Dwarves – While there are hundreds if not thousands of Dwarven Cities built into or beneath mountains – one of the largest known Dwarven community is based beneath the mountain range to the west called Stonepass. There are some dwarves, though they number few, who have made their homes outside of the mountain, in neighboring towns and cities around the base of the massive mountain. While Mountain Dwarves are by and far the most common type of Dwarves – calling themselves the “Sparks of Jarisfargen” – other Dwarves have left the mountains to make their home on the surface world, which the Mountain Dwarves affectionately called “Hill Dwarves” (implying anywhere outside of a mountain was going to be inferior).

• Mountain Dwarf: These are the most common dwarves, found within the great halls of Stonepass, beneath the mountain’s surface. The dwarves have forged a magnificent kingdom beneath the stone. From time to time, some of these dwarves venture into the world to seek out other possible homes, beneath mountains. Among Mountain Dwarves, cutting off the beard is reserved for those who are being punished for a great crime, for the longer the beard, the more stature the dwarf has.
  • Mountain Dwarf Names: A Mountain Dwarf’s first name, can virtually be anything (sometimes it’s something like “Forge” named after what they use), sometimes it’s a sound (Kachang), and sometimes it’s a random selection of words (Kredell) – what is important to a Mountain Dwarf is the last name, which is highly regarded to uphold an honor (which is typically combined words as Flamestrike, Forgemaker, Swordcutter, etc).
• Hill Dwarves: These are the dwarves that have chosen to live among men, and human communities, outside of the mountains. They are very much like their cousins, the Mountain Dwarves, in almost every regard; except Hill Dwarves have lost the desire to dig; rather they focus on forging. They also have done away with the tradition of growing out their beards, and never cutting them.
  • Hill Dwarf Names: They are frequently combined words of their surrounding nature (Hilltop, Greystone, Moonriver, etc). Most Hill Dwarves do not have a last name, since, unlike Mountain Dwarves, they do not have family clans.

• The Duergar/Gray Dwarf: These are Mountain Dwarves who have been corrupted by Necromantic magics, performed by the Mind Rippers. Used originally as slaves by the Mind Rippers, many of the Duergar have broken free, and formed their own community in the Shadow Stones, and now thrive there. Their long lives so far down away from any light has given them light sensitivity. The Gray Dwarf is essentially a Duergar who has broken free of the madness and evil that has consumed them for generations. Most other dwarves do not trust the Gray Dwarves, believing that they can never be free of the evil that lives in their bloodline.
  • Duergar Names: Much like the Drow, the Duergar have one syllabel names, often hard sounding (Trak, Purk, Neek, etc) and no last name; the idea of clans washed away by the Mind Rippers.