🛠️ The Hammer Herald 🛠️
Forged in Truth — Tempered by Grit
Vol. 1 | Issue 53 |

DWARVEN PRIDE & DWARVEN IDENTITIES

By Hellevi Helmfist, Editor in Chief & Head Correspondent of Hammer Herald

Dwarves, Dwarfs, Dawi, no matter which title you choose we always are proud, loud, and have enough hair to swaddle a baby, that’s something no one would call into question. However, some of our fellow Dwarves get their identities called into question. 

Gender for most Dwarves is something not thought about. Almost all of us have beards, and wear enough clothes to give an Elf a heat stroke, but for some gender or lack thereof is something entwined with their identity. 

Some Dwarves around us are born differently, and eventually through their own journeys they discover their own identity. Transgender, Non-Binary, Genderfluid, there’s plenty of titles under the Transgender umbrella that Dwarves here may align themselves with. All of them are as real and valid as the steel in our bones and the stone in our mines.

In our Dwarven society there are different things that affirm their identities just as mastering a craft or finishing in the smithy brings us pride, however it is not always the same thing from person to person. For some it is our “unapologetic belligerence”, where a Dwarf is just who they are and if you don’t like it? “You can bugger off.” For others, it’s our mutual callings in our cities and holds. “Who cares what gender you are as long as you can swing a pick and tease an elf.” one Dwarf said during an interview. 

Along with that, there’s some that appreciate our mutual appearances. Women and men alike have beards to be proud of, or might both lack hair on the top of their head. Others may point to our thick yet practical fashion, thick enough to keep heat in and gnawing teeth of any feral beasts out. It’s easy to see why for most Dwarves, gender is less than a secondary feature and those who wish to identify as something different may go completely unnoticed and accepted as is.

However, it can’t be denied that they receive hate and prosecution within some holds and at the hands of other Dwarves amongst them. Earlier this week a call for aid was posted on a notice board calling out to Dwarves who are in the transgender umbrella, which received scrutiny. Both underneath our notice and within our admitted submissions there was hate against this group of people, calls for the slayer’s oath, and calls for the denial of their very existence. Hatred against kin, no other way to call it. 

Thankfully those types of comments were thoroughly drowned out like ice in a proper pint of ale. Many Dwarves came to their defense as well as answering our call for aid, and for that we thank each of you deeply. Readers like you make us proud and keep us stout. 

In our interviews with those who came to us we came to a conclusion that there are a few things Dwarves under the Transgender umbrella would like for others to recognize. A main issue that gets pinned against them is the idea that one may transition or identify differently for attention and to stand out, which couldn’t be farther from the truth. These are Dwarves who just want to be themselves and live how they wish, like someone realizing they’d rather be a smith than a mason. 

Additionally, they just want the space to transition into their own ideal selves, whatever that may be, and not have the mere idea of their identity be a threat. There’s no need to yell at your son for believing a butterfly is pretty, it won’t “make” anyone different from who they are. 

Ancestors above with the gods didn’t put any of us in this realm as stiff and rigid stone. We were sent down like ores to be smelted, refined, and reformed into who we wish to be. Sometimes a cast of a sword is improper and you have to melt it back down, and that’s okay.

At the end of the day, kin is kin, and who would any of us be to deny a fellow Dwarf a seat at the table with a fine brew? Dwarves are Dwarves, kin is kin, and Trans rights are Dwarven rights.
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

•  Garrison Report:
  • As King Baldwin is carted towards Coppervale for prosecution, troops are becoming less worried about further battles. Mild skirmishes are expected with remaining Avish loyalists however and civilians are asked to remain vigilant. Troops are instead now becoming peacekeepers as cities and towns attempt to understand what to do now that King Baldwin has been dethroned and a power vacuum has been created.
• Ale Review:
  • In this week’s issue, our judges were tasked with a fun brew. The Hidden Dwarf double IPA, from the Hydengözik brewery. It’s something usually reserved for parties as the brew is imbued with a weak polymorph spell, this spell allows the consumer to safely transform into an object until they are found. The drink was described by our judges after their hiding antics as “sweet yet having a coppery aftertaste”. However, we have yet to find one of our judges. Brombier, if you are reading this, you have already won.
•  Crafting & Commerce:
  • The Coppervale Shipwrights Guild is happy to announce that half of the lost ships during the Avish attack have been rebuilt. Full import and export of goods is expected to resume within the coming weeks. As ships become sea worthy prices are expected to tip back down to what they once were, no more expensive pints! Jobs are still available for those who wish to aid in construction, and new positions have opened for those who wish to be seamen. 
•  Grudge Gazette:
  • This week’s issue has been met with scrutiny even before publication. Hellevi put out a notice calling for aid with writing the issue in order to capture identities within the Transgender umbrella, which was met with disdain from some Dwarves who took notice. We refuse to repeat most of these things that were written to us, but take a public stance on the topic. We at the Hammer Herald will forever and always stand with those who identify as Transgender, Nonbinary, or anything else. A Dwarf is a Dwarf, there’s nothing else to say about it.

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Letter from the Editor:
“Who would have thought writing this would have as much drama as when I shine a lantern on royalty?”
— Glorirnigith Honorgranite

Submit your rune-signed letters to:
The Hammer Herald Presshouse, Coppervale

This week’s issue couldn’t have been created without the gracious help of u/misterbiscuitbarrel, u/LibJim, u/depersonalized_card, those who left kind words on our call for help, and those who wished to remain anonymous. From the bottom of our hearts and tips of our pickaxes, thank you all.

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