How to roleplay a dwarf : General guide

Lore with the most relevance to Dwarves.

Section I: In the beginning...

Dwarves, along with Troggs, are descended from the Earthen. The Earthen were created by the Titans to shape and maintain the earth of Azeroth. The oldest reference to Earthen in Blizzard's Lore timeline is the War of the Ancients. A group of Earthen were convinced to join the Night Elves against the Burning Legion by some time traveling heroes (/wrists). The initial commander, Desdel Stareye, was xenophobic and refused to use any other race to their fullest extent. When he died in battle, Jarod Shadowsong (Maiev's younger brother, also the guy you rescue at the end of the Hyjal Quest line) takes over and corrects the mistakes Stareye made, mending the relationship between the Earthen and Night Elves. After the war, the Earthen went back into hibernation.

In character, I once witnessed a Dwarf berate an a Night Elf over this. Its important to note this is ancient history at this point. A Dwarven character alive in game couldn't have been alive at this point. These are events that your character would likely be aware of, but probably wouldn't feel one way or another about in terms of the Earthen's treatment by Commander Stareye. It'd be like the someone living in Athens, Greece today being mad that Sparta attacked his city over 5000 years ago. Sure you could be mad about, but it would still be weird.

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Section II: The Awakening

The Earthen after the war, go back into hibernation for ~7500 years (2500 years prior to the Opening of the Dark Portal). They awaken in Uldaman to find themselves changed from stone to having smooth skin, genders, etc. They had become mortal creatures due to the Curse of Flesh, as was revealed much later during Brann Bronzebeard's research in Northrend. The "Earthen" held almost no memory of their previous lives and left Uldaman collectively.

The exact time line is unknown, but the changed Earthen encountered Stromgardian Humans at around what is believe ~1800, who called them "dwarves." Thereby giving them their namesake, teaching them common, and introducing the Holy Light to them. Human culture heavily influences early Dwarven culture. The dwarves during this time frame discover the city of Ironforge and inhabit it. Not much else is elaborated on during until much later during the War of the Three Hammers. It is likely safe to assume that Dwarven culture was developed during this era.

Again, it is important to note that this time frame is not something your character could have lived through, but would know likely about. What is important to draw from this though is that true "dwarven" civilization is not as ancient as elven or even human civilization and that their history as Earthen was lost until only a few years ago. It was the discovery of their lost past as Earthen that drives the dwarven archaeology machine. When Uldaman was discovered, it switched the Dwarven industry from manufacturing to exploration. That is something that would impact your character, especially if you are a Bronzebeard Dwarf. Does your character agree with that decision, to search for lost and dangerous items while there are looming threats like the Horde and Burning Legion? Does that opinion with stand after King Magni's death at the hands of a Titan Artifact? That is something you'll need to decide on as character.

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Section III: War of the Three Hammers

In Blizzard speak, "a bunch of boring culture building happens then suddenly BLAM! WAR MUTHA FUCKA." Basically, the next elaborated piece of Dwarven history happens ~230 prior to the opening of the Dark Portal (about 2170 year after the Awakening) and it's cultural impacts are much more immediate than the other sections previously covered. While it is remotely possible that a dwarf alive in WoW could have been alive during the War of the Three Hammers, as dwarves live ~250-300 years, your character would essentially be at the very peak end of their lifespan (like ~105 in human years) and likely decrepit and old. So unless you are in an RP nursing home, I'd seriously suggest avoiding that taboo.

What is known about Dwarven society is that there were three prominent clans of Dwarves: Wildhammer, Dark Iron, and Bronzebeard. All three of the Clans lived in Ironforge at this point vying for favor and power. Modimus Anvilmar was the King at this point in time and ruled all three Clans, and when he suddenly dies without a clear heir, the tensions between the three clans boil over and a war breaks out. The Bronzebeard's end up expelling the Dark Irons and the Wildhammer from Ironforge.

The Dark Irons move south to the Redridge Mountains and the Wildhammers move north and found Grim Batol. Unwilling to accept defeat, The Dark Iron Emperor launches a two pronged attack on Ironforge and Grim Batol an unknown number of years after the fact. The Dark Irons are soundly defeated at Ironforge, but manage to breach the gates of Grim Batol. During the battle of Grim Batol, the Thane of the Wildhammers, Khardos Wildhammer, slays the Dark Iron Sorceress and Empress, Modgud. Her death forever taints Grim Batol with shadowy apparitions and magic, an event that would forever change the Wildhammer Clan.

