The Quintessential Dwarf
The Quintessential Dwarf
| Author | Sam Witt |
| Series | The Quintessential Series |
| Publisher | Mongoose Publishing |
| Publish date | 2002 |
| Pages | 128 |
| ISBN | 1-903980-33-X |
| OGL Section 15 | qdwf |
| Content Puller | {$content} |
The material below is designated as Open Game Content
As any other type of creature, dwarves adapt to their environment and are shaped by the forces which surround them. While longer-lived than humans and somewhat slower to change their ways as a result, dwarves are incredibly hardy creatures with a drive to survive surpassed by few creatures. Where other races would choose to flee an area for greener pastures and safer environs, dwarves stand steadfast, refusing to give up their ancestral lands for any reason. While this sometimes results in the loss of entire dwarven clans, other times it is the beginning of a new line of dwarves, a breed apart from the rest.
The majority of these racial subtypes are a result of environmental changes to the dwarven homelands. A few, however, are the direct result of a desperate bid for survival, in which dwarves trafficked with strange creatures and alien gods in exchange for their survival. While none of the races are inherently evil, there are changes wrought in some of them which make other dwarves uncomfortable.
In this chapter you will find all the information needed to choose one of these dwarven subtypes as a player character race. Laid out in a format similar to that found in Core Rulebook I, the following descriptions provide all the necessary information to bring new and exotic types of dwarves into your games.
Cliff Dwarves
Chasing veins of ore through the earth sometimes leads dwarven clans into areas they would not normally frequent. Cliff dwarf clans, as the name suggests, are dwarves whose mining has led them towards the surface. These dwarves, moving their homes to be nearer the source of their wealth, eventually found themselves living very near the surface, their tunnels often punching through the crust of the earth to the fresh air and sunlight.
The best-known clans are those which mine the veins of ore in visible cliff faces. Their excavations leave behind tunnels and chambers open to the surface, which in some cases are used by the merchants of the clan
as open-air bazaars where outsiders come to purchase dwarven goods. Long, sloping ramps or dangling ladders are used to travel to and from these cliff settlements, providing access to the dwarven merchants while still allowing the cliff dwarves to quickly prevent such access to invaders.
Personality: Cliff dwarves are very much like subterranean dwarves in temperament. Despite their exposure to surface cultures, cliff dwarves are still very private and very traditional.
Physical Description: While slightly longer of limb than subterranean dwarves, cliff dwarves otherwise appear much as their cousins.
Relations: Cliff dwarves have learned to get along quite well with surface races, though they despise goblinoids and other traditional dwarven enemies. These dwarves do have more exposure to other races and are adequate traders, but they are not as open or accepting of others as Sundwellers. When in doubt, treat cliff dwarves as if they were standard dwarves in terms of their relationships with other races.
Alignment: Cliff dwarves are typically lawful in alignment, with a tendency toward neutrality. Their exposure to other races has given them a slightly broader view of the world than that of those dwarves who spend most of their life below the ground, but their experience as merchants has also taught them that the world is full of thieves and swindlers.
Lands: This subrace dwells on the border between the surface and the lands below. While they are most famous for the shafts carved along the faces of cliffs, they can also be found burrowing out of the slopes of mountainsides. There are rare cases of cliff dwarves burrowing their way across basalt plains or other rocky terrain, creating an open-topped maze of winding tunnels and exposed chambers.
Religion: Cliff dwarves hold fast to their religion, clinging to rituals and ceremonies which remind them of their past and the sanctity of the old ways. While a few merchants have been known to pay lip service to trade gods popular with their customers, few adopt the religions with any real devotion.
Language: Cliff dwarves speak dwarven, common, and whatever surface language is most common in their region.
Names: As with religion, cliff dwarves prefer to use the names and naming rituals of their ancestors. Most members of this subrace have names which are easily mistaken for those used by subterranean dwarves and treat their names with the same respect. Honest merchants also back their wares with their name, scribing their rune on each as a mark of its quality and origin.
