Dwarves, Night

The Night Dwarves
"When the Kingdom of Dargis established its surface colony, Zerdargia, a great schism afflicted dwarfish society; those who wished to become a part of the greater world took up surface life, whereas those who wished a return to the time-honored traditions of the past descended through the Great Mountains to their home city of Dargis. Over time, the once-small underground realm of Dargis became more than just a city; in its thriving subterranean metropolis, shrouded in the darkness of earth and stone a new society and a new nation emerged - that of the Night Dwarves, the Daelagians." - Master Petrus, "Dargis: Past and Present", Preface.

The Daelagians are a race of Dwarves who branched off from the standard dwarven line centuries ago, forming their own society deep under the surface of Telath. During the long years of seperation from their surface-dwelling cousins, the Daelagians have devoloped their own distinct appearance and culture. In an attempt to distinguish the two subraces, some have taken to calling the more typical surface-dwarves as "High Dwarves," and the Daelagians as "Night Dwarves." Most Daelagians, however, dislike the latter term, as they do not consider themselves in any way "benighted."

Government

Daelagia is a monarchy, ruled by a king descended from Daelam himself. The Daelagians have adopted a document called the Declaration of Freedoms, which guarantees some basic rights to all Daelagian citizens. Officially, this is the only limit on the king's power: there are no other governing bodies, and although the king will often appoint specialists to run certain aspects of the city, these officials can be dismissed and replaced, or their positions dissolved, on the whim of the crown, who has absolute legislative authority.

Unofficially, however, the Daelagian generals have significant power in their own right. After an unsuccessful coup d'etat attempt over a century ago (called the Marshals' Rebellion), the rank of Marshal was abolished by the king of the time, and the military leadership was divided between three Colonels, who in theory answer to the king for overall command. This has diminished the danger posed by the military somewhat, but whether these colonels truly answer to the king is still questionable. The king is often expected to reward prestigious military officers with positions in the bureucracy, which can also weaken his position.

Physiology

The Dwarves of Daelagia are fairly similar to their surface cousins in appearance. Their skin is usually fairly dark and brown in color, though this can range from a light brownish shade to a dark reddish-brown tinge. Their eyes, by contrast, are quite pale, and are typically gray or blue in color, and their hair is usually black or brown, but red-haired Daelagians do exist. Their eyes have excellent Darkvision, but like many races adapted to the underworld, they tend to find bright sunlight uncomfortable, and when on the surface usually prefer to travel at night. Although they average the same height as High Dwarves, they are generally somewhat less stocky, and only rarely match the strength and legendary toughness possessed by High dwarves. Nevertheless, they have not completely lost the characteristic dwarven robustness, still being quite a hardy breed, and they retain typical dwarven resistance to magic, as well. Daelagians also have the same exceptional skills at metalworking, mining, and underground navigation.

Due to their relavively slender build and clever hands, Daelagians tend to have better manual dexterity than typical dwarves, and though they can run no faster, they are generally much lighter on their feet, making them noticeably better scouts. Night dwarves are excellent engineers, and when properly trained, excel in setting, finding, and disarming traps, and possess excellent hearing. Daelagians have the same spellcasting aptitude as High dwarves, but because of centuries of conflict (and sometimes enslavement) at the hands of the Vysstichi, who have made heavy use of Arcana in their attacks, the Daelagians have grown wary of magic, and spellcasters among them tend to be quite rare.

Society

The Daelagians have developed the typical Dwarven esteem of beards into the next level: a Daelagian (or possibly a visitor) who doesn't have a beard is often derided by his comrades, and one who has a long beard will gain respect. This is especially pronounced in males, but some influence is placed on female beards, as well. In fact, Daelagian law has it that no one except the king and his family can wear his or her beard longer than mid-belly. Touching someone else's beard is a gesture of respect or admiration among the Daelagians.

The military fits prominently into any Daelagian's life. Because clean water is so hard to come by in the Nightlands, Daelagian engineers have constructed a massive system of pipes and cisterns which brings rainwater from the surface into the city. Because the system is dependent on rainfall, however, supply is erratic, and water is rationed in Daelagia. Every citizen must come to one the city's cisterns every morning to collect his or her water ration for the day from the guards. If someone doesn't get their ration or spills it, then they must depend on their neighbors' generosity for their day's water.

There are easily discernible social classes in Daelagian society, with the lowest made up of the farmers and the unskilled laborers. The farmers are often considered to be the lowest of the social ladder, because many of them shave their beards to help them tolerate the stifling heat of the Daska farms. On the next social rung is the skilled workforce, the artisans and craftsmen, as well as the common soldiers. The next class is composed of the priests, military officers, governments officials, and the engineers who maintain the cistern system, as well as the Daelagian Wardens, who carry out the task of ensuring the safety of the vulnerable surface-end of the water system. On the top social rung is the royalty, of course, as well as the commanding oficers of the army. In general, Night dwarf society has a patriarchal bent, so important government jobs will generally be held only by males.

The Daelagian military is typically well-trained and extremely disciplined. This, along with their superior skill in weapon- and armorcraft, is what has allowed them to survive warfare with the Vysstichi spellcasters, as well as the large Rodenti army. The Daelagians no longer use the battle-axe frequently in warfare, and emphasis has shifted instead to the military pick and crossbow.

The Daelagians worship the all good gods of Telath, but show a special preference for Aslan.

