The Algorithm has taken Our enjoyment of Monster Garden and used it to pull us down further rabbit holes. We find this acceptable. The bit where they mend themselves using Kintsurugi is a nice touch.
I imagine that the death practices of a culture of beings whose remains are as permanent as stone would be quite interesting. Are the pieces disassembled and then stacked like human skeletons would be in an endlessly expansive catacomb? What becomes of the molten core when it no longer burns with life? When it cools and hardens, what remains? And what is done of it? Love the video, this view on dwarves and the questions it raises!
Maybe when the core solidifies it is sculpted into pieces of art in remembrance of the individual dwarf's life. Or perhaps dwarves would fashion weapons out of them, literally bringing their ancestors to battle with them.
Perhaps trolls are "evolutionary" cousins of dwarves, since they are said to turn to stone in the sun. Or maybe trolls are a symbiotic relationship between an organic creature and the inorganic stone bodied creature, that are active during different parts of the day.
I've actually talked with someone about the idea of trolls being wild solitary dwarves who didn't have a community to socialize with. Causing them to grow larger and be more aggressive. Really interesting stuff that I'd like to visit in the future!
I was drawn to this video like a moth by a flame because it sounded pretty close to the concept of the dwarves I made for my DnD world. In my case, they are born from sculptures made with love by other dwarves. They are most often short humanoïds carved from stone because the first sculptor was a gnome, but there are not really any restriction. It can be a gemstone giant, a porcelain stylised lady, a clay figure with abstract anatomy... it all depends of the creativity of the artist and the artistic movements of the time. This all origin and reproduction system makes dwarves really invested in art. Because they have no need for food or most other things that are nescessary for survival, dwarf settlements are essentially massive collaborative art projects, experimenting with architecture, frescos, stained glass, ringing with rythmic music and solemn poetry. The gods of my world being muses, inherently tied to the different arts, dwarves are tying their art to the cult of the gods like no other. It's very fun to see that, despite having similar core concepts, the execution actually ends up in quite different places. In your concept, I especially love the idea that stone keeps growing, allowing for the dwarves to express their identity with time.
Reminds me of the dwarves in Troika TTRPG! They're made of stone, clay, and wood and created, not born. They consider the building of another dwarf a work of great artistry. When a dwarf dies, or fails, while creating another dwarf a drock is born, an underclass ignored and maltreated by other dwarves. Love your design!
I really love the idea of their very bodies being infused with rock. For my own setting, I had dwarves be biological people, but after they are born in a pupal-like stage, they are placed within a stone casket/crib that they slowly absorb the stone as they mature, giving their bodies both the toughness of the stone, as well as the patterns, colours, and textures of that stone (this creates the unifying appearance of a dwarf clan/family, as they will all be raised in the same stone). I love your interpretation tons, the idea of them sculpting themselves as well as trends in the way they shape themselves creating a self-expressive as well as unified culture is so cool.
Awesome concept! Really like the versatility of the species for appearance and function across cultures. I can imagine some dwarves incorporating lichen/moss/flora as decorative pieces into themselves, carving out in-laid designs for them or even head pots haha
My dwarves are also made out of rock, it's very interesting to see your take on the idea. It's fun to play around with their shapes and how their different cultures may influence that. Glad to have found this channel, keep up the good work!
I also like to take less focused on aspects of myth and riff off of it. As a kid one of my books said that in Norse myth elves were made from flies and dwarves from maggots, both feeding on Ymir's corpse. I've seen the dwarf = maggot repeated, but I don't know if the elf = flies is found in other sources. But for one of my settings I decided that dwarves are larval elves. Kind of cicada like life cycle.
Man I was just talking to my friend about how I would want to make the golems for my world. Now I have to start building it. Also I really like your idea of carving themselves. Very cool.
wonderful interpretation of dwarves. im glad i keep finding new channels to follow. you have some wonderful videos with a very strong style and presentation, keep up the good work.
Hey, visually clockwork/statue looking Gorons! EDIT: Actually to add to that, this also feels a lot like a fantasy race that could have been dreamed up from the quest of "What if Alphonse from Full Metal Alchemist was born that way and represented an entire species of people?"
Monstergarden's popularity has created such a beautiful new space for other worldbuilding channels to thrive! I absolutely love this take on dwarves, I wonder if there are primordial species of Duendir that are more amorphous, almost like a bagworm with a hard shell and soft core?
Very cool concept, expecially clever the comparison between how humans model their hairs and how these dwarves model their bodies. This can be applied to many other fantasy creatures, like the ones fully covered in fur or scales. Crab people could do that to their claws to make them more sharp and deadly, sculpting a weapon out of it. You inspired me a lot, ty
New to Ormauk but this is great! Love your interpretation of dwarves, especially that they have to chisel away at their own stone bodies as they get older. You might be interested in the game Earthborne Rangers. Its got strong solarpunk vibes but is definitely going in a different direction setting-wise.