Adventurers: With their exposure to other races, it is not uncommon for the adventuring bug to bite young cliff dwarves. Some merchants also join up with adventurers, hoping to make it rich by finding rare art objects or magical items. A few, seized by the idealism so common in the surface races, set off to right wrongs and fight evil, joining forces with wandering bands of men-at-arms, wizards and priests.
Racial Traits
† +2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, –2 Strength, –4 Charisma. Cliff dwarves are slightly more agile and tougher or personable than their cousins but are not quite as strong.
† Medium size: As medium-sized creatures, cliff dwarves have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
† The base speed of cliff dwarves is 20 feet.
† Darkvision: Cliff dwarves can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only but is otherwise like normal sight, and cliff dwarves can function fine with no light at all.
† Stonecunning: Cliff dwarves receive all the bonuses associated with this ability.
† +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poisons.
† +2 racial bonus on saves against spells and spell-like effects.
† +2 racial bonus on all Diplomacy or Bluff checks while engaged in trading activities (either buying or selling).
† +4 Dodge bonus against giants.
† +2 racial bonus on Appraise checks related to rare or exotic items.
† Automatic Languages: Common, dwarven, and any one other language common on the surface of the immediate area. Bonus languages: Any spoken by the clan’s trading partners in the area.
† Favoured Class: Rogue. A multiclass cliff dwarf’s rogue class does not count when determining whether he suffers XP penalties for multiclassing.
Devil Dwarves
In the hidden places below the earth, evil creatures whisper secrets of power and promises of unspeakable delights to any willing to listen. In times of dire trouble, some dwarven clans turn to these creatures in exchange for the power to survive whatever horrible circumstances they face. While they pay a terrible price for the help they receive, these clans do what dwarves do best—survive.
The price they pay, though, is considered by many to be too great. The creatures who lend their aid, mostly devils from the lower planes, demand sacrifices, offerings, and perhaps the greatest price of all—the right to mingle their blood with the clans they help. What purpose they hope to achieve by interbreeding with mortal races is uncertain but the devil dwarves are one result of the practice. Imposing and sinister in appearance, the devil dwarves know their history well and honour the sacrifices made by their ancestors in the name of survival.
The majority of devil dwarf clans continue to worship their infernal saviours, providing them with a steady stream of potential mates and delivering impressive sacrifices on a regular basis. The devils, for their part, make only rare appearances within the devil dwarf clans, often acting as brokers between the community and a greater, darker power.
Personality: Amongst their own kind, the devil dwarves are more jovial than other dwarves. In unguarded moments they laugh and cheer without inhibition, celebrating the survival of their people in their day-to-day lives. Around others, however, devil dwarves are quieter and more introverted, preferring to remain silent and observe rather than speak their minds or partake of any festivities. Their treatment at the hands of other dwarves, those of ‘purer’ lineage than the devil dwarves, has taught this outcast race well the virtues of avoiding conflict or any other means of drawing attention to themselves.
Devil dwarves are more magically adept than other dwarves but are also less resistant to hostile magic. While they share the love of metal and stone, including gems and gold, the devil dwarves are more fascinated by magical items created by other races. While some clans seek magical items to return to their infernal patrons, most members of this subrace are simply intensely curious about how other races practice their magical arts.
Physical Description: Members of this subrace are the same height as other dwarves but not quite as heavy. Their skulls seem oversized, however, giving them a looming, somewhat alien appearance that many fi nd disturbing. Females of this subrace are somewhat taller and thinner than the males, leading some to believe they are being selectively bred for their height to make more accommodating mates for the devils. The skin of both males and females is pale and marked by large birthmarks which range in colour from deep rust to blazing scarlet. Their hair, most often ranging in colour from charcoal grey to pale silver, is allowed to grow long and is often used to mask the more unsightly birthmarks.
As do other dwarves, the devil dwarves value their beards greatly, regarding them as a strong connection to a past they only dimly understand. Males of this subrace begin growing their beards around their twentieth year and plait a small bead into their facial hair each year of their life thereafter. As most devil dwarves live to be 500 years old, the beards of elders are often completely hidden by the massive quantity of beads and other trinkets accumulated in the hair over the years. Devil dwarf females do not grow beards, though many add tiny tattoos to their own chins each year, creating a complex pattern which grows in size over time.