Relations with other Races

The Daelagians tend to be somewhat suspicious of most foreigners. They are often patronizing of other Dwarves, because of their percieved weakness in bending their knees to the Aelyrian Empire. Their many years of sporadic conflict with the Vysstichi has taught them a deep loathing of that race, which has also tainted their opinion of other elves, who are generally viewed with deep distrust. Aelyrians and half-Aelyrians are viewed as agents of a hostile Empire, and are not welcomed in Daelagia. The Daelagians dislike the volatile nature of Rodenti politics, and relations with the Rodenti have varied between cordiality and open warfare over the years. Most of the time they are coolly tolerated but invited to mind their own business. The Night dwarves tend to have mixed feeling about orcs: they dislike orcs' disorderly, brutish manner, but respect orcish tenacity and will to survive in the perilous underworld, where a divided people must constantly fight for survival. The two races could be considered respected enemies, and friendly orcs tend to be somewhat more quickly accepted in Daelagian society than in other places.

More on Daelagians

The Marshall's Rebellion occured amidst a period of turmoil in Daelagia; As per Daelagian custom, King Devven II had just been coronated after the death of his father, Devven I. Devven I had been a strong leader and a hero in the Last Rodenti War, having personally held a gate to the city, along with his royal guards, against an army of Ratta (note that this is much easier to do when one has a suit of adamantium plate mail- which Devven I did).

Unfortunately, Devven II was perceived as being much weaker than his father, and when the Vysstichi began to become more aggressive, hoping to finish what the Rodenti had started, the new king came up with an unheard-of plan: He decided that calling for help from the surface would be the wisest course of action. The Daelagians had held off full-scale Vysstichi assaults before, but only at great cost in life, and Devven did not think his people were yet ready to engage a new foe so soon after the last war. He (rightly) realized that there was no other source of aid, as the Rodenti were not about to help so soon after trying to conquer the city, and there was no one else but the Empire.

When Devven announced his plan, things did not go smoothly: many declared that Daelagia had stood without aid from the surface for this long, and better to fall to the Vysstichi than call in the Imperials now. An isolationist movement was organized, calling itself the Children of Daleam. The name had a double meaning: it was a way of declaring their intention of maintaining Daelam's ideal of an isolationist, pure dwarven nation, and it was a slight to the ruling family, the true descendants of Daelam, who supposedly had drifted from Daelam's dream.

The kingdom's military officers were rather divided on the issue, but Marshall Vardig was one whose ear was tuned to the voice of the Children. They convinced him to try to overthrow Devven and replace him with the royal younger brother, Radil, a more militant individual who had professed displeasure at his brother's announcement. The coup probably would have succeeded had the rebels timed the attack better; as it were, they found the king while he was practicing in his father's coat of armor. He and his squires were able to hold off the mutineers until help arrived. Vardig was killed in the fighting. Radil had never been completely convinced that the rebellion was a good idea, but his compliance earned him banishment (Devven couldn't bear to execute his brother), and the royal exile- who still lives to the present, though he is quite ancient by now- was taken in by one of the Rodenti noble houses, presumably for purposes of their own.

Fortunately for the Daleagians, the Vysstichi ran into familial disputes of their own around this time, and the planned invasion never occured. Nevertheless, the treachery wrecked Devven's confidence, and he never again spoke of opening Daelagia to outside influences. After abolishing the rank of Marshall, Devven II reigned for quite some time without any major accomplishments, and only passed away a few years before the present day. His successor, present King Baeril I, is a more forceful personality than his predecessor, but remembers his father's ideas, and secetly believes that one day Daelagia will probably need to end its centuries-long isolation.

The king's royal guard are a fairly small group who act as his personal bodyguards. The rare smiths who are capable of making high-grade dwarven steel are nearly always hired directly by the king, who thereby controls the metal's creation and use. Generally, such master smiths are commissioned to provide armor for the royal guard, making them a well-equipped group, indeed.

The Wardens who guard the cistern system's topside end are the only Daelagians with regular contact with the surface. These woodsmen are often shephards or foresters, both to disguise their purpose and to sell the wool and wood to the wealthy among the city below. They try to steer all travellers from the area of the mountains in which the system emerges, using force if all else fails, to keep the location of Daelagia as poorly-known as possible. Because of the harsh climate in the western Great Mountains, the Wardens are experts in cold-weather and mountain survival. They are also highly respected in the city, sometimes almost revered as local heroes. However, their very different lifestyle tends to alienate them from their people, and young Wardens are often shocked to find themselves treated as outsiders when they return home for a visit.

Another group of note is the MB, the Marksmen Brigade. These individuals are specially trained to counter magicks by the expedient of killing enemy mages. Equipped with crossbows and experts at hiding and camoflauge, the MB take advantage of the fact that if a mage does not see the attack coming, there is little he can do to stop it; thus, a single quarrel can kill a significant addition to the enemy's firepower. Generally, MB snipers will attack from hiding or from the ranks of friendly soldiers. Because line-of-sight is poor in Underworld warfare (because of limitations on the range of Darkvision), ambushes must be very close-range. The Marksmen typically poison their quarrels, as well, so that a glancing blow will still disable the enemy spellcaster.

Note that if one measures Daelagia's wealth by counting their gold, gems, and other mineral goods, Daelagia would appear to be quite wealthy; however, because of poor access to outside goods and the neccessity of maintaining a large standing army, which drains resources, the typical Daelagian standard of living is not very high. In effect, goods and services tend to be more expensive in Daelagia (anywhere from 25% to 50% more), especially products made from wood. This would make opening trade with outside nations quite lucrative for both sides involved. (The Daelagians do conduct limited trade with the Rodenti and orcs, but the Daelagians trust neither of them). King Baeril is aware of this possibility, though the average Daelagian merchant is not.