Titan's Passage

Deep in the bowels of The Trident, the Titan's Passage is a secret pathway known by few that can get you to any point along the mountain range within a weeks time, should you know how to get there in the first place. It is the only known place in Aenumariil where a fully intact mountain giant corpse is.
Dwarves tend to travel at least once to the Titan's Passage for religious reasons, and it is a pilgrimage that only dwarves may take. Those who die during the pilgrimage to the Titan's passing are often left there, and it is said that a Dwarf's first trip outside of their hold should be to the Titan's Passage to cleanse the soul for the rest of the outside world, and to pay respects to the original architects of their holds.
It was originally considered to be too sacred a site for Dwarves to pass through, and was deemed illegal. However, as time passed and conflict called for more methods of travel through The Trident, access to the passage was reopened.
When they had arrived their they met a sect of dwarves that had been living on the surface for generations. All living around the base of the Giant's corpse.
After a conflict known as The Reforging, both cultures underwent a long integration process, before eventually unifying under one government.

Brotherhood of the Titan

The Brotherhood of the Titan are a class of dwarven society who alter themselves by consuming the flesh of the mountain giant as well as altering themselves to become as much like their Mountain Giant gods as possible. Essentially turning themselves into a separate race entirely, the Greydwarf. The Greydwarves consume mutagenic agents to try and grow their mass and increase their strength, starting from a young age of five or maybe six, when they are inducted into the Brotherhood. They are turned into a shade of grey not dissimilar to a Duergar, and their skin takes a stone like cracked form, as they begin to synthesize with the traits of the Mountain Giant. These traits will be passed on to their offspring, altering their familial line forever, and making the honoured family "One with Stone" it is considered a great honor to have your house selected by the faith to become Greydwarves. Typically a young one will undergo the process to enrich the families position.
Those who fail to transition fully have a chance of dying from the intense experiences of the mutagenics. with only around 60% surviving the process. Those who do perish are cremated, and their bones are used to craft items and tools for the Brotherhood to use.
Unlike the typical dwarves of the Akarok Dominion who venerate their ancestors, these grey dwarves worship the mountains themselves, and are in self imposed exile inside of the the Titan's Passage. They have a hidden city inside of the actual valley itself, where no dwarf outside of their culture has seen. They teach themselves the speech of the Giants, learn how to care for and clean the bones of the giant, and how to fight like giants, with reckless abandon and overwhelming force.
Their main charge is to protect the Titan's Passage, and they will challenge any trespassers to single combat on the spot. This combat is to the death and if the Greydwarf loses the battle, then the victor is allowed to pass through the Titan's passage freely, carrying the weapon of the slain dwarf as proof of passage.

 Greydwarf, resting after battle.

Type

Mountain Pass

Location under

The Trident

Owner/Ruler

Akarok Dominion