Dwarven Food (Patreon)

I worked with the constraints of the setting to come up with this (eg. grazing is not possible in a cave environment so no cows aka bovas), and as expected from a sketch, it also gave me some new ideas and nuances to make the world feel more authentic and lived in.

One example could be the potential relationship between dwarves and goats - since the animals have "beards", dwarves could well have developed superstitions of their ancestors' spirits being trapped in goats, or something involving reincarnation etc etc. This means that goats are only consumed on special occasions, and in ritualistic ways (similar to the Easter lamb for example). Hogs, on the other hand, are very common since they can be fed with local food.
Chicks, which are imported from the Overworld along with grain and other basics, are more likely to be kept for laying eggs and only sacrificed when old enough.
Since bovas are rare in the absence of sunny grass plains, dwarves are likely to have a certain degree of lactose intolerance, which means that they are more likely to process their milk into cream or cheese, or import it as such.

You kinda see how the thought process goes. But yeah, as always, this is more to help me keep track of things rather than to provide a complete showcase, so all questions and suggestions are welcome!

Next up I'll be commencing the mapping (or at least the sketching part).