Frederik Dworkin is a dwarf who doesn’t really know what it means to be a dwarf. He was adopted young by a middle-class human family, after his visiting parents fell victim to the plague. He’s a tentative and uncertain fellow, constantly trying to figure out what would a “dwarf “do rather than thinking very carefully about what *he* would do. Dwarves who have grown up with their kin find him awkward and uncomfortable. He either fades into the background or tries too hard to be “the dwarfiest dwarf who ever dwarfed”. Since finishing school he’s been serving off-shifts in the city guard – hoping that would toughen him up and burnish his credentials as a serious, proper dwarf.
His best friend is a young elf named Silverleaf – who came to the city rather recently having left his familiar home of elven woods to see the world. Silverleaf being both non-human and having never known a dwarf himself, made him the perfect friend for Frederik. Silverleaf had no idea what a “proper dwarf” was anyway, so he took anything Frederik said in stride. And he believed anything Frederik told him about “these curious humans”.
Frederik is a newcomer to the group compared to the Morgan and her friends. He was recruited when Morgan started branching out looking for other young adventurers to strengthen their band. This leaves him, again, uncertain of his place in the scheme of things. Bringing his friend Silverleaf along makes things easier, but he still tends to follow Morgan’s lead unless a proposed activity seems particularly “not dwarven” to him, at which point he summons what he feels is appropriate mock outrage to protest.
The goal with Frederik is to look like a proper dwarven fighter – as he certainly makes the effort – while making it clear that he’s still young and not nearly as sure of himself as he would have you believe.
“young male dwarf, city guard, concerned, stout, stocky, neat hair, round ears, neat beard, helmet, cheap chainmail, tolkien, holding a shield”
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