The
Dwarfs were created in the caverns beneath the Mirrormist mountains of
Remar. Each of the seven sacred Ancestors, the last of the Stone
Gods, fashioned a great complex of cavern halls and galleries, and peopled it with mortals that they fashioned from stone. These subterranean cities were called the Foundryholds, one belonging to each great clan of the dwarven people.
Each Foundryhold and clan had its own hierarchy and system of rule, but the Seven were still as one, united by the knowledge of their shared origins. Their alliance was known as the
Heptarchy, a
Union of shared ancestry, lore, learning and crafts. It was here that the dwarfs learned to mine, to smell, alloy and work metals, and to cut and carve stone.
| Foundryhold |
Clan |
Heptarch |
| Dziam-kai (Adamant Castle) |
Dziam (Adamant) |
KaizhaKai a Dziam (Adamant Monarch of Monarchs) |
| Kwi-KraizHal (Greystone Works) |
KraizHal (Greystone) |
LekzhaKai Kraiz (Grey Lord of the Law/Grey Judge) |
| Kar-KrakzHal (Thunderstone Hall) |
KrakzHal (Thunderstone) |
Krakzha Kai (Thunder Lord) |
| Kar-MakhzHal (Blackstone Hall) |
MakhzHal (Blackstone) |
Kai Makhz (Black King) |
| Kar-UhlzHal (Whitestone Hall) |
UhlzHal (Whitestone) |
Murhk Kai a Oruz (Lord Dreamshaper) |
| Doh-EzhelzHal (Mottlestone School) |
EzhelzHal (Mottlestone) |
Melozha Kai (Lord of Song) |
| Fah-HahmzHal (Bloodstone Forge) |
HahmzHal (Bloodstone) |
FahzhaKai (Forgemaster) |
When the Cataclysm toppled the mountains, the Foundryholds were devastated. Many dwarfs were slain, the ancestral halls were toppled, and the Founding Shrines from which the first dwarfs emerged were lost forever. The survivors made their way to newer mountain caverns, where the clans mingled to create new social groups, new hierarchies and new identities.
Dwarf legend has long held that the Foundryholds were too strongly-built to be entirely destroyed, even by a power that levelled mountains. Many have tried to find the buried ruins in the Great Shield mountains. Explorers of the Blackstone Clan were looking for such remains before the clan's descent into the
Underhollows.
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