#lore: dwarves

[exhausted-archivist]

Deep Road and Dwarf Facts From Buried Pasts Adventure - Dragon Age Tabletop RPG

Bullet point list of the interesting bits I found, I've added the excerpts below the cut.

The Deep Roads and Thaigs are 2-4 miles (3.21 - 6.43 km) below sea level. Making them deeper in areas like those beneath mountains.

Mining galleries tunnel upwards into mountains while thaigs tunnel downward towards the mantle.

The environment of the Deep Roads can shift from shockingly cold to blistering hot depending on the area.

Thaigs are heated in old thaigs by lava but in newer (now abandoned) thaigs it was common to use steam.

If traveling the Deep Roads, carrying a light and heat source is required. Without a heat source you could die from the cold.

There is complete pitch darkness outside of the glow of lyrium or lights created by people.

Dwarves make oil lamp using nug and bronto fat.

The shadows are so long when a light source exists that it makes it hard to spot what might be lurking in the dark.

Sounds louder than a whisper will echo further than they would above ground in a space/passage.

Dwarves love wood instruments and design their spaces to allow for sounds to echo in thaigs, giving them an ever present hum poets have compared to the song of the Stone.

Dwarven stone-sense fades the longer you are on the surface.

Magic and lyrium resistance in the dwarves comes from the constant exposure of lyrium. When on the surface for too long that resistance will fade away completely.

Dwarves are masters in close quarter combat, favoring morning stars, crossbows, and shields.

Note: There are weird wordage/typos in the text itself that I didn't alter because I couldn't tell which way to go with so I've left it as is.

Deep in the Dark (page 3)

"...For those who have spent their entire life being able to see the horizon, the cramped, confusing conditions underground can be difficult to adjust to. The human and elven sense of direction is easy to lose underground, sound travels further as it echoes off the walls, the environment can be shockingly cold in one space and blistering hot in the next, and the cramped conditions impede the styles of fighting surface-dwellers will be used to..."

Light and Shadow (page 3)

"Above ground is never completely dark, even on a clouded moonless night. Underground, in uninhabited areas of the Deep Roads, the only light in the pitch darkness is that which the heroes bring with them and the glow of lyrium veins. The slightest obstruction creates a long shadow such that even with light characters are unlikely to be able to see everything within the reach of their light source. As characters move through the environment, everyone of those shadows will move in keeping, further hindering characters watching for creatures in the dark..."

Sound and Silence (page 3 & 4)

"Although the solid rock stops sound from traveling to completely sealed areas, anything louder than a whisper will echo much further than it would above ground along the passageways and chambers of the Deep Roads. The effect is especially pronounced on the roads themselves, as dwarves built their underground passageways long and straight with vaulted ceilings to greatly enhance the distance at which sound can be heard. The constant echoing combined with the dwarven love of deep wind instruments and song gives inhabited thaigs a background hum of sound that dwarven poets have compared to the Stone. Orzammar itself is never silent, and the impact of moving into the stillness of abandoned Roads beyond the city's control is greatly upsetting to dwarves who have lived with the comforting sense of community the background noise provides..." "..Any parties with dwarves in them may find the dwarves natural stone sense a help or frustration. Dearves who spend most of their life underground will find the sense still sharp and comforting. By feeling the stone, navigation is easier. However, the sense fades the longer dwarves remain on the surface and when the darkest parts of the Deep Roads it can be a vague distraction as the sense is dulled and irritating, though not completely without use.

Heat and Fuel (page 4)

"The majority of the Deep Roads and thaigs are built about two to four miles beneath sea level, although in the Frostbacks that means they're actually much deeper beneath the surface. Dwarven mining galleries normally stretch up rather than down, tunneling up into the mountain regions of Ferelden and Orlais from beneath, while the thaigs themselves burrow downward toward pockets of lava that have moved up from the mantle. Most older thaigs (including Orzammar) have open regions of molten rock near their center that are used for heat, while more modern thaigs (ironically those more likely to be abandoned thanks to the darkspawn pushing the dwarven empire back on itself) used steam heating. Inhabited regions between thaigs are heated and lit by oilk lamps using the fat from nugs and brontos. Away from lava or artificial heating, the Deep Roads are bitterly cold. The lack of weather is a mercy, but travelers that go too ling without a source of heat will begin to feel the effects. As their lanterns are likely the source of their heat as well as light, travelers must take extra care with the amount of fuel they have; the dwarven empire once maintained frequent waystations along the Roads for resupply, but running out of lamp oil in the modern Deep Roads can be a death sentence..."

Fighting at Close Quarters (page 4)

"The dwarves of Orzammar equip their rank-and-file soldiers with shields, maces, and crossbows, perfect for the cramped conditions they are expected to fight in. Skirmishing is a thing of the surface battlefield, except in the largest caverns. The dwarves train their warriors to block passageways with shieldwalls and corral disorganized opposition into killing grounds. Height is the main restriction. The dwarves built the main tunnels of the Deep Roads with lofty ceiling clearance, and thaigs are usually organized facing into large caverns to give a sense of space, but private houses and other areas not intended for heavy traffic can be uncomfortably cramped to a human. The lack of space can get in the way of swinging the large weapons humans may be used to..."

Dwarven Magic Resistance (page 16)

"...The dwarven resistance to magic is the result of prolonged low-level exposure to lyrium in the Deep Roads and is also the reason Orzammar dwarves can handle lyrium in relative safety in amounts that would drive a human mad."

