By Jefferson Krogh
September 5, 2002
The standard dwarves in Dungeons & Dragons are subterranean-dwelling, keeping themselves at arm’s length from the rest of the sentient races. Basically, like the dwarves from The Lord of the Rings. Such was once the case in Ardovia, but that was one thousand years ago. Since then, the dwarves have lived much differently than those in standard D&D.
Most of the dwarf clans are now nomadic. In fact, they called themselves vharakongrim, which means "the homeless" in their tongue. Great caravans of wagons make their slow way across Ardovia, sometime in the dozens, sometime in numbers of more than a hundred. These wagon trains are now the permanent, albeit mobile, homes of the dwarves. A caravan may consist of an entire clan, if the clan is minor, or a major division of one of the surviving major clans. The caravan is now effectively the major political and cultural unit of dwarven society, though all of them share many aspects of the culture of the original dwarven homeland.
The original dwarven homeland was a vast subterranean city named Vharakeld, which means simply "the old home." The dwarves abandoned Vharakeld ten generations (one thousand years) ago. Its location is uncertain to non-dwarves, and the dwarves themselves never speak of it. As far as anyone can tell, Vharakeld lies somewhere deep within the mountain range in the southeast part of Ardovia. It is marked on no map, but is sought by many adventurers. The homeland is reputed to be all those things that your standard fantasy dwarven kingdom is: abundant with mineral wealth; exquisitely wrought works of metalwork, jewelry, and masonry; vast, deep and resonant with the weight of millennia of dwarven accomplishment and artifice. The truth of it is unknown, and if the dwarves know, they’re not telling. The dwarves do not speak of their homeland to outsiders, or perhaps even amongst themselves.
Rumors and legend are divided as to why the dwarves left their homeland. Few believe that they left willingly. One set of legends tell that a natural cataclysm, such as a volcano, caused the destruction of Vharakeld. A related rumor has it that the dwarves inadvertantly triggered the volcano by mining too deep. Those who tell the story more fancifully say that it was not a volcano that the dwarves triggered, but an ancient evil too strong for even the dwarves to overcome. In this version, Vharakeld is now home to the orcs and goblins, who now hold the riches of the city. Some say that not all the dwarves left Vharakeld; the deep dwarves won the city in a civil war, and drove the rest of the dwarves into the sunlight.
No matter what the tale, the other free races of Ardovia tend to agree on one point: the dwarves probably had it coming.
During the heyday of Vharakeld, the dwarves were a quite insular people. Few outsiders were allowed to visit the city. Dwarven visitors to the other races served in a purely mercantile fashion, soliciting interest in goods that the dwarves often decided they weren't willing to sell. Ostentatiously showing their master artistry and craftsmanship, the dwarves built a reputation as the finest smiths and jewelers in Ardovia. Men regarded their arms and armor as the best and keenest; elves held their lamps as the brightest and most like the stars.
Owning an item of Vharakeld manufacture brought great prestige to its owner. However, the dwarves were rarely willing to sell. Rich lords would offer great sums of gold and silver, and were often turned down for no particular reason. Sometimes, though, dwarves would sell their goods to their friends for precious little money. It was as if the dwarves considered most outsiders simply unworthy to own dwarven works.
This haughtiness made Vharakeld a target of jealousy and antipathy. None of the free peoples of Ardovia counted the dwarves as friends. Many wanted to see the dwarves taken down a peg or two, but no one had the military might to invade Vharakeld. Sometimes Men would attack dwarf trading caravans, but often this resulted in a heavy military response from Vharakeld. Worse, sometimes it resulted in Vharakeld giving dwarven arms to their foe's foes.
Dwarven political and family life is ruled by the clan, first and foremost. In fact, the dwarves draw no distinction whatever between family matters and political matters. The state is the family, and the family is the state. Since the diaspora, this has been even more important.
The clans are divided into two general classes--high and low.
Ten clans are considered to be "high" clans. Each of these clans is considered to be descended directly from one of the first ten dwarves whom Moradin created at the dawn of time. The clans are named after these mythical forefathers: Vharin, Jharin, Larin, Bolfin, Belfin, Khifur, Zifur, Aloín, Haloín, and Denkhor, the royal clan. Seven of these clans survive to this day, with the clans of Larin, Aloín, and Haloín having died out in ages past.
Each of the clans are listed below, along with typical feats, skills, classes and weapons associated with each clan.
