Dwarven Religion
Religion is an important part of dwarven life. Services are mixtures of history lesson and religious rite, giving thanks to the deities which protect the dwarves and illustrating parables with historical facts and anecdotes. For dwarves, religion is yet another link to their past and the ancestors who carved the dwarven culture from the unyielding stones of the underlands.
The Miner
Pick Lord, Ore Seeker, Deep Wanderer, Keeper of Mysteries
Symbol: A silver pick on a square of black
Alignment: LN
Governs: Miners, hidden things, tunnels, the underlands, hard work, perseverance
Domains: Earth, Knowledge, Mining, Strength
Favoured Weapon: Heavy pick
First amongst equals, the Miner is the deity charged with overseeing those who tunnel through the earth in search of precious metals or gems. Legends say the Miner was the original dwarf and is responsible for all the caverns and passages of the underlands. The sacred dwarves believe the Miner was chasing down a vein of Godsteel and after discovering it ascended to become a deity and create the race of dwarves in his image.
The Miner is always presented as a powerfully built dwarf with a naked, scarred torso and scale breeches and boots to cover his legs and feet. He is never seen without a pick in hand and a bag of ore slung over one shoulder. He is often depicted with his beard tied into elaborate plaits, tucked through a thick belt with the end wrapped around the buckle to keep it from tangling while he is mining.
Though the Miner is best known as the patron of miners and others who toil beneath the surface of the world, a core part of his religion revolves around the discovery of secrets. In his time wandering through the underlands, burrowing through the earth in search of new metals and exotic gems, he discovered many secrets, great and small. His followers are expected to do the same, using their granted abilities to ferret out the many mysteries of the underlands to catalogue and understand them for the betterment of all dwarves.
Religious Observances
All dwarven miners pray to this deity before entering a mine shaft for their daily labour. Failure to offer obeisance to the Miner is considered a sure way to court misfortune, and all dwarves on a given shift pray together to ensure no one is slacking in his veneration of this important deity. Any miner who refuses to worship the Miner is certain to receive the cold shoulder from his co-workers and probably will not be allowed into the mine itself for fear of what his attitude may bring down on the heads of others.
In addition to these simple prayers, more elaborate ceremonies to the Miner are held at the opening of a new mine. These involve a lengthy ceremony to bless the stone and metals of the earth as well as a symbolic baptism of the mine’s leaders in sacred oils. It is traditional for the mine operators to host a feast near the site of the mine following the ceremony; few dwarves are willing to break this tradition for fear of angering the Miner or his priests.
The most important ceremony held in the Miner’s honour occurs during the winter solstice. The Feast of Metals is an elaborate affair to which all members of a dwarven community contribute, each according to his means. The wealthy provide plates of silver and gold and eating utensils of the finest steel in the land whilst those of more modest economic status provide food or services as they are able. The finest cooks in a community gather with the priests of the Miner’s temples to create a blessed feast of amazing proportions. Into each dish is stirred a minute amount of metallic flakes hammered into foil so thin it is nearly undetectable. These holy flakes are meant to bring luck and divine attention to the dwarves throughout the coming year, putting a bit of the Miner’s most beloved substances into his followers.
The feast consumes most of a day and night. By the end of the final meal and reading of the holy scripture, most of the dwarves gathered are pleasantly inebriated and ready to trundle off to bed with full bellies and calm souls.
Temples
The Miner’s places of worship are always constructed below ground with long, narrow chambers carved through the stone of the underlands to resemble mine shafts and tunnels. Though the rooms and tunnels of the temples are always undressed stone, numerous holy symbols of precious metals decorate the main auditorium. Priests of the Miner live within the temple in chambers only slightly more comfortable than the rest of the temple.
Priests of the Miner
Clerics of this deity are always drawn from the ranks of labourers, with miners being the natural choice. The Miner does not believe other dwarves have the strength of will or understanding of stone to truly appreciate his gifts.
