Hi Frosty!
I really appreciate the constructive criticism!
I obviously can't go into the extensive details in my Anthology document since I started writing it a little more than a year ago and its about 200+ pages so I'll try to give a bit more context on the roll the Dwarves play since I wanted to take a sidestep of the modern versions of the typical Tolkien/D&D races.
Personal Background: I've been running D&D games multiple times a week from my own homebrew worlds for about 10 years now, my record was my sophomore year of college with running eleven 4-hour sessions and attending two sessions a week. Anytime I haven't been running games or rarely playing in them, to fill the quiet in my apartment, I am typically listening to DM podcasts, a diverse amount of gaming tables to see what worked and what didn't, and researching world building forums to help diversify my understanding of all the facets I can. That said, I have between 750-1,000 sessions run under my belt in only homebrew worlds, a couple thousand hours of listening/watching videos, and I'd say at least a few hundred hours of researching worldbuilding.
When I began researching about how to write a novel last year, I did a bunch of research into the genres I wanted to write, and I ended up deciding on a High Fantasy (Pre and Post) Apocalypse. The biggest hurdle with those genres was the fact that you have to be confident in worldbuilding, which I then said, "Oh, I've been doing that forever. That'll be the easy part." XD So my goal is to find that point where my worldbuilding reaches the negligible benefits compared to the amount of work I put in. I really enjoy Tolkien's works, but there is a point where you just have to accept that you can't answer every single question about why the baker in a town has a quarrel with the butcher next door because their grandmothers were sisters and they had a falling out due to... and so on. Its turtles all the way down, so you just have to give two degrees of separation when it comes to finding the line where worldbuilding syndrome begins. Though, a shallow world leaves nothing to the imagination of the players/readers so its important to not answer every question, but leave little threads everywhere and if you want to explore something, you know you already have a good base to start from! So I'm super excited to start refining my worldbuilding in another few months
As for the Dwarves and Elder Races: I'll try to keep this a succinct and not get carried away since I could talk for days about my worldbuilding XD
- What's up with the Elder Races: The world that I've created has a really in-depth look at how the different planes of existence work and permeate with each other (around 30 pages), but the short and sweet version is to envision the circulatory system:
The nucleus is the Seen World [everything that can be observed to the very edge of spacetime and is constantly expanding with the more we understand about the universe].
The nuclear membrane [Belief Field] separates the nucleus [Seen World] and the cytoplasm [Unseen World], but can dilate and constrict to allow information between the two depending on what is requested by the nucleus via proteins [the amount of belief in something determines the strength of its influence on the Seen World].
The cytoplasm protects the nucleus and other organelles while filling in the gaps that exist in the cell walls [each of the organelles is a different layer of the Unseen World, so this is where the Fae reside, where gods from all sorts of beliefs create their domains, devils and demons lurk to find weak points in the Belief Field to influence and possibly infiltrate the Seen World].
The cell wall [The Veil] separates the cell from other cells and can still allow information to pass from one cell to another, though with great difficultly [The Veil essentially separates each universe and its timeline into distinct things].
The plasma that the cells float in [The Divine Realm] allows good and bad proteins, bacteria, and viruses to permeate the cell walls if they allow it [This is how gods can become omnipotent and exist in multiple universes, and things like dragons can be an almost universal concept across most universes]
The plasma is contained within the veins and arteries [The Story], always flowing as long as the being they are in is still alive.
Lastly, the space outside the arteries and veins is the unknown for everything within the circulatory system [The Void].
