Haven't posted in a while. Desktop died so I couldn't do as much. Been working on a setting, though. Keep in mind that it is a work in progress and details are subject to change.
First, we meet the dwarves of Tovkhad.
Tovkhad is the largest of the dwarven kingdoms, in the mountains east of the human kingdom of Londram, serving as a bulwark between the civilized races and the orcs and goblins who have occupied what used to be the eastern provinces of the Empire.
The Tovkhar are highland dwarves, with a proud martial tradition. Though most of them are miners, herdsmen, or craftsmen, every able-bodied dwarf in Tovkhad is capable of holding his own in a fight with the tools that he has lying around, something that orcish raiding parties from the east have learned to be keenly aware of: a group of herdsmen armed with nothing but walking sticks can hold their own even against experienced warriors.
Tovkhad, though the largest and most important of the dwarven kingdoms, has always been in a dire situation. Though they cannot produce a sustainable amount of food on their own, the human and lowland dwarf kingdoms prop them up as a bulwark: a nation of formidable warriors who can keep the orcs and goblins at bay.
More Tovkhar support themselves as shepherds and goatherds than anything else. Tovkhad has little land suitable for crops, so farmers are rare. As dwarves cannot, contrary to popular belief, survive by eating rocks, this means that herdsmen graze their flocks all across the mountains. The typical dwarven herdsman tends to a flock that his family has been tending to for generations, with larger flocks being split into smaller groups. In most cases, he lives a semi-nomadic lifestyle, but some herder clans have settled down entirely. The tools of his trade typically include a walking stick with a small axe blade, which predator animals and raiders have learned is very effective for a non-battlefield weapon.
Dwarves of all kingdoms and holds have long been renowned for their skills as craftsmen and artisans, especially when working with stone and metal. This is where the typical way that dwarves are perceived by non-dwarves comes from, as the highland herdsmen typically do not trade with outsiders, while the lowland farmers and seagoing fishermen usually only trade with other dwarves. Tovkhar smiths produce some of the finest steel and artisans produce some of the finest jewelry, comparable only to the elven song-grown crystal, but as the famously spartan Tovkhar rarely have any resources to spend on luxury, spending the vast majority on defending against the eastern invaders. The dwarves of Tovkhad produce a small amount of ale, but it is generally considered to be of inferior quality to the ale produced by lowland dwarves. As Tovkhad was the first kingdom to make extensive use of black powder and they have been improving it ever sense, their black powder weapons are the best. They are extremely reliable and some of the newest can be reloaded quickly due to loading a self-contained cartridge instead of having to load the primer, the powder, and the projectile separately.
Like most dwarven kingdoms, society is broken down into clans, each headed by a chief. The most powerful chiefs hold the title of thane. However, unlike in most kingdoms, the king is a hereditary position, rather than one elected from among the thanes.
The military of Tovkhad is famous for its discipline and ability to quickly build fortifications. Each thane leads an army consisting of smaller units led by each clan chief. In addition to this, the Stone Guard, the royal guard of Tovkhad is easily the most renowned regiment in all of the dwarven kingdoms, with dwarves from every kingdom flocking to join its ranks, as every soldier in the Stone Guard can be awarded a stronghold for his service. Tovkhar armies typically fight in tight formations, steadily advancing and overwhelming the enemy through push of pike. Most Tovkhar soldiers carry pikes, while officers tend to carry swords proportioned to dwarven size: relatively short in the hands of a human, but not quite a dagger. All Tovkhar soldiers wear at least a helmet and a steel breastplate, with those who can afford it or are serving in shock units like the Stone Guard wearing more armor, up to a full suit of plate armor and a helmet that protects the full face. Those armored troops often do not carry pikes, instead using weapons that can more effectively take down armored apponents, such as the pole-axe. The typical ranged weapon used by an individual Tovkhar soldier is a crossbow, as the short limbs of a dwarf prevent him from making effective use of a bow, but firearms have become common in recent years and even in a pike company, an officer will likely carry a brace of pistols, while entire fusilier companies have been raised as well.
RPG tips:
Adventurers may come from Tovkhad for a variety of reasons. Life is hard in Tovkhad and though many dwarves choose to leave their homes in other dwarven kingdoms or in human kingdoms to join the Stone Guard, those who are not warriors and many who are warriors often seek to leave. When they leave, they might not be able to support themselves as they previously did and may have to risk their lives as adventurers. Furthermore, Tovkhar mercenaries are renowned across the western kingdoms.
For a non-military Tovkhar dwarf, the Rough and Ready trait works well in PF.
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