The lodestone - a dwarven RP

[arcanius]

OK this RP is one I and a couple of friends have been working out for a while and I want to give it a shot here, the storyline is the following

Once upon a time(Because every story starts with Once upon a time)there was a generic fantasy world full of elves and humand as major races. The humans and elves have mutual hate and try to kill each other in every occasion, Elves are much more agile and intelligent but humans beat them strenght-wise and in endurance, the war however is sort of a large problem for the dwarves who are a minor race living in the mountains...... Between the elves and humans. So all the magic showdowns and large scale fighting kinda makes dwarven life suck and since it burns down the poor crops that do grow in the mountain and scares away the herds and wild game - the short people decide, THATS IT we're starting war against both, which however is a problem cause they don't have the numbers, technology or magic to fight back, which means you guessed it - partisan tactics. Now the organisation of the dwarven society goes like this:

1.The dwarf - the brick to build a dwarven society
2.Clan - a family of dwarves consists of between 3 and several dozen dwarves(So long as they are realated they are the same clan)
3.Tribe - The tribel is made up from several clans together, a single tribe has several hundred dwarves at it's disposal
4. Cabal - there are 7 major cabals Forgers, Arcanisters, Shapers, Warriors, Dowsers, Trappers and Earth-guides each representing a different profession:

Forgers - those are the smiths, dwarves don't really have a greatly advanced technology even if having highly advanced organisation, the smiths do not know how to work iron so you'll mostly be able to get bronze weapons, of course they know how to forge gold and silver as well.

Arcanisters - the dwarven wizards, they act as magic-users of the dwarf society, their task is to keep all the arcane knowledge of the dwarves and obtain new if they have the opportunity, they also protect holy and magical artifacts, and are always on the lookout for the legendary lodestone(More on that later)

Shapers - the shapers represent crafts such as stonework, masonry, building and carpentry, as dwarves do not see them as different professions, a shaper knows a lot about building and architecture

Warriors - the dwarven warriors follow a berserker type of philosophy, but are looking into it deeper than it seems, they believe that it is not simply enough to furiously hack and slash through your foes you need to focus your anger, you need to fall in that mindless rage state and still keep your common sense, warriors who achieve this are highly revered since it's not exactly and easy task

Dowsers - Dwarves who have perfect pitch are chosen and trained from an early age to tune their resonances to such a focused degree that they are able to make certain types of crystalline structure reverberate within the rock around them. By alternately singing or humming a single note, and then "tuning" that note slightly flat or sharp, they can "search" for a particular gem type up to three or four and a half peds away through solid rock. The effective range varies with the type of rock - oddly enough, hard stone such as granite increases the range, while soft porous rock such as limestone tends to decrease it, possibly by absorbing or otherwise altering the vibrations. A really difficult art, known only to the dwarves.

Trappers - The free spirited dwarves, rangers, hunters, messengers and scouts these dwarves are responsible for keeping the maps safe, and for providing food by hunting or by looking after the herds of mountain goats, in battle they act as archers, also some trappers become spies or assasins

Earth-guides - Basicaly - farmers, the dwarves who "guide" the crops through the earth and care for them, most dwarves see this as an almost mystical art - being able to grow plants from the earth.

So back to the story
The hope is however in the legend of the lodestone, according to the stories the lodestone is forged by a dwarven wizard-king who locked powerful magic into it and is supposed to do...... Something, the legend isn't really clear on this one "The lodestone shows the way" but way to what or how or is it even real - not a clue
So your character can choose to support one of the following ultimate goals
1.Survival - Simply do whatever is needed to survive, ambush human and elven caravans, loot corpses, salvage whatever you can, just survive until this whole thing is over.
2.Revenge - gather forces and while their armies are in your homeland, you attack their homeland to see if they like it, loot and burn the villages
3.Believe - Search for the lodestone, I'll give clues but I still won't tell you if the stone is real or not and the clues are just leading you to something useless
4.Ally - join forces with one side, help them beat the others and end this war once and for all
Is anyone interested in this RP

[Penny Royals]

Sorry, first off, can you please format this so it's easier to read? Double spaces and all? It's just a bit of a headache to read otherwise Dx Bio sheets are also needed.

[Alastor]

And... are you using a table top system? Because it kinda looks like it.

[arcanius]

Jul 2, 2013 14:07:10 GMT -8 Alastor said:

And... are you using a table top system? Because it kinda looks like it.

