Virentian Dwarves of the Wrathful Mountains [T9A Inca]

[Karak Norn Clansman]

Lord-Triceratops over on Deviantart has drawn these concept images for his own historically based fantasy setting, which happens to sport Incan Dwarves much like these proposed ones for the Wrathful Mountains in T9A. The parallells are obvious. I would like to share them here, along with his thoughts, to inspire:



Scene from the Incan Dwarf marketplace

I read an article in the December issue of Archeology magazine (the magazine about old stuff with advertisements for old people, to make you feel even older) about the abandoned Incan city of Huánuco Pampa. Sad story. It used to be a thriving commercial hub for the empire before the Spanish arrived. The centerpiece was the market square/government plaza, where dignitaries from the provinces and regional tribes would gather and not only shop, but debate and spread the news about their corners of the world. Each representative would have his or her section of the plaza to demonstrate not only their local goods, but also any news and reports to the emperor if he was in town. Huánuco Pampa was more centrally located than the capital of Cusco. Plus the Incas kept sophisticated granaries and food silos there to distribute the year's harvest fresh. Every morning, according to Spanish missionaries and now archeological evidence, the market would open by an announcer blowing into a conch shell at dawn and ringing a bronze bell. The illustration I used for reference (by 16th century artist Felipe Guaman) seems to show the announcer wearing a feathered hat. I guess so he'd be more visible to the shoppers.

Then tragedy struck as the Spanish not only captured the last emperor Atahualpa, but also spread smallpox through the empire. The last signs of life in Huánuco Pampa are the crumbling silos, market square, and a half-finished temple that still stands. I know it's a depressing note for the season and I'm sorry, so I wanted to draw my dwarven people starting their day in the market. I also want to admit that I have no idea how to draw a conch. I could have looked it up online, but I was watching another Christmas show while I was drawing.

Giant Ground Sloth Puppet

I made this one before I made "Incan Dwarf Theater" because I wanted to understand how a life-size ground sloth puppet would work. Basically, it's a movable parade float operated by a puppeteer inside, She operates the arms with sticks, the head with a rope (the neck is just a hinge), and moves the whole thing with her feet. Then someone puts a massive wool cape over the whole thing to complete the effect.

Incan Dwarf Theater

This one banged around in my head ever since i read about the Incan ruins, and other sources. The first one, oddly enough, was the CGI movie Beowulf. Personally, I didn't like the movie, but one scene stuck out for me. Years after he killed Grendel, Beowulf and his buddies are chilling in Heorot Hall, and there were a pair of midget (is that the correct term? Sorry if it's not) reenactors showing Beowulf defeat a puppet Grendel. The Grendel puppet was made of an ox skull, while the actor for Beowulf was a ripped little dude with big pecs. Now skip ahead a decade or so, and I read about the theater/market square in Huanoco Pampa. Well if it's a theater then there have to be performances there, right? And what better way to bring in the crowds then a story about a hero fighting a monster? Or you could show nudity, but I don't want to do that. Anyway, in this world the dwarves live alongside Pleistocene animals like saber tooth tigers, glyptodonts, and giant ground sloths. Plenty of inspiration for monsters, especially for a society of short people.

Furthermore, BondageGoatZombie over on T9A forums had these thoughts to share:

I've been thinking a bit about this. A bit rules oriented.

If we say the QQuezcuz (using above mentioned name for the Inca dwarves) do not have fun powder, we should give them something else.

What would a society that lived under saurian threat for the longest time specialize in? Ie what are saurians good at that needs to be countered and what is their weakness?

Mastery of magic comes to mind thinking about cuatls. So the Quezcuz could be heavier anti magic that other DH.
What should Quezcuz magic look like on the other hand? Same as DH? The totem system of beasts would also fit. Or even the totem animal mechanic of saurian warriors?

As for runes, I think we should keep them, that's just so typically dwarven.


Another saurian strength would be armour. So we could give the Quezcuz more AP base.

I actually can't pinpoint any real weakness in SA as hoc, maybe someone else can enlighten me.


Seekers could be re-modelled as dinosaur killers, removing eg yer comin with me with lethal strike.

If we have the Quezcuz low tech in general, we could give them bows instead of crossbows, or throwing weapons of course. slings maybe as well?

However keeping stone throwers and ballistas would be nice, to have at least some war machines in a dwarf army. But if they can build ballistas they can surely build crossbows, can't they?

Poison would also be a fitting option for some of the army at least.

Generic plate armour would be replaced by scale armour, which is the same except for some additional effect. Hard target maybe? Or what else could scales do?


Can someone think of a themed buff wagon Inca style?

Do you have any thoughts and ideas of your own, mayhap? Please share, if so.