Relations: Devil dwarves do not get along well with members of most other races, due mainly to their known affiliations with devils and evil gods. While the devil dwarves do not go out of their way to interact with these races, their encounters with them tend to be unsatisfactory for all involved. The devil dwarves are prone to attacking intruders, and other races know all too well the myths surrounding this strange type of dwarf.
As individuals, devil dwarves are most able to tolerate gnomes and humans who are willing to give the devil dwarves the benefit of the doubt. Other dwarves and elves, however, despise these creatures, viewing them as abominations to be destroyed or at the very least imprisoned. A few devil dwarf clans have been able to make long-lasting truces and alliances with half-orcs, providing magical services in exchange for the strength at arms the half-orcs bring to the table. Halflings avoid devil dwarves, not out of fear but rather the instinctive dread with which this dwarven subrace seems to surround itself.
The darker races have as little tolerance for devil dwarves as do other races. They are familiar with the types of creatures the devil dwarves serve and have no desire to become embroiled in their machinations and holy wars. When dealing with mind flayers, goblinoids, drow, and other subterranean races, the devil dwarves give them a wide berth and receive the same.
Alignment: Devil dwarves tend strongly toward lawful alignments and definitely dip toward the evil end of the spectrum. There are exceptions, of course, but the devil dwarves live in a culture steeped in the worship of the infernal and the acts of depravity this sometimes requires. While many are decent individuals in their daily lives, they cannot resist the commands of their devilish masters, who often demand anything from cannibalism to self-mutilation as acts of worship.
Devil dwarves of chaotic or good alignments are regarded as aberrations by their communities and are often slain or exiled once their worldview becomes well known. Despised by the members of their original clan and mistrusted by those outside, these exiles often have short, brutal lives which end in misery and violent death. In the underlands, men without allies do not last long.
Devil Dwarf Lands: The devil dwarves remain on ancestral lands whenever possible. If they were going to cut and run at the first sign of danger or give up their lands in the face of adversity, there would not be any devil dwarves to begin with. Devil dwarf clans can be found deep below the earth where their ancestors first stumbled across their devilish allies and masters. While a few do live in mountain cores, as other dwarves do, these clans are the exception rather than the rule.
Religion: Devil dwarves have no single deity, instead worshipping whatever infernal creature it was who rescued them from their fate so long ago. Many of these devils actually serve as conduits for more powerful alien deities, who provide the spells and other miracles to the priests of the devil dwarves.
Like other aspects of life in these tainted clans, religion is highly regimented and rigorously controlled by the priests and their masters. Ceremonies are held regularly, but the exact times and durations of these observations vary from clan to clan. Most importantly, the religions of two clans of devil dwarves will not always mesh and it is not uncommon for rival clans to war over religious differences. It is crucial to remember that members of this subrace worship devils and their masters, a situation which can lead to all manner of interesting situations when relating to other clans.
Language: Devil dwarves speak a variation of the dwarven language, incorporating many words and concepts from the infernal tongue into their speech. Characters who speak dwarven have only a little trouble when devil dwarves are trying to be understood, but when they prefer to obfuscate the meaning of their speech they become incomprehensible to any characters who do not understand both the dwarven and infernal languages.
Names: Devil dwarves change their names regularly. While they are given a name at birth, most stop using it within a dozen or so years, leery of how runes and true names can be used against them. It is not uncommon for a member of this subrace to have a half-dozen or more names, none of which is the true name given to him at birth. Because they change their names so often, there are no ‘traditional’ names in this subrace.
Adventurers: Devil dwarves have many reasons for joining the adventuring lifestyle. Some are driven out by their communities when it becomes apparent they are either chaotic or good, others make too many enemies and flee for safer environs, and still others leave in search of magical treasures and lost lore.
Racial Traits
† +2 Charisma, –2 Strength
† Medium size: As medium-sized creatures, devil dwarves have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
† Devil dwarf base speed is 30 feet.
