Aquatic dwarf

Aquatic dwarves, also known by the humorous name artesians, were a water-dwelling offshoot of dwarves.

Description
Compared to other dwarves, aquatic dwarves had a muscular but slender build. Their skin color was a greenish tint of brown, and their hair was black or a grayish green. Typically hidden beneath their characteristic long, ungroomed beards were the gills that allowed them to breathe underwater.

Relations
Aquatic dwarves held particular enmity for sahuagin, koalinths, and merrow, and many made a point to learn the languages of the latter two races.

Some aquatic dwarf cities used sea lions as guard animals.

Aquatic dwarves were almost entirely unknown to land-dwellers, and those sages that did know of them almost always considered them to be a myth. They were long fabled to be found in the Sea of Fallen Stars, but every scholar that looked into the manner conclusively discredited this rumor.

History
How aquatic dwarves originated was unknown to sages, though it was generally accepted that magic played a part in their origin, and those land-dwelling dwarves that knew of their aquatic cousins widely held that it was the result of a terrible curse.

After discussions with the Dwarfbilt Construction Company to build an underwater restaurant off the coast of Ravens Bluff fell through, the merman Slaythis J'harja pursued contact with the aquatic dwarves after hearing legends about them from one of the company's employees. With the help of a group of friendly tritons familiar with the aquatic dwarves, he was able to find them, and after a peace offering of precious gems and his assistance in battling a sahuagin ambush, some of the dwarves were willing to assist in building Sharkey's Bar & Grill.

Notable Aquatic Dwarves
The aquatic dwarf Lothan was employed as a cook at Sharkey's Bar & Grill.