Blackroot History, From the Boar age to the beginning of the Owl age.

[mateolog 1551]

In Honor to all the Blackroots, to those alive, to those yet to be born and to those watching over from the realms of the Brathmordakin. Our journey will is long, let us not forget where we come from so we may know where we are going. -Mao Blackroot

 

Clan Blackroot is a dwarven clan that has derived from the Cottonwood Clan. The clan was legitimized as a proper forest dwarf clan by the current High Chief of Hefrumm at the time; Beorn Cottonwood. The founder of the Clan, Beorn's cousin; Karl Blackroot, was a Seer of Hefrumm at the time and the de facto Religious leader of the village. Because of this Beorn offered the creation of a new clan where the focus of hunting (from the cottonwood clan) would be switched to spirituality. Soon enough when it came to spirituality, the clan Blackroots led Hefrumm’s faithful.  Like any other Clan of Hefrumm, the Blackroot clan keep track of history by keeping track of the rule of their High Chiefs. The Blackroots are proud of their history and records. To better know the period of time historians speak of  for each High Chief the Blackroots give an Animal Character, which is used as a symbol for said High Chief, and for each High Chief an age is dedicated

At first what would be the Blackroots were just Cottonwoods and some other forest dwarves that sought to learn from the world the path of the Brathmordakin. Soon this group formed the Dverga eron da Kirkja Rhun, an early form of the Hefrumm Seers. Eventually these individuals grew close and branched away culturally from the cottonwoods. Hence, the group now called Blackroots asked for Maggie's blessings to break away into a new clan, the Cottonwood clan mother accepted glad to see the Hefrumm develop culturally. In this way the Blackroot Clan is one derived from the Cottonwood Clan. After some time the Blackroot clan proved to be reliable, bringing its dwarves to events and holding events for the folk of Hefrumm. To no one’s surprise the clan was legitimized as a proper forest dwarf clan by the current High Chief of Hefrumm at the time; Beorn Cottonwood in Arcas. Beorn decided to accept his cousin the Seer Karl Blackroot was chosen as the first chief of the Clan and considered its founder. The Blackroots became the de facto Religious head of the village. To avoid hoarding this power non-Blackroot seers were encouraged to join the order. The religious presence the Blackroots had on Hefrumm was seen as dangerous by some dwarves, especially those composed of the Kirkja Dverga leadership. This led to multiple clashes between the now formed Seers and the Clergy of Da Kirkja Dverga. To the Chief of the Blackroot the attempts of the clergy to regulate Hefrumm’s culture was unacceptable. This was an addition to the fact that it seemed to the Chief that the clergy was chasing him down after having chased his father who was the previous High Preceptor from Da Kirkja Dverga. With these two relative truths in mind Karl became an isolationist and only left Hefrumm if it was to accompany the High Chief to the Capital. 

 

[!] Depiction of an argument between the High Chief and the High Prophet.

 

These events caused the Blackroots to be considered an odd group of people that practice exotic rituals, and have traditions alien to the dwarves of the Capital. To the dwarves of Hefrumm however the Blackroots were viewed completely differently. As an offshoot clan of the Cottonwoods the two got along quite well, and this rippled to the other clans of Hefrumm. Those in Hefrumm appreciated the activity the clan brought to the village, and they enjoyed having religious dwarves teaching them. For many years some dwarves in Hefrumm had felt a sense of abandonment by the clergy which tended to focus its sight on the dwarves of the capital, and when they came to Hefrumm seemed to ignore any cultural differences between the culture of the capital and hefrumm.

 

[!] Depiction of the High Prophet Norli angered at High Chief Karl’s Seer activities.

 

Eventually elections were called on the 3rd of Sun’s Smile, 1768, with over 200 forest dwarves attending the grand hall of Hefrumm to listen to both Beorn’s speech and those of the two contestants, Karl Blackroot and Ordvair Emberhorn. It was that day that Ordvair Emberhorn got elected as the Sixth High Chief of Hefrumm.

 

[!] The Golden Tusked Boar, the  Blackroot character for  High Chief Beorn.

