Races

Kaal`Kor (Kaalian Dwarves) - by T.A. Saunders ©1997 v2.2

Racial Articles The Kaal`Kor and Their Knack for Building Things

Amongst the Kaalian Dwarves, the true measure of one's self is how well they do the thing they do. Whether it be warring, building or merry-making, the Kaal`Kor are instinctively driven to excel at whatever they put their minds to doing. To find a lazy Dwarf is to find an outcast in a Dwarvish society; it simply isn't tolerated and those who are deemed repeatedly lazy are driven from their homes, disowned by their clans and left to their fortunes in the dark of the Great Below. Because of this zeal for building, creating and engineering great things, Dwarves distinguish themselves amongst their kin not by triumphs in battle or by wealth, but by the quality of their craftsmanship.

Each Great Clan has a Master Craftsman in a particular field; this individual is selected from all the smaller clans that hold fealty to that particular Great Clan, every fifty years in a contest known as the Durga Damorn, or the Crafter's Tourney. This tournament of crafting covers the four most important crafts of Kaal`Kor society: Architecture, Blacksmithing, Engineering and Brewing. While many fine examples of Kaal`Korian craft are produced during these tournaments, the very best of the best are selected by the High Thane of the Great Clan holding the Durga Damorn. When these four craftsmen are selected, they become Clan Craftsmen and move on to compete against the other Great Clans' craftsmen till the best of all four become the Crafters of the High Thanes. These four individuals for the next fifty years are in charge of overseeing the various projects and works the High Thanes desire to be constructed or produced.

Since Clan Hammerspark has not had a significant presence in the Great Below for several thousand years, other than being honored for their choice to explore The Beyond, They hold a smaller version of the Durga Damorn at their keep in Zoda and welcome both Northlander and Voraath craftsmen to join in the festivities. While this is only a very recent tradition with the re-emergence of Clan Hammerspark in the distant north, it is this smaller Durga Damorn that has produced the wildly popular Hammerspark Lager, that won the Brewing portion of the tournament last year in 1321 AC. The Humans and Voraath that have participated enjoy doing so and find the Dwarves of Hammerspark fine and rowdy company to share the cold steppe and the frigid mountains with.

Dwarves without a particular craft they excel at usually try to find a vocation that at least makes them useful, such as a laborer or they volunteer for their Thane's army, while still others give themselves to Kaal and become priests or Holy Defenders. One thing you will not find, often is a Kaal`Korian male tending crops or watching children, or tailoring clothes. These are traditionally female roles and any male caught exploring one of these careers is often ridiculed and mocked for being feminine. Likewise, it is frowned upon that females take a sword and go to war, or labor with stone and metal. The one exception to this mindset seems to be those Dwarvish women that decide to become Holy Defenders. The Dames of the Flamebringer are just as respected as the Lords of the Flamebringer and have shed as much blood fighting the Undead of Sengaard. Generally speaking, even the male Dwarven gardener and the female Dwarven warrioress are given some slack, for at least contributing to the cause of kin and Thane.