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With the Dark Irons reeling, the united Wildhammer and Bronzebeards turn towards the Dark Iron capitol in the south. Desperate, the Dark Irons attempt to summon a powerful demon, but instead summon Ragnaros, the Firelord by mistake. The explosion caused by the summoning formed the areas known as Burning Steppes and the Searing Gorge. Seeing this, the Wildhammer and Bronzebeards return home rather than face Ragnaros. The Dark Irons are then enslaved by Ragnaros (for the most part anyway). The Wildhammers find that Grim Batol is no longer habitable and are forever scarred by the horrors they came back to in their city as a result of Modgud's taint, going so far as to refuse the offer from the Bronzebeard's to live in Ironforge again, and going north to the Aerie Peak to live above ground and eventually fly on Gryphons.

This is probably the single most important piece of lore for your dwarf character, regardless of Clan affiliation, that occurs prior to the Second War. I will break up the impact into 3 sub sections to make it easier to understand depending on the clan you role play your dwarf as being from:

Bronzebeard: The Bronzebeards are ultimately the least affected by the War of the Three Hammers. Being the victors, they didn't have to change anything about their culture or leave their homeland. However, the actions of the Dark Irons during the war both to them and to the Wildhammers has caused a hatred that has lasted over two centuries. How does your character feel about the Dark Irons? Lost cousins enslaved against their will, have their crimes been paid for in their slavery to Ragnaros? Or do those rotten Dark Irons deserve to be killed to the last man, woman, and child?

Wildhammer: Arguably the most changed culturally from the War of the Three Hammers. The Wildhammers were driven out by their Bronzebeard cousins. The Dark Irons then came and cursed their new home to such a degree they feared to live underground again. They, who were originally creatures created to shape the earth, took the skies on the backs of gryphons, abandoning restrictive plate armor for lighter or no armor. They are the only Alliance race prior to the Draenei to harness the power of the elements. They changed dramatically to the point they no longer related that well to their Bronzebeard cousins and drifted apart. How does being so different from the other dwarven clans impact your interactions with them?

Dark Iron: Your people have been punished and have paid dearly for their evil deeds. Or do you see them as evil actions at all? Was the only mistake summoning Ragnaros instead of a demon? Do you blame the desperation that drove the Emperor to cast that ritual on the Wildhammers and Bronzebeards? Or do you agree with your new found compatriots that summoning Ragnaros was to blame only on your people? Dark Irons are more likely to have a revisionist history of the War of the Three Hammers. Maybe you even try to hide the past, for instance we once had an RP meeting of dwarves in the Hall of Explorers. One of us was RPing a Dark Iron mage, who emoted shuffling some papers to cover up a copy of the book "The Battle of Grim Batol" during the meeting. You've got a bad rap and whether you are penitent or not, you face two centuries of hatred from your cousins in the Wildhammer and Bronzebeard Clans as a result of the war.

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The Twelve Commandments of Playing Dwarves:

1) Thou shalt be stoic:
Dwarves live in rock. They are tough and like it.

2) Thou shalt remember the clan:
The clan is central to the life of the dwarf. Dwarves would rather die than see harm come to their clan. Dwarves also generally defer to those with greater honor and responsibility but politely let their leaders know if they disagree.

3) Thou shalt act honorably: Clan, Oath, Obligation.

4) Thou shalt put the lives of other dwarves above all else.
Nothing is more important for a clan without clansman is no clan.

5) Thou shalt be practical.
Dwarves are very down to earth. (Pun intended.) You are not in the practice of denying or concealing things. It is very dwarfish to praise the abilities of people and groups that you do not like. You consider it foolish to degrade someone's ability as a warrior at any point, especially if they are your enemy.

6) Thou shalt not fear death.
Death is the end of life and there is no reason to live if you can not help the clan. Then you must go and join the ancestors. There is also no value in the life of one that does not have a clan to serve. Lastly, nearly every dwarf would wish no more than to die in battle in great service to the clan. Such an honorable death brings honor to your clan, your ancestors and your descendants.

7) Thou shalt take great pride in thy race and thy clan:
Humans really don't understand how dwarves work. That's OK; they don't have to. If you teach them to act honorably, so much the better, but it does little good to get upset if they fail to use the proper etiquette.

Thou shalt be humble about thy self.
It is dishonorable to brag of your own achievements.
You announce your title to prevent others from dishonoring themselves, not to puff up your own
ego. For example, a Prince of Silverrock might introduce himself to a stranger by saying "I am
Bloodlord Rohan Silverrock, but let me assure you that title merely represents the blood of my
great ancestors and I am but a minor representative of our clan's great leaders."

9) Thou shalt be patient and deliberate (especially as you get old).
Dwarves live a long time. Dwarves are slow to anger and slow to love. Dwarves are not driven by whimsy or impulse.

