A Bit More on Dwarves

I'm still working through some of my ideas on the dwarves of Terafa. My basic concept is that they're heavily based on Samurai - hence their warriors being sworn to service of a named lord, and their use of the two ceremonial weapons (though typically not together), and indeed the banded armour and helms.

The other key element, of course, is that bit of their history that concerns the great loss of racial memory - they have existed for longer than they know, but at some point they were enslaved by masters who stole their ability to form memories. This, of course, influences their psychology profoundly, giving rise to the importance of old tales and history, of ancestor worship, and of questions of identity.

Incidentally, this has the effect that "dwarven" runes are, in fact, not dwarven at all - the runic alphabet they use was something they inherited - dwarves awaking from their fugue came to consciousness in full possession of their language, skills, and the like and have never seen any need to change. But the language isn't theirs. It may or may not be that of their former masters, of course. It is therefore entirely possible for adventurers deep in the Underdark to encounter text that looks like dwarven runes, but is not.

The seven dwarven subraces are the well-known Hill and Mountain dwarves, plus the Sundered (dwarves who quit their underground homes immediately after reaching the surface and now don't/won't go back), Deep Dwarves (who ended their exodus early and so remain in homes in the Underdark), and three subraces that the dwarves don't talk about. Each of these has been scarred by the enslavement in one way or another: the Dvergar remain in their old homes and comfort themselves in endless, pointless labour; the Derro are simply insane; and the Lost had their intellects broken by their enslavement.

(The association between dwarves and the number seven is, of course, intentional.)

And that's more or less where I am on that. I'm sure there's more to come, but it will come if and when I can firm up my ideas some more.