mateolog 1551 Share Posted August 12, 2022 [!] In front of you lies a large book. Its cover is made from finely crafted ebony wood. As one would open its pages a freshness would come through the reader as the smell of the forest would leave the pages. One would be able to read the common runes telling the tale of the Forest dwarves, however, the pages would be decorated with Seer staves in their dialect. History of the Forest Dwarves - Tome of Hefrumm ᚇᚔᚂᚄᚓᚐᚉᚆᚈ Dedicated to all those forest dwarves that died trying to live their lives as Anbella wished for them to do, and Yemekar shaped them for. Dedicated to the Chiefs and Clan Fathers/Mothers that fought and struggled for the sake of their clan and folk. Dedicated to all the High Chiefs of Hefrumm, those that were, those that are, and those yet to be. As we all know, the dwarven race alongside all other descendant races are native to the continent of Aegis. It is in this continent the father of all dwarves was born, Urguan. He bore multiple children with the mother of the whole dwarven race, Yudora. Their children were the elders of the dwarven race, the founders of the first clans of the dwarves. The clans we now call elder clans. There was the mighty mountain clans; Yavok’s Irehearts, Bongrin’s Grandaxes, and Ulrah’s Frostbeards, then there were the skilled clans of the cave dwarves; the Goldhands of Tungdil, Dwain’s Ironguts, Gotrek’s Starbreakers, and Velkan’s Ironborn. But there was ever only one forest dwarf child of Urguan; Gloin, founder of the Treebeards. Unlike other the mountain and cave dwarves the forest dwarves, despite gloin not being the youngest child of Urguan, were the youngest of the established subraces of the forest dwed. By the time of the Blood Age the forest dwarves were already detached from the other dwarven groups, many forest dwarves being divided into tribes of one clan living in isolation from both cave and mountain dwarves. There are different theories as to why the forest dwarves left the fold of the dwarves. One of the most popular ones is that Gloin went on exile after his brothers started to become distrustful of his habits, he enjoyed the forests, other races, and other cultures, which to some of his brothers seemed *****. So Gloin, to avoid further deterioration of relationships with his brothers, left. The other less popular theory would be that the collective greed of the forest dwarves clashed with the individual greed of other clans and slowly served to alienate themselves from other, in addition to their willingness to interact with other races, and cultures.There are other theories that claim that Gloin was actually exiled by his brothers as his interests in the forests and other folk seemed to them as a sign of disloyalty to the dwarves. No matter what the end reason was, the fact of the matter is that the forest dwarves left or were made to leave the folk, making them turn into different forest dwarf tribes. ᚂᚐᚑᚉᚆᚂᚐᚑᚉᚆ [!] Artistic depiction of the exile of Gloin Treebeard. The curse of greed was present in all dwarves. Mountain dwarves sought to achieve wealth and power through which conquest could bring more wealth which, and the cave dwarves greed represented itself in a lustful desire for gold, gems, and machinery that would enable them to extract more from the core of the mountain. However, Gloin’s greed was more focused on general hoarding, and it was not an individual greed, but a collective one. While other dwarves would become rivals to achieve their desires the Gloin and his children collectivized. They were greedy to be sure, but their sense of self was so tied to each other that giving to another forest dwarf was just like giving to themselves. ᚈᚑᚔᚂᚈᚑᚔᚂ [!] Depiction of a Treebeard traveler. As mentioned before by the time the Ironborn Empire, the Empire of Khorvad, rose to power the dwarves were already divided into different factions; The Kingdom of the dwarves, now ruled by said Empire of Khorvad, which ruled over multiple mountain and cave dwarf clans, the mountain dwarverves’ settlements and kingdoms, and the many tribes of the forest dwarves spread through the continent of Aegis. This breaking up into different smaller groups is possibly the reason why the forest dwarves do not have a native conception of elder clans. As all forest dwarves are descendants of Gloin they are all in one way or another Treebeards. However, as happened time and time again, the division of the forest dwarves caused problems as to who the ‘real’ Treebeards were. As many tribes were not aware of each other it was not uncommon for there to be more than one Clan Father of the Treebeards, or for someone to claim the title out of the blue. Because of this chaos some tribes just decided to create their own clans, especially once they realized that their culture had differentiated itself enough from their parent’s culture. This happened and caused the existence of multiple culturally diverse forest dwarf clans, and it continues to happen, as was the case when the Blackroots were born out of a culturally distinct part of the Cottonwoods. To forest dwarves it is a natural process of cultural evolution, and due to their collective mindset this is understood and no recorded grudge has ever come out of such divisions. ᚇᚏᚐᚔᚑᚉᚆᚈᚇᚏᚐᚔᚑᚉᚆᚈ [!] depiction of a Forest dwarf creating a rune Despite being divided into