Well yes and no, it's something like it but kinda relies more on the traditional RP concept

[JW%]

Sounds interesting. Looks neat. I'd join up.

Somebody has been playing Dwarf Fortress, haven't they?

[arcanius]

Jul 2, 2013 14:42:24 GMT -8 JW% said:

Sounds interesting. Looks neat. I'd join up.

Somebody has been playing Dwarf Fortress, haven't they?

Yes I have and now that you point it out - it does kinda relate
But really it's just the fact I think dwarves are awesome

[Penny Royals]

Can we get bio sheets?

[arcanius]

Jul 2, 2013 14:55:03 GMT -8 Penny Royals said:

Can we get bio sheets?

Yes, but right now I'm off to the realm of dreams, for those of you who will say - it's day I'll say - different time zone. Be back in 8-10 hours or so to give the basics

[JW%]

Apreciate the formatting changes. Easier to read now.

Any particular dwarvish naming conventions we should follow, or am I good with just about anything?

I was thinking something along the lines of a warrior(I'm thinking primarily a police force, since they don't seem to have an army, but he's at least trained in the best Dwarvish arts martial) named Wallcrest Hardstone. Or just Wally. I'd like to know what more information is needed, though if you're willing to run this "Oldstyle" feel free to start it off.

[arcanius]

The info for a character is pretty much stripped to the basic things

1.Discription - looks, name(You are good with pretty much any name so long as it's fit for a generic fantasy), any scars or birthmarks or stuff like that.

2.Tribe and Clan - Since I didn't make any clans or tribes(Been focused on setting the story and the making of the dwarven culture)You can use made up names(If anyone wants you may get several characters of same tribes and clans)

3.Cabal - Each dwarf is a member of a cabal so obviously you need to choose one, the cabal represents several "linked" proffesions since dwarves do not consider them seperately, for example a dwarven smith also is a miner as to extract the metal to work with. Warriors thus study their weapons, Arcanisters learn not simply to use magic through their runes but also to carve the runes and so on, the chosen cabal will give you it's respective skills(More on the skills later)

4.Personality - anything more interesting on the character personality

5.Backstory - a couple of sentences should do nicely

6.Starting equipment(Again more on that later)


Now for the skills
Forgers:
- Mining
- Metalworking - copper, tin, bronze, gold and silver
- Lore of ores
- Lore of gems
Forgers are capable of mining ores, recognising them and then smithing them into tools, weapons and jewels, they can also of course melt them down back into material, remember that mining, smithing and understanding of iron is not allowed from start - dwarves do not know anything about iron

Arcanisters
- Sorcery
- Rune carving
- Arcane lore
- Lore of crystals
Arcanisters can obviously use magic, in this generic fantasy world, magic can't be used without runes and knowledge in utilising magic, the energy itself comes from the caster but the runes are what shapes it and allows evocations of different spells, remember that magic can be used for almost anything but it's extremely exhausting, and even a single spell is a lot of hard work. Rune carving allows you to draw and carve runes, a rune drawn in the dirt can channel magic but it's easier if it's carved into something more solid like stone, wood or metal(Think of magic as of water, if you draw in the dirt water just washes the picture away, in the same manner if the rune is a picture on the ground magic doesn't flow as easily).Arcane lore allows you to recongnise items enchanced through magic and magical creatures(Spirits, demons, etc.). Keep in mind that elves(Especialy elves) and humans have greater knowledge of magic and in most direct wizard to wizard battles against them you'll probably lose. Crystals can enchance your magical power, since magic flows easily through them, you can use them as a sort of magic canals to get more magic for less effort

Shapers
- Stonework
- Carpentry
- Lore of trees and wood
- Lore of stone
- Mining
- Woodcutting
Shapers are the builders, what you get for joining them is the knowledge of working with wood and stone and the knowledge of the different types of wood and stone(Includes the fact you do have to get all the materials yourself, it's dwarven culture). Keep in mind wood is not used only in building.