In most dwarven communities, clerics of the Miner are consulted when there is any construction or tunnelling to be undertaken. As these clerics are typically trained in the Profession (mining) and Engineering skills, they are able to make suggestions based on their own understanding of the principles involved as well as the divine guidance provided to them by the Miner. These clerics tend to stay close to the communities in which they were born, but a select few priests of the Miner leave each year on pilgrimages to discover secrets and return them to the temple for study. These adventuring clerics seek out adventurers with the intent of joining their exploits and are rarely turned down— the services of a stalwart priest with an interest in exploring are treasures without measure to the typical adventurer.
The Smith
The Crafter, The Hammer, The Architect
Symbol: An iron hammer
Alignment: LN
Governs: Smiths, forges, weapons, armour, war
Domains: Earth, Protection, Smith, War
Favoured Weapon: Any hammer
Though ostensibly the equal of the Miner, the Smith is always shown in a more servile role, working to assist the Miner in his duties or turn the products of his labour into items useful to the dwarven people. A master at the forge, the Smith is weaker in battle and less prone to action. Where the Miner is an explorer and warrior, the Smith is more analytical and dutiful, carefully planning every move before committing to a course of action. As any good craftsman, the Smith follows the ‘measure twice, cut once’ rule when pursuing projects.
While his progress is not speedy, it is certainly direct and masterful in its execution.
The Smith is depicted as a heavy-set dwarf with a right arm which is visibly larger than his left. His trusty hammer is always in evidence, either in hand or shoved through a loop on his leather apron. His beard is almost always tucked into his apron or thrown back over one shoulder and he appears to have been recently working in the most detailed depictions.
By far the most popular deity of the Triumvirate, the Smith is representative of typical dwarven attitudes and daily life. He rewards those who plan well and act cautiously but often leads the rash and foolish into disasters of their own making.
Religious Observances
Before every major decision in a dwarf’s life, there are prayers to the Smith for guidance and wisdom. When preparing for major journeys or business undertakings, the Smith’s name is invoked over sacrifices of steel and other metals, which are burnt in a forge sanctified by the priests of the Smith (see ‘Temples’, below, for more information). These common rituals form the backbone of dwarven religion in most communities.
Priests of the Smith hold brief (15 to 30 minutes in most cases) public ceremonies several times a day, usually at mine shift changes or the end of the typical work day. Each dwarf attends as many services as he can fit into his work schedule; for most dwarves, the greatest gift a god can bestow is the ability to continue working throughout their long lives.
More elaborate festivals are held during the height of summer each year and serve as a meeting place for various dwarven communities and their craftsmen. These festivals are always held in large communities, to which members of the smaller villages are invited to attend. Goods and services are traded and sold between those present and anyone in search of good weapons or armour could do a lot worse than to find his way to one of these events. Priests of the Smith judge the quality of the many items produced for sale at the fair and the winner is purchased by the local temple for display throughout the year. For a dwarven smith, this is high praise indeed, and the competition for such an honour can be very fierce.
Temples
The priests of the Smith construct all the temples to their god and perform all planning and preparation for the project. As a result, these buildings are meticulously designed to last for centuries. Though any actual digging necessary is handled by the priests of the Miner or their servants, the Smith’s clerics oversee the entire process, supervising everything from the selection of tools used by labourers to the types and colours of paints selected for the ornamentation.
Unlike most dwarven structures, the Smith’s temples are freestanding and are never carved from the surrounding stone. Instead, these temples are built from metal and stone in the middle of large caverns or, if no such cavern exists near the community, inside a dwarf-made pocket constructed by the priests and their servants.
The temples are decorated inside with the finest armour, weapons and other items created by smiths. The altar itself is constructed from shields and breastplates joined together by iron chains and welded in place. Forges are often incorporated into the temple itself and the blessed furnaces therein give the priests a place to craft magical or holy items for the faithful.