† Darkvision: Devil dwarves can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only but is otherwise like normal sight, and devil dwarves can function just fine with no light at all.
† Spellcunning: Their tight connection to infernal masters gives the devil dwarves some insight into the workings of magic, including the hand gestures, phrases and props necessary for casting spells. Devil dwarves receive a +2 racial bonus to any Spellcraft checks made to determine which spell is being cast by an observed arcane or divine spellcaster.
† +3 racial bonus on saving throws against spells and spell-like effects.
† +1 racial bonus to attack rolls against nondevil Outsiders. Devil dwarves are trained by their masters in techniques effective against their most dangerous foes, enabling them to defeat their enemies more easily.
† +3 racial bonus on Appraise checks that are related to rare and exotic items.
† Automatic Languages: Common, dwarven and infernal. Bonus languages: gnome, goblin, orc, terran, undercommon, drow and mind flayer.
† Favoured class: Sorcerer. A multiclass devil dwarf’s sorcerer class does not count when determining whether he suffers an XP penalty for multiclassing. The infernal allies of the devil dwarves appreciate the usefulness of mortal spellcasters, and their bloodlines are often populated by a disproportionate number of sorcerers.
Rage Dwarves
Some clans find themselves so often embroiled in battles they lose perspective on other aspects of their culture. These so-called rage dwarves begin to value conflict more than skill, strength at arms more than a well dug mine. Stout of body and strong of mind, these dwarves have regressed, allowing themselves to fall back into the dim mists of the past, when their ancestors stalked the tunnels of the underlands with bloody axes and chipped hammers in search of prey. While other dwarves claim the ragers are aberrations, there are scholars who believe that this is perhaps a remnant of racial memory hearkening back to the earliest days of dwarven culture.
Unlike degenerates or throwbacks, rage dwarves maintain their society. It is simply a more basic style of life than the more ‘civilized’ races find comfortable. To the rage dwarves, survival is paramount and all other concerns are secondary.
Personality: Rage dwarves are much more rough and tumble than other dwarves. They are as likely to settle a dispute with an axe as they are with words and prefer to negotiate from a position of strength or not at all. When dealing with outsiders, rage dwarves see everyone as a potential threat until they are given evidence otherwise. Rage dwarf communities prefer to remain hidden from all others but when discovered present a unified front and a fierce face to those who would consider attacking. When faced with an opponent, rage dwarves fight to the bitter end, struggling to protect their land, their lives, and their belongings against their enemies.
Physical Description: Rage dwarves are larger than most other dwarves, although the difference is not so much in height or width as it is in muscular structure. Rage dwarves have selectively bred themselves for strength generation after generation until their bodies are little more than thick-boned platforms covered in layered slabs of muscle tissue. Both sexes shave their heads, although men allow their beards to grow long, plaiting them into elaborate braids and tucking them into their belts to keep them out of the way during combats. Males favour branding and ritual scarification over the chests and lower arms for personal ornamentation while females prefer body piercing and heavy jewellery.
Relations: This subrace arises only in areas where there are few friendly faces and many, many enemy encampments. Because of this, rage dwarves learn early on to trust only others of their kind unless they are provided with compelling evidence to the contrary. While rage dwarves are willing and able to make friends with outsiders, doing so requires a great deal of faith from both parties.
Alignments: Unlike most other dwarves, rage dwarves tend towards chaotic alignments and more than a few clans end up predominantly evil in alignment. The constant struggle for survival leads to a sense of desperation and a willingness to perform increasingly dire acts to defeat their enemies. While the rage dwarves would certainly deny it, this same sort of moral ambiguity gave rise to the devil dwarves and their depraved infernal cults.
Lands: Rage dwarves are found only in areas rife with monstrous enemies and fearsome communities intent on wiping them out. While many would choose to move away from these besieged areas, the rage dwarves sharpen their axes and prepare for battle. Most often their homelands are located deep in the heart of the underlands in areas with rich metal deposits and other exploitable resources. Sadly, the rage dwarves’ narrow focus on combat makes it impossible for them to make use of these naturally occurring treasures.
