Now, anyone can have dwarves in their world. Small, burly, and bearded, dwarves represent the hardworking and industrious people of the world. You can find them in smithies, mine shafts, refineries, and anything else mechanical or creative. Naturally good with axes and maces, as they need to be good at demolishing elven lands, they are innate warriors. However, they have their shortcomings. Any dwarf you can think of is most likely greedy, stubborn, bad tempered, or even all of the above!
Not all dwarves are restricted to these Tolkienist Views. Some dwarves are crucial officers on space faring battleships, gun-slinging cowdwarves, mech pilots, or industrious and expansionist city builders. In this article, we take a look at three types of dwarves: The Urist, the Spacer, and the Autark.
Up first, is the Urist. Now, Urist needs no introduction. A naturally born alcoholic that is often possessed by unknown forces to create mythical objects, Urists are the classic fantasy dwarf's big brother. Living in castles, hillocks, and underground fortresses, Urists are wide spread and adapt easily. Now, where they excel in engineering and civil engineering, they lack in farming and social skills. Urists also are Xenophobic, disliking any races but themselves, as well as having a total intolerance for Elves. They work in most fantasy environments, although excel in those in early TL3.
The Spacer, which is the second dwarf, is a strange one. Being the product of human asteroid miners staying on mining stations and extreme inbreeding, they are short and nimble creatures that mine faster than you can drink. They also have keen vision, especially in the dark asteroid environments that they mine in. Oddly, their genetic makeup has been diversified much since their original conception, as the companies that they work for spliced their DNA and clone them. Because of this, they are sterile. Despite the common misconception that they are hardy drinkers, Spacers are intolerant to alcohol and are known to have horrible hangovers. They are also natural pilots and are excellent with blaster pistols. These dwarves only work in Ultra-Tech Sci-Fi environments.
Finally, the Autark. The Autark is an odd dwarf. They didn't emerge until the late 1830's, where they aided the United States to subdue the Confederate States of America before the revolt. As well as that, they bought the lands which would have been Minnesota, and the Dakotas, however they let the natives that originally lived on those lands stay as equal rights citizens of the state, which was called the Autarky of the Lakes. As time passed on, they talked less and less with their neighbors. In 1862, they declared war on Canada, winning the war, as they had weapons that no other nation could fathom. They took bits of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario, settling both themselves and the original natives there. They also made the United Kingdom free Canada, making each state independent from each other. These independent states later formed the North American Federation. As the world progressed at a normal rate, by 1964 they had gone to Mars and back, as well as mastering cold fusion. As well as this, they payed dues to the native citizens, making them near-aristocrats, living in luxury and owning many companies. They fit best in a post 1960's world, however you can slot them in during any other period of history. They are often at odds with the North American Federation, who want their homeland back, as well as American Nationalists that wish to have their lands back.
As usual with my creations, let me know if you end up using any of these, as I took a lot of time to write these and I think they are rather cool. This does not mark my full return, just something I was sitting on for a while. If you have any questions or want further explanation to what each dwarf's inspiration is from, contact me on Discord. Otherwise, thank you for reading and have a great day!