different tribes and clans, forest dwarf groups still traded with other groups and were aware of their neighboring tribe’s existence. This allowed a web of trade to happen among the tribes which enabled cultural development, and general skills to be passed on from tribe to tribe. They were divided but they lived in peace, fufilled, and they learned from one another. Culturally this is considered one of the best times for the forest dwarves, as they were able to write down their knowledge and pass it on to later generations. It was with the rise to power of the Ironborn dynasty and the birth of the Empire of Khorvad that it all changed. ᚉᚂᚒᚉᚂᚒ [!] Depiction of forest dwarves using a now lost magic. The once free dwed were now being hunted by the Empire, enslaved, their villages burned, and their shrines and culture destroyed. Those that were not killed or enslaved fled moving even further away from their dwedkin, the migration was so large that the trade web that once somewhat united the forest dwarves collapsed and each tribe was left to fend for themselves. During this time more clans formed out of their complete isolation. Back in the empire however, the enslaved forest dwed were all denominated Treebeards by the Ironborn once more, as their elitist Empire could not conceive of lesser clans. Most of the enslaved dwed accepted the change as they were infact descendants of Gloin and saw no shame in the name, and those that were too prideful to renounce the history of their people were quickly disposed of. The line we call Treebeards today is this line of dwed, the one captured by the Ironborn. It was this line as well that when the Mountain dwed kingdoms rebelled they joined. For this the forest dwed were welcome to stay in Urguan. The now freed treebeards were grateful and tried to live alongside their mountain and cave kin. However, many other forest dwarf groups had left and never looked back. Some did try to join the Treebeards, they became bloodlines within the clan. However, with time many returned to the wilds, and eventually the forest dwarves as a group disappeared from Urguan. It was common for many of them to become druids, farmers in other kingdoms, or just continued to be singular tribes. Based on the building records of Aegis one can suggest that it is possible that lack of forest dwarf friendly buildings and areas could have forced forest dwarves away from the kingdom just through an indirect and possibly unconscious alienation in the community. This returned the forest dwarves back to a state before the Ironborn, but lacking the knowledge the Ironborn destroyed. ᚋᚋᚔᚋᚔᚄᚄᚋᚋᚔᚋᚔᚄᚄ [!] Artistic depiction of a Treebeard killing a creature serving the Ironborn. Due to their division from other dwarves the culture, traditions, and beliefs differ from the mainstream ones of the centralized dwarves. Forest dwarves due to their travels were more centered around the core of belief and the meaning rather than how a belief is wrapped around. This allowed many to associate many parts of the Aspects and Druidic teachings to teachings of the Brathmordakin, particularly Anbella, Belka, and Dungrimm, a group of Braths that would later be coined the Tribunal. This did not mean that forest dwarves ever stopped worshiping the other Brathmordakin, it is more that the Tribunal served more as patrons of the forest folk, particularly Anbella. This was eventually accepted by the larger dwarven community. As attested by our oldest Treebeard sources at hand some forest dwarves back in the early days of the folk even took the form of plant dwed. The first to be recorded doing this was Thudrin the Spirit druid. He had such a strong connection to the aspects and hence to the Tribunal and the other Brathmordakin that he turned into a plantfolk, our records lose track of Thudrin in Elysium and Kalos. ᚋᚔᚄᚋᚔᚄᚋᚔᚄᚋᚔᚄ [!] Artistic depiction of Thudrin Treebeard. In Thales, from 1463 to 1469 very few forest dwarves were seen. This leads us to assume that something was happening in the different forest dwarf tribes, communities, and villages, that caused them to not be seen by the other peoples of the world. My guess would be that just like at times some mountain dwarves or cave dwarves retreat to isolate themselves in their mountains or caves during hard times, so too the forest dwarves retreated into the forests. Historical records on Thales do show that the weather there was harsh and that many people chose to move to cities for safety. My theory would be that due the harshness of the weather and since coming together with other folk was not an option due to safety, many forest dwarves just sought refuge as they have done in the past, deep inside the forests. ᚋᚔᚄᚅᚓᚐᚉᚆᚋᚔᚄᚅᚓᚐᚉᚆ [!] A Treebeard hunting in the forests of Thales. During Anthos the forest dwed Hagan Dawnsworn wrote an essay on the forest dwed. In his essay he wrote about similar things as mentioned here so far. But one of the things he touched was the fact that many exiled dwarves of other subraces ended up in the company of forest dwarves, and he seems to suggest that this is one of the reasons for the forest dwarves’ richness and diversity in culture and religion. Dawnsworn goes as far as to suggest that the faith of the Brathmordakin as we know it today was passed down to the forest dwarf tribes by exiled religious dwarves from the Ironborn