10) Thou shalt be passionate.
Dwarves are slow to emotion, but the emotion they do feel burns inside them like a forge. It is hard to get a dramatic reaction out of a dwarf but when you threaten or insult something a dwarf loves, the reaction is pretty impressive. In this way, dwarves are also like the earth: it is hard to move the earth or get it to reach; but when the earth does react it is with a great and mighty force to be feared and reckoned with.

11) Dwarves distinguish rank carefully.
Be sure to treat those with status especially well as long as they behave.

12) Thou shalt be respectful.
It is more dishonorable to deliver an undeserved insult that it is to receive one. When dwarves wish to deliver an insult they will almost always phrase it so that it is an opinion instead of an accusation. Instead of calling someone a foolish knave, to avoid forcing an apology, a dwarf would instead say that someone reminded them of a foolish knave.

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Dwarves on the Surface

Many elements of surface culture will be alien to dwarves. Just as most humans are
unfamiliar with cavern flora and fauna, surface plants and animals will often seem strange to
dwarves. So too will the food, since the dwarven diet consists of things like mushrooms, molds,
lizard meat, and cave fish. Dwarven society also has a very precise set of social norms very
different from that of humans.

Agoraphobia (fear of open spaces) is also common among average dwarves. Just as most
humans are uncomfortable in caves, most dwarves are uncomfortable without a solid ceiling
overhead. However, dwarves found on the surface won't have this problem, for the same reason that severe claustrophobia isn't common among human spelunkers.

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The Life of a Dwarf

Dwarves are a very long lived race. Dwarven women live about 200 years on average and
dwarven men live about 180 years on average. Women will occasionally live to about 250 and
have lived to 300 in the past although this is extremely rare.

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Children

Dwarves have few fertility problems. Women are fertile twice a year and
their child bearing years last from their early 20's through their 120's. While dwarves are slightly
less likely to conceive children than humans, dwarven women are fundamentally capable of
having as many children as they wish, and the 15-month gestation period is generally easier on
dwarven women than human women, due to their more stout skeletal structure.

Although dwarven women are capable of having many children, feeding them is much harder.
Dwarven children are beloved by the entire clan holding, and the strong dwarven constitution
makes infant mortality less of a problem than in human families. Dwarven parents generally care
for their own children, although the large extended family is extremely helpful both in allowing
the parents to work and in caring for children if something happens to their parents.
Dwarven children grow slowly over 30 years.

Girls reach their full adult height towards the end of their teens, boys in their early 20s. However, dwarven children in their 20s are generally fairly skinny and their shoulders and hips do not reach their proper proportions for another 10 years. By the time they reach their mid-teens, dwarven children require comparatively little care
and spend their time learning the trade they will need in adult life.

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Coming of Age

Around their twentieth birthday, dwarven girls leave their home for a little over a year.

"The Passing", as this time is called, is a very important stage in the life of a young dwarven woman, where she learns the story of their ancestors and the Gods. The Passing ends with a ceremony where
as many family members gather together and the young woman is given her marriage bracelet
which she wears until she gives it to her husband. When this stage is completed, the young
woman returns to her family where she prepares for the far more strenuous test, "the Burning".
Young women are given a full turning (one year) to prepare for the Burning, a series of three
tests. The first test is perform an act of carrying something of the past to the future. Some young
women will repair a damaged structure. Others might learns something of the past and record it
in the hall of histories.

In poorer families, young women frequently have to spend their time with crops, which can qualify as moving the past to the future, but nearly any woman would prefer a more honorable achievement. The second test is to ensure that the young woman can defend the clan. She is given a long knife and either a rod or ax, forged by her father when possible.

She is then placed in a room with food behind her and a hungry beast in front. By any means she
chooses, the young warrior must prevent the beast from devouring the food. Stories tell of a
young priestess of a unknown clan who covered her hands in the food. When the beast came, it
tried to swallow her arm; she resisted the pain and sliced open the beast from the inside with the
knife in her hand.

While the first two tests may be quite difficult, the final test is the most dreaded of all. Barefoot, the young woman must cross a path of burning coals, to retrieve a heavy tablet with her new family crest carved into it.

Between the times when their sisters go through the Passing and the Burning, dwarven boys
go through their own coming of age. Boys are required to participate in "the Testing". During a
three year period of time between their 20th birthday and their 23rd, dwarven boys participate in
three separate tests. The first test is the Test of Ceremony, where a boy is required to perform in
a full year's worth of ceremonies for the first time. The second test is the Test of Steel, where a
boy must forge his own ax and long knife and successfully kill with them. The final test is the
Test of Bone, where a boy is sent out with his knife, ax, clothing and a piece of flint to a cave
where he has never been. He is supposed to live there for a full month when an adult comes and
gets him. After the testing, a boy is not yet considered an adult. Although he is "Tested" and is
given nearly all the respect of an adult in society, he does not reach his adulthood until marriage
and may not participate in a paired leadership position.

