Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.dnd (More info?)
Hi All,
In the recent "Dwarven Defender" thread I mentioned writing more about
how dwarves treat weapons and armor in their culture, IMC. Here are some
musings on the topic.
[for the sake of simplicity, 'arms' means 'weapons and armor'. If I
want to speak about 'weapons' or 'armor' specificly, I'll say 'weapons'
or 'armor'. --kjd]
Most dwarven gods have portfolios involving at least one craft or aspect
of war; the more powerful and popular ones have portfolios associated
with both. While dwarves aren't particularly militant, they do have a
strong martial tradition.
The thought of putting gold or gems on arms intended for *use* strikes
most dwarves as rather wasteful. It's okay for ornamental or ceremonial
items... but many dwarves see those as wasteful altogether. Arms are
tools meant for hard use, after all; making them to be looked at seems
kind of silly.
This leads to some notable behavior among dwarves.
Temples and Halls
Dwarven (martial) temples and halls, as those of humans, are often
'decorated' with arms . However, unlike humans, dwarves present
proven arms here. Almost all arms present will show signs of hard,
hard use. They will be well-maintained and still usable. Armor will
have the dents fixed, weapons will have chips polished out, and so on.
*Of course* there will be no rust.
There are some exceptions here. Some arms will have been 'used up'
and unusable. For instance, the shield of one of my PCs has a place
of honor in his father's hall. He was wearing it when he got chewed
on by a dragon. He survived, the dragon didn't. It's more or less
bent into a cylinder, with a few tooth holes and tears in the steel.
'Repairing' this shield would start with building a new one.
This raises an interesting point. The 'concept' of a particular item
can outlive its components. "This was my father's axe, we've replaced
the handle nine times and the head twice".
Stories
Many dwarven arms have stories behind them. This is for a few
reasons. One is that dwarves like to know the history of their arms.
Another is that dwarves love heroic stories. A third is that dwarves
are, in an obscure way, modest about their achievements, preferring to
let them speak for themselves.
As a result, a dwarf is unlikely to brag about what battles he has
fought in and the enemies defeated. However, he will quite happily
tell you about the battles and enemies his axe has faced and what it
did to them. He won't say 'my axe', though, always 'this axe'.
Gifts
Arms are popular gifts among dwarves. As indicated above, dwarves
appreciate well-proven arms. A dwarf will accept a masterwork dwarven
axe straight from the forge graciously, but if you can give him a
masterwork dwarven axe that has seen action, and the story of its
proving, you'll get his interest.
A new weapon or piece of armor isn't exactly *tasteless*, but it's not
usually notable, either. Most dwarves will try to not give new arms
as a gift.
A father might want his son to go off to war in good kit. He won't
give it to his son, though, not directly. He may give (more likely
lend) money to his son so he can buy the arms -- from a specific
armorer (who *coincidentally* enough has *just* the right thing in
stock, an accident of fate, *really*). Thus, the arms are not a
gift, but bought by the dwarf for himself.
(Dwarves stand on self-sufficiency, and while arms aren't a tacky
gift, money certainly is. Jewelry (and to a lesser extent, gems)
generally isn't because craft is involved). Thus, the father will
typically lend the money to his son to ensure he's well-equipped, and
the son will repay the loan when practical.)
Presentations
Certain ceremonies among dwarves call for the presentation of arms.
These ceremonies are typically to recognize, reward, or grant honor;
granting new arms would almost always be inappropriate.
Granted arms are almost always proven. Sometimes these will be
personal arms of the presenter, or the arms of an ancestor or hero, or
even *those of the recipient*. Each of these gives a different
message.
Presenter's Arms
This is a personal gift of the presenter, indicating significant
favor of the presenter. Depending on the ceremony it might be as
simple as 'you have my favor', or could be as much as 'I expect you
to take my place when it is time'.
The latter case is often applicable for ceremonies of advancement.
For instance, the official arms of the head of a martial order are
used by head of the order in battle, and passed on to his successor
when he retires.
Hero's Arms
This indicates that the presenter believes the recipient closely
matches the original owner to some degree and can be expected to
follow in his bootprints. Since the previous owner was accepted as
a hero, it is believed the recipient is or will be a hero himself.
Personal Arms
This can actually be a greater honor than the other two. Because
the presenter declaims the story of the arms, this gives him a way
to (indirectly) describe the actions of the recipient -- thereby
recognizing those actions as heroic or great deeds.
Concerning Dwarven Defenders
This thread being the impetous for this article, here's how the above
applies to a new Dwarven Defender.