Empire. While I could certainly see this being the case for isolated tribes that had lost their culture due to the Ironborn incoursions, it is hard to believe this to be true for all forest dwarves. However, some forest dwarf tribes and clans do seem to have a mixture of beliefs that are clearly originating in the Brathmordakin but had changed drastically over time. The example that comes to mind would be the Oakenmar tribe of Asulon, a tribe that worshiped Anbella and Ursol. Anbella clearly being the Brathmordakin, but Ursol we would need to look at as his epithet to understand his origin. Ursol had an epithet they seemed to call him by; the ‘Huntsman’, dwarven god of the hunt. In dwarved history there have been many dwarven gods usually worshiped by a clan or two that have existed alongside the classical Brathmordakin, especially in communities disconnected from a center of government. My guess would be that Ursol is a god formed in an attempt to reconcile the Aspect of Cernunnos with the Brathmordakin or just dwarven faith. More studies on this might be required. Other clans in Asulon like the Mossbeards were more aligned to a classical view of the Brathmordakin, however, they added the worship of the aspects to their beliefs. ᚔᚂᚔᚂᚓᚓᚔᚂᚔᚂᚓᚓ [!] Depiction of a forest dwarf religious ceremony. As the descendants started to colonize Vailor the forest dwed continued to live in their communities. There was one forest dwarf clan that returned to live in Urguan, with lands gifted to them by the grand king Drynn Ireheart, these were the Entsmelters. As the name suggests these forest dwarves did not care much for the natural world, and had according to records a strong dislike for Treebeards and druids. This would explain why they were so short lived as they broke away from a lot of forest dwarf traditions. It is likely that their tribe eventually just merged with the mountain dwarf population. Their dislike of Treebeards could suggest a possible rivalry between the two clans, or maybe that the Entsmelters were indoctrinated to hate them by a clan that knew of the Treebeards. ᚔᚓᚔᚓ [!] Depiction of a young Knud. During the Frostbeard rebellions of Verthaik, Kerwyr, and Verthaik II the forest dwarves did not get involved in any significant manner. For centuries they have now lived alone and rejected by the larger dwarven community. Records show that there were forest dwarves living at that time. However, most if not all were living among the elves, the druids, or the tree themselves.The rebellions which many saw as the breaking up of the dwarves probably did not seem like their problem, nor like the breaking up of the dwarves. It is likely that instead, a forest dwarf living at that time would have thought that the dwarven race was already split since the forest dwarves were not a part of Urguan. This would explain the lack of forest dwarves on the side of Urguan loyalists or of rebels. In fact, one of the few instances we have of forest dwarf presence was the emergence of the Cottonwood clan during this time. Their history also supports the fact that the forest dwarves did not feel connected to the conflict going on as during the conflict between Kaz’Ulrah and the dying old kingdom of Urguan Boldrumir Cottonwood was able to make his Clan into a commoner clan in both fighting kingdoms. Other forest dwarves like the Iron druid just did not get involved. Most forest dwarves could not see the conflicts affecting them in any way. ᚇᚔᚂᚄᚓᚐᚉᚆᚈᚇᚔᚂᚄᚓᚐᚉᚆᚈ [!] Depiction of Boldrumir riding his mighty Boar. But it did affect them, something that they did not expect was that this new division would actually be a changing point for them. With the fall of Urguan and the establishment of the Frostbeard Kingdom of Kaz’Ulrah many dwarves fled the Frostbeard’s regime. Those that left were the oligarchs of the corrupt old regime (whose totalitarianism allowed the even more totalitarian Frostbeards regime to rise), and the collectivist dwarves that were centered in the wellbeing of the subraces for the wellbeing of the whole race, influenced by the middle way. As we saw before exiles and refugees end up one way or another meeting with the forest dwarves, and that is what happened. ᚉᚏᚑᚌᚐᚉᚏᚑᚌᚐ [!] Depiction of a battle in Verthaik II’s Frostbeard Rebelion. The most important encounter between exiled/refugee dwarves and the exiled dwarves was the encounter between the Hammerforge and Silvervein Clans and the Steelheart bloodline of Frostbeards, and the tribe of Boldrumir Cottonwood. These dwarves lived jointly in a shared valley, the Cottonwoods had their side with their village, the Hammerforges had their hall, and the Silverveins and Steelhearts had Azgaraz. These dwarves remained doing their own thing, the Silverveins and Steelhearts were Frostbeard by blood and were considerate of the need for a corrupt system like was old Urguan to fall, but did not care for Kaz’Ulrah’s undwarven hyper aggressive nature, meanwhile, the Hammerforges fought for Urguan and did not like the Frostbeard’s destruction of Urguan, but they did not like the corrupt leaders that caused its fall, and the Cottonwoods, as any other forest dwarf did not have a strong opinion on the matter. These were clans that had no grudge against each other, and that before now had never met each other, hence had no history of grudges amongst them. This allowed