 

For decades the Blackroots continued their labors in Hefrumm, growing in number. Sadly, during the rule of Odhavir the Sixth Hefrumm fell into decadence. Chiefs of Hefrumm disappeared with only the Chief of the Blackroots being left. This left the clan as the main power of Hefrumm. The Blackroots during these times continued to teach their folk and were the main source of events for the clans. It was the Blackroot clan that through Karl Blackroot created Hefrumm’s first constitution under decree of the High Courts of Urguan. It was shortly after the completion of these documents that new elections were called for in the absence of Ordvair who had not been seen in years. Both Chief Karl Blackroot and Chief Bodhi Cottonwood  ran during these elections. They would promise to return Hefrumm to its former glory, though Karl offered more specific ideas of how to do so, which resulted in his victory  in the year of 1780. Although Karl’s victory met criticism for his appearance from some dwarves of the capital as he had been touched by the Fae a few years prior, having a skin of bark and a beard of vines, he did bring new promises and hope to the village of Hefrumm and its forest dwarven kin.

 

[!] The Ember Horned Ram, the  Blackroot character for  High Chief Odhavir.

 

During Karl’s rule as High Chief the rank of Chief of the Blackroots was unofficially left vacant. Since the Chiefs of the other Forest dwarf clans were unavailable to lead Karl asked the Folk Council for it to take the powers of the Chief’s Council until Hefrumm had more chiefs. In this way the voice of the clans was kept safe, and the tyranny of a Chiefs’ Council led only by the High Chief was avoided for prosperity. The Blackroot clan did not grow much in the Age of the Magpie, it mainly just picked up the numbers lost in the previous age. It was not until the arrival of the Seer Yazmorra Blackroot, that the Blackroot clan was able to elect a new chief of the Clan. Karl created the legislative skeleton of Hefrumm and was a strong protector of Hefrumm’s autonomy and rights. Due to this stance some individuals that preferred a centralized nation opposed Karl’s reform from the outside, vetoing Hefrumm’s proposals any time they could.  The Chiefs Council was during this time weak with barely any power. This resulted in very little communication between the chiefs of the clans and the High Chief. 

 

[!] Depiction of High Chief Karl leading the settlement of the new continent.

 

 

This eventually ended up in the High Chief and the Clan Chiefs having different goals in mind, with the friendly feedback from some clan leaders of the capital as well as those that sought to taken advantage of the incongruence to damage Hefrumm’s unity as well as it as an opponent in the political arena. Eventually Chief Yazmorra Blackroot and Bhodi Cottonwood met with Karl and suggested it was time for change. Karl accepted the event as a proposal for a vote for the election. With this mindset Karl called for a Folks Council where there was a general agreement to hold a new election to legitimize the High Chief if he was reelected, or replace him if someone else held the support of the people. 

Knowing  he would lose such a vote, the reason for the process was just to make sure that the democratic tradition of Hefrumm was upheld and for the sake of following tradition. In his speech the High Chief gave his last words to the public, thanking Hefrumm for allowing him to achieve the goals he promised to achieve when he was elected. During election time Karl had gone missing, it would have later been assumed that he had died. Once his death was known the race became one of two candidates, Yazmorra and Bhodi. The Chief of the Blackroots was able to gain the necessary votes of the people, and a few days later she would be crowned as the Eighth High Chief of Hefrumm.

 

[!] An artistic interpretation of Karl killing a beardless dwarf as Urguan authorities watch, with the spirit of Urguan behind approving of the act.

 

 

[!] The Wooden Beaked Magpie, the Blackroot character for High Chief Karl.

 

Breaking with Blackroot tradition  Yazmorra held both the title of Clan Mother of the Blackroots and the title of High Chief of Hefrumm. Yazmorra was the mother of the village, with no one having an ill image of the High Chief. During her rule she adopted and raised Mao Blackroot the reincarnation of the former High Chief Karl Balckroot.

 

[!] High Chief Yazmorra sitting with her adoptive child Mao Blackroot.

 

Yazmorra married Levian'Tol Grandaxe who would later become Grand King of Urguan, making her Grand Queen through marriage. This made the Blackroots the first forest dwarf clan to ever hold the title of monarch of Urguan. During her reign the number of Clan beardlings rose drastically. To this age the clan remained the biggest clan in Hefrumm thanks to the increase in births of new dwed, many children of the High Chief. Yazmorra continued to do her duty as Clan Mother, High Chief, and Grandqueen at the same time. Despite being able to do her duties Yazmorra’s strength wavered and she saw it best to give up some of her duties. With this in mind she gave up the title of High Chief.

 

[!] The Wooden Sparrow, the Blackroot character for High Chief Yazmorra.