Setting aside how someone becomes a Dwarven Defender (any tests or
other prerequisites), the 'final part' of becoming a Dwarven Defender
is a public ceremony. Stripped to its essentials, the ceremony goes
much like:
The candidate enters a hall and walks past the witnesses. He
reaches the officiant and announces himself.
"I am Ulfgar Stonebreaker, Healer and Builder[1] of Naurond, son of
..." [this goes on for a while]
"I present myself to High Builder[2] to become a defender of the faith
and of our people."
The officiant 'considers', and replies
"Naurond accepts you as his defender and gifts you with these
things.
"This shield was unmoved by Gortag the Giant. The shield that stood
against the Horde of Alnarak. The shield that withstood the fiery
might of Extardranth the Red. May it continue to serve you as it
has, in defense of our people."
"This is the pick that brought down the walls of Nul Tranth. This
pick faced the Horde of Alnarak and ran red as it penetrated to its
heart. Continue to use it as you have, to destroy those who would
disrupt the peace of our people."
After this, a public demonstration of the new Dwarven Defender is
made. One (or more) senior Dwarven Defender comes forward[3] and
challenges the new Defender, with the goal of fighting past him.
Much noise and violence (and probably a few injuries on either side)
later, the challenger steps back and acknowledges the abilities of
the new Defender, and welcomes him to the order.
[1] two designations of priests of Naurond; Naurond is the patron of
masons, siege engineers, and healers -- craft, war, and healing,
IOW.
[2] a higher designation of a priest of Naurond, of course
[3] or another noted dwarven warrior, or two
There are variations by group and cirumstance. Almost always members
of the candidate's family and clan will be present. Also almost
always the available Dwarven Defenders of the group being joined will
be present. The officiant is usually head of the group of Defenders,
but may instead be the king, a high priest (as above), or otherwise
related to those being defended (rather than those doing the
defending).
The other witnesses are typically those being defended (for Naurond
various priests of the church, for the king the members of his court,
and so on). Others may be invited.
Another variation would be in the number of challengers faced. In
this case there would probably be a limit to how long each challenger
fights, and initial standing in the order could be influenced by how
many challengers the candidate faces successfully.
Keith
--
Keith Davies "Trying to sway him from his current kook-
keith.davies@kjdavies.org rant with facts is like trying to create
keith.davies@gmail.com a vacuum in a room by pushing the air
http://www.kjdavies.org/ out with your hands." -- Matt Frisch
Hi All,
In the recent "Dwarven Defender" thread I mentioned writing more about
how dwarves treat weapons and armor in their culture, IMC. Here are some
musings on the topic.
[for the sake of simplicity, 'arms' means 'weapons and armor'. If I
want to speak about 'weapons' or 'armor' specificly, I'll say 'weapons'
or 'armor'. --kjd]
Most dwarven gods have portfolios involving at least one craft or aspect
of war; the more powerful and popular ones have portfolios associated
with both. While dwarves aren't particularly militant, they do have a
strong martial tradition.
The thought of putting gold or gems on arms intended for *use* strikes
most dwarves as rather wasteful. It's okay for ornamental or ceremonial
items... but many dwarves see those as wasteful altogether. Arms are
tools meant for hard use, after all; making them to be looked at seems
kind of silly.
This leads to some notable behavior among dwarves.
Temples and Halls
Dwarven (martial) temples and halls, as those of humans, are often
'decorated' with arms . However, unlike humans, dwarves present
proven arms here. Almost all arms present will show signs of hard,
hard use. They will be well-maintained and still usable. Armor will
have the dents fixed, weapons will have chips polished out, and so on.
*Of course* there will be no rust.
There are some exceptions here. Some arms will have been 'used up'
and unusable. For instance, the shield of one of my PCs has a place
of honor in his father's hall. He was wearing it when he got chewed
on by a dragon. He survived, the dragon didn't. It's more or less
bent into a cylinder, with a few tooth holes and tears in the steel.
'Repairing' this shield would start with building a new one.
This raises an interesting point. The 'concept' of a particular item
can outlive its components. "This was my father's axe, we've replaced
the handle nine times and the head twice".
Stories
Many dwarven arms have stories behind them. This is for a few
reasons. One is that dwarves like to know the history of their arms.
Another is that dwarves love heroic stories. A third is that dwarves
are, in an obscure way, modest about their achievements, preferring to
let them speak for themselves.
As a result, a dwarf is unlikely to brag about what battles he has
fought in and the enemies defeated. However, he will quite happily
tell you about the battles and enemies his axe has faced and what it
did to them. He won't say 'my axe', though, always 'this axe'.
