Dwarves

Dwarves
The dwarves of the Young Plane are an old and diverse people. Though residing on much of the land the main concentration of dwarven folk is found in the Middle Kingdoms where 3 distinct dwarven nations reside. These nations of the Shining Peaks, Bravaire, and Dragos all share a commonality in their origin but in some web of time disagreements in ruler-ship caused a clear divide in the nations.

Dwarves are a traditional people who hold reverence to the gods and the stone alike. All three major nations are all revered for their craftsmanship and knowledge of the stone. Dwarves tend to live under ground and a majority of major dwarven cities and hold are located there.

In recent times the dwarven people have broken from strict nationalism and began opening up trade with other races, the humans of former Arvos being a large partner in these dealings. Due to this dwarven goods have flooded the markets of the Middle Kingdoms leaving many and adventure salivating at the chance to acquire high quality dwarven steel, or better yet Dragosan Adamantine.

The Shining Peaks
Located on the eastern side of the mountain range of its namesake the Shining Peaks is by far the largest and most prominent of the three dwarven nations. Having many settlements above the surface these dwarves have become accustom to dealing with humans on a day to day basis. There have been large push backs to these recent changes though. The Shining Peaks have put large amounts of money towards colonizing the surface, yet many older dwarves don't see any profit in the land above the stone. Due to this there has been an increasing number of dwarven fundamentalists vying for power in the Shining Peaks, and recent tensions with the Arvosan civil war have only made matters worse.

Dwarves of the Shining Peaks are a proud people and defenders of the Deep Road, an dangerous underground road that connects the Shining Peaks with Bravaire. Due to this dwarves of the Shining Peaks have access to the following optional racial traits;

Xenophobic
Isolationist dwarves despise non-dwarven humanoids. They speak only Dwarven and do not gain any bonus languages from possessing a high Intelligence score. In addition, they learn only one language per 2 ranks of Linguistics they possess. However, their un-trusting nature gives them a +1 bonus against mind-affecting effects, except for fear affects. This racial trait replaces a dwarf’s normal languages.

Stubborn
Dwarves are renowned for their stubbornness. Dwarves with this racial trait receive a +2 racial bonus on Will saves to resist spells and spell-like abilities of the enchantment (charm) and enchantment (compulsion) schools. In addition, if they fail such a save, they receive another save 1 round later to prematurely end the effect (assuming it has a duration greater than 1 round). This second save is made at the same DC as the first. If the dwarf has a similar ability from another source (such as a rogue’s slippery mind), he can only use one of these abilities per round, but he can try the other on the second round if the first reroll ability fails. This racial trait replaces hardy.

Minesight
Dwarves with this racial trait increase the range of their darkvision to 90 feet; however, they are automatically dazzled in bright light and take a –2 penalty on saving throws against effects with the light descriptor. This racial trait replaces darkvision.

Deep Warrior
Dwarves with this racial trait grew up facing the abominations that live deep beneath the surface. They receive a +2 dodge bonus to AC against monsters of the aberration type and a +2 racial bonus on combat maneuver checks made to grapple such creatures (or to continue a grapple). This racial trait replaces defensive training.

Bravaire
The dwarves of Bravaire are an unconventional bunch. Serving as a sort of ruling class in a complicated web of social and political intricacies the dwarves of Bravaire have developed a caste system to sort themselves out. There exist four distinct castes in the country; Gold, Jewel, Iron, and Human. The Gold caste refers to people of noble blood, families with stations far above their common folk with seemly endless wealth, thought details about when these families gained this wealth is uncharacteristically missing from Bravairi history books. The Jewel caste sits below the Gold caste and in modern times shares its tier with the Iron caste. Members of the Jewel caste tend to be merchants or artisans. Many of Bravaire's finest smiths spend their lives a member of this caste. The Iron caste contains the warrior clans of Bravaire. Though in modern times the need for dedicated military families has declined and many Iron caste families find themselves attempting to join the Jewel caste as merchants or artisans, while others go through the motions of unneeded military preparation. The Human caste denotes Bravaire's non-dwarven population, which is much of it. These humans tend to live on the harsh snowy mountains or tundra like flat lands surrounding the mountains. These humans rely much on the dwarves for good and supplies and the coexistence has been very successful for a number of generations.

The dwarves of Bravaire are sharp and refined and hold fast to the traditions of their people. Being more pious than many of their relative nations the Bravairi produce a large number of citizens with divine powers. Given the harshness of the outside climate and interactions with humans many Bravairi dwarves have become accustom to the mountains surrounding much of their keeps. Dwarves from Bravaire have access to the following optional racial traits;

Rock Stepper
Dwarves with this racial trait can skillfully negotiate rocky terrain. They can ignore difficult terrain created by rubble, broken ground, or steep stairs when they take a 5-foot step. This racial trait replaces stonecunning.

Magic Resistant
Some of the older dwarven clans are particularly resistant to magic. Dwarves with this racial trait gain spell resistance equal to 5 + their character level. This resistance can be lowered for 1 round as a standard action. Dwarves with this racial trait take a –2 penalty on all concentration checks made in relation to arcane spells. This racial trait replaces hardy.

Surface Survivalist
Some dwarves have dwelt so long above ground they have lost their ability to see at night. However, their adaptation to extreme environments allows them to treat wind conditions (when determining whether or not they are checked or blown away) and cold climates as one step less severe. This racial trait replaces darkvision.

Dragos
Though by far the smallest of the dwarven nations inhabiting the Middle Kingdoms Dragos has made a name for itself as of late. Being the sole supplier of Adamantine to much of the kingdoms there is a high demand for trade agreements with the normally isolated dwarves. Located in the belly of a large volcano and surrounded by dragons one may not find the keeps of Dragos as pleasant place to stay, but tradition dictates that that dwarves of Dragos must keep working the land they were granted. Because of the dangers involved in getting to and from Dragos getting access of the Adamantine had proven difficult for many of the not dwarven nations. Dragos is supported primarily by Bravaire and ships most of its exports there along the coast. Due to this some clever bandits have taken to attacking these shipment, but it never seems to go well for them.

The dwarves of Dragos spend every day like it could be their last and the dangers of their homeland have formed them into some of the best warriors on the Young Plane, especially when it comes to fighting dragons. Dwarves from Dragos have access to the following optional racial traits;

Wyrmscourged
Dwarves with this racial trait gain a +1 bonus on attack rolls and a +2 dodge bonus to AC and on saving throws against the exceptional, supernatural, and spell-like abilities of dragons. They also gain a +2 racial bonus on Knowledge (arcana) checks to identify dragons and can make such checks untrained. This racial trait replaces defensive training, craftsman, and stonecunning.

Mountaineer
Mountain dwarves are skilled at climbing and navigating narrow ledges. Dwarves with this racial trait are immune to altitude sickness and do not lose their Dexterity bonus to AC when making Climb or Acrobatics checks to cross narrow or slippery surfaces. This racial trait replaces stability.