Warriors
- Battlecraft
- Tactics
- Battle rage
- Lore of weapons
Warriors as their names suggest are obviously warriors, though not equipped with iron weapons and armor like the human and elven troops they are actually somewhat better trained since obviously living in the mountain wilderness and fighting to survive against wild beasts is something harder than the rather calm elven forests and human plains, basicaly - barbarian barserker with a flick of vikingness > Mobilised peasants. Warriors are trained in the "Battlecraft" meaning they are taught how to fight with most kinds of melee weapons(Though for them the axes, swords, maces and such are simply tools - they themselves are the weapons)and if needed without them, each warrior is also taught the basics of military tactics - use of cover, ambushes, high grounds and such. Warriors can be considered scholars in the subject of weapons, knowing every single detail about their weapons, perhaps even more than the smiths themselves know about them. When fighting, dwarven warriors fall into a state of mindless rage, simply striving to kill every enemy in sight by all means possible, most revered are the ones capable of doing this while retaining their self-control.

Dowsers
- Dowsing
- Lore of stones
- Lore of ores
- Lore of crystals
- Lore of Gems
Dowsers I believe I already sort fully of explained, but for the sake of it
Dwarves who have perfect pitch are chosen and trained from an early age to tune their resonances to such a focused degree that they are able to make certain types of crystalline structure reverberate within the rock around them. By alternately singing or humming a single note, and then "tuning" that note slightly flat or sharp, they can "search" for a particular gem type up to three or four and a half peds away through solid rock. The effective range varies with the type of rock - oddly enough, hard stone such as granite increases the range, while soft porous rock such as limestone tends to decrease it, possibly by absorbing or otherwise altering the vibrations. A really difficult art, known only to the dwarves.

Trappers
- Tracking
- Stealth
- Archery
- Beast lore
- Land lore
Trappers are basicaly the hunters, scouts, archers and spies. They are capable of trackers, are ofcource good at using bows, have knowledge of the different animals magical or not, and since their cabal is the one responsible for map making they are also taught "land lore" or in other words - knowing their way around in the mountains.

Earth guides
- Herbalism
- Farming
- Lore of plants
Earth-guides are farmers and also herbalists and healers, they have knowledge of plants(Healing, Edible and the most interesting part - poisonous ones)are able to make different remedies and potions(Not really magical potions just weird taste strange liquids which can cure diseases and poisons and can give diseases and poison the one who tries to drink them), they also recognise poisons and can tell if something can be eaten or this idea will get someone praparing a pyre for you in the next morning.

These are the basic things you need to do for a char sheet and the discription of the skills the cabals get. I'll get on with the equipment choices, since every cabal has 2 different equipment choices

[Adlai Stevenson]

I'll be keeping an eye on this one. I'm really interested to see where this goes.

Nice to see some newcomers in the RPU, by the way! Glad to meet you.

[arcanius]

Thanks, it's my hatred towards twilight that got me here and right now I'm thinking - "And mom said that hating will never get people glad I'm there." So nice to meet you all as well. Btw considering I'm making this world and RP practicaly by myself(Yes a friend gave me the idea but I'm the one working with it)I'm really glad you people like it

[Penny Royals]

I'll be keeping an eye as well! If I may suggest, maybe join some other RPs to see what we all are into and such? c:

[JW%]

Thanks, it's my hatred towards twilight that got me here and right now I'm thinking - "And mom said that hating will never get people glad I'm there."

Read more: tsdcv3.proboards.com/thread/5546/lodestone-dwarven-rp#ixzz2Y6qsXL8F

Ah... we've all been there... well it wasn't my mom that said that, but you get what I mean.

It's kinda funny... we haven't had a good proper Twilight bashing RP in... oh wow, quite a while. Nearest thing we have running right now I think is Twilight Sucks in 8bits, which might more be taking the name of the forum rather than anything else(though I did intend the plot to involve a good bashing of Twilight, we haven't progressed, and probably will never progress, to that point).

And I understand that building a world like this takes a lot of time, thought, and explainations. It's greatly appreciated though, so take your time with it.

My dorf is just waiting on learning what starter gear he can get. Hopefully something with a hammer and a shield. Also, you mind if such a Warrior might not be the best at weapons lore, but picked up some other skills by associating with the other Cabals? Nothing major, just maybe something simple like "Blue round berries are good to eat. White berries you call an Earth Guide who actaully knows what they're doing before you try anything."

Also, while I'd encourage joining other roleplaying games, it's just good to see a fresh face with new ideas. Don't want to influence or take time away from your efforts if you don't feel like it.

[arcanius]

Then perhaps I could give it a shot here with my over than 100 reasons twilight sucks list(Each and every one of them written in detail with pure essence of darkness on parchment of twilight fan skin.)though perhaps most of these reasons you already discussed here.

