Guide to Horizön: Dwarves

In the land of Horizön, there were many factions of dwarves, each following the rule of a different dwarven dynasty with very different cultures and lifestyles. These include the Lagar dwarves, jolly pilots of river-boats; the Jocus dwarves, the shepherds of the mountains; and the Mazun dwarves, the great craftsmen below the earth. Since the Mazun dwarves are the ones who made first contact with humanity, they are the ones the people of the Republic know the most about, and the ones I'll be discussing today.

If you were searching for a Mazun dwarf, you would look for a figure with a short and stocky build, a large and colorful hood, and a great beard of coarse hair. All Mazun dwarves wear hoods when traveling under the sun, for the sunlight causes great pain when taken in too quickly. Dwarves who have performed great feats of heroism or craftsmanship are given the title ada-mao, and wear a tassel in their hood to signify a position of respect and authority over the dwarves.

The Mazun dwarves are called children of fire and stone, with fireproof skin tough enough to withstand great bludgeoning and muscles so dense they can crack rocks with their bare hands. Their fire also manifests metaphorically in their great passions and short tempers; dwarves can fixate on a subject and spend their entire life on it, whether it's philosophy, goldsmithing, or boxing, which is the chief sport of the dwarves.

There are no female dwarves. When a dwarf desires a child, they carve a figure from stone - a masterful work that is always done alone and can take years or decades to complete - and immerse it in the River of Fire deep below the earth. The dwarf baby emerges from the river and reaches full physical development within ten years, but can live much longer. There are old dwarves who still remember the uprisings from Year of Bloodshed.

But most of all, the Republic knows the Mazun dwarves for their love of metals. They dig deep underground to claim metals for the crafting of wonderful things. The dwarves have a sixth sense called bonefeel, which allows them to appraise metals just by holding them. But nothing exemplifies their talents better than the Republic railroads, which reach under the Shield Mountains into Horizön itself.

After entering the Star Territory, the Mazun dwarves had a negative reception, with many humans dismissing their claims about dragons as some elaborate ruse. As an act of good will, the dwarven ada-mao negotiated the Mazun Service Act, wherein a quota of dwarven craftsmen would work on the railroads for the next five years in exchange for the hospitable treatment of the Mazun people. These craftsmen were the finest workers the humans had ever seen, able to do the a week's worth of human labor in a day. Their great works helped them curry favor and convince the humans to listen to them and to prepare against the dragons.

******

I almost missed my deadline with this one! Next week, I'll be taking a day off from from my worldbuilding articles to post a short story set in the world of Horizön. This will not involve any main characters from A Reckoning of Dragons, but it will involve a homestead mystery concerning the fate of a broken family on the dangerous frontier. The Phantom Woodsman will be posted next Wednesday. Let me know in the comments if there are any more details you'd like to hear about the dwarves.