Norkai (exiled Frostbeard) of the Steelhearts and Edel Silvervein to start their attempts to create a union. At first it was with the mountain dwarves as at the end of the day they had more in common than with the forest dwarves. For the next few years the mountain dwarves would be building their own nation. ᚄᚔᚑᚉᚆᚐᚔᚅᚄᚔᚑᚉᚆᚐᚔᚅ [!] Depiction of the Gate of Azgaryum and Norkai’s Tower in Azgaraz. While the mountain dwarves were doing their thing the Cottonwoods continued to grow. Eventually this allowed the Cottonwoods to use their position to open themselves to other forest dwarf clans, this was the plan of the Chief Bjor Cottonwood. Many clans joined the Cottonwood village, the Oakhide clan, Beastforge clan, and a branch of Treebeards led by Ozneat. It became a village of all forest dwarves. The chiefs and clan fathers of the clans and tribes experienced a never before unity, and Bjor Cottonwood converted his village into Hefrumm. It became a nation of Forest dwarves. ᚈᚓᚐᚌᚆᚂᚐᚉᚆᚈᚓᚐᚌᚆᚂᚐᚉᚆ [!] Depiction of Paragorn Bjor with his fellow Cottonwoods. Atlas was a good time for the forest dwarves. While for every other dwarven subrace Atlas was a time of division, for us it was a time of unity. Forest dwarves from all over came to join this new confederation of forest dwarves. Soon enough there was the necessity to appoint a leader to lead the confederation of clans. An election was made, in it all the chiefs and clan father voted for Bjor Cottonwood to become the first High Chief of Hefrumm. Among them was the legendary forest dwed; Mossbeard. Mossbeard granted Bjor with a crown with magical properties. A crown that in the future he would pass down from High Chief to High Chief, inspiring and giving the High Chief the wisdom of their predecessors. Hefrumm was much more great in numbers to their neighbors, however, they never saw them as enemies nor ever sought to steal their territory. Hefrumm and the Mountain dwarves would eventually create a federation of nations called the Confederation of Hammers. Here the High Chief and the leaders of the mountain dwarf clans would meet and decide united the future of the Confederation of Hammers and its policy. The High Chief was clearly the highest among them as he was not the chief or clan father of a clan, he was the leader of a whole subrace, but yet he accepted to be at their level for the sake of everyone's progress, afterall forest dwarves are collectively minded. Despite the mindset of the High Chief there were a small group of Cottonwoods that had been influenced by the Frostbeards of Kaz’Ulrah and sought to usurp the title of High Chief by force and conquer the Confederation of Hammers. The attackers were disarmed and exiled, the confederation believed deeply in the holiness of dwarven lives. This event made Hefrumm and the larger Confederation realice that they were now discovered by Kaz’Ulrah and their targets. ᚋᚔᚄᚅᚓᚐᚉᚆᚋᚔᚄᚅᚓᚐᚉᚆ [!] Depiction of Paragon Bjor defeating Frostbeard raiders. Kaz’Ulrah took no time to deem the Confederation of Hammers as an illegitimate nation. They could not take the Confederation down from within so they tried to destroy it themselves. The Frostbeards fought many forest dwarves of Hefrumm during their raids on the Confederation of Hammers, their crops burned and stolen. Yet Hefrumm prospered and dwarves kept coming. Every time they lost a brother or sister to the raids the determination of the forest dwarves to fulfill what their mountain dwarf brothers wanted, a dwarven unity and respect for each other. Kaz’ Ulrah got so desperate that they had to ally themselves with the orcs to deal with these dwarves that they officially did not even consider a nation. Through these raids and many adventures Bjor Cottonwood became close with Utak Ireheart. Together they fought the enemies of the Confederation and were able to lead it to great heights. The forest dwarves of Hefrumm knew what they had to lose if Kaz’Ulrah was able to get them to leave their lands, a continuation of eternal solitude for their people. They have all experienced such pain, a pain now made greater knowing that there are dwarves willing to see them as equals and their ways respected. ᚉᚏᚑᚌᚐᚉᚏᚑᚌᚐ [!] Depiction of the boar riders of Hefrumm. Time passed and more clans were leaving Kaz’Ulrah, there was an attempt to reform Urguan but the old regime of the fallen kingdom tried to take control of the rebuilding process and it failed. Hefrumm welcomed the mass exodus from Kaz’Ulrah as it allowed many to come to the Confederation and start seeing the forest dwarves as a people. Eventually, the Confederation and Hefrumm allied themselves with the Grandaxes of Kal’Bogrin, together they were able to start the reformation of the unity of dwarven kind. After decades forced to live in separation many dwarves had now tasted what most forest dwarves had gone through for their whole lives, and so they were much more receptive to the needs and perspectives of the folk of Hefrumm. Most of the Confederation and Kal’Bogrin merged to create Agnarumm, meaning mountain dwarf, and so there was a unity between forest dwed and mountain dwed. Soon enough Kaz’Ulrah was destroyed, it had made too many enemies, and so like the Ironborn before them they crashed under the weight of their sins. ᚅᚓᚐᚉᚆᚅᚓᚐᚉᚆ [!] Depiction of the last remnants of the Frostbeards of Kal’Tarak defeated by the