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Sea Dwarf Culture


Tristanx7
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Sea Dwarves (Korhelon Khazad)

 

The Korhelon Kazad, or Wandering Dwarves, are a small dwarven ethnic group. As many of their members are born and grow up at sea, they have a hardy mindset and body, as well as a tendency to adhere to the philosophy of “Survive at all costs”. They are the youngest of all dwarven cultures, though not different enough to be considered their own subrace. They share many parts of the Dwarven Language, however life at sea has caused their dialect to be slightly different, as well as have an expanded vocabulary to describe ships and the sights, sounds, and other aspects of the ocean. This accent has also bled over into their use of the Common tongue, which is very different from their dwarven brethren.

 

Visually the Korhelon Khazad are extremely diverse, picking up various garments from all manner of lands and cultures as they travel and sail the waves. Most Sea Dwarves have two different sets of clothes, one for wearing in cold climates and one for in warm climates. They tend towards clothing suited for sea-faring use, and appreciate durability and versatility over aesthetics. Most males wear hats or some form of head-covering, and depending on which dwarf you ask these hats can have different social significance, with the general consensus being that only Clanfathers may wear tricorn hats.

 

While there were once many Sea Dwarf clans, their numbers have since dwindled until as of the writing of this manuscript, only the Brinejaw clan is known to remain. Their vibrant culture carries on the seafaring traditions of their ancestors, and provides historians with a rare glimpse into the past lives of Dwarven sailors.

 

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History

 

The Sea Dwarves began as a motley collection of all dwarves whose livelihoods revolved around the sailing and construction of ships. While these were originally Forest Dwarves, as Dwarven ships eventually became based upon steam-engines and clad in iron, Cave and Mountain Dwarves also entered the sailing and shipbuilding trades. As time progressed and these groups intermingled and interbred, and their children carried on their professions, they diverged culturally from their land-dwelling kin.

 

Eventually, enough of a trend in their cultural differences arose that they began to form their own clans, taking on names of the seas such as the Brinejaws, Reefcutters, Helmguiders, and Anchorbrow clans. Many of these clans would form their own guilds and merchant groups, specializing in certain sea-based trades. This led to a practice of having numerous clans represented on a single ship, as almost all navigators were Helmguiders, all shipbuilders were Reefcutters, and so on.

 

As the races fled from Aegis, a madness overtook the Sea Dwarf clans and, believing that those who had plotted the course to flee the islands was wrong and heading the wrong direction, chose to sail away from the main fleet. Believing that their Deep God would guide them safely to a new home, they wandered throughout the oceans for centuries, perfecting the arts of fishing and whaling in order survive undue hardships. Due to the lack of the ability to resupply, whenever a clan ship was lost, the survivors would simply be absorbed into another clan, until eventually entire clans disappeared. When the last ships miraculously arrived at Anthos, only the Brinejaws remained aboard, with harrowing tales of cannibalism and madness at sea.

 

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Language

 

The Sea Dwarven dialect of dwarvish contains words unseen in standard dwarvish language, for example:

 

  • Vadglim, lit. “Bad Water” - Salt Water

  • Anbokk, lit. “Food Rock” - Salt

  • Wugorix - Coral

  • Ahrarok, lit. “Big Fish” - Whale

  • Kavir Ahrarok - Whaling

  • Ahraglim - Oil (specifically from whales)

  • Wuhaefron - Kelp

  • Wuindar - Plants that float on the surface of the ocean.

  • Velfraed - Aft (towards the Stern)

  • Wareeft - Starboard

  • Wafraed - Stern

  • Waneeft - Port

  • Watrullak - Bow

  • Veltrullak - Forward (on a ship specifically, towards the Bow)

 

Sea Dwarves also have very colorful slang terms.

  • Agnogaakin - Landlubber (literally, “One who mates with mountains”)

  • Warithon - Matey

  • Azoz - Ahoy

  • Wailuk! - Avast, blast it, generic expletive.

  • Hailim! - Shiver me timbers, what the F***, expletive for surprise.

  • Wugum - Scurvy dog, generic insult.

 

Sea dwarves also have a tendency to bleed ship-speak and such into their use of the common tongue. They have a very different accent from their dwarven kin. Provided are some example phrases in common, the standard dwarvish accent, and sea dwarvish.

 

“Hello my friend, how is your wife?”

“‘Lo m’ friend, ‘ow is yer wife?”

“Ahoy matey, ‘ow be ye’ wife?”

 

“Ah, work was hard today!”

“Gailuk! Work was ‘ard todeh!”

“Hailim! Work be ‘ard t’day!”

 

Sea dwarves use ship directions while on land as well. Left and Right become port and starboard, and so on.

 

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Common Traits

 

The Sea Dwarves of yore shared very little common traits outside of their clans, however due to the shared lineage of the current living Korhelon Khazad, they do have a general shared appearance. Most have tanned, olive skin which is very tough. They tend to have eyes that range in color from blue, grey, and green. Their hair and beards vary in color as they age, and one can usually tell the age of a sea dwarf from the color of their beards. This change in color is attributed to both their ethnic traits as well as the accumulation of salt and sun which bleaches the color away. Young sea dwarves have dark colored beards, usually similar in color to those of forest dwarves. As they age, this color is gradually sapped away, becoming greyish-green in color, until it eventually becomes stark white. Sea Dwarves whose beards lose all of their color are known as “Saltbeards”, and are regarded as elders and full adults within their society.

 

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Society

 

Sea Dwarf society is not that different from the core Dwarven society. They are comprised of clans lead by a single Clan Father. A Clan Father is marked by an ornate tricorn hat, typically decorated with feathers and other embellishments to demonstrate his wealth and power. Sea Dwarves differ from Dwarven society in that they have a much less permanent view of things. While land-based Dwarf cultures have clan-holds and large, enduring constructions, Sea Dwarven clans will have a fleet of Clanships, which come and go as new ships are added to expand the fleet or replace broken-down ships.

 

Sea Dwarves also tend to have even fewer female dwarves than other clans. When a male sea dwarf becomes of age, he will from time to time vanish for years at a time, only to return with beardlings in tow. If asked, male sea dwarves will claim that they are children of “mermaids”, however it is far more likely that they interbreed with other races such as elves and humans in order to avoid inbreeding, as all dwarves serving on Clanships are related in some way or another.

 

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Clothing

 

Sea Dwarf clothing varies greatly depending on the location of the sailors. In colder weather, heavier furs and leathers are worn in order stay warm, while in warmer climates, dwarves shed their furs in favor of lighter cloth. One thing that remains constant is the use of headgear to denote rank, where the more powerful or influential the dwarf becomes, the more ornate and boisterous their hat becomes.

Edited by TTT
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1 hour ago, Chaotikal said:

 

already been done....

In fairness, Tristan has been playing his since I was king in late 2016, pr sure

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On 3/31/2018 at 9:28 PM, Dreek said:

In fairness, Tristan has been playing his since I was king in late 2016, pr sure

 

I've been actively playing the Brinejaw clan since 3.0, our original clan thread got deleted during some changes in the forums. 

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