One of the three major merchant clans, the Vharin clan travel on large barges up and down the Arkady River. The barges, laden with dwarven trade goods, travel from the coastal city of Tarkus upriver to the Imperial provinces of Kalakark, Azark, and Bamark, and back. They hold themselves as completely neutral when it comes to politics, but the Empire taxes them heavily. The Vharin barges are armed with heavy ballista and are sometimes armored with iron plates, made by the Vharin's capable smiths. The Vharin are an insular clan, preferring not to mingle with dalgrim (outsiders) except when necessary.
Despite their nautical leanings, few Vharin know how to swim.
Typical feat: Skill Focus (Craft [smith], Craft [shipwright], or Profession [pilot]).
Typical skill: Craft or Profession..
Typical class: Expert or Fighter.
Typical weapon: Light crossbow or longspear.
The second of the major merchant clans, the Jharin use wagon trains to ply their trade along the lower reaches of the Sifer River. This includes the stretch between T'Regnor and Massitonia, with occasional forays up into Nordland, where the badgers live.
Typical feat:
Typical skill:
Typical class:
Typical weapon:
The members of Clan Bolfin are descended from those who tried, and failed, to establish the city of Vharak Bolfin after the loss of Vharakeld. Scattered by misfortune, most of the members of this clan are settled in small groups in various cities over southern Ardovia. They live much as your typical city dweller would, albeit with a collective sense of falilure and damage pride. They hold themselves to be of a higher social standing that the member of Clan Belfin, which was established by the son of Bolfin. This clan has a long history of excellence in the craft of masonry.
Typical feat: Skill Focus (Craft [stonemason]).
Typical skill: Craft (stonemason)
Typical class: Expert.
Typical weapon: n/a.
Very similar to clan Bolfin, and in fact comes from the same family stock. This clan founded, and later abandoned, the city of Vharak Belfin. They are well known for their superb engineers, and are often employed to help build numerous public works all over the Empire.
Typical feat: Skill Focus (Profession [civil engineer]).
Typical skill: Profession [civil engineer]
Typical class: Expert
Typical weapon: n/a.
Khifur's clan consists almost entirely of mercenary companies of great skill. Known for their tight discipline and excellent formation tactics, the mercenaries are highly paid, and highly sought after. Numbering in the high hundreds only, the fighters of Khifur have participated one side or another of nearly every major war in the last thousand years. Their range of operations is usually on the more chaotic eastern side of Ardovia. Currently they are headquartered outside of Tarkus. During the Ameshite conquest, they have most often been employed by those trying to fight off the Empire, but sometimes by the Empire itself. In the last few years they have been employed by the city of Tarkus to supplement its own forces against the inevitable upcoming assault.
Typical feat: Shield Wall (from Hammer & Helm).
Typical skill: n/a.
Typical class: Fighter.
Typical weapon: Shield and hammer.
This is the greatest and most successful of the three merchant clans. They roam the Sifer river valley above Massitonia in great, ornate wagon trains, making a regular cycle. Unlike most dwarves, the members of clan Zifur are fairly outgoing and have good relations with the dalgrim. They are masters of negotiation and business, specializing in both commodities trading as well as brokering deals for others. The least idealistic of the clans, they have sworn their allegiance to the Empire, though before that they had sworn allegiance to Ingwar and the Elvish Dominion.
Typical feat: Artisan (from Hammer & Helm).
Typical skill: Diplomacy or Craft.
Typical class: Expert or Bard.
Typical weapon: n/a.
Denkhor, the founder of this clan, was once a Prince of Vharakeld. After the fall of the old city, Denkhor led his followers across Ardovia, refusing to beg or subject himself to the rule of others. In the end, he led his people into the northern deserts, where they now dwell beyond the reach of either the Dominion or the Empire. Clan Denkhor has become rough and somewhat primitive, living in underground shelters, and riding reptilian mounts in bandit raids. Probably the fiercest and proudest of the clans, Denkhor is quite estranged from other civilized peoples.
Typical feat: Mounted Combat or Track.
Typical skill: Ride.
Typical class: Barbarian.
Typical weapon: Shortbow and battleaxe.
The "low" clans were founded after the High Clans. The Low Clans number somewhere in the tens, though since the Diaspora few are able to keep count. The largest of the Low Clans actually count more members than some of the High Clans, for various reasons.
Known low clans include Azhak, Thromin, etc.
Favored musical instruments include drums, voices, and brass instruments--the bigger the better. Performances by groups, up to symphony size, are preferred over those by individuals. Dwarven musical compositions are usually designed to tell stories, and often resemble operas. Works recalling dramatic events in dwarven history and mythology are popular. Other races tend to find dwarven music pompous, bombastic, and more than anything else, loud. Designed to take advantage of the acoustics of caves and caverns, dwarven compositions make up in volume what they lack in intricacy.