 

 

The age of the Monkey is the time of the rule of Qrue Grasswhistle. In his rule Hefrumm’s dwarves witnessed the war against Krugmar. Controversially the High Chief during this time tiptoed between a neutral stance to the war and approval of it, indecision that displeased all parties. Despite this Qrue’s allies were able to keep him in his position as Hefrumm was not in a situation for inner turmoil. During his rule there was a point made to continue to have the tavern of Hefrumm in use, something that was successful for the most part. In the age of the Monkey the seers continued to grow however their role in developing the culture of Hefrumm was hindered by the lack of political leadership of this age. The action of individual seers were able to increase the prevalence of the Green Collective in Hefrumm, leading to an increase of Bryophites, as well as the restoration of the Hefrumm library.  Another success of the High Chief was the restoration of the puffden, an honored tradition in Hefrumm since the times of Arcas. With the increase of  intellectuals and savants in the Blackroots there was an increase in numbers for those learning the Druid path.

 

[!] Depiction of High Chief  Qrue seeking council from the Blackroots.

 

During this time the presence of the Chief of the Blackroots was noticed. Grand Queen Yazmorra was still the Chief of the Blackroots, but her role as Queen of the dwarves was, according to some, taking her attention away from the wellbeing of the clan. For this reason and according to tradition an election was called with the blessing of Yazmorra. In the elections there were three candidates; Yazmorra Blackroot, Mao Blackroot, and Celeste’Tol Blackroot. Celeste’Tol won the elections with both Yazmorra and Mao eventually supporting her claim.

 

[!] Results of the Blackroot elections during the Age of the Monkey.

 

However, the age of the Monkey burned too bright and soon its light burned out. The Blackroot clan was left with the task of holding Hefrumm together as the sole clan of Hefrumm with any political weight. The end of the Age of the Monkey was a dark one, one with very little hope. Celeste’Tol Blackroot called for High Chief elections in the 45th year of the second age, as it was her right. Mao Blackroot, Celeste’Tol Blackroot, and Buske Silvervein. Qrue oversaw the elections, for the most part they went without any problem. With the exception of Thorin Treebeard burning the voting booth. Thorin wrote a letter showing anger towards the process not following the law of election for Hefrumm established by High Chief Karl Blackroot and the individuals running, making Buske Silvervein leave the run. Celeste, Mao, and Qrue agreed to start over the elections due to the votes being burned, Buske leaving the race, and to appease Thorin. During the election meeting for nominations Thorin Treebeard tried to call for a vote to change the law, since the election already started as per the law and tradition Thorin wanted to follow to begin with the proposal was rejected. In the meeting the Blackroots were represented by Mao Blackroot who nominated Celeste’Tol. No other clan nominated any other person, with the exception of the Treebeards represented by Thorin Treebeard, sources are unclear if he nominated an elf or a halfling. What is noted is that said elf/halfling showed clear uneasiness to even run in a chance to run Hefrumm. Celeste’Tol ended up winning the High Chief elections.

 

[!] The Winged Stonehands Monkey, the Blackroot Character for High Chief Qrue Grasswhistle

 

 

The rule of Celeste was called the age of the owl, the current age we are in. During her rule Celeste tried to bring Hefrumm back to its former glory. In many ways she was successful, with the castes becoming active again creating new structures for them. Despite this her rule still suffered from the Hefrumm population decline from the monkey age. The decline of population also affected the Blackroot which despite all odds continued to represent the largest and most dynamic part of Hefrumm. Celeste, like her mother, kept the title of Blackroot chief while acting as High Chief, this caused a complete change of tradition as now it was completely up to the High Chief /Chief of the Blackroots to choose to keep both titles and responsibility.

Time will tell what the age of the owl brings, but with the blessing of the tribunal we shall overcome.

 

[!] The Flamewinged Owl, the Blackroot Character for High Chief Celeste’Tol Blackroot.

 

 

Karl Blackroot, First Chief of the Blackroots, Seventh High Chief of Hefrumm

 

Yazmorra Blackroot, Second Chief of the Blackroots, Eight High Chief of Hefrumm, Grand Queen of Urguan

 

Celeste’Tol Blackroot, Third Chief of the Blackroots, Tenth High Chief of Hefrumm

[Forestdwarfman 298]

"Arhh.. the Blackroot clan, mhe cousin 'asn't done so badleh." The bulky older Beorn Cottonwood grumbled with a laugh. "Ah foine addition to our kins historeh.." He mumbled, putting the writing away in his great records of all that is Hefrumm.