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Marriage

Most dwarves marry between the ages of 30 and 60. During the ceremony, the marriage
bracelet is given from the woman to the man. At this time, the man leaves his own family and
joins that of his wife. In cross-clan marriages, the man always joins his wife's clan because the
physically distinct clan markings are passed down from the mother.

During the marriage ceremony itself, gifts are brought from the entire family. Marriage
represents the continuation of the clan and is the one the few times that a dwarven family is
permitted to honorably spend a lot of money. In return for all of the gifts, the bride and groom
present the clan with a gift of their own. The gifts given by the new pair vary greatly but always
represent the joining of past and present to form a new future. Such acts of creation are often
treasured by the entire clan holding and in some cases, actually become holy items of the clan.
Creating a new holy item for the clan holding at one's marriage is one of the most honorable
achievements that a dwarf can commit, short of dying in the clan’s defense.

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Adult Life

Both before and shortly after marriage, young dwarves all pursue their own trade. Tasks in a
dwarven community are divided loosely on gender lines. Generally, women are responsible for
growing and the past so they tend to be responsible for agriculture, maintaining family trees,
building structures and defending the clan. The men of a clan are responsible for making and the
present, and thus tend to involve themselves in cooking, crafts, exploring, hunting and seeking
out threats to the clan and destroying them. Regardless, dwarves are very practical and hardly
anyone who shows a real gift for something will be kept from that profession. It should also be
noted that the burdens of leadership, planning, ceremony and child rearing are the provinces of
both sexes.

Most dwarven women prefer to bear all of their children in a 10 year period usually starting
after they reach 50 and usually ending before they reach 100. Since dwarven parents spend a lot
of time raising their children, they do this so they only have to spend 30-50 years of their life
with children.

Even though dwarven mothers spend a great deal of time with their children in the first two
years after they are born, once a baby turns 2, the mother will generally return full time to her
task. Children are usually left in the care of the elder members of the family while they grow up
and thus have access to both elders who can teach as well as other children their age.

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Death

To the dwarves, death is not the barrier that it is to humans. While the dwarves also believe
that they are brought before their gods upon their death, judgment is not their fate.
Instead, the dwarves believe that their souls merely stay upon the spiritual plane for a period of
time until they are allowed to rejoin the clan. Dwarves of great honor are permitted back to the
mortal realm after a very brief sojourn while those of less honor remain with the gods for some
time.

Upon returning to the mortal realm, dwarven spirits merge into the collective ancestral spirit
of the clan. Those who spent less time with the gods retain more of their personality and their
voice can sometimes be heard, almost as an individual, by spiritual ones among them. Those who spent more time with the gods become less personalized and tend to fall more into the great background
consciousness. The very belief that all dwarves will spend eternity with their clan forms part of
the centerpiece of dwarven clan honor and loyalty.

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Dwarven Society

Dwarven society is complicated at best. All dwarves have numerous connections to their
society. Every dwarf is a member of a clan, the largest social group. To humans, a clan seems
like a cross between a nation and an extended family. However, to dwarves, it also represents
the strongest bonds of honor, mutual history and fanatical devotion.
Every dwarf is also a member of one of the four dominions. A dwarf’s dominion determines
the dwarf’s occupation and position in society. They are described in detail below.
A dwarf is also part of a caste. Caste is determined by birth and is determined by the nobility
of a dwarf’s bloodline.

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The Dominions
There are four major groups (called dominions) that hold significant power in the typical
dwarven clan. Each of these groups has its own areas of influence and dominates dwarven
society in that area. Although the Highlords are, unquestionably, the most powerful of the
dominions in just about any clan, each has enough power to make the interplay between the
dominions the dominant force in dwarven politics.

Every dwarf has his or her own place in the dominion hierarchy. Ancestry plays a significant
role in the place that a dwarf has in the dominions. The child of a warrior will receive
preferential treatment by the Iron Dominion and a descendant of ten generations of warriors is
assured of an opportunity to achieve a prominent position. However, although ancestry opens
doors to a dominion, it is still necessary to walk through them. Ten generations of priestly
ancestors are necessary for a chance to become a leader, but only a powerful priest will
ever achieve that position. Lastly, although one who possesses only a moderate degree of skill or
potential will be barred from a position if the dwarf has insufficient ancestral claim, the truly
gifted will usually be granted a position.