@@EncyclopediaOrmauk Absolutely no problem! Your worldbuilding is so interesting and weirdly comforting in vibes, its given me new ideas with my own worldbuilding project
i really like that idea of dwarves. for my rpg setting, i made my dwarves much more like statues given life, looking similar to classic dwarves but being created for a certain, differing purpose. i had dwarves reproduce fully asexually by having them carve a rune of life into the heart of a statue. the personality and skills of the new dwarf would depend on the form and materials used. the setting is on hiatus right now but this is some great inspiration to get back on it.
Maybe the molten core could cool down over their lifetime, explaining the slow-down of their growth. Maybe this could lead them to slow down as the core cools down and hardens, even leading to death when all the energy is expended, explaining their need for reproduction. Incorporating Kintsugi into the design is such a phenomenal concept!
@@EncyclopediaOrmauk I was think of something relating to this and possibly Elves (if you plan on adding them).. If the core cools down as they age, what if elderly Dwarves require flammable material (such as coal or firewood) to keep the core from extinguishing? So Dwarves go around chopping forests down for firewood to care for the elderly, but Elves also depend on trees for their own needs. Since they would both depend on the same resource for survival, they're naturally put at odds with each other (and fit with the common trope of elf vs dwarf conflict)
I did NOT expect to see my art when I clicked on this video lmao. I also found it randomly now some time after making a comment on your Reddit post. Any way, great job, I really like your ideas and art, keep it up! ❤
Glad ya like it so far! And yeah, I'm trying out a lighter (but not necessarily peaceful) world building perspective. More along the lines of Terry Pratchett
I absolutely love every bit of this. Starting with the name, granted maybe being a bit too Tolkien-y. I also have a race with non-sexual reproduction in my setting, and I think that is so cool! I'm not sure if you said it in the video, but how would Duendir "reshape" themselves? I figured that it would be very cool if the constantly grew rock upon rock, since the need to constantly carve the details back or let it grow to then "change style". This could give a very interesting hint about a possible myth among them: mountains themselves are long gone Duendirs who let the rock grow indefinitely, and because of this myth nowadays' Duendir go back to the mountain when their time comes, willingly merging themselves with it.
Hey, I love the design and concept! I do have some questions though. When you say they have an instinctive concern with improvement, what does "improvement" mean here? Do the Duendir have built-in ideas of the kinds of things theyre striving for? Or are their ideas of what to improve societally constructed? Like, if theyre a species who instinctively mine and harvest then wouldn't they be naturally at odds with the spirit of nature? Not that that's a bad thing at all, and it would make sense for them to believe they come from powerful long-lost ancient civilizations in this case. Perhaps if the subjects of their improvement aren't set in stone, you might see groups of Duendir who operate entirely differently. Perhaps they dont use gold, but something different like mud/clay, or perhaps they might entirely plate their rocky exteriors with metal armour? Maybe an old grove somewhere is filled with huge, slow moving Duendir whose flames flicker slow but steady, and whose bodies are held together with wet moss, tangled roots and insect colonies. Also, in highly-integrated human/Duendir societies that might be less liberal gender-wise, you might see the Duendir positioned less as a separate species and more as a third "gender" category, with its own expectations. Otherwise, you may even see Duendir in less integrated societies be pressured into taking the form of "male" or "female". That all of course depends on the importance of gender roles in a place like this. Finally, are there any stipulations on what Duendir can be made of? Do the Duendir over long time periods tend to take on the properties of the areas theyre in? And if so, could one slowly introduce a higher gold/rock ratio until one had a Duendir child made mostly of gold? Or are they grown from some more standard "Duendir stone"? Anyways thats just some ideas, I'm loving the project so far! Of course I understand some of these things are a bit in the weeds, I'm just fascinated by fantasy species that are in a way fundamentally different to humans. Excited for more!
I had this idea years ago. Dwarves would be the creation of a singular god, and this god would have crafted them in a certain number. Being creations of his imagination, he made each of them unique, in some significant number. At times, a dwarf would come up with a new idea, present it to the god, and he would breathe life into it, increasing the number. Then, due to plot reasons of the setting, the god was killed. From then on no more dwarves could be made. They (and many other folk) made a grand exodus, and went to distant lands, eventually spreading out. When the time came that one had an idea for a new dwarf, they built it as they had before. But there was no god to breathe life into them. Then they realized that there was breath, but it was in them. And they breathed their life into the new dwarf, and died. So, any dwarf that wishes to give life to a new generation must give up their own. The number never grows, and every dwarf that is felled is a loss not only of their ages of knowledge and craft, but also the potential for something new. I came to this idea after reading about the trope of a dwindling species, and I was inspired by Tolkien's Aule, and his creation of the dwarves out of a sense of delight. I also wanted to evoke the old Norse idea that each dwarf was somehow a singular creature with unique characteristics, and less like a whole wide race, even if they still were of a people. Having them be crafted, and crafters seemed to suite that. They are a strong, and strange, and clever folk, but they are sorrowful and often lonely. For each one of them is a reminder of one they have lost, and too many together could mean they lose too many of their people should something ill occur. Yet, they are endlessly delighted by new creations, and like all artists feel a deep need for their art to exist and take on a life of its own, even if the only way for that to be possible is that they must never see it happen.