And the world is actually getting contructed faster than I thought it would. The starter gear is was done yesterday but I was kinda busy with my other let's call them "writings" since it doesn't come to something more than a couple of bad to mediocre poems and a couple of bad to mediocre stories.

So here's the starter items

For Forgers
Every forger gets:
Bronze pick, bronze hammer, blacksmith apron, bronze tongs
You may choose 2 extra items from these
- Bronze weapon(By choice)
- Decorative helmet(For showing off, not very practical but looks good and is somewhat useable, perhaps sell it for money to a noble?)
- Golden hammer shaped amulet(Each cabal follows a dwarven god and although it's perfectly enough of a religion in the dwarven culture to simply do your work in the cabal some dwarves take it further and have religious icons, pray, or build small shrines. A showing of a bit more devotion might get you higher in the eyes of the cabal's priests)

Arcanisters
Runic staff(You must specify the runes it has, the staff can hold 3 rune types thus allowing you control over 3 magic schools more on that later), wool robe with a hood, a magic crystal(At the end of your apprenticeship you are given a magic crystal as to enchance your powers and to show that you are a full fledged arcanister).
Extras choose 2
- Bronze Chisel(For carving runes)
- A magic enchanced weapon(By choice)
- A prayer stone(Basicaly a stone on which you are supposed to carve out what you pray to your god(More on gods later) for, religious symbol)

Shapers
Bronze pick, Bronze axe, Bronze hammer
Extras choose 2
- Bronze chisel(In case you think of a more artistic part of the cabal, like making statues)
- Prayer stone(Shapers have the same religion symbol as the Arcanisers? Explain yet again later)
- A bow and arrows(Wood it after all not only for buildings)

Warriors
Bronze weapon(By choice)a wooden shield(Can exchange it for a second weapon if you feel like dual wielders)Bronze armor
Extras 2
- Ritual dagger(Religious symbol but could work as a weak weapon)
- 4 Throwing spears with bronze tips
- Bronze claws(Some warriors prefer exotic weapons to conventional)

Dowsers
Dowsers don't really have any equipment associated with their skills so you get just your clothes and a bag full of gold(Dowsers are the ones who find all the gems and ores so they are obviously richer than most people, if you'd prefer to just get the money instead of items - thats your cabal)The religious symbol you can get is a horn(Yes a horn)

Trappers
Bow and arrows, 2 bronze daggers, leather clothes
Extras choose 2
- A map of the realm(Accurate and detailed map of the mountains)
- Bearhide cloak(Could keep you warm or you could take advantage of the fact that it's valuable)
- Wooden necklace(Religion symbol)

Earth guide
Bronze sickle, wool robe, wooden staff
Extras choose 2
- Pouch of herbs(Random herbs, conveniantly the exact ones you need for your next potion)
- A backpack(You need to put all these weird ingredients somewhere don't you)
- Leaf shaped bronze amulet(Religion symbol)

Well here it is, I'll write the magic and religion later on

And btw
Yes you can, everyone has a few unconventional - "Just learned it through living" "knowings" so why not, so long as it's in character and fits the backstory(Say, you could give something in the backstory as to explain why does your dwarf have a little bit of earth-guide knowledge)

[JW%]

1.Discription - Wallcrest "Wally" Hardstone. Image pending. He has a tattoo of arcane runes created by his father, symbolizing health and physical power. As the rune would draw from Wally's own energy to activate, it doesn't really do anything noticeable or useful(for example he could use it, in theory, to run faster, but he'd only run about as fast as a sprint, and tire out just as quickly as if he was sprinting) and is simply a 'good luck' charm.

2.Tribe and Clan - The Cliffwalker tribe, having build their homes in the cliff faces of the mountains requiring exceptional climbing skills or incredible knowledge of the inner layout have protected their meager lands from the elven forces(they're on the 'elf side' of the mountains) for generations(mostly because the elves ignore them). The Hardstone clan was formed by exceptional Shapers who are known for digging and carving living areas out of rock, but since then has branched out with family across the Dwarvish mountains.

3.Cabal - Warrior. He specializes in Battle Rage, being able to reach the fabled rare state of Dwarven Zen where he feels no pain and notices no distractions as he contemplatively and systematically bashes down or beats apart anything in his path until the problem is solved. He's no slouch at tactical thinking either. He's not the best at most of the lore of weapons however, relying mostly on instinctive use rather than practiced skill, meaning his use of spears, swords and other pointy things that require finesse often suffer. He mostly only knows how to use a shield(both to deflect and protect or to bash and batter someone) and prefers mostly just having some weight in his hand when he hits something(maces, clubs, hammers, or even just heavy gauntlets).