The core element of my worldbuilding theory is the Belief Field separating everything known and believed to be real from the endless possibilities that can be dreamt up and have yet to be created. The determinizing factor of how porous the Belief Field is is determined by the belief from humans. Humans evolved as we understand them to have done in our world, but they evolved with the unique magical ability that is useless when alone but reality warping when en masse. They believe that they are not magical and can only possess magic by means of many years of extensive training [your stereotypical fantasy wizard], but their magic is that the more humans believe in something, the more it manifests into their reality. As such, when early humans began telling stories around the campfire about all-powerful beings that created the world, the gods soon manifested in the Unseen World and began influencing the Seen World as true deities. The same principle goes for the fantasy races; once someone told a story about a tiny winged humanoid that would whisk you away if you weren't careful when traveling and thus the story spread and eventually manifested Faeries, Sprites, and Pixies given the nature of the story and the belief of what their abilities were. Eventually, if enough humans believe in something, it is permanently engrained into the Seen World and becomes as real as you and I. Humans agree on a concept of space and Goblinoids that pop up out of nothing appear and begin filling the abandoned spaces of the world like water rushes to equalize its volume. Humans calculate the passage of time and the Elves begin to appear in the forests and making their way to human settlements, while the Elves regress in age and have lives similar to the exponential radioactive decay of mother isotopes into daughter isotopes. Humans come up with stories about giant winged lizards that ruled the skies only for dragons to come crawling from the edge of a mist. Humans see rocks in locations they weren't in previous years so they believe that there are creatures in the mountain making it grow stones and thus the Dwarves begin to grow within the hearts of the mountain ranges.
So for this world, they are not considered a part of the "Elder Races" as that wouldn't make sense. I'd say that humans would only be at the very start of creating large communities due to agriculture becoming more prevalent so your get places like your real world Mesopotamia, Egypt, Cyprus, and Göbekli Tepe where they were pre-pottery Neolithic sites when these fantasy races begin to appear within a two or three thousand year span, so they mature alongside humans though their cultural diffusion is going to be influenced by geography, hence why the Dwarves developed a distinct culture from the others given the negative impacts of the surface have on them.
What about the Dwarves?: As for the Dwarves, this is their very brief description about their origin, appearance, and culture to show the basics about what I have so far for them, though they do have different cultures as they expand to other mountain ranges where different materials are available, which later form the Council talked about in this description (thank you ChatGPT for summarizing my 4 pages of lore).
Origins and Adaptations of Dwarves:
The Dwarves, unique creatures of Lauria, originated from the confines of The Forbidden Crown, the grandest mountain. They did not emerge as offspring or divine creations but grew organically within its rocky embrace. These early Dwarves expanded, creating the monumental city of Ur’kaas’tir. However, an ascent to the surface proved fatal, revealing their inability to withstand surface air and light. Hence, Dwarves seen on the surface must be heavily adapted. Distinctive in appearance, Dwarves stand between 3 to 4 ½ feet, boasting muscular and dense frames. Large ears and noses enhance their acute senses, critical for subterranean life. Notably, their majestic beards are not just symbols of pride but survival mechanisms. A past plague saw only those with protective beards survive. Without exposure to the sun, all Dwarves are albinos, displaying colorless skin and pitch-black eyes. Their language lacks terminology for color, and when venturing to the surface, they don protective clothing made from spider silk and obsidian lenses to shield against radiation.
Dwarven Society and Cultural Practices:
Renowned craftsmen, Dwarves excel in crafting monochromatic masterpieces from a spectrum of grays. Apart from their knack for stonework and metalwork, they dominate the textile industry, producing luxurious spider silk. This fabric mastery derives from their extensive knowledge in spider breeding, using the creatures both for utility and companionship. The vast Dwarven Empire, spanning multiple mountain ranges, follows a unique hierarchical governance, with an emperor or empress at its helm, supported by the Rognok Council. While the Dwarves largely remain isolated, any interaction with surface dwellers demands a precise vocal protocol. Evolving in the dark has honed their vocal skills, producing a range of sounds that serve various purposes. In conversations, status is paramount. Dwarves use soft vocalizations to signify their societal rank, and respect mandates that higher-ranked individuals initiate any dialogue. Missteps in this protocol can lead to dire consequences, including exile or being ostracized.
I have so much info on all the various races that I would love to continue discussing if anyone has any other questions, because, again, being in a solitary echochamber is not great for worldbuilding and outside influence is great to have!
Again, thank you Frosty for your comment! I'll see what I can look into regarding some specifics you mentioned like the soot coating as I absolutely understand the concept but had never heard of it before! I felt that a bit more background of my worldbuilding so far might help dialogue on this post
*Edit*
Obviously, the Dwarves aren't the main focus of the story, but definitely important to the world and so understanding what I need to take into account like the tailings is something I didn't consider until now, but could have a lot of uses in general engineering with enough creativity!
Also! I'd love to read your work in the future since I also am a fan of Sci-Fi novels! Even a draft would be cool!