While there are a few renegades, most Dwarves adhere to traditional community values. Most Dwarves still live in traditional mine-holds, while most of the others live in an Ex-Pat community of some sort. Very few live outside the Dwarven sphere of influence.

Dwarf society, in D&D/Pathfinder is LG – and this reflects the values of the race and all of their communities. While there will be minor differences between settlements, the core concepts are still the same.

Government – In any Dwarf community there is a cohesive central government that encourages everyone to work together with the same sets of Dwarven ideals. People know their place and how to behave. That doesn’t mean there is no social mobility - you just have to work hard and follow the rules, then you will rise up the social pyramid and do well. Residents are expected to be supportive of their neighbours (although some element of competition is good) and those who rise up the social pyramid are generally successful financial, have a strong social conscience, and are expected to contribute more to the community. It might be a hereditary Lord, a council or an informal group of elders.
Values - Dwarf communities operate in ways that support all the members with facilities such as meeting places, wells, rubbish dumps, public baths, medical facilities, alms houses and schools. The larger the community, the better the facilities will be. Even the smallest expat community expects to have a Tavern (social & meeting space), School and at least one shrine, while the largest Mine-Holds will have many different social and community facilities. Competition is good, but success, at the expense of your neighbour, isn't. The most well respected dwarves, have achieved success and are seen to support their community, with both time and money.
Behaviour - Laws, regulations and community expectations are all very traditional, well established, and understood by the community as a whole. Work and Businesses are regulated to ensure that the good name of the Dwarven Race is not sullied. In mine-holds there are quality inspections and permissions, in Ex-Pat Communities crafters (etc) are expected to join local guilds and (if they can) produce better work than their non-dwarf peers

Dwarven settlements are not exactly the same everywhere you go but, there are some things that can be found in most dwarf settlements - Ale, Sausage, Nubbe Paste and Brass Bands!

Most Dwarves grow up and stay in the mine-hold of their birth, although some travel, and some choose to settle in 'foreign' lands. Most of those ex-pats settle into Dwarvish communities in towns and cities, and where they can still enjoy the support and company of other dwarves, although perhaps with a bit less pressure to conform, than in a mine hold. However, a few settle in villages while some others are no longer welcome within the dwarf community, at all.

Most Dwarves live in independent mine-holds, underground mining towns populated almost entirely by dwarves. You will find mine-holds scattered around The Empire, and other parts of the game world, where they interact and trade with the local community. Mine-holds tend to be family and guild based, and the leader is often selected from a ruling family - in a semi-hereditary way (although the actual process varies). Some large mine-holds control a route into the darklands (underdark), and the ores and metals they export, might be mined deep underground, perhaps some distance from the mine hold. Because of this, a single mine-hold might provide a number of different metals and minerals. In many ways, large mine-holds are the retail metallurgy outlets of the game world. If you want special metals, you go to well-connected mine-hold.

Minehold Structure

Most cities have dwarf communities, and like most immigrant / racial groups, they tend to cluster together for support. Living and working close to each other, there is often a dwarf owned tavern/inn and school within their ‘quarter’, and probably shrines or chapels dedicated to the two dwarven pantheons. Social life, education and religion all follow the familiar patterns of Dwarfish Culture, and dominate community behaviour and experience. Sure, Ex-Pats (and their children) are exposed to other cultures, but it is almost home. Ex-pat communities do not have hereditary leaders, however a small group of Elders is often recognized as providing leadership for the community. Ironically, many of those elders come from the ruing mine-hold families, but then they have probably had leadership training since they were young.

Some dwarves finish up living in very small communities, isolated from their cultural roots. This might be a lone Dwarf in a village, or a very small community in a non-dwarven environment, or somewhere else that is not large enough to support all the cultural infrastructure. In this case, children are generally sent to ‘foster’ with relatives who live in an ex-pat community or mine-hold – it might be grandparents, uncles, aunts etc … but the young dwarf is always exposed to the culture somehow.

These dwarves are commonly banished or ostracized; they are forced to eke out a living at the fringes of dwarven settlements or in bleak wilderness areas. Some try to maintain as much Dwarven Culture / Dignity as they can, and send their children into fosterage for a proper Dwarven upbringing. If not, their children must take the Slag Child alternate racial trait ( Slag Child: Dwarves from dishonored families must append “-slag,” “-slagsun,” or “-slagdam” to their surnames to indicate their shameful status. They gain a +2 racial bonus on Stealth and Survival checks. This racial trait replaces defensive training and hatred.)

Trade routes through the darklands are dangerous, sparsely populated and not well travelled, they wind and twist along (mainly) natural caverns, that can be home to all sorts of hazards. Other humanoid races send hunting parties out to monitor the routes, so merchants either have to be strong or stealthy to travel them - just like caravans on wilderness trade routes. Whatever they trade, it has to be valuable, or the risk is too high - but then a single bottle of whiskey can be worth hundreds of gold pieces, when you are two miles underground!

This may be incomplete.

• These mine-holds are Followers of Moradin
• Rockhome - on the road between Sybarite and Jekleal, in the Far Coast States.
• Deep Delve - a Dwarf Mine-hold deep in the Rostil Mountains, North of The Strongholds.
• Dersolbek – set in the eastern mountains of Urgon.
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• These mine-holds are Followers of Torag
• Baraduum - a poor mine-hold close to Porters Bar, without a link to the underdark.
• Belarum - a small mine-hold in Holden, East Telida, without a link to the underdark.
• Various - most of the other mine-holds in The Tannery League
• -
• These mine-holds are Followers of Magrim
• Melmond - High up in the Telidan mountain range, Melmond sends shipments of ingots to The Tannery, via Berhof - a journey of several weeks through dangerous terrain.
• Unknown - the mine-hold at Paria, which hasn't yet been named (both of them :P )
• Farfobik - A small Mine-hold in Galina, close to the coast, without a link to the underdark.