Kathar

The Kathar, or Rock Dwarves, are the eldest race of dwarves upon Arol, and the term ‘Kathar’ can also be used to signify all dwarven people. Deep within the bones of the world they awoke, and remain there still, forging great works of skill and craft, and opposing ceaselessly the Varsidar, who betrayed both Elves and Dwarves, and unleashed the Primordial Wyrms.

Kathar are not available as a PC race on Winter’s Edge.

Personality
Stern and grim, even by dwarvish standards, Kathar live by an intricate code of honor that was handed down to them by Kivi in the beginnings of their race. Debts are always repaid, be they debts of honor or of money, and insults remembered with the patience of the mountains in which they make their homes. Consummate stoneworkers, Kathar are capable of producing works of great beauty from even unworked stone and ores. In battle, they are often compared to small juggernauts: Slow and relentless, swinging less often than some, but more surely, and striking with the force of an avalanche.

Physical Description
Kathar stand of similar height to other dwarves, ranging between 4’ and 4’6”, but massing far more than even their Nithar cousins. Female Kathar weigh between 120 twenty and 250 pounds, while males are approximately 30 pounds heavier.

Kathar coloring is predominantly in earth tones, with skin color ranging from a brownish grey to a dark, rich brown, with hair of similar hue. The eyes of the Kathar are bright and piercing as glittering gemstones in dark caverns, and are often each of different hue. Both sexes wear their hair long, and take great pride in the grooming and styling of their beards. Kathar often live to be well over 400 years old, and reach age of majority at 70.

Relations
Kathar dealings with the surface races are almost unheard of, though there is some measure of trade with some of the deeper delves of the Nithar. In these instances, however, the Kathar will be somewhat suspicious of their cousins, and moreso of any not of dwarven blood. They are not unfair in judgement, however, and once their trust and loyalty is earned, it takes a great deal to break that bond.

Within their own deep realms, the Kathar are constantly at war with the Varsidar, a war that sees Morkerskaltings allied with neither side, and generally trying to stay out of the way.

Alignment
Kathar are the strain of dwarves most strongly devoted to Kivi, and as sure are almost always Lawful Neutral. Some few individuals of Lawful Good alignment exist, however, and these are almost uniformly Called by the Mountain Lord to be his paladins.

Culture
Kathar society is primarily divided into Clans, or bloodlines, and within the Clans, slightly more stratified castes exist. Caste placement is not a matter of heredity, however, and as a young Kathar approaches their coming of age, they each undergo a battery of trials and tests, measuring aptitude and natural inclination. The results of these tests determine the caste the Kathar will occupy. Most Kathar welcome this orderly and systematic approach to determining their life’s path, however, rarely a Kathar might feel the tests unfair, and strike out on their own. Clan standing within the Kathar is often a matter of laying claim to legendary heroes and names of great renown.

Class Preferences
Kathar are most often fighters, as are most dwarves, though Clerics of Kivi are also common. Many of the traders of the Kathar are rogues, functioning as scouts and expeditionary leaders. Paladins, though rare, are not unknown, and many of the Kathar follow the calling of Kivi’s monastic orders, honing their bodies into the perfect tools for the Mountain Lord’s wrath.

Racial Traits
Kathar are identical to the Dwarves presented in Core Rulebook I, with the following changes:
 * Ability Modifiers: Strength +2, Dexterity -2, Constution +2, Charisma -2. Kathar are less personable than many races, and slower to react, but enduring as stone, and as strong as the mountains.
 * Natural Armor: +3. The hide of the Kathar is thick and strong, according them superior protection.
 * Darkvision 120'.
 * Stonecunning: Kathar have a +4 bonus to notice unusual features about stonework due to their long affinity for stone.
 * +1 racial bonus to attack rolls against aberrations. This replaces the dwarven bonus against orcs and humanoids.
 * Clerical Focus: Earth. All Kathar are attuned to the ways of Stone. As such, clerics of the Kathar regardless of deity always possess the Earth domain, and even Kathar paladins can tap into its power.
 * Automatic Languages: Undercommon, Dwarven, Terran.
 * Bonus Languages: Common, Varsidar, Giant, Gnome, Goblin, Halfling
 * Weapon Familiarity: Kathar may treat dwarven waraxes and dwarven urgroshes as martial weapons, rather than exotic weapons.
 * Favored Class: Fighter
 * Level Adjustment: ECL + 1