@@EncyclopediaOrmauk Likewise I find yours very intriguing, I really like the conceit of them forging the next generation inside themselves, and repairing the cracks with gold. It'd be like a badge of honour for parents. I started a novel in that setting, but I've since moved on to other works. I've always wanted to go ack to it though. Thanks for the encouragement.
i love them!! i think the detail about tolkien's dwarves that always interested me the most was the idea that their minds are too focused on their work to be influenced to any great effect by the rings of power. and i can totally see that fitting in to your portrayal of them here one question tho. do they eat or drink anything? i'm thinking maybe they just pop pebbles and small rocks into their core to melt and become part of their form.
I can totally see them being able to eat everything a human can and much more. I like to think that they are still able to share food culture with other species, but would prefer something more on the burnt end of things haha
So the image is actually just concept art by FaceZero. I think when I was writing the script I mixed up the elf video by @Kotuu_ with @Tree.lancer's organic magic armor video! Sorry bout that! I think I just absorbed way too many videos in one go and it all got souped up in my braincase 😅
I imagine that they have parts of themselves that can be removed easily, but have a "base version" of themselves that they carve themselves down to. If you look at them as if they were planets, the base version is the crust, then they would get increasingly hot from upper mantle, lower mantle, upper core to lower core. They get bright hot the deeper you go and I could see them carving until the end of "upper mantle" and have no long-lasting side effects It really depends if you think about it. It's just up to the duendir how they want to shape themselves.
History in a story is funny to me, I find it amusing that ppl can pour hours of their time making a fictional history book in a story, I do think it can be done well, but imo it has to be kept short so we know the plot and avoid worldvuildingception
So, the "no female dwarves" is a throwaway joke line in the movies. However, from what I remember, the dwarves were formed from earth by the... Smith god person? I don't remember the name.
My dwarves are also grown from stone, but they can't reproduce by themselves. They are grown from heartstone, which was the blood of the mountains when the mountains still walked the earth. All the mountains are now dead, which means there is a finite amount of heartstone in the world, and this is why there are so many abandoned dwarf holds, and why dwarves are always seeking new ranges to colonise. When the mountains were alive, dwarves bled from their injuries and repaired them -- now they are without purpose. It's basically BIONICLE. XD
Makes me curious on how they would sense the world. Would they be mostly like Toph and sense the world through vibrations or would it be something else? If they can live in water then I could imagine they could sense things through something like echolocation. If that's the case then I could also see the land ones doing the same and groups of them will do something like deep throat singing while working and crafting as not just a work song but as a way to sense each other and their work.
Pottery-Dwarves? Sounds like my Cavanaërs from Edegard, which are starring in the game "Puqq". Your take on the armor is not uncommon to me as my creations eat minerals and if they ate the right ones, their bodies can built up armor and enhancing their height. Often, Cavanaër seek moisture to keep their bodies smooth and moveable. Thanks for your take on this. Stay curious!
Honestly, it just felt intuitive to have crafters be able to fix themselves artistically. I wanted to layer that idea of "craftsmanship" from top to bottom if that makes sense
Hey, I really love that concept art style, how do you get into it and what programs do you use? I saw you use some grids at the beginning which I found cool. I want to start drawing like this.
Hey! I use Krita for my art program and it has a built-in perspective tool you can use to set up perspectives. I would definitely learn practice on paper first since it's a bit finicky to use For the art style, I just use Studio Ghibli background paintings as reference
I'm worldbuilding dwarves right now, completely different direction from you though, although I like your concept. I'm a language nerd, so I took on the incredibly arduous task of making an agglutinative conlang that's supposed to be sung/chanted. I always go off the rails and get lost in detailed side quests and so never finish anything. how do you do it? finish something despite it being so complex This artstyle is magical btw
Yo conlang boggles my mind man, props to you and other people who dig that deep. I'm mainly a design guy and for every piece of illustration I make, there are 5 other ideas that are being put into the never-ending queue. Honestly, it's not about completing something or not, just enjoy your process man. Isn't that why we do it anyways?
Nope! The process may look messed up to non-duendirs, but baby duendirs bursting out of the parent chest-burster style is totally normal. Parent duendirs are easy to spot because of the gold inlaid cracks around their crux as this is how duendir wounds are "fixed".
