Alum dwarves' aetherial power is to predict avallanches and their skill at mountain climbing. They also gain the brumal power to shape ice and survive the cold. They are ice carvers, hunters, and skilled plumbers, and they gain aetherial powers from working closely with stone and ice at all times. Brumal aether can make them rigid, however, and they often have to alleviate this with a release of some sort, usually in a ritual hunt.

All dwarves are known for their steady feet, their inborn toughness, and their shrewdness.

Alum dwarves live in harsh tribes in the cold mountains. They build cities of ice and stone in inaccessible reaches, where they have a rigid class system of powerful rulers and weak servants and slaves. Their thanes are always the most ruthless warriors and users of brumal aether, surrounded by fierce warriors, religious leaders, and mystics who crave power.

Their families are usually without much love. Children deemed too weak are left to die. The strong are encouraged brutally. Families can be broken up by more powerful individuals who take children or lovers or anyone they please as a servant, apprentice, or partner. Survival is the primary motivation, and thus, being taken from your family is often seen as an honor and a means of escape.

Hunters, climbers, shapers, and faithful are the most common occupations, other than servant or slave, and these groups have tried to organize for power in the past. However, the thane has managed historically to prevent it and kept them very individualized and weak. Thus, everyone's power goes through the thane.