-=The Dwarven Clans=-
The dwarven clans or "familes" are blood related groups of dwarves. Clans MUST be made of blood related members, very rarely will you find a non blood related family friend in the clan. [so if you want to recruit for your clan, say that you found them in your old family records so they are of your bloodline.] These groups of blood related dwarves from the entirety of the Kingdom of dwarves. The Clans of the dwarves make up the foundation of dwarven society. Everything and all things are centered around the clans, the people. The clans are separated into three groups; noble clans, commoner clans, and elder clans.
The noble clan fathers are the leaders of the kingdom, each having a spot on the high council. Being of the noble clans holds little perks besides the wealth of the clan. Most power, in dwarven society, is gained through personal endevours rather than being of blood-line. In order for a commoner clan to be inducted into the noble clans, the lower clan must repeatedly prove itself to the kingdom and it's dwarves. This would take many years, possibly generations.
Commoner clans are many through out the kingdom of dwarves. Their numbers variety between different clans as well as holds the bulk of the population in the dwarven kingdom.
The elder clans are clan that where once noble but have faded back into history and have lost a considerable amount of members. These old, but not forgotten, clans are honored with the title of elder. They are held in the same respect as the nobles just without the political power.
-=Dwarven Psychology=-
Earning of Dwarven Friendship: Dwarves are stubborn, uneasy, and possibly the most difficult race to befriend. Although, once friendship is earned, it is strong lasting through many ages. These short folk are naturally suspicious of others, slow to trusting, especially if the individual is outside of the clan. Dwarves usually suspect the worst of an outsider, which has usually worked in their favor. This kind of treatment will usually continue until the outsider proves his good will many times, usually in combat over many years.
Once friendship is won, the word loyalty arises. For the dwarves, the word loyalty should be both valued and rewarded. It is believed amongst dwarves to be a gift fighting side by side with friends in combat. Dwarves are a very trusting race of their friends and expect the same trust in return. An old saying for dwarves to describe the gaining of a friendship is, "The difference between an acquaintance and a friend is about a hundred years."
Deep Grudges: Seeing as dwarven trust among friends goes deeper than any mine, a betrayal of such a trust lasts a lifetime as a grudge. Grudges can occur on an individual basis, dwarf to dwarf, or across entire races. However, not all grudges stem from a friend's betrayal. Grudges can occur from warfare between two groups. An example of such a grudge could be seen from the many "Dwarf and Orc wars."
The Proud Race: Dwarves have a great pride in many things they do as they are a very proud race. Their great halls, carved out of hewn stone, is a common thing you might hear a dwarf boasting about. Clan pride is another great pride that the dwarves hold in high regard. Although, this kind of pride has proven troublesome in the past, causing much feuding between the clans. All dwarves, no matter what clan, are proud of their ancestors, namely the Paragons. These dwarves of old have achieved the highest honor among their races, making them exalted by all. Other things the dwarves are proud of are; their ability to drink, combat prowess, smithing, wealth, tradition, and engineering.
Sacred Honor: This is perhaps the single most important thing to a dwarf, his honor. If such a thing was taken from him or his clan, then the dwarf would do anything in his power to return the lost honor. To have honor is to keep to your word, be respectful of your elders and others, do not thirst for blood, be loyal to your kinsdwarves, honor the gods and paragons, and never turn down a challenge. These values of dwarven honor follow through in almost every aspect of dwarven culture and life.
Dwarves view on the Magic Arts: These brawny children of the stone detest magic to the highest degree. Dwarves have a great distrust for magic, being the one thing that they cannot explain or understand for themselves. Dwarves fear anything that they cannot physically control, therefore, magic in dwarvish society is unheard of. This is one category of knowledge that the dwarves are knowingly ignorant in and wish to keep it that way.
-=Dwarves' view on other Races=-
Humans: The relationships with the race of men, as a whole, have been shakey at best. With the constant switch of view with the ruling kings on the dwarves have made it very difficult to keep any lasting relationships. Even though the ruling kings haven't proven stable, there are still groups of humans that have kept up with their oaths.
The dwarves see the humans as lusting for power and easily corruptible. The trusting of men has always been a difficult task for dwarves as the lifespan of men is relatively short compared to a dwarven one. This makes it difficult to have a long standing relationship when it takes longer to earn a dwarf's trust than the amount of years the human has to live.
Elves: Commonly referred to as "twiggies" or "tree lovers," the elves love for the forest has become laughable to the dwarves. Even though the dwarves poke fun, the elves are perhaps the most reliable of the other races, even if they can just rely on them being neutral rather than war-like. Dwarves respect the large knowledge of the elves as well as their wise elders. Besides on an individual basis, not much political interaction has occurred between the two races. They both agree that solitude, as a race, is what they prefer.
Orcs: Known as the great, green scourge of the sands, the orcs have long been an enemy of the dwarves, as these two races are constantly warring. These two war-like races have fought against each other numerous times. Although, as they fought, they learned much about the opposing race. They learned that they both carry the same ideals of honor and respect, usually just in warefare. However, many a times the orcs have broken such honor with each other as well as with the dwarves. This makes the dwarves very untrusting of them and give them a grudge that runs very deep. The dwarves see these "greenskins" as a vicious, bloodthirsty, and dishonorable race.