I love this! These are a better take on the dwarves in my world! (warning: lore dump) My world -- a fantasyland that takes place tens of millenia after a nuclear apocalypse that made the planet bleed ichor, a magical substance that creates life and is essentially the source of all magic -- has golem-like dwarves much like yours. My dwarves were originally created by a group of people called the Sculptors, a race of people evolved from the Nanra odal Damari. The Damari were doomsday cult that went subterranean before their predicted nuclear apocalypse, evolving over thousands of years into something akin to traditional dwarves, short troglodytic men adapted to living underground. While the elves (who adapted to survive under the megajungles whose trees grew tall enough to reach sunlight above the perpetual layer of smoke in the sky) learned to form simple golems by doing something called Shackling on natural elementals, the Damari created their own golems from scratch, using runes carved upon the golems' skin as a sort of computer code to give the golems instructions. The big breakthrough was when they created golems that were skilled enough in Sculpting to sculpt new golems themselves -- intelligent self-replicating automata. One such self-replicating golem, now remembered through a few vague myths as a sort of Adam or Zeus figure, escaped and created its own golems. They replicated like viruses, eventually growing in strength and number to war against their creators in what their histories call the Liberation, in which they stole all the Damari golems and re-Sculpted them to make them sapient. After thousands of years, the creators of these golems have long been forgotten. Ancient histories that mention mountain men or troglodyte men are now assumed to be these same golems, called the dwarves or Damari. The creators of the golems were so replaced that even history has confused them with their creations.
Honestly, with how big Ormauk is, I can see certain dialects pronouncing it that way. As for why I personally pronounce it as such, I based the term duendir from the Spanish/Tagalog word for gnomes/dwarves: "duende", which is pronounced 'doo-wen-deh'.
@@EncyclopediaOrmauk ooh. I personally appreciate the Filipino influence there. I did have that dialect thought right after I posted my comment and am glad you agree. This is the first video of yours I have seen and am eager to explore more. It will have to wait however because you inspired me to just dive into a world building session of my own. And for that you have further thanks.
Thank you and Woahhh.. I see all the Smoke blown up my Ass by these influencers.. I am a fan of those who tell the good and the downside of each fragrance ! 🎉 The details , ingredients and how it leaves a sent trail. But most of all it's weather or not they continue to mention each fragrance from week to week or again throughout the year. Those I buy on the Dot !! ❤
The Algorithm has taken Our enjoyment of Monster Garden and used it to pull us down further rabbit holes. We find this acceptable. The bit where they mend themselves using Kintsurugi is a nice touch.
Hell yeeaah 🤘
Honestly having Dwarves be Golem like creatures is a simple yet genius idea. Plus it would explain there obsession with mountains
Some other settings have already done it before for sure, but yeah I agree. Can't believe I hadn't thought about it before haha
Isn't that what the original dwarves in the Warcraft universe were before the curse of flesh?
@@EncyclopediaOrmauk "to kill 6 billion demons" had the exact same idea but with dead gods. they were made into pubs and houses lol
I imagine that the death practices of a culture of beings whose remains are as permanent as stone would be quite interesting. Are the pieces disassembled and then stacked like human skeletons would be in an endlessly expansive catacomb? What becomes of the molten core when it no longer burns with life? When it cools and hardens, what remains? And what is done of it? Love the video, this view on dwarves and the questions it raises!
Maybe when the core solidifies it is sculpted into pieces of art in remembrance of the individual dwarf's life. Or perhaps dwarves would fashion weapons out of them, literally bringing their ancestors to battle with them.
Perhaps trolls are "evolutionary" cousins of dwarves, since they are said to turn to stone in the sun. Or maybe trolls are a symbiotic relationship between an organic creature and the inorganic stone bodied creature, that are active during different parts of the day.
I've actually talked with someone about the idea of trolls being wild solitary dwarves who didn't have a community to socialize with. Causing them to grow larger and be more aggressive. Really interesting stuff that I'd like to visit in the future!
I was drawn to this video like a moth by a flame because it sounded pretty close to the concept of the dwarves I made for my DnD world.
In my case, they are born from sculptures made with love by other dwarves. They are most often short humanoïds carved from stone because the first sculptor was a gnome, but there are not really any restriction. It can be a gemstone giant, a porcelain stylised lady, a clay figure with abstract anatomy... it all depends of the creativity of the artist and the artistic movements of the time.
This all origin and reproduction system makes dwarves really invested in art. Because they have no need for food or most other things that are nescessary for survival, dwarf settlements are essentially massive collaborative art projects, experimenting with architecture, frescos, stained glass, ringing with rythmic music and solemn poetry. The gods of my world being muses, inherently tied to the different arts, dwarves are tying their art to the cult of the gods like no other.
It's very fun to see that, despite having similar core concepts, the execution actually ends up in quite different places.
In your concept, I especially love the idea that stone keeps growing, allowing for the dwarves to express their identity with time.
Reminds me of the dwarves in Troika TTRPG!
They're made of stone, clay, and wood and created, not born. They consider the building of another dwarf a work of great artistry.
When a dwarf dies, or fails, while creating another dwarf a drock is born, an underclass ignored and maltreated by other dwarves.
Love your design!
