``They could not take his pride. ''

- U2

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There is but one race of dwarves in my campaign.  They are a proud and hardy folk,  they are also quite few in number.  They suffered heavily at the hands of Berenashes forces during the strife war.  Their magic was not as great as the elves,  and during the almost fifty year length of the Great Strife,   they faced a new wave of human troops every 10 or 15 years,  barely enough time for one generation of young dwarves to mature.  This combined with their low birth rate almost spelled doom for the dwarven peoples.  Since that time they have shut themselves up in their mountain strongholds,  waiting a time when they can seek revenge against the faithful of Berenash,  and again walk the surface world.   Occasionally dwarves leave their strongholds,  mostly on scouting and trading trips,  but by far the most common dwarf to be found on Dalsundria are those dwarves that have been exiled for one crime or another.   This has led to the common belief that dwarves are all thieves and murderers among Dalsundria's peoples.   Dwarves are a very stocky race,  their skin ranges from a leather like brown to a ruddy tan,  and their hair ranges from black to grey to flaming red.  Their eyes may be any color of the human spectrum,  with browns and greys being common.   Many dwarves also bear the marks of crimes committed.  Dwarves do not practice execution amongst their own race instead viewing exile as the capital punishment,   exiles are almost always branded in some fashion to prevent them from merely moving to another dwarven clan.  One common punishment,  is the shaving of the beard,   and then scaring the flesh of the face using a hot branding iron to prevent the hair from growing back.   Dwarves are not just stocky,  they are more dense than humans.  This makes them resistant to bludgeoning attacks,  however,   they receive a -5 penalty to swimming checks due to the fact that they sink in water.

Ability score adjustments and racial packages:  the standard dwarf package costs 45 pts.  Dwarves receive a +2 to con,  and a -2 to charisma.  The standard dwarven abilities are mining detection abilities,  save bonus,  dense skin, melee combat bonuses,  infravision 120'