Dwarves

The dwarves, or sometimes the Stout Folk, are a race of [blah blah blah].

"Dwarf" is the name given to the race by humans. The dwarves refer to themselves as [something], meaning [something else].

Grooming
Dwarven culture traditionally considers the hair an integral part of the body, and that cutting it is almost an act of self-mutilation. As such, most dwarves do not cut their hair, nor facial hair. The management of hair is thus very important in dwarvish society, given that they have so much of it, and various rituals are associated with its grooming and adornment. One of the most obvious is the wearing of ornaments in the hair, typically to denote certain life events. For example, a dwarf receives a ring when he comes of age, which is traditionally the endpiece of a braid of his hair. This ring will remain in this position for as long as the dwarf lives, even as the hair grows past it. Its place in his hair will be carefully noted each time the braid is undone to wash, then replaced when done. Male dwarves will incorporate some ornaments into their beards, though only certain ornaments are traditionally placed in the beard, whereas most are placed in the hair. This obsession with cleaning, grooming and looking after one's hair means that dwarves are some of he cleanest people in Caledon. In fact, it was the dwarves who invented both soap and shampoo; prior to this, humans used oil and strigils to clean their skin and water to wash their hair.

Cuisine
The traditional foodstuffs of the dwarves are predominantly worm meat, fungi, lichens and algae, all of which are bland-tasting. As such, dwarven cuisine tends to favour strong flavours, spices and seasoning. Many of the local fungi that grow underground are used for seasoning, usually dried and ground, such as peppercap and miner's delight. Many of these spice mushrooms are also mildly toxic, especially to the unseasoned stomachs of surface dwellers. A select few mushrooms with psychoactive properties are also used as food additives. These ontanarr or 'dream spices' are highly prized, as they change the taste of a dish with every bite.

With the introduction of cattle during the mid Dark Age, the dwarves began making strong blue cheeses and fermented yoghurt, as well as using beef. Spices imported from the surface are an important component of many dishes, such as the standard inn fare of curried meat with mushrooms, steak and gravy or wormhearts stuffed with blue cheese. In general, dwarven cuisine is strong, meaty and not for the faint of heart.

A vibrant brewing culture is also at the centre of dwarven society. If a foodstuff can be fermented, chances are the dwarves have already done it and argued hotly over how good it was. Traditional dwarven drinks include dallak, a fortified wine made from spore pods of the miner's lightcap, milfin, a fermented cow milk drink, markan, a watery beer-like drink made from fermenting jona, a staple algae, and bornor, a sweet-tasting liqueur made from the golden honeyshelf fungus. Again, contact and trade with the surface peoples introduced many new foodstuffs that the dwarves tried fermenting, the most successful of which was beer. Beers and lagers are highly popular with the middle-class and nobles in dwarven society, especially those brewed on the surface, a fact which many surface dwellers find either confusing or amusing.

Society and politics
Dwarves live predominantly in large communities called holds or dwarfholds. Dwarfholds tend not to have a large presence on the surface, though many stretch for leagues underground. Each hold is home to at least five clans, which are large extended family groups. Each clan chooses a kadak, or clan elder, and the kadaks of each clan convene in a council which wields supreme power in the hold. The only exception to this rule is Sarrak Turūnd, which is ruled by a single dwarf who styles himself as a king in imitation of the human system.

Relations with other races
[trade a lot, are the only link the surface has with the dark elves]