Religion: Rage dwarves are intensely devout but their religion is only loosely organized. Different clans worship different gods, although there is a tendency to venerate gods of war and violence regardless of the specific deity. Priests are revered among rage dwarves, if only because they provide healing and defensive abilities the powerful warriors desperately need.
Language: Rage dwarves speak dwarven and common. They have little use for the tongues of other races.
Names: Rage dwarves prefer short, harsh names which can be quickly shouted in the heat of battle. At birth, each rage dwarf is provided a name by his parents but may choose a name of his own after he has killed his first enemy.
Male Names: Bruk, Garn, Krunt, Nyr, Sauk
Female Names: Nirl, Oriz, Unil, Zirn
Adventurers: From time to time, aggressive neighbours wipe out an entire clan of rage dwarves. The survivors almost always become adventurers, warriors intent on finding allies with which one day to return and reclaim their lost homeland. A few rage dwarves also leave home to serve as mercenaries in surface armies and choose to travel abroad once their tour of duty is over. Some leave home in search of items of power with which to return home, bringing final victory to their families.
Racial Traits
† +2 Strength, –2 Dexterity. Rage dwarves focus on attacking, not defending, and spend little time training themselves to dodge blows.
† Medium size: As medium-sized creatures, rage dwarves have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
† Darkvision: Rage dwarves can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only but is otherwise like normal sight. Rage dwarves can function just fine in no light at all.
† +4 racial bonus on all saves against poisons. Rage dwarves are far hardier than even their stalwart dwarven cousins.
† +4 racial bonus on saving throws against spells and spell-like effects. The sheer will to survive shields rage dwarves from hostile spells.
† +2 racial bonus to attack rolls against any one type of creature or +1 racial bonus to attack rolls against any two types of creatures. The types of creatures this bonus applies to must be native to the underlands and represent the enemies of the rage dwarf’s people.
† Automatic Languages: Dwarven and common. Bonus Languages: Rage dwarves are familiar with the languages of their enemies, chosen at the time of their creation.
† Favoured Class: Barbarian. A multiclass rage dwarf’s barbarian class does not count when determining whether he suffers XP penalties for multiclassing. With their love of battle, natural fortitude, and primitive culture, rage dwarves are natural barbarians.
Sacred Dwarves
Long ago, a group of dwarven sorcerers led their clan on an exodus into the elemental plane of earth in search of a homeland rich in metals and stone. Protecting their people through the use of extensive rituals and embedded runes, the sorcerers opened a portal to the plane and an entire clan of dwarves left for a new world.
To some degree, they succeeded. Sadly, they discovered they could not have children in their new home—the energies of the plane prevented successful unions between male and female dwarves. Research into the subject led to the first hybrid births, the magical commingling of stout dwarven bloodlines with the ancient energies of the earth elementals. The resulting lives were fostered in geode ‘wombs’ in which the power of the earth suffused the emerging life, shepherding it into existence.
When these first children of stone reached maturity, they were delighted to learn they could bear children with other dwarves or by communing with the elementals. Over time, the population of dwarves became something else entirely, a combination of dwarf and earth elemental. When these strange hybrid creatures returned to the world, travelling along a section of the Silverbore, they were named ‘the sacred’ by the first dwarves they encountered. In the generations since, the sacred dwarves have created small communities on many planes, spreading slowly but surely throughout the multiverse.
Personality: Sacred dwarves take a very long-term view of the world. Essentially ageless once they reach maturity, these magical creatures take their time when making important decisions, even when this is an inconvenience to others. Time to consider is an important consideration for sacred dwarves and they do their best to manipulate situations to give themselves the time they need to mull over the proper course of action.
Sacred dwarves also regard themselves as the maintainers of sacred dwarven lore. One of the reasons they returned from their self-imposed exile to the elemental planes was to bring the history of their people back to other dwarf clans. While virtually all clans have their own historians and rune scribes, the words of sacred dwarves are regarded as canon wherever they go. With memories as eternal as their quasielemental bodies, the sacred dwarves remember more dwarven history than can be found anywhere else in the world.
