Continuing on with the Dwarf theme, where are all the Dwarf women? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think a female Dwarf has ever been featured in a Fighting Fantasy publication (nor a Dwarf juvenile, for that matter). So where are all the beardy womenfolk?
Do they even exist at all? Or are all Dwarfs male. Perhaps they spring out of the ground fully-grown, or are planted like particularly hairy Cabbage Patch Kids? Maybe male Dwarfs can carry young around in their beer bellies?
If Dwarf women do exist, why aren't they out mining and advenuring with their male counterparts? Do Dwarfs have strict gender roles, perhaps where women are restricted to all the hard work (cooking, cleaning, raising Dwarflings) while the men do all the fun ale-quaffing and orc-clobbering?
Or maybe Dwarf women are revered and hoarded away in their fortresses like precious jewels? Throff, chief deity and creator of the Dwarfs, is a woman, so its entirely possible that female Dwarfs fulfil religious duties. Dwarf priests may only be females? That would explain why they are rarely seen abroad.
In any case, its a mystery without a firm answer as yet. What do you all think out there in the Abyss?
Couple of ideas:
ReplyDelete- They look just like males, beards and all, so they are out and about, but no-one realises.
- They are kept secluded undeground for cultural reasons, kind of like in purdah.
Two excellent ideas! I should have gotten someone to ask the question of Steve & Ian at FFF!
ReplyDeleteHeh heh! I prefer the second option (as an explanation, not as an acceptable social convention of course...).
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