NONI

Noni are also known as the Hill Dwarves.  Thousands of years ago, the Mountain Dwarves of Kadako (now simply referred to as Dwarves), sent a contingent of dwarves to the plains that lay alongside the Kadako Mountains.  These dwarves were to act as a buffer zone to prevent the corrupted nature of the other races from seeping into the homelands of the dwarves.  Additionally, these settlements were to establish trade to allow needed supplies to flow from the fertile lands to Kadako.

Over two thousand years later, the Noni no longer see themselves as Dwarves.  They view their cousins as bland and closed minded.  Both the Noni and the Dwarves see each other as a necessary evil and only deal with each other because it is needed and/or preferable to dealing with ‘the others’.

Personality: Noni culture is the epitome of capitalism without the free market.  Wealth is the measure by which a person is always judged, but guilds (aka unions) make independent ascension very difficult.  Everything is about who you need to bribe.  Luckily, a unique, good idea will rarely be stolen by anyone else (because it has too much risk) and can help an individual perform a hostile takeover of their guild within ten years.  Most Noni remain within Xanona, where the Internal Finance Committee is able to properly assess their value.  Outside of Xanona, those assessments become more difficult and a Noni can lose his/her standing in society.  Additionally, many Noni feel out of place in the human societies where there is no fixed order or placement, where people just do things by happenstance and people are judged by what their ancestors did instead of what they have done.

Physical Description: Noni are usually shorter and stockier than humans, but not as short and stocky as typical fantasy dwarves.  They have darker complexions and hair/eye color, not unlike those found in eastern Europe.  

Biology: Noni physiology is designed with redundancy and efficiency.  The most obvious by-product of this design is that most Noni tend to have a slightly longer life expectancy.  The second most obvious by-product is the ability of the typical Noni to clear out natural toxins faster, making them more hardy and more suited to endurance competitions.  Noni muscle tissue is denser and allows the average Noni to lift and carry more mass.  Noni possess the ability to see in the Infrared Range of light.  For the average Noni, heat can change the apparent color of nearly any material.  This often gives the Noni an advantage in assessing the quality of metallic products.

For one reason or another, Noni seem able to pick up technological skills and persuasive abilities with great ease.  Whether this ‘gift’ is cultural or biological will have to await further advances in medical science.

Relations: Noni are often thought of as arrogant toward other races.  This is not true.  They just feel that they more fully understand how the world works than the other races do.  They don’t believe in the silly mysticisms of the dwarves and elves and put their faith in science and things they can touch.  It is interesting to note that part of the ‘silly mysticism’ ideologue may be attributed to the fact that no Noni, regardless of desire, has ever shown the ability to master the mystic arts to any degree.

Names

Male Names: Michail, Tyshir, Andros, Ochfsr, Rolf, Durran, Vir, Sardok, Dema, Tsr, Kabash, Marko, Motka, Markas

Female Names: Minka

Family Names: Anchova, Pouxkin, Firopo, Dijul, Demovix, Duchovni, Filipova, Tumovix, Eltsov, Buchkiev, Radixov, Dvorak, Nosov, Tubogo, Korneev, Pykippet, Firxouf, Arsov, Brezhnev