Stonefist Clan

Take Pride In Our Work, Do It Well.
Cut the Stone, But Do Not Weaken It.
Carve the Stone, And Do Not Compromise.
Trust In Stone, It Outlasts Us All.

— Stonefist Clan litany

Among the many clans of dwarves living on Erisdaire, there are relatively few who reside within the Empire's borders. This is primarily due to friction between the system of Imperial Law and how dwarves conduct themselves than anything else. Those clans who do live within Imperial territories are most often those who have adapted their traditions to suit the confines of Imperial Law. The Stonefist Clan is not one of these, having settled inside the Arichala Valley within the last generation. In less than a decade, they have become notorious for their staunch adherence to their own traditions as much as they have become desired for their skill at their craft.

Dwarves of the Stonefist Clan are educated in various aspects of work as stonemasons or quarrying, from the manual labor to inspection techniques. Those who perform the work take pride in providing the right cut and the right stone for the task at hand. Those who do the inspections and preparation work after stones have been cut and shaped are very cautious about presenting material as "acceptable". Finally, those who do the work of placing the stones and assembling a building are intolerant of mistakes which could waste all the work done by those who have handled the stones before them. This all means the Stonefist Clan provides superior crafts and services with regard to working with stone. It also means the dwarves are cheap, or quick in their work. While many are willing to pay for the quality of the work, the clan does not sell itself to just anyone - they will only accept work from outsiders who show proper respect. It is advised to offer a trade of services rather than merely leaving crates of gold outside their gates; the clan respects those willing to work.

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Culture

Culture and cultural heritage

The Stonefist Clan was originally a loose collection of stonemasons building the Grand Hall in the annals of dwarven history. When the Great Hall became lost to enemies of dwarvenkind, these masons banded together to fight their way free to the surface. Their goal was simply to survive, and assess the situation before making any serious plans. By the time the masons reached the surface, they had bonded together in pursuit of a single goal: the preservation of dwarven stonecutting techniques used to craft soaring vaults under the earth. Offering up prayers to the Father of Mountains and the Mother of Forges, they struck out in search of a place to found their home. They took over a slice of hills, building Stonefist Hall and using their talents to build defenses which would be difficult to breach by brute force. As the scattered dwarven clans began to reunite, the Stonefist were willing to offer their talents in exchange for work which they could not yet do themselves. They were able to train protectors, learn rudimentary magic, and establish farmsteads in order to assure their survival. This is when the Stonefist Clan began to truly define themselves. There are a great many epics which have been recorded about the clan's exploits, from the Last Stand of Vamanor to the more recent Siege of Giants. But most important to members of the Stonefist are a series of lessons passed from parent to child, and on to their children. These lessons were those learned during the building of the Great Hall, kept alive by oral tradition before opportunity allowed it to be recorded. This is a major reason why the work of Stonefists is coveted among dwarvenkind - it resembles the height of dwarven culture from the distant past.

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Historical figures

Vamanor the Fallen Victor. Among the first chiefs of the Stonefist there was a mighty dwarf warrior, whose skill with an axe was matched by their understanding of how stone behaved. During the early generations, when Stonefist Hall was still being built, a band of giants attempted to breach the hall in pursuit of treasure. Knowing the meager treasures held within the vaults would not satisfy the horde, Vamanor called forth any volunteers who would follow him outside of the surface gate. Once beyond the heavy steel doors, a team of miners rigged the doors so they could not open again, and thus began the Last Stand of Vamanor. Legends say the fighting lasted for weeks, as giants surged to the gates and were repelled. After a long silence, scouts used one of the hidden escape routes to investigate and found Vamanor with his great war-axe buried in the head of a frost giant... whose great crystalline blade likewise nearly clove Vamanor in two. On top of this, the steel gates showed no sign of the enemy having reached them - the only damage done to them was by the miners who sabotaged their workings.

Creshain the Deepmind. Not all leaders of the clan were given to the task of war, and Creshain was one of those whose talents lie in understanding the ways of the deep earth. After Vamanor's victory, the clan worked to establish escape routes which could not be easily followed back to the clan hall. Creshain was instrumental in keeping the paths difficult to navigate for the uninitiated, as his plan was simply to make it easy to leave but difficult to return through the escape tunnels. Myths say he reached a pact with some great being hiding in the deep reaches to provide this protection, but the truth has never been revealed.

Elmene the Suntouched. The common misconception of dwarves fearing the surface has some basis in their comfort using underground shelters to retreat into. Elmene, however, was acutely aware there were few ways to sustain a growing or prosperous clan without connections to the surface. She worked tirelessly to set up farmsteads among the hills near the clan hall, where the paths to the hall were hidden carefully even as the farmstead was impossible to miss. Elmene is credited with acquiring crops to grow alongside livestock, and even succeeding in adapting a relative of the wheat plant to growing underground - even if it requires some enchanted materials to make it work out.