Not to be confused with Dwarves (see related artical on Sniffleheim Dwarves)

Dwarfs

Dwarfs are a humanoid race of diminutive stature who primarily live in the Northern most region of the Xtant Mountains. Roughly twenty different tribes make up the core collection that comprises the Dwarfian Nation of Ileria. Considered barbarians by most of their neighboring civilizations, particularly the Fairies of Ainslough, the Dwarfs of Ileria rarely leave their mountain top villages. A fierce, proud, often ornery people, the dwarfs, and their rather large sharp spears, are known to take offense to outsiders, especially those who tend to belittle the Ilerian Nation.

General Description

Dwarf males are on average three and a half sheephead* tall. Dwarf women are on average four sheephead tall. Males have for millenia compensated for their shorter stature by creating very tall and elaborate hair styles using carved bone combs and feathers. The resulting cultural phenomenon has developed so that the taller the male's hair, the more wives he tends to have. Dark hair and eyes are predominant among all the tribes, and regular exposure to the elements has darkened their skin to a warm nut brown tone. Hunters and herders by profession, clothing is largely tanned leathers and fur acquired from hunting local fauna or rich, heavy wool woven from the fleece of the Black Sheep of Ileria**.

Social Structure

The social make up of the Dwarfs of Ileria is a complicated maze to an outside observer. The twenty tribes are loosely scattered over a large area, and only meet for the two largest events held every year. The Great Sheepbuggery Tournament is held for during the week of the Spring Full Moon, and the Muttonmuncher Feast is held during the week of the Autumn Full Moon. The locations of these two gatherings varies yearly based on the home peak of winning tribe of the Spring Tournament each year. The tribes themselves each associate with an animal totem and are named as such. Known tribe names:

• Loofowie (Pronghorn)
• Needlewick (Porcupine)
• Waffick (Skunk)
• Toofersqueek (Chipmunk)
• Stripertoof (Tiger)
• Banderfink (Raccoon)
• Nitehooter (Owl)
• Loofbumrusher (Moose)
• Firecrotchs (Fox)

Males share a Urty, a round structure made of stone, wood, and skins, with their parents until they marry, when they must build their own. Unmarried females live together in a communal Urty. Community duties are segregated among the sexes, with males placed over the charge of the tribe's herds. The women are hunters and gatherers, traveling together in small hunt packs keeping them often away from the home. This social format has led to the Dwarfs odd marital customs. Polygamy is common, and a male may have as many as three wives and two sheepbrides***.

1. Sheephead as a unit of measurement is a close equivalent of one Nolian Hectara.
2. Due to similar size and appearance, The Black Sheep of Ileria is a term of some confusion as it is often used to refer to both the four legged wool producing sheep and their two legged herders.
3. All sheep belong to the tribe's Herd as a whole, but a man who's wives are frequently gone hunting are permitted to take from the Herd a sheepbride who will live with him as a wife until the hunters return.

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