Empire of Man. With the fall of Kaz’Ulrah and the unity of the dwarves restored it was but a matter of time for Urguan to be restored. Agnarumm willingly gave up its existence to turn its institutions into the basis for the Underealm of Urguan, while Hefrumm’s position as a nation of the Confederation was not touched. Hefrumm was a part of the Confederation but despite assisting and supporting the union to create Agnarumm it never joined it as an entity and remained as its own political entity. This was fine for a time as Hefrumm folk were fine living and letting live, and the larger Urguan received food and resources from Hefrumm. By 1707 all Frostbeards not children of Azkel Frostbeard were exiled, this caused some Frostbeards that had not sided with Kaz’Ulrah to move to Hefrumm were they knew they would not be persecuted. Some time later from 1711 to 1712 the dwarves of Hefrumm partook in the war against the Khorvad worshipers of the dwarven Kingdom of Mynabor. At the same time Hefrumm also faced another front with the Red plague of Atlas, the Alars. These swamp creatures had laid claim to the southern swamps of Hefrumm. The creatures killed some forest dwarves but they were eventually defeated through the leadership of Bjor Cottonwood. Druid, ape folk, cat folk, halflings, elves, as well as some mountain dwed helped the forces of Hefrumm fight off these forces of Khorvad. High Chief Bjor Cottonwood warned Urguan of the threat of the Alars but nothing was done about them. Being left alone allowed the Alars to follow Urguan into the new continent of Arcas. ᚔᚂᚄᚓᚔᚂᚄᚓ [!] Depiction of an Alar. In Arcas Bjor stepped down as High Chief, Thorin Treebeard became second High Chief. With his lack of transparency and seemingly light support for Hefrumm’s clans’ interest the chiefs and many dwarves left Hefrumm. To avoid the death of Hefrumm elections were soon called to try to find a better suited leader. Thorin’s new ways were not liked and forest dwarves wanted a return to Bjor’s days. Probably hoping that Bjor would guide her Hefrumm chose Erika Cottonwood, Bjor wife as the third High Chief of Hefrumm. Erika tried her best to do what Bjor did as High Chief, this stopped clans from leaving Hefrumm, but the numbers of dwarves remained critical for some years. This crisis was followed by the death of Bjor Cottonwood himself. In 1715 Bjor gathered a militia of forest dwarfs and dwarves from the larger Kingdom to march on the Alars, who he had discovered infested the caves of the realm. These creatures had a venomous bite which could turn their enemies to stone. After killing the Alar queen the forces of Bjor were able to collapse their tunnel, killing all the Alars and saving the realm from their threat. The dwarves celebrated as Bjor was the last one to come out of the Alar’s cave but when he did he was carrying with him two beardlings. Sadly, Bjor was bitten in the battle and was deathly wounded. By the time Bjor was taken to Hefrumm his body was already almost stone. He was able to say goodbye to everyone, and told them all to keep the unity of the forest dwarves alive, that they should love and care for one another. Everyone across the mortal planes mourned the death of Bjor Cottonwood. One of these was the Preceptor of the clergy at the time Baldin Frostbeard. He fought the Alars with Bjor and presented the situation and called for Bjor to be named Paragon at a clergy meeting. The High Preceptor Fili Grandaxe accepted the call as legitimate, and so they discussed and voted. All the Preceptors agreed that indeed Bjor is a Paragon. Through this decision Bjor became the first forest dwarf to ever become a Paragon. His petrified body was kept in Hefrumm and to this day where his remains are in Hefrumm that place becomes the holiest place of the village. Some dwarves did not approve of making Bjor a Paragon. These dwarves did not understand the value of an individual who was able to make a group think collectively with care for each other, who at the same time taught tolerance towards other groups so one could learn from them. ᚋᚔᚄᚋᚔᚄ [!] A mythical rendering of Paragon Bjor defeating the Alars After the death of her husband the High Chief Eerika Cottonwood collapsed under the weight of her responsibilities. Around the same time in 1717 new elections were called for a new Grand King of Urguan. The runners were Gimli ‘Metalfist’ Grandaxe who was a famous member of the Confederation of Hammers and Atandt Irongrinder a dwarven aristocrat that returned to Urguan once it was recreated by the Confederation of Hammers and Kal’Bogrin. Clearly the outspoken voices of Hefrumm sided with Gimli as he had fought the raids of Frosbeards and orcs alongside them in the past and was a trusted dwarf. Destiny chose differently and despite the Hefrumm vote and the vote many other dwarves Atandt Irongrinder won. Obviously some dwarves in Hefrumm were not pleased by this and feared the Irongrinders would try to intervene in Hefrumm matters. Hefrumm needed solid leadership and many saw the crisis at hand as too big of a burden to bear. This left the window open for the zealous Treebeard, Ozneat to the take the challenge. Ozneat Treebeard was from a different Treebeard branch to Thorin Treebeard and in fact they did not get along. Ozneat was able to rally the forces of Hefrumm in such a way they became a strong military