Physical Description: Members of this subrace are distinctly unnatural in appearance. Their flesh is typically a translucent grey, beneath which can be seen pale veins and whitish muscle striations. When standing still, a sacred dwarf could easily be mistaken for a marble statue, from the featureless grey eyes to the marble-like patterns visible in his skin. Sacred dwarves are also taller than other dwarves, averaging 4 1/2 to 5 feet tall.
Sacred dwarves are utterly hairless, lacking even beards. The lack of facial hair is concealed by the one concession to personal appearance practiced by all male sacred dwarves. The lower half of all male sacred dwarf faces are festooned with hanging, woven chains of iron and silver, a metallic beard which is fastened to their faces by a series of deep piercings. Once their skin has time to heal around the ornamental injuries, the chains become a part of their face, creating an impressive sight.
Relations: Sacred dwarves have good relations with all other types of dwarves, including the devil and rage dwarves. While outsiders are unsure of what to make of these strange creatures, other dwarves (even those of a decidedly evil bent) respect them unreservedly. What form this respect takes is highly variable, but most sacred dwarves can at least count on not being attacked by other dwarves unless they initiate hostilities. Nondwarf races often regard sacred dwarves as strange but, given the sacred dwarves’ neutral stance and generally inoffensive nature, tend to view them as essentially harmless.
Alignment: Neutrality in regards to good and evil and an essentially lawful demeanour dominate sacred dwarven culture. As a race, they have travelled far and seen much, including the strange descent into chaos and evil of other dwarven subcultures. This insight gives the sacred dwarves the rare trait of being willing to discuss things with other races rather than simply whipping out their axes and carving a path through their enemies. Unlike most other dwarven cultures, sacred dwarf enclaves can go for centuries without appreciable conflict and, except when dealing with the most vile and dangerous of races, this suits the sacred dwarves just fine.
Lands: Isolated and barren locations are ideal for sacred dwarf enclaves. Their communities are typically quite small and their needs few—the elemental energy which permeates their bodies makes it unnecessary for them to truly eat and they have little need for elaborate shelter. Satisfied with a quiet place to record their thoughts and durable materials onto which to scribe their runes, most sacred dwarves are perfectly happy in places other races would consider unliveable.
Religion: As self-proclaimed keepers of the true dwarven way, sacred dwarves venerate the entire pantheon of dwarven deities. Their travels through the planes provide them with the insight to understand the ways in which gods cloak themselves in different names for different races, instilling their rituals with an encompassing, incisive understanding which is rarely found elsewhere. While other races are inclined to see the differences between their religion and that of others, the sacred dwarves are quick to point out the similarities and common ground two seemingly disparate religions share.
Language: Sacred dwarves speak the dwarven and common tongues and are able to learn other languages as normal.
Names: Sacred dwarves hold the traditional names of dwarves dear and they hold to the same naming ceremonies and customs as the common dwarven race. Sacred dwarves take the importance of their names one step further, however, and pass the same names down through families for generations in an effort both to remember the past and bring glory to their clans in the future.
Adventurers: While many sacred dwarves are perfectly happy to remain in their clan, holding to the ancient ways and recording their memories for posterity, a few wish to travel the world and bring their knowledge to others. These sacred dwarves may join good-aligned bands of adventurers, travelling far and wide to add to their own knowledge and that of those they meet. These dwarves do their best to chronicle and catalogue any dwarven ruins found in their travels in the hopes they will be able to restore them one day.
Racial Traits
† +2 Constitution, –2 Dexterity. Sacred dwarves are every bit as sturdy as other dwarves, but the strange composition of their flesh makes them a bit less flexible and dextrous than their cousins.
† Medium size. As medium-sized creatures, sacred dwarves have no special bonuses or penalties due to size.
† Sacred dwarf base speed is 20 feet.
† Darkvision. Sacred dwarves can see up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only but is otherwise like normal sight, and sacred dwarves can function just fine with no light at all.
† Stonecunning: Sacred dwarves receive all bonuses normally associated with this special racial ability.
