Dwarfism in Daxia

In ancient Corumm dwarves and pygmies were seen as people that had been cursed by deities or whose parents were being punished for transgressions. This led dwarves to be shunned at best and persecuted at worst. Ancient Corummese religions sometimes made use of dwarves in rituals, and many times the dwarves did not make it out unscathed. While this attitude changed very little through the centuries, the arrival of Christianity and its doctrines of mercy saw some limited shift in public attitudes. Significant official changes in the societal status of dwarves only came about with the Qian dynasty.

The last Corummese dynasty happened to have included through its history a significant number of members born with dwarfism and it banned the killing of dwarves, who were often preyed upon for the supposed miraculous properties of their body parts. Moreover not only did royal dwarves were able to attain high office in this period, but base born dwarves too served as royal eunuchs, bureaucrats, craftsmen and there even was a dwarf who attained the rank of admiral. For their protection of dwarves the Qian came to be known as the dynasty of dwarves. The patronage of dwarves by the Qian backfired terribly after the collapse of the imperial system, as they were seen as complicit in the corruption and mismanagement of the nation. While some dwarf officials were indeed corrupt and self serving, the vast majority of the dwarven population were entirely innocent citizens. Many dwarves were forced out of the cities and denied employment during the early period of military rule. Rising military oppression helped dissipate residual ill will against dwarves as they were later seen as just as oppressed as anyone else.

Digen Youdu
One of the more well known dwarves of the middle Qian period was the dwarf Digen Youdu who was a member of a cadet branch of the Imperial family and distant cousin of Emperor Lizong. As a learned man of noble blood, he was given a position befiting of his station in the palace, initially as Chief of the dwarven eunuchs (Youdu was not an eunuch himself and had a family of his own). Reputedly he helped thwart a conspiracy against the Emperor who as a result saw him as trustworthy and rewarded him with further offices such as Keeper of the Royal Seal and Overseer of the Imperial Zoo. As a confidant of the Emperor, Digen had many rivals executed. Later he would be given the task of building the Emperor's new summer residence in Zoushi. Upon completion of the palace Youdu was rewarded with the post of Dwarf Imperial Viceroy of the coastal province of Ganshu and a tenth share of the incomes of its ports, something unheard of for any official before him. As Viceroy he arrested many corrupt officials, developed the road network and built a new port, fostered the local economy and revived local fishing. He employed in turn many dwarves in his administration of Ganshu as tax collectors and customs officials. When Metzettan pirates began raiding in the nearby waters, Youdu built up a provintial war fleet of thirty ships and led it in person against the pirates. He smashed the pirate fleet at the Battle of Beihai Cove and pursued its remnants all the way to the coast of south Tanhai. He bombarded the harbor of Sheyin for supposedly selling supplies to he pirates and only stopped when offered twenty tons of silver. Digen proceeded to ravage Tanhai's coast for three months before returning to Ganshu. For this action and the tribute gathered, Digen was named Admiral of the White Sea and became the first of several dwarf officials to hold active military commands. The fleet under his command participated in continued efforts to erradicate piracy and gave naval support to the army of Lord Mu in Rusana