force. The Thorns of Hefrumm under Ozneat and the Confederation hero Utak Ireheaart who was now the Grandmarshal were able to become an official militia to protect Hefrumm’s dwarves. Ozneat as the fourth High Chief Ozneat brought growth and religious education into Hefrumm. Back in Kaz’Ulrah Ozneat was the High Prelate of Ar Yemarin Anaros and educated young beardlings on the Brathmordakin. Ozneat was already elderly when he became High Chief and soon enough old age got to him and he had to step down. The son of Bjor Cottonwood, Beorn was elected as the fifth High Chief. ᚋᚐᚈᚆᚐᚔᚏᚋᚐᚈᚆᚐᚔᚏ [!] Depiction of Xergarok Blackroot recollecting Mushrooms. In 1727 a decade after his election Atandt stepped down as Grand King, many dwarves both in the capital and in Hefrumm saw his ways as the same as the ways of the Urguan that allowed its ego to ebale the Frostbeards to take them down and divide the dwarven race. Utak Ireheart was elected as the new Grand King of the dwarves. Utak was best friends with paragon Bjor and hence also was very close to his son, High Chief Beorn. During the time of Beorn Hefrumm prospered. New forest dwarves returned to Hefrumm every day and the lack of interventionism on Hefrumm made many comfortable staying. High Chief Beorn also became close with the High Preceptor of the time Baldin Frostbeard. The High Preceptor granted the village of Hefrumm with the title of Kirkja (holy). He was also aware that Hefrumm had a hard time receiving a religious education catered to them and hence encouraged them to return to the ways of the older religious forest dwarves like Chelsea Treebeard’s Seers chapter so that they could learn and be connected to the Brathmordakin in such a way that fits their people. Eventually, this order was created and a new seer chapter was formed in Hefrumm. Beorn joined the seers and with the help of another seer of his clan Karl Cottonwood they made Hefrumm into a place of knowledge of the faith of the Brathmordakin. While Baldin was leading the clergy, Hefrumm was able to continue developing their culture and their clans had freedom to interpret the Brathmordakin in such a way that it made sense to them. This growth in religious learning and teaching created a new subculture in the Cottonwood clan. These Cottonwoods were more centered on faith, teaching, and contemplation rather than hunting and boar riding. The leader of this subculture was Karl, Beorn recommended the division of the Cottonwood clan into two clans. Karl suggested the creation of clan Blackroot and a list of the Cottonwoods that would join him. Chief Maggie Cottonwood and High Chief Beorn Cottonwood would allow for the division of the Cottonwoods between the Blackroots and Cottonwoods, the Blackroots becoming a more religiously and knowledge centered clan as opposed to the hunting focused of the Cottonwoods, the clan would be led by Chief Karl Blackroot.The development of Hefrumm started to attract clans that once had Forest dwarf ancestry like the Emberhorns. Beorn’s rule was prosperous and attracted many forest dwarves and even welcomed non forest dwarves to the village. This caused a population boom, leading to a golden age in Hefrumm not seen since Bjor Cottonwood. ᚑᚌᚐᚑᚌᚐ [!] Cottonwood depiction of the elections of 1768 and High Chief Beorn Cottonwood stepping down. The Emberhorns were thriving in Hefrumm and they soon were a major force in the village. The Emberhorns were able due to their numbers to get their clan father to be elected as High Chief of Hefrumm, Odhavir Emberhorn became the Sixth High Chief of Hefrumm. His rule was a dark one for Hefrumm. As soon as he became the High Chief his clans members vanished and soon so did he. Odhavir left Hefrumm without a leader. The Chiefs did not know what to do in this circumstance and many went into a state where they could not fulfill their duties making the new crisis even worse. During the rule of Odhavir 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. ᚏᚑᚏᚑ [!] Cottonwood depiction of High Chief Karl taking Hefrumm into Almaris. As the seventh High Chief Karl’s rule was prosperous and the number of forest dwarves and events increased. The events occurring in the village caught the eye of Baldin’s successor Norli Starbreaker. He saw some of the events going on as against clergy orthodoxy and tried to stop Hefrumm from doing their events and ceremonies. Hefrumm continued supporting their local traditions and swiftly ignored the demands of the new High Preceptor. They agreed to meet with him to discuss their disagreements but Norli would not budge. Through this talks the Seers of Hefrumm decided on a policy of doing what they know is correct and letting the clergy do their thing. Since Baldin no clergy member ever came to preach to Hefrumm and their ways they knew was a form of bringing knowledge to their fellow dwed hence they did not stop. Norli knew this to be the case as well and once held a candle ceremony in Hefrumm. Norli’s main dwarf in Hefrumm was Thorin Treebeard. Thorin communicated the feelings of Norli’s clergy often and at first was very critical of traditions in Hefrumm. ᚋᚔᚄᚅᚓᚐᚉᚆᚋᚔᚄᚅᚓᚐᚉᚆ [!] A mountain dwarf’s rendering of the Thorns of Hefrumm. With time Thorin joined the Seers as well, but remained being the main mouthpiece of the clergy in Hefrumm. As the only Treebeard around Thorin Treebeard also laid claim