[thedaswolves]

More of Black Codex by Matt Rhodes! ❤️

They really did let Solas do all the heavy lifting, and than carry all the guilt. 😭

part 1 | part 3

[fantasyinallforms]

"The Hobbit movies aren't accurate. The Hobbit's movies made the dwarves too hot"

SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Shhhhhh.... shh

Look into my eyes right now and know I'm being so serious.

I. Don't. Care.

I don't care that it's basically Tolkien fan fiction. I'm under no delusion that it's accurate, I know the studio used the movies as a money grab insted of letting PJ do what he actually wanted. I KNOW. We *all* know.

I still don't care. It brings me joy.

[lingrimmart]

Tilazis saved a dwarven baby, planning to use him as a tool of diplomacy. He hid him from the rest of the team, but they found out about it anyway.

Matches appeared to be a better babysitter than Til.

[dunmeshistash]

Would you know of there's any explanation for Namari's sickness when the Tansu party comes back after eating kelpie stew?

Yes, dwarves have very sensitive ears so when she suddenly goes from very down in the dungeon to suddenly high in the surface she feels sick, happens with Senshi too when they're teleported out of the golden kingdom.

Here's from the page about Dwarves in the adventurer's bible:

"The return spell left Namari shaky and weak. Dwarfs' semicircular canal are sensitive. They have excellent sense of direction, but it makes them prone to teleportation sickness"

[tomcat-tapes]

Middle earth ponies; fellowship is magic

More doodles below💚

(The earth ponies are Thorin and Bilbo adjacent)

[illusivesoul]

[durgeapologist]

God give me strength. Today I saw a Solavellan call Harding "Karen levels of offended" over what Solas did to the titans. This fandom really does not give a shit about what Solas did to the dwarves. Heck SOLAS cares more about what he did to the dwarves than the fandom does.

HUUUUUUHHHHHH??

"karen levels of offended" WHAT THE FUCK DO THEY EVEN MEAN BY THAT???

solas literally severed dwarves' connection to dreams. he severed their connection to the titans. he likened them to a bloodied, severed arm while in conversation with varric, a dwarf. he walked past, smiling at harding daily and playing nice, knowing what he did. she literally says as much.

if you think harding is a karen for being mad at solas for quite literally comitting a war crime against her ancestors, or if you believe the titans were 'monsters' who 'deserved what they got', close the app and go touch grass because i fear you actually don't know how to engage critically with this series.

[bunabi]

I miss DA :(

Been chewing on the gangue and how it contains an influence 'as old as balance' if anyone cares.

Knowing what we know now I think the gangue are actually the First Elves.

The 'impure spirit-of-the-stone' translation. The fact they were bound by dwarven mages. The dates and details line up.

Excuse me as I go crazy in absolute silence.

[minubell]

I think the reason Sauron never really messed with dwarves or dwarven kingdoms on the same level as Men or Elves is because every time he looks at a dwarf he just thinks of Aule and that makes him crash out a little bit.

[andarateia]

LYRIUM: SONG OF THEDAS

A millennia of history in two paragraphs. The truth about the Maker, elves, dwarves, Titans, and the Evanuris - and it's all thanks to lyrium, three little words, and one big song!

[achlysfx]

SPOILERS from the artbook below:

Edit: I dont know if I was supposed to get the artbook this early (as release date was supposed to be Nov 8th), but it answers a LOT of lore questions about the game series.

[yardsards]

the dungeon meshi fandom is so real for seeing falin's canonical body type (medium but with soft features) and saying "actually. she should be fat"

[sky-scribbles]

So Harding talks to Emmrich about a rune he enchanted for her, which contradicts earlier Dragon Age lore that usually only dwarves and Tranquil can safely interact with lyrium to enchant items. This is obviously just a mistake, but allow me to present a solution:

We know that spirits contained in dead bodies can safely interact with lyrium, since Justice wears a lyrium ring in Awakening. So... obviously the only reasonable answer here is to say that Emmrich figures out the theory, but Manfred does the actual enchanting!

[postcardsfromheapside]

Conversations with Dagna (just her side)

Girl if only you knew that just outside was a young woman who was going to involuntarily get those answers a decade later.

Replaying Inquisition after Veilguard continues to be wild.

Especially with the continued complaints about "how the devs handled the elves and dwarves". Even though The Descent and Trespasser both gave us whammies.

[dunmeshistash]

Are dwarves dying earlier than gnomes for lifestyle reasons? (Since they reach maturity at the same time) I think all the dwarves mentioned are heavy drinkers and seem to live rougher lives? I just know dwarves are often presented as embodiments of masculinity and men statistically tend to do dumb things like drinking too much and not going to the doctor until it's too late, resulting in a lower life expectancy.

My assumption was rather than dwarves "living less" gnomes lived longer because they seem to be more easy going and in general lead a more "natural" lifestyle.

Dungeon meshi has a relatively young life expectancy, like how tallmen who supposedly are like humans live on average only 60 years. Elves on the other hand if you use the divided by 5 formula they give us live to be the equivalent of 80 I assume because they are more privileged in general.

I've seen dwarf and gnome ages be calculated by dividing by 2.5 but I forgot what the logic was (I think their age of maturity?). In the manga the hint we get is that Laios who is in his mid twenties looks "about 60" for a dwarf, going with the 2.5 that's about right (26*2.5 = 65) so I'll use that since it's an easier number to calculate than an exact equivalence of 26 to 60 (Math is hard)

Dwarves live to be 200 so 200/2.5 they live to be the equivalent of 80 like elves while gnomes live on average 240/2.5 the equivalent of 96 in tallmen years

So all long lived races live longer than short lived races even if you translate their ages and gnomes live even longer than the other long lived races because of their chill lifestyle (I assume)