I like how different this feels but still feels like dwarves
I really love the idea of their very bodies being infused with rock. For my own setting, I had dwarves be biological people, but after they are born in a pupal-like stage, they are placed within a stone casket/crib that they slowly absorb the stone as they mature, giving their bodies both the toughness of the stone, as well as the patterns, colours, and textures of that stone (this creates the unifying appearance of a dwarf clan/family, as they will all be raised in the same stone). I love your interpretation tons, the idea of them sculpting themselves as well as trends in the way they shape themselves creating a self-expressive as well as unified culture is so cool.
I love the idea of "sculpting yourself in your image" because that's a damn paradox if I ever heard one
actually, it's not paradox at all, it's truism. you will always look like yourself.
@@Shotesu that's a great point, you're right
Awesome concept! Really like the versatility of the species for appearance and function across cultures.
I can imagine some dwarves incorporating lichen/moss/flora as decorative pieces into themselves, carving out in-laid designs for them or even head pots haha
Yesss exactly! I'm keeping the baseline idea open so they can take whatever form would makes sense for them to be in later on!
My dwarves are also made out of rock, it's very interesting to see your take on the idea. It's fun to play around with their shapes and how their different cultures may influence that.
Glad to have found this channel, keep up the good work!
I also like to take less focused on aspects of myth and riff off of it. As a kid one of my books said that in Norse myth elves were made from flies and dwarves from maggots, both feeding on Ymir's corpse. I've seen the dwarf = maggot repeated, but I don't know if the elf = flies is found in other sources. But for one of my settings I decided that dwarves are larval elves. Kind of cicada like life cycle.
i am here for dwarven anarcho syndicalists
We are all here for dwarven anarcho syndicalists babyyy
Man I was just talking to my friend about how I would want to make the golems for my world. Now I have to start building it.
Also I really like your idea of carving themselves. Very cool.
Thank you! And good luck on your worldbuilding~
wonderful interpretation of dwarves. im glad i keep finding new channels to follow. you have some wonderful videos with a very strong style and presentation, keep up the good work.
Thank you! This means a lot coming from you 🤘
Hey, visually clockwork/statue looking Gorons!
EDIT: Actually to add to that, this also feels a lot like a fantasy race that could have been dreamed up from the quest of "What if Alphonse from Full Metal Alchemist was born that way and represented an entire species of people?"
Haha, i imagined them sounding like Alphonse when talking
Man I absolutely adore your style it has this warming charm to it and your use of colour and light is wonderful.
Awesome Concept and Concept Art!
Monstergarden's popularity has created such a beautiful new space for other worldbuilding channels to thrive! I absolutely love this take on dwarves, I wonder if there are primordial species of Duendir that are more amorphous, almost like a bagworm with a hard shell and soft core?
This is so cool! Love it! Fixing themselves with God was such a nice idea. The line of them being the only people able to dig deep enough was awesome.
Thank you! I'm sure my friend appreciates your kind words regarding his writing!
I really love this kind of dwarf! Very excited to see more of this and to discover more lore about the dwarves and the world itself
Glad to have you on board!
Very cool concept, expecially clever the comparison between how humans model their hairs and how these dwarves model their bodies. This can be applied to many other fantasy creatures, like the ones fully covered in fur or scales. Crab people could do that to their claws to make them more sharp and deadly, sculpting a weapon out of it. You inspired me a lot, ty
I always loved the concept of golem-like dwarves, because of their master-craftsmen trope and relation to stone. Love your take and visuals!
Amazing, thank you
New to Ormauk but this is great! Love your interpretation of dwarves, especially that they have to chisel away at their own stone bodies as they get older.
You might be interested in the game Earthborne Rangers. Its got strong solarpunk vibes but is definitely going in a different direction setting-wise.
RUclips recommended another awesome worlbuilding channel, let's go!!!
RUclips sent over another cool person, lesgooo!!!
Def got this recommended because of monster garden
Love their stuff. Their art motivates me to keep goin
@@EncyclopediaOrmauk absolutely same
I like the marbled players idea, there is a lot you could do with that for visual flavor.
Fuck yesss new Lupanet video! Absolutely love this
Thank you 🥹🫶
@@EncyclopediaOrmauk Absolutely no problem! Your worldbuilding is so interesting and weirdly comforting in vibes, its given me new ideas with my own worldbuilding project
very similar concept to the dead gods of "to kill 6 billion demons", great read, very "lesbianese"
Wow I’ve just stumbled on a gem, can’t wait to see where it goes :)
Aw, thanks! \(￣︶￣*\))
This just sounds like Dwarves with extra steps... jk, its an awesome concept forsure. Definitely worth exploring brotha.
Every mythology is with extra steps haha
@EncyclopediaOrmauk I can not argue with that
i really like that idea of dwarves. for my rpg setting, i made my dwarves much more like statues given life, looking similar to classic dwarves but being created for a certain, differing purpose.
i had dwarves reproduce fully asexually by having them carve a rune of life into the heart of a statue. the personality and skills of the new dwarf would depend on the form and materials used. the setting is on hiatus right now but this is some great inspiration to get back on it.
