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Kharolan: The Children of the Earth

Greetings.

What you hold in your hands is a more intimate look at the Kharolan children than has ever existed before. You may think my wife for that. It was her suggestion that I write a scroll on the Kharolan for the rest of the world to read. Make people understand the Dwarves better. She'’s a smart woman -- it's’s too bad that I married her for her body.

Introductions I think. I am the Emerald of the Dwarven race, a role analogous to your Emperor of Kar-Thone. Except that I speak for the entirety of the Kharolan, in every mountain on Talanu. My father before me was Emerald, and his before him. My son will become Emerald after I step down, and his son will follow him.

So there. You know who I am. You know that I speak for all Kharolan.

History

But we returned to the world above to help the slaves rebel and cast off the Kaeron. And because the Earth had shown its love for us, we asked that the Kaeron be cursed and placed Under, with us. We would be their jail keepers, and we would protect the Earth from the Kaeron [now called Drow].

And then the world went on, in relative peace. We continued to cultivate the earth, living Under so that we may keep an eye on our prisoners.

Language

But we like your languages too. Common has a complexity and flow to it, very much like a vein of gold. And Elven--written Elven--has no equal. I have written my best poetry in Elven. Our runic characters bear the weight of their use -- it is a strong written language, forged for the stone and rock of our world -- but it does not hold the breadth of nuance that written Elven does.

A Emerald, Ruby, Lotus Sapphire, Star Sapphire and Sapphire all learn Common and Elven, along with Kharolan and Gnomish. It is a requirement to be a Lord of Mountain and Dwarves.

Leadership

The highest rank in all of Dwarfdom is the Emerald [Smaragd]. As I said before, it is a position very much like an Emperor -- he is the Lord of all Kharolan. Below him is the Ruby [Rubin]. He is the Lord of a particular Mountain, and Master of all that dwells within. He is very much like a King.

The sons of the Emerald and Rubies are known as Sapphires [Saphir] -- they are akin to what you know as princes. The first-born son of a Emerald is known as a Lotus Sapphire [Blumepur Saphir] and the first-born son of a Ruby is known as a Star Sapphire [Stern Saphir]. The daughter of a Emerald or Ruby is called a Diamond [Diamant].

A Topaz [Topas] is a particular Mountain's war-leader, while a Garnet [Granat], is the Mountain's mining-boss. These two positions both share duties as Stewards of the Rubin or Emerald. In his absence, they keep the Mountain strong. A Quartz [Quarz] is the boss of a particular vein of ore, be it Gold, Silver, Iron, or Mithril; they serve directly under a Garnet.

Priests of the Dwarven people are called Opals [Opal], if they are High Priests, and Jades [Jade] if they are just common priests.

Did you keep up? Forgive my dry telling of things -- while I do dabble in the art of poetics and song, I got where I am today with my pick and my Axe.

Onward...

Emeralds and Rubies

But for those that don’t, suitable candidates are chosen, and one emerges as the new Emerald or Ruby. Candidates for Emerald come from Rubies, and Rubies from Topaz and Garnets.

The Emerald is also Ruby of his Mountain and Opal of his People. If the Emerald cannot mind his own Mountain and the Gods, he cannot lead the Kharolan.

Topaz, Garnet, & Quartz

A Garnet is not a lifetime post -- they come and go at the whim of a Ruby (though usually a wise Ruby will find a competent Garnet and then leave him be to do his job). Once appointed, a Garnet will assess his mines and choose his Quartzes. Quartzes supervise the mining of individual veins [Jire], and carry an additional honorific, depending on the vein. A Quartz who controls the Karfank Jire, a vein of Gold, would be known as a Golden Quartz. Quartzes come and go with the life of veins and the movement of mountain politics.

Opals, Jades & Religion

It all sounds like a lot of praying, doesn’t it? It’s not really. Most are quick, silent prayers, to remind the Earth and her Gods that we are mindful of what they provide us. The priests tend to elaborate their prayers more, because that is what they do. But all Dwarves are devout, and it’s something you should know.

Opals, the High Priests for a Mountain, are just above Garnets in all things save mining. If it is a question of mining, a Opal will abide by the will of a Garnet - but in all other things, Garnets defer to Opals. Jades are just standard clergy; we call them such in deference to the Gods.

One last note, on the nature of Dwarven leadership -- there are two further honorifics that can be applied to any title: Great and Grand. This simply refers to whether a Dwarf has grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Dwarves of otherwise equal rank, defer to Grand and Great Dwarves (respective in rank).

Myths of Dwarven-kind

Dwarves love to smoke pipes.
Pipes are wonderful, and a good way to pass a winter’s eve above ground. But Under--Under there is nowhere for the smoke to go. Our forges and our stoves have vents that release the smoke up through the Earth. But smoking a pipe underground without venting? Sheer madness that.

Dwarven women have beards.
Where does this kind of untruth get started? Do you desire women that carry a full face of hair? Does an Elven maiden with a stout, full beard of gray hair catch your eye? Do you look proudly upon your fair daughter when her beard first begins to come in, oh men of Perelinn? No? Well neither do we. While a Kharolan male may take great pride in the length and fullness of his beard, we look for nothing of the sort in our women.

This might be a good time for a quick lesson in the Dwarven physical form.

The Kharolan Physiology

Both male and female Dwarves are stout, though much like women of all races, female Kharolan tend to be a bit stouter than the males. And many more curves. Anyone who cannot tell a female Dwarf from a male, is a blind-man. Your first clue would be the beards.

Men have them, in great fullness and variety. A Dwarf’s pride is in his children and his family, and after that, his work and his skill at arms. But after that, before poetry and sport and food comes a Dwarf’s beard. It is cared for and kept well, braided up when it might get in the way of the fire of a forge or the mining of ore. It might be a bit prideful, but it is a mark of distinction for Dwarvenkind.

Women do not have beards. The idea of such is simply ludicrous. They do tend to grow their hair out longer, and oft times let the braids fall over their shoulders and down their front. This may account for some of the misconception, but I chalk most of it up to plain ignorance. That’s why I’m writing this, after all.

Dwarven hair tends to be dark and ruddy -- though there are old family lines that produce dwarves with very, very fair hair. My own wife comes from just such a line (like I said, I married her for her body). Dark red, black and brown tend to be the normal hair colors, however. Dwarven skin tone is stone colored, a fair mix of gray and brown. We are indeed without the sun in the Under, but the Earth has still seen her way to giving us a most magnificent hue.

And Dwarven eyes--imagine any gem or stone or rock or ore that may be found in the earth and you will have some sense of what variety of color Dwarven eyes may be.

End Tidings