Biologically Plausible Non-Human Sapients

    For Fantasy Settings

    Dwarves

    Common factors for Dwarves in fantasy settings include:

    * Broad, flat teeth.
    * Stout, short, and broad-shouldered, with a resistance to blunt trauma.
    * Enthusiasm with regards to hard work, family history, and alcohol.
    * Trail food that is hard to chew, keeps for a long time, and is very filling.
        * Most of this trail food is described as some type of bread.
    * A tendency towards organization and group effort.
        * Increased aggressiveness when their king is dead or in danger.
    * Aggressive and combative when provoked.
        * Dwarves go to war to protect Dwarven lives, the lives of those Dwarves call friend or ally, and Dwarven possessions.
    * Dwarves live underground, and trade for much of what they have.
    * Dwarves are clannish, and very interested in family ties.

    Sets of common factors and conclusions:

    * Broad, flat teeth, and trail food that is some type of hard to chew, long-lasting bread. Dwarves are herbivores, or largely herbivorous.
        * Dwarves tend towards organized, group efforts, and are aggressive and combative when provoked. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that Dwarves are defensive and combative when provoked. Dwarves defend their own; other Dwarves, Dwarven friends and allies, and Dwarven possessions. Or in short, the Dwarven herd and range. Instincts don't control sapience, but they do inform it.
            * So what role does a Dwarven leader provide? Here we look to Dwarven herd instincts: The leader of a herd is the frontmost; the one leading the way. Dwarven leaders are known to fight in the forefront of battle, and Dwarves become more aggressive when their leader is slain. In addition, groups of attacking Dwarves are described as if they are metaphorically trampling their enemies underfoot.
                * In short, a Dwarven leader falling is an instinctual signal that something is challenging the life and safety of the herd, and that thing needs to be trampled into the dirt. Dwarven groups do not depend on the existence of a leader, but on the existence of "herd ties".
    * Dwarves are typically described as being capable of long, sustained effort; as not being very fast, but rarely slowing down. Combined with skin "like leather", strong bones, and thick muscle, Dwarves invented food that would provide constant energy over long periods of time. Dwarves like sustained hard work in part because it is much less of a strain for them.
        * However, Dwarves cannot sustain short bursts of intense activity the way humans do. Dwarves march into battle at a rolling pace that eats up ground because they can maintain it over long distances. Even a Dwarven charge is relatively slow (but seemingly unstoppable). Dwarven farmers bring in harvests by literally working the entire day.
    * Even if there are extensive underground tunnels, danger is significant, and collapses would happen with depressing frequency. Dwarves would not be encouraged to wander, or experiment overmuch. Any disaster would need sustained, organized, group efforts to resolve.
        * Dwarves, living underground in close proximity, and with little movement between cities, would need detailed family records to refrain from inbreeding.
            * Even with this effort, however, Dwarves of the same city and culture would, over time, grow to resemble each other.
                * With a staid, slowly-moving culture, and one encouraged to group effort, Dwarven culture would be more uniform. And more clearly delineated.
        * With dark-adapted eyes, sunlight would be irritating at best; with a thriving mining industry, Dwarves would generally prefer to trade for items that would normally be grown or produced on the surface.
        * Practically speaking, there'd be little difference between the mining industry and the housing industry, save (perhaps) the outcome.
        * Dwarven bread is probably often made with, or partly with, some type of fungus.
    * You've got a bunch of hard workers in close quarters with little entertainment, and the ability to not really feel a casual punch. Alcohol, and the attendant tendency towards "bar brawls", would be more accepted in Dwarven culture simply because there'd be fewer significant injuries.