Priests of the Smith
Recruited from amongst the most loyal and dutiful dwarves in a community, these priests are dedicated to their religion and their communities. Hard-working and meticulous in their attention to detail, the priests of the Smith are also bound by tradition and their need to work through many aspects of a problem before committing to a solution. While individuals may react quickly to a problem, the church as a whole is slow to respond to issues, preferring instead to watch as events unfold and determine the correct course of action. To the common dwarf this certainly seems prudent, but it often leads to situations in which the Temple of the Smith is seen as unresponsive or unfeeling towards the problems of a community.
The Hidden Mother
All-Mother, Lava Queen, Golden Empress, Mistress of Stone
Symbol: A red circle on a steel square
Alignment: LN
Governs: Motherhood, children, secrets, good fortune
Domains: Healing, Luck, Secrets, Trickery
Favoured Weapon: Dwarven urgrosh
The only female deity amongst the dwarven Triumvirate, the Hidden Mother represents the deep earth from which all dwarves originally sprang. In addition, she is representative of the luck required to see a child through to adulthood, the trickery of mothers protecting their young, and the secrets traditionally kept by the females of a dwarven clan. While she is regarded as a kind and loving goddess, she is also seen as a deity with agendas and plans of her own, most of which are too complex and convoluted for her mortal followers to understand.
The Hidden Mother is a goddess of dwarven life outside of work; she is their touchstone to their ancestors and their families and her priests do their best to foster the tight bonds of community so cherished by dwarves. From assisting with the birthing of children to the performance of marriages and other celebrated events, the priests of the Hidden Mother have their hands on the lives of most dwarves from the moment they enter the world until they are sent to their final rest.
Most dwarves prefer to ignore the ‘Hidden’ part of this goddess’ name or prefer to pass it off as a reference to her supposed location deep within the earth. In fact, the Hidden Goddess works in secret to protect the dwarven race, often employing assassins and rogues in unwitting roles to ensure her children do not suffer at the hands of other races. While the priests of the Hidden Mother make all the arrangements for such clandestine missions, they never speak of this aspect of their duties and will never admit the truth to outsiders.
Religious Observances
Most events of social importance, including births, funerals and weddings, are handled by the priests of the Hidden Mother. Expectant mothers pray to the god regularly and all children are instructed to commit their prayers to the Mother each night before lying down to rest. As dwarven males age, their veneration to the
Miner and Smith become more pronounced, but few dwarves ever relinquish their prayers to the Mother. Representing protection from the vagaries of fate and ill luck, the Hidden Mother provides blessings few can afford to pass up.
The most popular celebrations held in the Hidden Mother’s name occur when twins are born. Marked as a special event in any dwarven community, the delivery of a pair of healthy dwarves at once indicates a blessing from the Hidden Mother upon both children and the clan as a whole. These children are marked for greatness in their future and the whole clan comes together under the guidance of the Mother’s priests to hold a great feast and religious service in their honour.
Less elaborate services to the Mother are held once each month, and informal meetings between the priests and residents of the community occur each day. The Hidden Mother’s clerics prefer to work closely with the community, eschewing rituals and other dogmatic strictures in favour of a more hands-on approach.
Temples
Clerics of the Hidden Mother create their temples in natural caverns, especially those containing fresh springs or small streams. Within these caverns, the priests make their homes and hold services, transforming the natural beauty of each area with the icons of the Mother. These temples also contain birthing chambers, wedding cathedrals, and funerary chambers, all of which are used by the clerics to assist the members of their communities through the many trials and joys of life.
In times of trouble these temples are also used to house noncombatants, including the elderly and children. To increase security for such occasions, many of the temples construct traps and other secret defences for use against intruders. Perhaps the deadliest of these are the rogues who come to the defence of the temple in times of need, using stealth to bring down their enemies where brute force sometimes fails.
Priests of the Hidden Mother
Virtually all priests of the Hidden Mother are female, with almost three quarters of these being of childbearing age. The older priests remain very active in the church, offering advice and assistance to the younger clerics, who remain the public face of the church.
A small group of males are also priests of the Hidden Mother, serving as rogues and assassins for the church. Though this group is publicly disavowed, they work very closely with other clerics of the Hidden Mother and are used to eliminate individual threats to the dwarven race.