One’s position or place has a great effect on the life of a dwarf. It not only determines the
respect that others grant you but it also is the basis of your life’s work. Priests need places in the
Holy Dominion to work their prayers. A weaponsmith needs a guildship to practice his art, and a
warrior needs a commission to lead others into battle. Lastly, each dominion has its own
individual code of honor that defines both how members should conduct themselves and how
they relate to members of other dominions. Although no dwarf is required to actually take these
honor codes as disadvantages, any dwarven player should carefully read what is considered
honorable for one in their position.

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The Highlords (The Ruling Dominion)

The Highlords are the leaders of dwarven society. This faction is lead by the Queen and
King, who control the clan’s Greatholding. After these two, the Highlady and Highlord that rule
each holdfast also join as immensely powerful figures in this group. Furthermore, the rulers of
the numerous clan holdings, as well as diplomatic emissaries, advisors and counselors fill out
this faction to make it the most powerful in the clan.
All other factions are loyal to the rulers of the clan and are bound to them by generations of
blood oaths and centuries of tradition. While this group controls the laws and designs of the
clan, the average dwarf interacts with the decisions of this faction only in a indirect manner.

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The Priesthood (The Holy Dominion)

The Priesthood is the guardian of the clan’s ancestors, the clan’s traditions and the clan’s
treasures. As such, the priesthood has tremendous power and influence. The bishops and deans
that make up upper echelons of this dominion are clerics of immense personal and political
power. Not only do they serve as religious leaders for the generally devout dwarven clans but
they also serve as official advisors to the Ruling Dominion. Furthermore, the
widowed priestesses that maintain contact with the ancestors of the clan, as well as the
Champions, the warrior-priests that guard the clan’s treasures and honor, both make up
significant elements of this faction.

Dwarven priests are organized in a hierarchical structure of orders.

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The Military (The Iron Dominion)

The Iron Dominion is the proud and mighty defenders of the clan. They have a reputation
for being particularly surly and are probably the least friendly of the dwarves. Loyalty between
subject and liege in the Iron Dominion tends to be the strongest form of loyalty seen in dwarven
society. All of the dwarven tendency towards honor and obligation is massively strengthened
when dwarves put their lives in each-others' hands.

Most of the Iron Dominion is organized into armies. The armies vary tremendously in size,
with armies of under a hundred dwarves defending a clan holding and armies of over a thousand
serving as the personal protectors of the Queen and King. When war threatens, it is common for
many of the smaller armies to gather around one of the larger armies to face the threat. Lastly,
since the men of the clan are frequently involved in offensive action while the women of the clan
tend towards its defense, the gender bias of any particular army is often quite strong even if the
dominion as a whole has a reasonable gender balance.

In addition to the armies, the noble dwarves, along with some especially honorable clansman,
are organized into orders of knights.

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The Guilds (The Dominion of Gold)

The guilds are, at once, the largest and least powerful dominion. Although approximately eighty percent of the dwarven population of a typical clan belong to the Dominion of Gold, they are divided into a large number of small guilds each specializing in a particular activity. The activities that call for the existence of a guild are as diverse as the dwarves that practice them.

However, the organization of these guilds varies considerably from clan to clan.
Although they retain considerable importance since they care for much of the population, they are kept dispersed by the Highlords in order to prevent any guild from having the power to cut off food production for the clan.
Because of this organization, the food-producing guilds tend to work very closely with the lord of
their clan holding. This tends to work quite well, since many of the food producers own their
land while a large number farm areas controlled by their liege.

The internal organization of the guilds resembles a large fraternal society more than a business. At the center of the guild are the guildmasters who serve a number of leadership functions both practical and ceremonial. Around the guildmasters are the guildsmen, the full members (sometimes referred to as Brothers and Sisters) who have the right to own their own businesses. Below the guildsmen are the journeymen, partial members, some of whom have the ability to advance and others who have reached the peak of their career. After the journeymen are the apprentices, who hope to advance to become journeymen or full guildsmen after many
years of hard work and training. Lowest in the Dominion of Gold are the bondsmen. These dwarves share an oath of commitment between them and the guild.

On their part, they perform many of the more menial tasks that the guilds require. In return, the guild insures that their bondsmen are fed and housed to the extent they are able and, for each generation that the bond
lasts, the next generation receives a higher chance at receiving one of the coverted apprenticeships.

Naturally, the proportion of bondsmen to guildsmen varies greatly from guild to guild and, in some guilds, the bondsmen have the opportunity to develop skills of their own which, if carefully practiced and taught to their children can help speed up the process of advancement.

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