Maybe the molten core could cool down over their lifetime, explaining the slow-down of their growth. Maybe this could lead them to slow down as the core cools down and hardens, even leading to death when all the energy is expended, explaining their need for reproduction. Incorporating Kintsugi into the design is such a phenomenal concept!
That's pretty much how we think about duendir aging as of now!
@@EncyclopediaOrmauk I was think of something relating to this and possibly Elves (if you plan on adding them).. If the core cools down as they age, what if elderly Dwarves require flammable material (such as coal or firewood) to keep the core from extinguishing? So Dwarves go around chopping forests down for firewood to care for the elderly, but Elves also depend on trees for their own needs. Since they would both depend on the same resource for survival, they're naturally put at odds with each other (and fit with the common trope of elf vs dwarf conflict)
such a creative idea! fantastic series
love golems. love love love. so cool.
I did NOT expect to see my art when I clicked on this video lmao. I also found it randomly now some time after making a comment on your Reddit post. Any way, great job, I really like your ideas and art, keep it up! ❤
You've got awesome artwork my man! Really inspiring stuff 🤘
Since a saw dwarfs being literally rocks in Troika, I loved the idea.
Feel like this video was made for me lol
i like the lighter vibe in this. monster garden is cool but i prefer light fantasy over dark.
Glad ya like it so far! And yeah, I'm trying out a lighter (but not necessarily peaceful) world building perspective. More along the lines of Terry Pratchett
lovely stuff
as always such a beautiful style!
tyty 🙏
I absolutely love every bit of this. Starting with the name, granted maybe being a bit too Tolkien-y. I also have a race with non-sexual reproduction in my setting, and I think that is so cool!
I'm not sure if you said it in the video, but how would Duendir "reshape" themselves? I figured that it would be very cool if the constantly grew rock upon rock, since the need to constantly carve the details back or let it grow to then "change style".
This could give a very interesting hint about a possible myth among them: mountains themselves are long gone Duendirs who let the rock grow indefinitely, and because of this myth nowadays' Duendir go back to the mountain when their time comes, willingly merging themselves with it.
Hey, I love the design and concept! I do have some questions though.
When you say they have an instinctive concern with improvement, what does "improvement" mean here? Do the Duendir have built-in ideas of the kinds of things theyre striving for? Or are their ideas of what to improve societally constructed?
Like, if theyre a species who instinctively mine and harvest then wouldn't they be naturally at odds with the spirit of nature? Not that that's a bad thing at all, and it would make sense for them to believe they come from powerful long-lost ancient civilizations in this case.
Perhaps if the subjects of their improvement aren't set in stone, you might see groups of Duendir who operate entirely differently. Perhaps they dont use gold, but something different like mud/clay, or perhaps they might entirely plate their rocky exteriors with metal armour? Maybe an old grove somewhere is filled with huge, slow moving Duendir whose flames flicker slow but steady, and whose bodies are held together with wet moss, tangled roots and insect colonies.
Also, in highly-integrated human/Duendir societies that might be less liberal gender-wise, you might see the Duendir positioned less as a separate species and more as a third "gender" category, with its own expectations. Otherwise, you may even see Duendir in less integrated societies be pressured into taking the form of "male" or "female". That all of course depends on the importance of gender roles in a place like this.
Finally, are there any stipulations on what Duendir can be made of? Do the Duendir over long time periods tend to take on the properties of the areas theyre in? And if so, could one slowly introduce a higher gold/rock ratio until one had a Duendir child made mostly of gold? Or are they grown from some more standard "Duendir stone"?
Anyways thats just some ideas, I'm loving the project so far! Of course I understand some of these things are a bit in the weeds, I'm just fascinated by fantasy species that are in a way fundamentally different to humans. Excited for more!
I had this idea years ago. Dwarves would be the creation of a singular god, and this god would have crafted them in a certain number. Being creations of his imagination, he made each of them unique, in some significant number. At times, a dwarf would come up with a new idea, present it to the god, and he would breathe life into it, increasing the number. Then, due to plot reasons of the setting, the god was killed. From then on no more dwarves could be made. They (and many other folk) made a grand exodus, and went to distant lands, eventually spreading out. When the time came that one had an idea for a new dwarf, they built it as they had before. But there was no god to breathe life into them. Then they realized that there was breath, but it was in them. And they breathed their life into the new dwarf, and died. So, any dwarf that wishes to give life to a new generation must give up their own. The number never grows, and every dwarf that is felled is a loss not only of their ages of knowledge and craft, but also the potential for something new.
I came to this idea after reading about the trope of a dwindling species, and I was inspired by Tolkien's Aule, and his creation of the dwarves out of a sense of delight. I also wanted to evoke the old Norse idea that each dwarf was somehow a singular creature with unique characteristics, and less like a whole wide race, even if they still were of a people. Having them be crafted, and crafters seemed to suite that. They are a strong, and strange, and clever folk, but they are sorrowful and often lonely. For each one of them is a reminder of one they have lost, and too many together could mean they lose too many of their people should something ill occur. Yet, they are endlessly delighted by new creations, and like all artists feel a deep need for their art to exist and take on a life of its own, even if the only way for that to be possible is that they must never see it happen.
