Arctic Dwarf

Arctic dwarves are squat, tough and quirky, the only dwarves native to a vast polar ice sheet. Blocky, short-legged and pinch-faced, they look like ordinary dwarves who have been flattened, seldom taller than 3 feet and nearly as wide. They have bright blue eyes and apple-red cheeks. Their skin is naturally white with a bluish tinge, but they love lounging in the sun, so many are lobster red from scalp to sole, which causes them no harm or discomfort.

Their thick, blunt fingers and toes and broad flat feet let them stride over snow without breaking through. Their white hair curls and falls nearly to the waist, and males wear short beards with curling mustaches. Both sexes dress in simple polar bear fur tunics and always go barefoot.

Their language is close to that of the human tribes of the ice, and they also know the speech of selkies, frost giants, yeti and white dragons. Their gentle, high voices are made for singing.

Peaceful by nature, arctic dwarves adore fighting for sport, and a few friends may happily spend an afternoon pummeling each other senseless. They are fine hunters and fishers but shun war, fighting only to protect themselves or their families; risking your life for a principle or for treasure strikes them as supremely stupid.

They are tremendously strong: a pair can haul a fully grown polar bear between them, and one can hoist a grown human off the ground with ease. Their favorite weapon is the barbbow, a bulky bow firing heavy barbed arrows for 1d8 damage. They get +2 to hit with it, while anyone else suffers -2 because of its awkward shape. They sometimes use spears and battle axes. They wear no armor, but the heavy furs of hunters and scouts give AC 8.

Besides the usual dwarven abilities, they suffer no harm from cold weather and magical cold of any kind, from cold spells to the breath of a white dragon, cannot hurt them.

A few settlements sit in the icy northern mountains of the ice sheet, but most arctic dwarves live in small villages high in a frozen mountain range. A clan numbers around 100. Of the fit adults, roughly 80% fight at 1st level, 10% at 2nd-4th level, 5% fighters of 5th level or higher, and the remainder rangers and thieves of assorted levels. The oldest male leads, though every adult's opinion is welcome. They live in caves or simple snow-block huts.

Daily life centers on hunting, foraging and raising children, with singing, storytelling, boxing and wrestling filling their spare hours. Weapons of every sort fascinate them. An unfamiliar one, whether scimitar, trident or blowgun, can hold a group spellbound for hours as they turn it over and debate its merits, and some keep sizable collections of exotic arms.

Curious and friendly, arctic dwarves keep cordial if distant ties with other races. Frost giants are the exception, hated rivals in a long struggle over mountain territory. Favorite foods are fish, caribou and polar bear.