Okay, so this is a pretty comprehensive list of the nations that are part of the geography in my first series, but it's dreadfully underdeveloped on some nations and more developed on other points. Hopefully I'll eventually get around to giving each of these peoples an individual thread, and link to those here, but right now only a few of them have their own thread. I'll set up links for each nation as I create their respective threads.

So these people groups are 'there' in my world, and for most of them I have a general cultural structure already in place, but I haven't developed them a whole lot. So hopefully that's something all you wonderfuls can give me feedback about as I develop them over the next ??? years.

Smithing* The smith is the craftsman. Smithy is a slang variation.

The dwarves are interesting. Their patience and certainty fit the environment they come from, as well as their secrecy and jealousy of their treasures extending to their women. What is it that they value most? Why do they seek dominion if their race is so low-key? Do they want gold? Do they want to be worshiped? If their race values esteem, why don't individuals fall out of line for the sake of being recognized for their merits now?

For the others:

The development of a culture will be based on a few different aspects.

What do they need? If they are low on food, have a hard time farming, are buffeted by the elements or other tribe groups, it will shape them into a more austere culture than one with plenty. What they have and what they need will show you whether they will lean practically or artistically and in what areas they will most express themselves.

What do they worship? Some of this will be based on what they need and have. Every polytheistic nation has a deity for fertility, crops, hunting and fishing, war, and death. More established cultures have muses, gods of art and poetry, partying, and any other advancement or degradation of society that comes along with wealth and plenty. Based on their level of technology and/or superstition, they may worship things as simple as ants, clouds, and apple trees, or reserve their reverence for the tallest mountain or sea serpents. There may be varying levels of logic to how they worship their gods. The Aztecs, for example, used human sacrifice as a part of their worship because they believe the earth needed to be given life and blood to compensate for the life given to them. The druids also practiced human sacrifice, but they believed they could choose messengers to sacrifice who, under certain ceremony, would bring their petitions to the gods in the netherworld.

What size are their people groups? Tribes and islanders are usually governed by taboo, superstitions of nature passed on through stories, and the will of their chief or priest. The larger society, the more the rules have to be set in stone so that social order will be upheld.

What is their environment? Along with what they need and what they have, the place they live will be a lens through which they understand everything else. A race that lives in the desert will respond to things differently than one that lives in a forest. They may be responding to the same things, enemies, weather, wild animals, or food. They may have to deal with troubles among themselves, but how do they handle them differently?

How do they punish crime? This will be derived from all of their other values, but it will greatly change how they act as well as reflect their values. Is a murderer put to death for his crimes? Is sacrifice a part of just punishment? How often do slavery and manual labor play into restitution? How does money tie in? Does the individual suffer for a crime, or the whole family or property?

Thanks for that, Kitra! Very helpful worldbuilding questions. I will use them as I continue to develop these cultures.

And sorry for not getting back on that. :\

Yes, the dwarves are an interesting bunch. Some explanation for their actions can be gleaned from their philosophy of power. Basically what the dwarves want is power. And true power can only be achieved through unity.
This leads them down some iffy roads as they attempt to achieve unity on a practical level despite being separated by huge distances. Iffy meaning semi-magical/supernatural means.
To use a metaphor, the dwarves want to be like the mountains - as strong and sure and unchanging, the bedrock of all other peoples, without which every other nation cannot stand, and yet towering above all else.

Areth,

Ka

So power is something strongly taught and embedded their culture rather than a chance sin. Is it something that they discipline into their people rather than allowing it to cultivate naturally?

It cultivates naturally, I think. It is essential dwarfness to thirst for power. Not to do so would be to un-dwarf yourself, to basically undo a main facet of your own identity.
I'm kinda playing on Tolkien's dwarves, who were cursed with love of gold and quick tempers... cultural sin... particular racial temptation.... something like that.

It has so permeated their culture that there's not really any way to escape it. Though not matriarchal, mothers have huge influence on development for early years and it is their teaching that emphasizes the power of unity and drives it into their sons. They love peace and recognize that true power only comes thru unity. (Functionally, that unity is because they all work under the direction of a single leader; but it's a twist on the usual "I dominate, I win, I have power" scheme of tyranny that we often see in fantasy villains/evil societies).

Areth,

Ka

What I was driving at is how they know they're being "un-dwarfed" if they are not taught what sets them apart. If it is only through natural inclination, it would manifest in many different forms, but the fact that they are taught through their families and through their society and patriotism, so to speak, answers that question.

Okay.

So yeah, basically the paradigm when being taught is "a dwarf is..." this that and the other thing. Every young dwarf is going to have that drilled into him. By adulthood, it's ingrained into their thinking that those things are what make dwarves dwarves (and those things are to be kept utterly secret from outsiders, btw).

It is a conditioned, culturally molded disposition, yes, but also their natural proneness as a people.

Knowing that fact makes them a lot more terrifying.

Hehe but if you saw them irl... you would think there were just those friendly dwarf traders who walk around the country in groups selling their wares, singing happy songs in bars and inns for entertainment, and all-around genial little guys without much cares in the world beyond food and money. xD

In short, they are also cunning.

Straight-forward evil is always far less intimidating that duplicity and betrayal.

Far and away.