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| Art by Jason Sholtis |
Another Antediluvian people of the Wilderness are often called names that would translate as some variation of "dwarf." They arrived as the retainers of the First Folk lords who called them simply "the smiths." They were, and often still are, forgers of implements of bronze and iron, and cunning artificers.
They are clearly cousins to mortal humankind, but are shorter in stature, more powerfully built, and courser featured. One of the first human tribes to meet them in the new world called them "hairy ones" in their tongue, a name adopted by later arrivers in a mangled form as goohagatch. These latter folk believed the dwarf people to be cursed to wander, but also protected from harm by the True God. This has not always sparred them violence from their human neighbors, and they have mostly moved away from encroaching settlements.
There are some dwarf folk who have adapted to a greater extent to humans ways, and perhaps even interbred with humans. They are sometimes called "civilized dwarfs" but just as often "petty dwarfs."
I hate dwarves on even on fantasy, but using them on a setting like that is like eating Kiwi Pizza heheh. I preferred to walk away from traditional races (which are also "traditional baggage" in a sense)
ReplyDeleteThat said, I respect it, as I would respect kiwi pizza eaters :/
I find that folks who absolutely hate some fictional species or another usually do so because they feel certain traits they don't like are inseparable from the concept. It's a failure of imagination, in other words, or a lack of faith in the imaginations of others. In this case, if Neanderthals who might also be the children of Cain just hit those dwarf triggers for you because of their height...well, sorry to disappoint you. :)
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