Wow, if you haven't done so yet, you should definitely explore the kinds of stories that would come out of this concept. It seems pretty compelling!
@@EncyclopediaOrmauk Likewise I find yours very intriguing, I really like the conceit of them forging the next generation inside themselves, and repairing the cracks with gold. It'd be like a badge of honour for parents.
I started a novel in that setting, but I've since moved on to other works. I've always wanted to go ack to it though. Thanks for the encouragement.
World-BuilderTubers (do we have a catchier name?) are the best new trend to appear on this site.
Just found your Channel and your lore and dwarve design is just👌
Thank you! My friends and I have been having a lotta fun tinkering around with their designs and lore
i love them!! i think the detail about tolkien's dwarves that always interested me the most was the idea that their minds are too focused on their work to be influenced to any great effect by the rings of power. and i can totally see that fitting in to your portrayal of them here
one question tho. do they eat or drink anything? i'm thinking maybe they just pop pebbles and small rocks into their core to melt and become part of their form.
I can totally see them being able to eat everything a human can and much more. I like to think that they are still able to share food culture with other species, but would prefer something more on the burnt end of things haha
Ive read that title once before from a certain similar channel...and the dwarves looked...very similar...yeah...
0:39 Where can I find the video on those twisted elves?
So the image is actually just concept art by FaceZero. I think when I was writing the script I mixed up the elf video by @Kotuu_ with @Tree.lancer's organic magic armor video!
Sorry bout that! I think I just absorbed way too many videos in one go and it all got souped up in my braincase 😅
Very good my man 👍
Haven't watched the whole video yet, but what would one of these dwarves look like with their carapace completely shaven off.
I imagine that they have parts of themselves that can be removed easily, but have a "base version" of themselves that they carve themselves down to. If you look at them as if they were planets, the base version is the crust, then they would get increasingly hot from upper mantle, lower mantle, upper core to lower core. They get bright hot the deeper you go and I could see them carving until the end of "upper mantle" and have no long-lasting side effects
It really depends if you think about it. It's just up to the duendir how they want to shape themselves.
YAYYYY DWARFSSSS! Love this so much, I'd totally accidentally keep a kid as a garden gnome XD
I feel so special seeing the artwork before the video was posted lol
LMAO 👶👌yoink
Hell yeaah! Sneak preview if you follow meeee!!
History in a story is funny to me, I find it amusing that ppl can pour hours of their time making a fictional history book in a story, I do think it can be done well, but imo it has to be kept short so we know the plot and avoid worldvuildingception
So, the "no female dwarves" is a throwaway joke line in the movies. However, from what I remember, the dwarves were formed from earth by the... Smith god person? I don't remember the name.
W as always
Thank you (｢`･ω･)｢
Dangit, I had this idea and you beat me to it. Very nice work.
No reason why multiple iterations can't coexist with one another. Make art, write music and stories my friend!
@@EncyclopediaOrmauk That's very kind of you! I think I will.
My dwarves are also grown from stone, but they can't reproduce by themselves. They are grown from heartstone, which was the blood of the mountains when the mountains still walked the earth. All the mountains are now dead, which means there is a finite amount of heartstone in the world, and this is why there are so many abandoned dwarf holds, and why dwarves are always seeking new ranges to colonise. When the mountains were alive, dwarves bled from their injuries and repaired them -- now they are without purpose.
It's basically BIONICLE. XD
Makes me curious on how they would sense the world. Would they be mostly like Toph and sense the world through vibrations or would it be something else?
If they can live in water then I could imagine they could sense things through something like echolocation. If that's the case then I could also see the land ones doing the same and groups of them will do something like deep throat singing while working and crafting as not just a work song but as a way to sense each other and their work.
Pottery-Dwarves? Sounds like my Cavanaërs from Edegard, which are starring in the game "Puqq". Your take on the armor is not uncommon to me as my creations eat minerals and if they ate the right ones, their bodies can built up armor and enhancing their height. Often, Cavanaër seek moisture to keep their bodies smooth and moveable.
Thanks for your take on this. Stay curious!
This is great :)
You're great 👉
@@EncyclopediaOrmauk 🙏 I'd be happy to connect when you get the chance. Keep up the great work!
@@creativeanimus Thanks! And feel free to DM me on any of my socials! 🙌
Links in my channel bio~
@@EncyclopediaOrmauk sent 😁👌
imagine what kinda martial arts you can pull with skin made of rock
I Imagine some animate sentient stone might impossibly float, especially among sea people's.
They kinda look like Yukes from Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles.
I love the Kintsugi Carapaces! Where did you get that idea?
Honestly, it just felt intuitive to have crafters be able to fix themselves artistically. I wanted to layer that idea of "craftsmanship" from top to bottom if that makes sense
@@EncyclopediaOrmauk it makes sense. cool stuff!