† Quasielemental: As their bodies are infused with elemental energies and much of their flesh is actually pliable elemental earth, sacred dwarves receive the following bonuses:
† +4 racial bonus on saving throws against poisons.
† +4 racial bonus on saving throws against spells or spell-like effects which cause sleep, paralysis, or stunning.
† Sacred dwarves cannot be stunned.
† Because of their elemental nature, sacred dwarves cannot be resurrected or raised, though a wish or miracle spell can be used to return them to life.
† +2 racial bonus on Appraise checks related to rare or exotic items.
† +2 racial bonus on Craft checks related to stone or metal.
† Automatic Languages: Common, dwarven, and Terran. Bonus Languages: Giant, gnome, goblin, orc, and undercommon.
† Favoured class: Cleric. A multiclass sacred dwarf’s cleric class does not count when determining whether he suffers XP penalties for multiclassing. The fascination sacred dwarves hold with the history of their people and their devotion to the dwarven gods makes then natural priests.
Silverbore Dwarves
Deep within the earth, there are places where the connections between planes grow thin and permeable, allowing the daring or unwary to plunge through from one plane into another entirely. The ethereal plane, with its ubiquitous presence parallel to the prime material plane, has a great many such natural connections, providing access to other planes for those who know and understand their operation.
Generations ago, a group of dwarven miners discovered such a portal quite by accident—a vein of mithral they were following led them directly through a planar breach into the ethereal plane. Lost for years, the dwarves eventually learned how to tunnel through the stuff of the ethereal plane, forging a new tunnel through which they attempted to return home. Sadly, they were unable to locate the proper plane and spent decades wandering through the planar wilderness before finally mastering the art of travelling from plane to plane.
While they travelled, these dwarves had children of their own and took husbands and wives from the clans they met during their journeys, eventually growing into a large caravan of dwarves, shifting from plane to plane using supernatural knowledge to guide them through the demiplane they referred to as the Silverbore.
Known now by the name they gave to their mode of travel, the silverbore dwarves have made a name for themselves as explorers and traders, bringing goods from distant lands and even different planes to market time and again.
Personality: Silverbore dwarves are garrulous by necessity, always ready to speak to a potential client or source of information. It is believed that members of this extensive clan were once much more sullen and prone to silence until it was discovered that these traits did more harm than good. At the present, and for the foreseeable future, silverbore dwarves are considered polite, talkative, and ready to listen when the time is right. Like many other types of dwarf, those who travel the Silverbore are very interested in gold, silver, and other precious items, though silverbore dwarves seem more fascinated with the value of items as trade goods rather than simply to hoard and preserve.
Physical Description: It is difficult to tell the difference between silverbore dwarves and their better-known cousins under normal conditions. On the ethereal plane, however, the differences become apparent as the silverbore dwarves’ eyes begin to glow with a brilliant silver light. This innate ability has developed over the years in response to the dwarves’ long relationship with the ethereal plane and is evidence of their ability to spot probable sites for planar breaches or extending the Silverbore.
Relations: Silverbore dwarves are outgoing and friendly, with a healthy distrust of certain races and types of creature they regard as evil. While it is rare for a group of silverbore dwarves to begin a fight, they do their utmost to protect themselves if attacked. Best known in cities with which they have trade compacts and passage agreements, the silverbore dwarves are slowly gaining a name for themselves in more remote areas as they discover ways to extend the reach of the Silverbore more profitably.
Alignment: Lawful good silverbore dwarves are the norm, though lawful neutral is gaining popularity with the younger generations. A lawful alignment is almost required for silverbore dwarves because of the concentration and intense focus of will necessary to successfully navigate or create new branches within the Silverbore. While rumours of a splinter clan of evil silverbore dwarves persist in many places, there is little evidence to support the existence of such a group.
Lands: The silverbore dwarves are travellers by nature. While it is possible one could consider the Silverbore as their home, they themselves do not regard it as such. Instead, they believe their home is wherever they are allowed to rest for the night and treat each new plot of land as home until they depart. Some members of this subrace believe there may be a true silverbore homeland somewhere, a hidden pocket of the Silverbore in which ancient dwarves live out their days in peace and quiet, talking to one another of bygone days. While this myth is popular, the location of such a haven is a mystery.