4.Personality - Wally is a stoic, level headed, and calm dwarf(for a dwarven value of calm). Most of all though, he's tough and focused. Stubborn even. He considers his job as a warrior to be the one who protects everyone else when something bad happens. That means he'll be the one to break up a bar fight, getting himself in the middle of it to either hold the fighters back or to crack heads with the best of them. He's often seen as far too serious for his age(he ain't young anymore, but neither should he be forcing the gray hairs), as while he enjoys a good joke as much as the next dwarf, he's not all that creative at making or using them himself, and is more apt to notice when a practical joke is being wasteful or hurtful and try to put a stop to it.

5.Backstory - Wally's father was an Arcanist, his mother a Earth Guide. The two tended not to bother one another, spending much of their time apart. Wally initially was a very angry child, fighting frequently with his brothers and neighbors. He however became to regret his destructive nature as he was causing trouble for his family(neither Arcanist nor Earth Guides react well to having their stuff smashed), and focused on honing himself into a more protective and careful dwarf. To that end, not only did he devote himself most thoroughly to the Warrior cabal, but he also spends time each day performing body hardening exercises that help him focus his mind. As such, he has resolved most of his anger management issues and gained rather impressive honor among his fellow warriors for his skill in battle rage.

6.Starting equipment - Heavy bronze plated/linked armor with a studded leather underclothing. This includes heavy boots, gauntlets, shin and arm guards. A medium maul(sledge hammer on one side, axe blade/sharp point on the other) that can work either as a one handed weapon or two handed, and a largeish round wooden shield with a metal frame strengthening it. Wally is capable of climbing to and around Cliffwalker village while wearing all this gear, though obviously not without difficulty. He also carries a stone dagger, which is less a useful weapon(being fragile) and more a useful tool(being sharp).

[arcanius]

I take it the stone dagger is a religion symbol.

Ok now on to the magic system

Runes are in simplest manner writing a discription of the spell you want to do, the respective magic schools are
Chaos - more powerful than the other schools but it's associated with demons and is not exactly something you control directly, the runes open a rift to the abyss and summon a demon that you have to subjugate with sheer willpower and then force them to serve you, thus using your magic to keep them in the world while they use their immense power to do your bidding, if you fail however the demon will rule your mind instead and will use you as his gate to do whatever it wants in the material plane.Also since it's dark magic most people won't like you if they get to know that.

Elementalism - These runes control over fire, earth, water and air, it's highly nature associated and remember, you can't just create elements, you can't make a fireball out of your hand or shoot stone darts from your fingernails, you can control elements not make them, so if you need a fireball you have to be near a fire, if you want stone spears you need to be near a rock and so on.

Spiritual - Spiritual magic does not require runes since you don't manifest the energy at all, you use it as it is to influence ethereal beings(Required to call demons and spirits or to fight them), it's your power to fight them but also your only real defence against their magical influence. Usable to create spirit shields in order to defend yourself from magic

Enchantment - Enchanting items is not really a separate school but is considered as such due to the nature of the spells cast, the caster carves out the runes for the required spell on the item and then charge it with magical energy, however enchantments slowly lose power and get weaker after each use and a magic user is needed to recharge them.

Force - Manipulation of force, manifesting ethereal energy into physical forces and manipulating them. Could be used for force fields or for blasting your enemy with pure physical force, this magic is almost inpossible for influencing through ethereal means since it's almost fully physical, Spiritual shields do not protect from force based spells.

Whenever you wish to cast a spell you simply need to focus and channel your spirit through a rune you physicaly touch in order for the spell to manifest into the physical world, spirit magic does not manifest so you don't need runes for it. Magic although powerful and very useful can be really exhausting so you should consider whether it's worth the effort in a given situation.There are several more schools but I haven't finished them

[arcanius]

Necromancy - Binding souls into dead corpses in a futile attempt to bring people back to life, the results are in most of the time just walking corpses and skeletons. The idea of necromancy is channeling magic half into physical and half into ethereal to bind the ethereal soul into the material plane, however this is somehow damaging most souls as the results are mindless skeletons and walking corpses serving their masters will. There exists a way to bind a soul without harming it A.K.A creating a lich, although a lot is lost in the process, becoming a lich achieves the very first and most important goal of necromancy - Immortality. It is unknown, except maybe to the most inner circles of the dark mages whether becoming a lich grants true immortality, or simply extends the lifespan and the lich does eventually die out of natural death.Remember that necromancy can only be practiced short after the giving creature or person's death - the soul must be caught BEFORE it passes the twingates. Warning - this is considered Dark Magic

