Dwarven Amazons

Sub-Species Name: Homo Sapiens Nano-Amazonensis

A.K.A.: "Dawi"; "Little Amazons"; "Children of the Mountain"

Homeland: Iridia

Distinctive Characteristics: Low height, stubby body, unusually dense bones, enhanced stamina and fear of deep waters. Each dwarf usually eats twice as much as any ordinary amazon.

Cultural Traits: Overwhelmingly proud and stubborn, the dwarven amazons are too often depicted as foul-mouthed and short-tempered. Their isolationist ways drives most of them to live in small comunities under the mountains of Iridia, where they build impregnable cities, literally carved in stone.

The stereotypical image of an ordinary Arandolian Amazon is that of a relatively tall, gorgeous and young woman. Such a stereotype is actually true for the vast majority of the population of Arandolia, but not for all of them. There are a few diverging sub-species amongst the Amazon population, and such is the case of the proud and reclusive Dwarven Amazons of Iridia.

With their average height ranging from 1.20m to 1.45m tall, it is quite easy to identify a dwarf amongst amazons. They are usually born normal, but due to a growth hormone disorder, these rather cute-looking little women end up reaching adulthood with fully developed bodies, but with the odd overall height of a child.

However, also thanks to the same growth hormone disorder, the dwarven amazons' skeletal and muscular systems are way sturdier and more efficient than normal. Their bodies develop themselves in a more condensed way, so their bones and muscles are simply much denser than average, making their bodies quite heavy for their size, while also really strong and resilient. They take a lot longer to fatigue themselves, so although they can't run very fast due to their short legs, they certainly can run for many miles without stopping, or even work/fight all day long without dropping a sweat.

They can therefore carry more weight, endure more hardships and survive way more traumatic incidents, but their increased density also means they simply can't swim at all. Upon falling onto the water, an amazon dwarf will sink like a rock, unless she is quickly rescued by somebody else.

Other than that, dwarven amazons are pretty similar in physiology and physiognomy to the average arandolian amazon. Like the rest of their amazon kin, they completely stop aging upon reaching adulthood, and there are no males amongst their numbers. They are divided into womb-dwarves and seed-dwarves, and they also worship the very same pantheon as the rest of Arandolia. However, their religious statues and paintings do seem like all the Goddesses are dwarves just like themselves in their paticular point of view.