Religion: Deities have different names in different lands and from plane to plane vastly different gods may hold sway. In response to the inconstant nature of religion, silverbore dwarves worship ideals rather than specific deities. Silverbore clerics should choose two domains when they take their first level of cleric and gain the domain spells and special abilities for those domains. In all ways, silverbore dwarven clerics should be regarded as clerics without deities, as defined in Core Rulebook I.
Languages: Automatic Languages: Common and dwarven. Bonus Languages: Abyssal, celestial, draconic, infernal, terran and undercommon. Silverbore dwarves learn the languages most useful to their journeys across different planes, allowing them to speak to friends and enemies alike.
Names: Silverbore dwarves take descriptive names, often using two or more common words run together for a first name. Silverbore dwarves rarely use their clan names with outsiders, preferring to present the impression of a single, massive clan of silverbore dwarves rather than many loosely united groups. Male names among the silverbore dwarves focus on strength and physical characteristics, while female names are more indicative of social skills or mental facility. When it comes to clan names, the silverbore dwarves cling to the traditional dwarven clan names though there is some dispute about their right to use these names. Standard dwarves feel their silverbore cousins are so far removed from the dwarven experience they should no longer use the old names. Clearly, the silverbore dwarves feel differently but they choose not to use these ancestral names in places where it could discomfit or irritate other dwarves.
Male Names: Embereye, Irontooth, Stronghammer, Thunderhand
Female Names: Goldwhisper, Silvertongue, Songwind, Swiftwit
Clan Names: Dalkir, Delokr, Lurzgen, Rakheim, Strazek
Adventurers: With so much wandering in their daily lives, silverbore dwarves have many occasions to meet and interact with adventurers. Younger silverbore dwarves are often seduced by the adventuring lifestyle and happily join bands of travellers in an effort to experience new and exciting things. Many of these return to their people after their first few violent encounters, but others find the lifestyle to their liking and help their companions travel the Silverbore in search of excitement and riches.
Racial Traits
† Medium size. As medium-sized creatures, the silverbore dwarves have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
† Ethereal Vision. Silverbore dwarves are able to see into the ethereal plane at will. This does not provide them with the ability to see invisible creatures, penetrate illusions, or see through solid objects. It simply allows the silverbore dwarves to see any creatures or objects which exist on the ethereal plane. It also allows them to detect any planar breaches within 30 feet. Within the Silverbore, creatures with this ability may see without difficulty, even if there is no other light available.
† Silverbore. Once a planar breach has been detected, creatures with the silverbore ability can penetrate the breach. This requires 8 hours of digging, as the creature tunnels through the earth and into the Silverbore. The silverbore can be accessed underground only; if a planar breach is detected on the surface, creatures with this ability may not access it. The opening into the silverbore created by this ability is 5 feet wide and 5 feet tall and it will close 1d4 hours after it is opened. This ability may also be used from within the Silverbore to create an opening into another plane and requires the same amount of time to use in this case. Likewise, the opening created from inside the Silverbore will remain open for 1d4 hours, after which time it seals itself.
The Silverbore
This demiplane runs through the ethereal plane like a river, forking at odd intervals until its branches appear as a network of silvery glowing tunnels. While they traverse the length and breadth of the ethereal plane, travellers on that plane only rarely see the tunnels of the Silverbore because its branches are widely separated. Like roads across a vast countryside, the Silverbore tunnels allow rapid travel but are not particularly common.
The silverbore dwarves have extensive maps and directories of the vast networks which make up the silverbore. This allows the clans to find their way along the branching tunnels, travelling from city to city along their trade routes. Individuals without these maps have a much more difficult time finding their way to a specific destination.
If a character travelling along the Silverbore can read dwarven, he will be able to find signposts every 10 miles or so informing him of the directions and distances of various cities. These signposts always appear at intersections, providing handy references for travellers.