to the title of Clan Father of the Treebeards. This title was supported by the people in the capital and there was no one in Hefrumm that disputed such a thing as they all had their own clans. This changed when the return of Ozneat’s Treebeards to Hefrumm. Despite Ozneat not leading them his Treebeards tried to take over the clan and place a new Clan Mother, Ulvi Treebeard. Karl Blackroot did not automatically agree with this take over and called the courts of Hefrumm to seal the matter. The Chiefs of Hefrumm came together as the tribal court to hear the cases of the two claimants of to the Treebeard Clan leadership. Thorin brought with him the Staff of Gloin, Ulvi’s Treebeards were however nowhere to be found. Because of the lack of presence the case was given to Thorin. Thorin now once again Clan Father of the Treebeards proposed to call Lekso, Ulvi, and Norazod and all their descendants Leafhearts instead of Treebeards. As Thorin was the new Clan Father Karl did not oppose any decision he made on his clan. As he was High Chief Karl left the position of Chief of the Blackroots. 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 as the Chiefs did not make use of the political power bestowed to them by the Hefrumm constitution. This resulted in very little communication between the chiefs of the clans and the High Chief. ᚂᚐᚑᚉᚆᚂᚐᚑᚉᚆ [!] Depiction of Hefrumm dwarves fighting the Inferi. 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 decided to interpret this informality as a legal proposal for a vote for the election as is the right of every chief. 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. 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. ᚉᚏᚑᚌᚐᚉᚏᚑᚌᚐ [!] Depiction of High Chief Yazmorra Blackroot teaching her fellow forest dwarves. Breaking with the 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. 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. Hefrumm and the forest dwarves prospered during the reign of Yazmorra. During it the number of Clan beardlings rose drastically and new forest dwarves brought life into the village. 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. ᚋᚔᚄᚋᚔᚄ [!] Artistic depiction of High Chief Yazmorra Blackroot, Grand Queen of Urguan. Once more the forest folk came together and elected a High Chief, the ninth High Chief. This honor went to the clanless forest dwarf Qrue. Qrue had no experience in government, he was a savant of drugs and very popular in the village, but he did his best. His first challenge was having to deal with the war against Krugmar. At the time there were two sides in Hefrumm, the forest dwarves that called for neutrality and those that called for aggression against the uruk nation. Qrue tiptoed between one side and another without making a final decision. This angered some people inside and outside of Hefrumm but he was able to maintain his position in the village thanks to the support of the general population. Hefrumm needed peace and Qrue could give it to them. During his reign the tavern became a place of joy and fellowship once more and so did the puffden. This general well being helped the seers teach more and more dwarves about the brathmordakin, developing the culture more and more. The Green collective in Hefrumm also increased in popularity with multiple bryophytes and sporophytes finding their homes in Hefrumm. This same prosperity also increased the number of dwarves which started their druidic dedicancies. ᚉᚏᚌᚉᚏᚌ [!] Depiction of Bhodi, Chief of the Cottonwoods. As some time passed the Grand Queen of Urguan and Chief of the Blackroots Yazmorra started to become weakened by all her obligations. Her clan’s folk saw this and her children called for new elections for the clan. Yazmorra, Mao, and Celeste’Tol Balckroot participated in the elections, which Celeste won. At the same time Qure’s leadership as High Chief started to waver, and without strong chiefs Hefrumm was in another crisis, Blackroots became the only clan in Hefrumm with any political weight in the village and it did its best to keep it together. Celeste’Tol as Chief of the Blackroots called for High Chief elections as was her right as chief. The elections were set up and dwarves nominated. A voting booz was set up, however, it was burned by Thorin Treebeard. Thorin declared the nomination of nominees was not done in accordance with the constitution of Hefrumm. This action angered the Blackroot clan as they were not even aware that Thorin was still around but since there was now another Chief to nominate candidates Celeste agreed. Celeste’Tol Blackroot was not able to attend the nominations and sent her halfbrother Mao Blackroot to give the Blackroot nomination. In the Chiefs’ Council the Blackroots nominated Celeste’Tol Blackroot for the next High Chief, when it came to Thorin he demanded a change of the laws of Hefrumm to change the High Chief system. This was refused by High Chief Qrue, the Blackroots, and all assisting as the nominations had already started and Hefrumm needed leadership. Thorin choosed that the nomination for the Treebeard clan be a random elf/Halfling that was visiting the village. The foreigner was clearly distraught by the idea of having to run for elections that had nothing to do with her but she accepted at the end nonetheless. To no one’s surprise Celeste’Tol was elected as the tenth High Chief of