Banishment - In it's essence magic is manifesting ethereal into material, banishment is the exactly opposite - banishing material into ethereal, remember that if you are making a pact with demons or spirits they will most likely require that you give them sacrifices of some sort in exchange for whatever you wish, benishment is required in order to banish the sacrifice into the ethereal so to give it as part of the deal. In case it's with demons it's considered dark magic, in case of simply dealing with non-dark entities - it's simply considered normal(As far as the word "normal" can apply to the word "magic") magic.

Gating - It is all but a forgotten art of sorcery, gating is opening of a two "gates" between to places, in theory should you step through the first gate you emerge from the second in mere seconds, none however truly know it's runes or how it works.

Divination - Focusing of magic into the threads of the events in order to try and make sense of what will happen, works very rarely and when it does the caster is able to see only a few moments of a POSSIBLE future, the further you look the more unlikely it is for the vision to happen.


This is the complete deal of magics, Arcanisters can put 3 rune types on their Staff

[arcanius]

Onto Culture & Religion

Each cabal is made in the example of a dwarven divine entity as

Forgers - The Smith, god of craftsmanship and especialy smithing, according to the myth after the world was built he used it's materials to forge the mountains, rivers, seas, lakes, hills, plains and all that stuff, The Smith's holy symbol is the hammer, his greatest tool fit both for detruction and creation. Every form of work is considered a tribute to Him, so his priests do not sacrifice anything but instead work even more than the rest.

Arcanisters - The Sorcerer, god of magic and mind, he created the spirits, magic, and the essence of life itself, he is the one who to complete the world added the ethereal to it, as to bring energy to the lifeless still realm. The Sorcerer considers no holy symbol but favours, writing, knowledge and magic altogether, prayers to him thus are written. His tribute is the usage of sorcery as it is an expression of the mage's mind and soul, the Arcanister priest believe knowledge is the most holy possesion and devote themselves into arcane studies.

Shapers - The Builder, he and the sorcerer are among the very first dwarven gods appearing in the myth, as the Builder built the world and the Sorcerer created it's ethereal counterpart, the builder favours construction and creation, his holy symbol is yet again a prayer stone but in the Shaper version it is considered as "building" your prayer into the stone. The priests of The Builder thus believe creations are holy and are devoted into all forms of creation.

Warriors - The Warlord, youngest god and most ill-tempered one, a story tells of how once the moon and the earth were one thing, but The Warlord in His anger struck the ground with his blade with such force, he split the moon from the earth and cast it into the void. He does not have holy symbols and considers blood and battle as proper offerings, His priests thus make bloody sacrifices of animals when in peace and durng war, they go into battle with great zeal, beating into bloody stains everything in their path.

Dowsers - The Dark one, now considering this is the "Evil" god of the dwarven pantheon they are watched with suspicion by the other cabals, The Dark one is the eldest god master of the endless void known as the Abyss, he is blind and relies on hearing for he lived with no light for eternity, his servants are the Demons of the Abyss, his religion symbol is the horn, for prayer one must blow into the horn to attract his attention and then whisper his prayer into his all-hearing ears, the Dark one accepts any forms of sacrifice so long as you say it's dedicated to Him.

Trappers - The Huntsman, a brother to The Warlord, he is a free spirited, kind nature god in contrast to his bloodthirsty filled with anger brother, The Huntsman adores forests, hunting, nature and all that stuff, his religion symbol is a necklace made of wood and teeth as to symbolise forests and animals, his sacrifice is the Hunt in itself, the chase, the stalking, the moment of the attack and the kill. His priests are of cource stealthy master hunters.

Earth-Guides - The Mother, now this is a pretty generic goddess of fertility and such, she is wife to the Sorcerer as He created souls and life, but not material ones, thus it's kind of - giving-birth-brings-life-into-the-world kind of patronising from the goddess. Considered Mother to all things. Thus the Symbol of prayer is the Leaf as symbol of life(Dwarves associate plants with life, because they are the very first step of life), Earth guides are healers, alchemists and farmers and consider it their job to protect life. The priests are like that as well but add in religious zeal.

