Stoneheart Dwarf
The Stoneheart Dwarves are a proud and enduring people who have carved their lives—literally and spiritually—into the blackened bedrock of the Stoneheart Mountains. Living within the halls and fortresses of Stoneheart Hold, they form a resilient ethnic group of dwarves known across the Wildlands for their stoicism, martial prowess, and deep reverence for history and craft.
Stoneheart Dwarves tend to have pale or weather-worn skin, often tattooed or inscribed with runic markings tied to their lineage. Their hair and beards are braided with metal beads, obsidian shards, or ice crystals, each signifying family, profession, or past battles.
They often wear layered armor, even in peace, as a matter of pride, and favor cloaks of thick wool or fur lined with reinforced seams to survive the mountain cold.
Culture
Culture and cultural heritage
Stoneheart Dwarves hold tightly to a code of stoicism, loyalty, and strength, believing that a dwarf's worth is measured as much by their silence in suffering as by their courage in battle. Yet they are not cold; among their kin, warmth flows in the form of story, song, and shared labor.
To them, steel and story are twin pillars of civilization—neither weapon nor wisdom alone is enough to preserve a people. As such, their traditions include long oral epics, inscribed stone chronicles, and rune-scribed vaults preserving ancient lore.
Average technological level
The Stoneheart Dwarves are legendary artisans. Their blacksmiths craft:
- Frost-Tempered Armor, capable of withstanding even the cold of the Icy Wastes.
- Lava-Resistant Plate, forged in tandem with flame-wielding allies to resist Emberfall’s heat.
- Elemental Weapons, enchanted through ancestral rites to channel or resist fire, frost, lightning, and earth.
Their forges, some powered by geothermal vents and others by icebound runes, produce arms and armor sought even by kings and warlords of other realms.
Common Customs, traditions and rituals
The dwarves mark time with solemn, powerful ceremonies, among them:
- Day of the Emberfall, honoring the defeat of the infernal dragon Vrakorath by Dunmar Frostheart. It is both a celebration of resilience and a remembrance of loss.
- Forgewake, a ceremonial lighting of the great forge to commemorate ancestors and renew vows of craft and kinship.
- Frostmoot, a council held each winter where oaths are sworn, grievances aired, and history recounted aloud by rune-lords.
Common Myths and Legends
They revere a Pantheon of Ancestor Spirits, each representing domains such as:
- Stone, the foundation and memory of the mountain.
- Fire, the drive of creation and resistance.
- Frost, the purity of endurance and clarity.
- Forge, the sacred act of transformation and binding.
Rather than distant gods, these ancestors are seen as watchers and guides, whose virtues are meant to be emulated, not worshipped blindly.
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