Glorantha: Dwarf SensesDwarf Senses by Sandy Petersen originally published in Different Worlds #24 This document is Copyright © 1998 by Sandy Petersen, and is used with permission. It may be freely linked to, and one copy may be printed for personal use, but any other reproduction by photographic, electronic, or other methods of retrieval, is prohibited. Dwarf Senses Among the common races of Glorantha, only trolls and dwarfs are easily capable of getting around in the dark. Elves and humans both call this ability of their ofttimes-enemies' "Darksense." This is an oversimplification. The darksense of trolls and that of dwarfs is different in almost every detail. The troll darksense is based on sonar, like that of a bat or whale, and is described extensively in Trollpak. Since dwarfs do not use sonar, how do they 'see' in the dark? Dwarfs are creatures of Earth, in a peculiarly grim and stern form. The sense most natural to, and innate in, the Earthly element is that of touch. It seems reasonable that the dwarfish darksense is somehow connected with the sense of touch, just as the troll darksense is connected with the sense of hearing. (Trolls are creatures of the night, and hearing is the sense most associated with Darkness.) Is there such a sense as a long-distance touch - one suitable for getting around in the dark? Even fighting in the dark? Yes, surprisingly. All fish have a sensory organ known as the Lateral Line. This structure consists of rows of membranous sensory pits, which run down the animal's sides and are also located on the head. (Those pockmarks sometimes visible on a shark's face are actually components of this sensory organ, not symptoms of disease.) The function of the lateral line is to sense water pressure and currents. An average fish is sensitive enough to these currents to evade enemies and remain schooled with others of its kind, even when blinded. It is hard for us to imagine what such a sense is like, but we can try. Picture yourself in a swimming pool, floating calmly underwater with your eyes closed. As people swim past you, waves of current brush past your body, telling you that someone has moved near to you. You can imagine that if you were sensitive enough, you could not only tell when someone nearby had moved, but you could sense someone far off, and tell the velocity and approximate size of any moving object within a certain radius from your body. This is exactly what a fish is capable of doing. A shark can feel an injured fish thrash (or a swimmer splash) from fifty yards away, in the murkiest water, just from the waves of pressure emanating from the creature. Pressure is not the only component of the sense of touch. 'Touch' is actually composed of five different senses that we normally lump together into a single category. A second sense useful at a distance is that of heat-sense. All of us are familiar with the waves of heat proceeding from a stove or fire. The ability to sense heat delicately and efficiently has also been exploited by an earthly animal - the snake. Both pit vipers and boas (including the famous boa constrictor) are able to sense heat radiation at a distance with extreme precision. Pit vipers have a pair of pits (hence the name) between their eyes and nostrils. Boas have a whole row of smaller pits along their lower jaws. A rattler, hunting its prey in the forest or desert night, can sense a difference in temperature as small as a half of a degree or less. To say the least, this makes it hard for a warm-blooded animal to hide from the snake in any sort of camouflage, since his body heat will lead the rattler unerringly to him no matter what he does. Now we have a possibility for the dwarfish darksense; a combination of highly-developed pressure- and heat-sensing abilities. Dwarfs don't seem to obviously possess sensory pits or lateral lines, but this is a minor cavil. Maybe such pits are hidden underneath their beards. Maybe their skin itself is capable of doing such sensing. Maybe their pits and lateral line-equivalents are under the skin where we cannot see them. A distinct possibility as far as heat-sensing is concerned is that the dwarfs' eyes are sensitive to heat, and serve as an equivalent to the rattlesnake's paired pits. The dwarf could not sense heat as a visual image of course (so-called infravision is impossibility), but he could both take in light with his eyes, and sense heat with their exteriors at the same time. Of course, such dual-purpose eyes would not be quite as good for normal sight, but dwarfs have never been claimed to be especially keen in vision. A dwarf can use this battery to senses to detect the presence and direction of a living thing via its heat. All living things (even cold-blooded ones) give off more heat than their surroundings, and warm-blooded ones give off vast amounts through their respiration. By feeling air currents as their enemies move, a dwarf can tell the velocity of a weapon swinging at him, and parry or dodge it. He can tell where his foe is and what their positions are, both friend and foe. A dwarf can parry and attack in the dark. If a foe quietly closes a door far down a hall from a band of guard dwarfs, the dwarfs will feel the difference in pressure, and