that most of them will ever get to home. To other cultures, it seems over loud and overwrought, but the concert halls are the one place where there is no shame for a dwarf to cry like a child.

    This breeds in a disdain for the musical cultures of the surface that can be interpreted by some as artlessness, but it is sorrow. To a dwarf, a sound is something that *lives*. It leaves the singer or instrument on a journey, traveling and changing. Reducing that to mere notes is the equivalent of paint by numbers.

    But for all that, they cannot live without music, and while it may be lesser, it is better than nothing. Dwarves have a well known fondness for deep percussion which shows up everywhere. Other traditional dwarven instruments can be found in the deeper woodwinds and brass families, but those see little use on a daily basis – they are concert instruments, and need to at least be played indoors or they are simply wretched.

    The musical tradition that has emerged on the surface which has little basis in the lower city revolves around stringed instruments, usually plucked and often sophisticated in their construction. Whatever the details, it is an instrument capable of producing more than one note at a time, individually or in chords. Dwarves call this style of music “chasing”, for the performer sends each note chasing after the last, in the spirit of the living music. Traditionalists decry this style of music as tainted and likely to lead to other moral lapses (and reduce the chance of being allowed back) but for the kids, this is their music, and it’s not going anywhere.

    1. Rob Donoghue Post author

      I should note there is no way to convey what classical dwarven music sounds like, though if you have ever had a timpani rattle your sternum, you have felt hints of it.

      Dwarven street music, on the other hand, sounds like bluegrass – banjos, fiddles and guitars and lots of fast picking. They sound like Goat Rodeo.

      1. Jess

        I imagine that Japanese taiko music would be an excellent sources of inspiration as well for Dwarven music as well, as the primary instrument is drums of various size, with other, higher-noted instruments interspersed for accent.
        This is amazing, by the way. I’ve always loved dwarves in settings and felt they often get shorted any real information on the finer nuances of their culture (which elves seem to get much more often). This makes my heart happy in ways that few things have. Thank you.

  4. Rob Donoghue Post author

    Dwarves have a reputation as fierce warriors, though it is somewhat unearned. Dwarven cities are rarely located anywhere of strategically important to the surface world, but they do have to deal with any number of tyrants and raiders looking to pillage the imagined treasures of the dwarves, and that has a history of going poorly for the attackers. While some of this can be attributed to dwarven martial tradition (there are a lot of unpleasant things to deal with in the deeps) a lot more can be attributed to the quality of their defences – dwarven walls are built to last.

  5. Pat Gamblin

    Loving this writeup. It’s reminding me of the dwarves of Discworld, with their Low King, something I was considering borrowing for the game I’m running right now, since it involves dwarves pretty heavily.

    Also liking the music part. I can imagine the feeling of this deep vibration felt in the bones as a party descends into the lower city section, a constant reminder of the power and weight of stone around them.

  6. Jason Pitre

    Um, is blacksmithing actually a auditory performance art in the depths? Any high-dwarf can forge an axe, but when a master smith of the low city creates one, he creates light and music.


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