And I believe we're done

[Alkonost Storm]

Wouldn't it be better to use "Magisters" rather than "Arcanisters"? I get what you're saying but the title just sounds very awkward. Especially since part of me wants to start thinking 'canned (dwarven) wizards' whenever I hear it...

Wait.

Canned. Dwarven. Wizards.

HEY IT'S BARREL-RIDER! /shot for going off on a tangent

[arcanius]

Never really thought about it but..... You know what, I'll leave it be - every world has a few subtle jokes like that, my favs are from WH40k with it's spehss mahreens, emprah and metalbawkses, and ofcourse you can never tell a joke about warhammer without mentioning Commander Indrick Boreale - boldest and baldest of us all. So, Thorin and company - onwards to lake town

[lovely corte]

Fuckin' Steel Rain, man. ._.

[arcanius]

Weh fait in teh name of teh emprah.
Now since we dealt with this part - back to the OOC shal we

[lovely corte]

FUR TUR EMPERURURS.

[arcanius]

Hiererchy of dwarves


1.Jarl(Obviously aiming for nordic theme) - this is the leader of the tribe, can be of any cabal, the Jarl is not a direct leader as dwarves being a proud people wouldn't except some guy just saying - "Go there, and build a defence wall", they will ask why should the wall be built and against who, and why is the Jarl asking them instead of someone with a lower position. The Jarl can ask, can persuade, can inspire but direct orders are something that doesn't really happen ofter.

2. Thanes - The thanes are 7 one of each cabal, and are the representatives of the respective organisation. When there is no Jarl the seven(dwarves!!!) thanes form up a council and lead the tribe, the Jarl is also chosen by this council.

3.Priests - The priests are considered a little more than commoners, as their almost fanatic(And sometimes purely fanatic) dedication to a craft somewhat raises them in the eyes of the people, they don't have any extra rights than any other dwarf but are highly respected and people sometimes do actually follow them in hopes of gaining the favor of a divine entity.

4.Commoners - commoners nothing special

5.Outcasts - outcasts are without a cabal(They were thrown out of it)or a tribe, they wander around with no home and only the craft they used to have, outcasts are hated by everyone as you become an outcast only after doing a horrible crime. There are some tales with protagonists becoming outcasts but then redeem themselves and are accepted back, such cases are not unknown in actual history as well.

[Alkonost Storm]

I see Jarls and Thanes and immediately think two things:

Vikings and Skyrim XD

[arcanius]

Well actually I seen these in dwarves too but I don't remember where, meh they're dwarves so we go for the viking-ness
Like this

[arcanius]

Next go a few things on what dwarves know about creatures in the mountain

Mountain goats and sheep - dwarves have herds of them, basicaly what provides you with the wool clothes, milk and meat. Usually looked after by the Trappers, though it's not unknown for members of other cabals to be taking this job, it's considered sort of a "community service" thing.

Trolls - big, dumb and ugly, hides in caves cause it hates sunlight and hates dwarves, KILL IT, if you don't think you can RUN(That pretty much covers dwarven lore on trolls)

Mountain wolves - Nasty creatures, attacking the herds and lone travellers around the mountain, kill and you get an awesome cloak.

Giants - According to legends big, powerful, cunning and evil, according to reality - they don't exist

Goblins - always in groups, somewhat smaller than a dwarf, ugly, greenskinned and cowardly, when forces are in their favor there's nothing more they'll like than killing you and then eating your corpse, goblins literally would eat any meat including other goblins, they rarely dare to attack dwarven holds but sometimes they do form up armies and attack, usually though they are mostly trying to attack caravans and travellers.

Dragons - yet again only a creature of tales, doesn't exist or if it did that was a long time ago

Wyvern - Flying lizards that spit acid, according to tales they are whats left of the dragons, wyverns aren't really hated creatures but mind you are really dangerous. There's a legend in which Vaul, a dwarven hero rides a wyvern.

Ravens - some dwarves keep them as pets

Hawks - tame hawks are sometimes used by the Trappers

[arcanius]

To the relic hunters who want to search for the lodestone - The first location you need to go to is the Ruins of Kilmar the ancient dwarven stronghold and frankly the only time dwarves ever became a truly powerful race, united under the witch-king Hroldrik who in turn made the lodestone, if there are any clues for it, your highest chances are there. Though I should note - the place is rumoured to be cursed