Hey, I really love that concept art style, how do you get into it and what programs do you use? I saw you use some grids at the beginning which I found cool. I want to start drawing like this.
Hey! I use Krita for my art program and it has a built-in perspective tool you can use to set up perspectives. I would definitely learn practice on paper first since it's a bit finicky to use
For the art style, I just use Studio Ghibli background paintings as reference
@@EncyclopediaOrmauk Thanks, I really appreciate it!
i'm sorry but the feet being one piece kinda bugs me. is it flexible stone?
Gavlan wheel Gavlan deal
I'm worldbuilding dwarves right now, completely different direction from you though, although I like your concept. I'm a language nerd, so I took on the incredibly arduous task of making an agglutinative conlang that's supposed to be sung/chanted. I always go off the rails and get lost in detailed side quests and so never finish anything. how do you do it? finish something despite it being so complex
This artstyle is magical btw
Yo conlang boggles my mind man, props to you and other people who dig that deep. I'm mainly a design guy and for every piece of illustration I make, there are 5 other ideas that are being put into the never-ending queue. Honestly, it's not about completing something or not, just enjoy your process man. Isn't that why we do it anyways?
@@EncyclopediaOrmauk you're right.. but finishing something also feels nice xD especially when it turns out with as much atmosphere and mood as yours
Their language could be sign language.
You mention that the offspring burst forth from their predecessor. Does this kill the parent Duendir or is it a less destructive process?
It does not actually. Duendirs wonder the same thing about human birthing process. It looks too bloody for the mother to survive
How do they communicate
Nothing crazy on that end. Most likely just have their own analogue of speaking organs
what do you do your art on? Like what software?
That would be Krita with some Photoshop post-processing
@@EncyclopediaOrmauk Thank you so much
Given their reproductive process, does a Duendir survive giving birth or is the parent 'consumed' by the offspring?
Nope! The process may look messed up to non-duendirs, but baby duendirs bursting out of the parent chest-burster style is totally normal. Parent duendirs are easy to spot because of the gold inlaid cracks around their crux as this is how duendir wounds are "fixed".
@@EncyclopediaOrmauk Wait a second. . . That diving suit fellow in your illustration has gold inlaid cracks around a hole in their chest. . .
Yep, this one's a parent and has gone through the process themselves👌
You mind if i steal that name
Go for it
🪨
🗿
I love this! These are a better take on the dwarves in my world!
(warning: lore dump)
My world -- a fantasyland that takes place tens of millenia after a nuclear apocalypse that made the planet bleed ichor, a magical substance that creates life and is essentially the source of all magic -- has golem-like dwarves much like yours. My dwarves were originally created by a group of people called the Sculptors, a race of people evolved from the Nanra odal Damari. The Damari were doomsday cult that went subterranean before their predicted nuclear apocalypse, evolving over thousands of years into something akin to traditional dwarves, short troglodytic men adapted to living underground. While the elves (who adapted to survive under the megajungles whose trees grew tall enough to reach sunlight above the perpetual layer of smoke in the sky) learned to form simple golems by doing something called Shackling on natural elementals, the Damari created their own golems from scratch, using runes carved upon the golems' skin as a sort of computer code to give the golems instructions.
The big breakthrough was when they created golems that were skilled enough in Sculpting to sculpt new golems themselves -- intelligent self-replicating automata. One such self-replicating golem, now remembered through a few vague myths as a sort of Adam or Zeus figure, escaped and created its own golems. They replicated like viruses, eventually growing in strength and number to war against their creators in what their histories call the Liberation, in which they stole all the Damari golems and re-Sculpted them to make them sapient. After thousands of years, the creators of these golems have long been forgotten. Ancient histories that mention mountain men or troglodyte men are now assumed to be these same golems, called the dwarves or Damari. The creators of the golems were so replaced that even history has confused them with their creations.
I dont mind taking old myths and legends and making a new take but people so often deviate so far that it makes no sense to keep the same name.
Eh, myths and stories evolve over time. What we call dwarves and elves have had wildly diff interpretation between cultures and generations.
very cool but feel like it should be pronounced "dune-dir"
Honestly, with how big Ormauk is, I can see certain dialects pronouncing it that way.
As for why I personally pronounce it as such, I based the term duendir from the Spanish/Tagalog word for gnomes/dwarves: "duende", which is pronounced 'doo-wen-deh'.
@@EncyclopediaOrmauk ooh. I personally appreciate the Filipino influence there. I did have that dialect thought right after I posted my comment and am glad you agree. This is the first video of yours I have seen and am eager to explore more. It will have to wait however because you inspired me to just dive into a world building session of my own. And for that you have further thanks.
@@showmethetreaty Always glad to hear that anything I made inspires people to create their own art 💪
why do you say cliche like that
😭 idk man hahaha
The real question is why dont you? Accents and regional pronunciation differences are the best parts of speaking a language haha
But wouldn't the "dwarves" being made of stone just made them golems? 💀😂
Wouldn't the humans being made of flesh just make them flesh golems? 😂
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