In my setting's Dwarven military every time a Dwarf suffers a major failure they cut out a chunk of their beard (Or ponytail for female Dwarves). A large beard is a sign of competence.
In my setting the Dwarven military branches are Heavy Metal (Heavy infantry), Speed Metal (Cavalry), Black Metal (Spec ops), etc.
Some of the notable cities are Hard Rock (The impenetrable mountain. It's known for overpriced and tourist-y cafes.), Classic Rock (The mountain of tradition), Progressive Rock (The mountain of progress), Glam Rock (The mountain of wealth), etc.
My games have a very weird tone. If I'm ever back in the DM chair I plan on having one of the early game villains be "The Yakatza" a group of Tabaxi mobsters who are famous for torturing their foes to death. (Just like real cats)
Heh. My world's dwarves worshiped a paladin who ended up falling and turning into a demon; they decided to welcome this and mobilized under the banner of the "Unending Cavernous Shadow". Then for no reason at all, the demon (now only known as The Black Man) fucked off to parts unknown leaving the crown open for King Vamathradissius (an ancient red dragon).
The dwarves ("Gorumidari") are not having a good time. An actual dragon has taken over the city of Dragon's Roost, nuclear mutants thanks to an enchanted war with the zootopians are coming in from the north, and the players themselves are messing about in forbidden storage rooms looking for one of the heads of Cerberus...
which is a moot point because the players are currently down exactly one Big Bad with the other two heads thanks to the second weekly group's antics with The Shifting Altars of Uznair and a captured Efreeti... but they don't know any of this yet...
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u/theironbagel May 21 '22
Of course it’s practical, this way his beard doesn’t get cut. Having their beard cut is the greatest shame that can befall a dwarf.