Gifts
Arms are popular gifts among dwarves. As indicated above, dwarves
appreciate well-proven arms. A dwarf will accept a masterwork dwarven
axe straight from the forge graciously, but if you can give him a
masterwork dwarven axe that has seen action, and the story of its
proving, you'll get his interest.
A new weapon or piece of armor isn't exactly *tasteless*, but it's not
usually notable, either. Most dwarves will try to not give new arms
as a gift.
A father might want his son to go off to war in good kit. He won't
give it to his son, though, not directly. He may give (more likely
lend) money to his son so he can buy the arms -- from a specific
armorer (who *coincidentally* enough has *just* the right thing in
stock, an accident of fate, *really*). Thus, the arms are not a
gift, but bought by the dwarf for himself.
(Dwarves stand on self-sufficiency, and while arms aren't a tacky
gift, money certainly is. Jewelry (and to a lesser extent, gems)
generally isn't because craft is involved). Thus, the father will
typically lend the money to his son to ensure he's well-equipped, and
the son will repay the loan when practical.)
Presentations
Certain ceremonies among dwarves call for the presentation of arms.
These ceremonies are typically to recognize, reward, or grant honor;
granting new arms would almost always be inappropriate.
Granted arms are almost always proven. Sometimes these will be
personal arms of the presenter, or the arms of an ancestor or hero, or
even *those of the recipient*. Each of these gives a different
message.
Presenter's Arms
This is a personal gift of the presenter, indicating significant
favor of the presenter. Depending on the ceremony it might be as
simple as 'you have my favor', or could be as much as 'I expect you
to take my place when it is time'.
The latter case is often applicable for ceremonies of advancement.
For instance, the official arms of the head of a martial order are
used by head of the order in battle, and passed on to his successor
when he retires.
Hero's Arms
This indicates that the presenter believes the recipient closely
matches the original owner to some degree and can be expected to
follow in his bootprints. Since the previous owner was accepted as
a hero, it is believed the recipient is or will be a hero himself.
Personal Arms
This can actually be a greater honor than the other two. Because
the presenter declaims the story of the arms, this gives him a way
to (indirectly) describe the actions of the recipient -- thereby
recognizing those actions as heroic or great deeds.
Concerning Dwarven Defenders
This thread being the impetous for this article, here's how the above
applies to a new Dwarven Defender.
Setting aside how someone becomes a Dwarven Defender (any tests or
other prerequisites), the 'final part' of becoming a Dwarven Defender
is a public ceremony. Stripped to its essentials, the ceremony goes
much like:
The candidate enters a hall and walks past the witnesses. He
reaches the officiant and announces himself.
"I am Ulfgar Stonebreaker, Healer and Builder[1] of Naurond, son of
..." [this goes on for a while]
"I present myself to High Builder[2] to become a defender of the faith
and of our people."
The officiant 'considers', and replies
"Naurond accepts you as his defender and gifts you with these
things.
"This shield was unmoved by Gortag the Giant. The shield that stood
against the Horde of Alnarak. The shield that withstood the fiery
might of Extardranth the Red. May it continue to serve you as it
has, in defense of our people."
"This is the pick that brought down the walls of Nul Tranth. This
pick faced the Horde of Alnarak and ran red as it penetrated to its
heart. Continue to use it as you have, to destroy those who would
disrupt the peace of our people."
After this, a public demonstration of the new Dwarven Defender is
made. One (or more) senior Dwarven Defender comes forward[3] and
challenges the new Defender, with the goal of fighting past him.
Much noise and violence (and probably a few injuries on either side)
later, the challenger steps back and acknowledges the abilities of
the new Defender, and welcomes him to the order.
[1] two designations of priests of Naurond; Naurond is the patron of
masons, siege engineers, and healers -- craft, war, and healing,
IOW.
[2] a higher designation of a priest of Naurond, of course
[3] or another noted dwarven warrior, or two
There are variations by group and cirumstance. Almost always members
of the candidate's family and clan will be present. Also almost
always the available Dwarven Defenders of the group being joined will
be present. The officiant is usually head of the group of Defenders,
but may instead be the king, a high priest (as above), or otherwise
related to those being defended (rather than those doing the
defending).
The other witnesses are typically those being defended (for Naurond
various priests of the church, for the king the members of his court,
and so on). Others may be invited.
Another variation would be in the number of challengers faced. In
this case there would probably be a limit to how long each challenger
fights, and initial standing in the order could be influenced by how
many challengers the candidate faces successfully.
Keith
--
Keith Davies "Trying to sway him from his current kook-
keith.davies@kjdavies.org rant with facts is like trying to create
keith.davies@gmail.com a vacuum in a room by pushing the air
http://www.kjdavies.org/ out with your hands." -- Matt Frisch
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