Hefrumm. ᚋᚔᚄᚅᚓᚐᚉᚆᚋᚔᚄᚅᚓᚐᚉᚆ [!] Depiction of High Chief Celeste’Tol Blackroot. Like Yazmorra Blackroot her daughter Celeste kept the title of Chief of the Blackroots and High Chief. During her reign she tried to bring Hefrumm to its former glory. Celeste kept the neutrality of Qure during wars and did her best to have yearly meetings with the Chiefs and the folks of Hefrumm. Hunting expeditions increased during her rule and overall Hefrumm was kept alive. During her reign the Mossborn clan joined Hefrumm thanks to the appearance of their Chief Garedyn the Mossy. Another new addition to the village was Vigr Treebeard who became the new clan father of the Treebeards. Vigr was an old Treebeard and actually had much knowledge of the earlier days of the Treebeard clan. Meanwhile Garedyn and Celeste were able to reinvigorate Hefrumm, Celeste pushed religious knowledge and forest dwarf culture through seer events and hunts. Meanwhile Garedyn brought Hefrumm back to a position of standing in the Grand Kingdom, becoming the leader of its navy and the Grand Steward of Urguan. Garedyn was the first forest dwarf to ever lead the Urguan navy, and the first forest dwarf to be Grand Steward of Urguan. During this time Hefrumm suggested a law in Urguan, a law drafted by Garedyn with the assistance of the other chiefs of Hefrumm; Vigr Treebeard, and Mao Blackroot. When the proposal was brought to the capital there were some political leaders like Norli that refused the proposal as long as the name of Mao was on it. For the sake of Hefrumm the Blackroot’s chief’s name was removed. This obviously angered both the Blackroots and members of Hefrumm who saw it as a disrespect towards Hefrumm. Two public letters were made between Mao and Garedyn to call out the actions of these individuals, however they were grossly misinterpreted by the capital itself. ᚋᚔᚄᚋᚔᚄ [!] Navy recruitment poster for Hefrumm. Despite the growth in the numbers of Hefrumm High Chief Celeste’Tol Blackroot decided to step down. The council of Chiefs declared that there was going to be new elections and fathered to select the nominations. Mao of the Blackroots and Vigr of the Treebeards both nominated Garedyn the Mossy to run for High Chief, meanwhile the Cottonwood clan under Bhodi nominated Bhodi himself for the position. As per the constitution of Hefrumm the Chiefs’ Council led Hefrumm. During the speeches for the elections the words were passionate and spoke truth. Bhodi Cottonwood questioned if the fate of the village should be left up to such a young chief as was Garedyn, and promised that if he was elected the politicians of the capital would not push Hefrumm around without consequences. Meanwhile, Garedyn’s speech was less incendiary as Bhodi but did put up similar points and his exploits and chief of the Mossborn. During the question round Bhodi was questioned for the lack of efficient leadership in the Cottonwood clan during the years of his chiefhood. Garedyn was also questioned on the matter discussed previously where Mao’s and the Blackroots’ name were removed from the law suggestion for Urguan. Both chiefs answered their questions, some like Xergarok did not seem pleased with the answers of either, but the majority of dwarves were satisfied. During this time the Golden Leaf Concordat was established where the Grimgold clan became a Vassal clan of Hefrumm. This was a strategic move from Hefrumm’s chiefs to avoid the spilling of dwarven blood as the Goldhand clan were in the process of attempting to get rid of the Grimgold clan. The forest dwarves had invested all they were in the rebuilding of Urguan and they would not allow its division because of the need for domination of one clan over another. The Goldhands seemed to understand Hefrum’s position and made Hefrumm know that they would not involve Hefrumm in the issue and would not spill dwarven blood. ᚓᚐᚉᚓᚐᚉ [!] Depiction of High Chief Garedyn of Clan Mossborn. The suffering of our people through history has given us an unique identity within the dwarven race. We are forest dwarves, brothers to the mountain dwarves and cave dwarves, but still our own. Our shared transgenerational experience informs who we are today, and who we are today will inform those that come after us. It is true that our history with our fellow cave and mountain dwarves especially before Hefrumm was difficult. However, when it counted, and especially during the Confederation of Hammers, the reformation of Urguan and in our current age, we have died alongside one another as the brothers and sisters we are. May the tales of Hefrumm be heard in Kaz’A’Dentrumm eternally, and the names of its heroes and friends never forgotten. High Chiefs of Hefrumm Bjor Cottonwood, founder and first High Chief Thorin Treebeard, second High Chief Ozneat Treebeard, third High Chief Eerika Cottonwood, fourth High Chief Beorn Cottonwood, fifth High Chief Ordvair Emberhorn, sixth High Chief Karl Blackroot, seventh High Chief Yazmorra Blackroot, eighth High Chief Qrue Grasswhistle, the ninth High Chief Celeste Blackroot, the tenth High Chief Garedyn Mossborn, the eleventh High Chief ᚋᚋᚔᚋᚔᚄᚄᚋᚋᚔᚋᚋᚔᚋᚔᚄᚄᚋᚔᚄᚄ 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_RoyalCrafter_ 3241 Share Posted August 13, 2022 Wondahfull en ensoightful Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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