immediately know something is wrong. If a door is opened, they will feel that, too. These senses are perfectly designed for underground living. Underground, the temperature remains constant and the air is calm and still all the time. Any heat source or moving object will stand out like a beacon, and call attention to itself against this background. A foe will broadcast his presence by every warm breath of air he takes, and by every motion he makes. A person could try to make himself hidden from even dwarfish darksense by remaining absolutely immobile, so as to keep from generating air currents. Remember that the dwarfs can even fell your character's breathing! So hold your breath when the dwarf guard passes by, don't make a move, and pray to whatever gods there be that he doesn't pick up your body heat. If you are downwind of the dwarf, then your body heat will take much longer to reach the dwarf, though he will still be able to sense pressure differences. This power and great ability becomes much less impressive out-of-doors. There, the dwarfs are at a disadvantage. Amid the continually changing currents and breezes of air, the dwarf's pressure sense is only good at very close range (varying with the irregularity of the wind, but usually only twenty feet or less). The varied background of temperature in the hostile outer world helps to confuse a dwarf's heat sense, except at very close range (three feet or so). Experienced dwarfs, wise in the ways of the surface world, are less dissociated by the confusion of the upper earth, but they are still much worse off than when they are in their static tunnels. Basically, the dwarf's senses are shorter-ranged than those of the troll, though they are more flexible. In the cloistered caverns and underground cities where dwarfs live and work, this shortened range makes little difference. In the outside world, a troll sees better in the dark, and can see further than a dwarf. In an underground cave or structure, dwarfs and trolls are approximately equal, though their senses are useful for different things. Even in the most chaotic, stormy night, a dwarf will sense things better than a human. In daylight, the human will sense much better than a dwarf, and at longer range than the notoriously nearsighted dwarf - of course, in the caves, there is no need for distance vision. A dwarf's darksense is good for things besides moving about, sensing intruders, and fighting in the dark. A dwarf smith can tell with his heat sense just how hot a bar of iron is that he is forging, and when it has cooled to the point that he must quench it. He can tell how hot a fire is, and whether he should stoke it up more. A dwarf medic can tell precisely how much of a fever an individual has, and how heavily he is breathing. A dwarf standing almost anywhere in a cavern complex can tell when a door is opened somewhere, or any other change in air pressure takes place. An obvious corollary to this is that a dwarf can always tell what altitude or depth he is at (within a range of a half-kilometer or so) simply by feeling the air pressure. In the dark, on the surface, dwarfs must usually close to be able to fight effectively. Their vaunted missile weapons of repeating crossbows and firearms are not as valuable simply because the dwarfs can't sense their foes that far away. Even in their caverns, the dwarfs can't be too far from their enemies - certainly no more than 50 meters or so for precise aiming and firing. On the surface during a normally breezy time, they would be able to accurately aim and fire at targets no further away than 10 meters or so. If there is light available, they can, of course, sight normally. In their caverns, the dwarfs can sense intruders from distances by their movement, and prepare ambushes for them, waiting stolidly for their signal to attack. Dwarfs are natural experts at remaining rock-still when needed. Summing up, just like the stereotype, dwarfs are good in the dark (though not quite as good as trolls in the open), great in their caverns, and incapable of truly long-distance combat actions. A properly-played dwarf assault is performed by having the dwarfs close to 10-20 meters, fire their crossbows and flintlocks to disorganize and slay their foes, then charge their enemy in a compact mass and hit them while they are still disrupted from the firing. This is the proven dwarf method of warfare, and has served them well against humans, trolls, elves, and other, more alien races. Dwarfs, with their ingrained conservatism, are unlikely to experiment or use untried tactics in war, and who can blame them? Their ancient techniques are still good and almost foolproof. The dwarf senses serve them well in battle, at work, and in leisure. They are ideally suited for dwarfish preferences and habits. The Gloranthan dwarf is truly a well-rounded individual by his own lights, and can bless his Maker for the senses he possesses, which complement his desires and abilities so well. See also: Non-Human Races: Dwarfs A Personal View of Dwarf Culture The Foreman's Words Why I Dislike Mostali Mostal-Dwarfs: Mythos, Heresies, and Lore Creating Jolanti [ New Here? | Greg Sez! | Main Page | Product Listing | Coming Events | Cool Links ]