Icons Great Clans

The Great Clans

"Remember our Legacy. We are the inheritors of ancient honor and devotion to our people."
Though they were once the rulers of dwarvenkind, the days of kings and crowns is past. Still, the Urram Athair grant their lineages power and blessings, and while the wealth and prestige of the Great Clans may have tarnished with time, they still have plenty of both.

Usual Location

The Great Clans all maintain clanholds within Hammer Peak, and most also have other holdings in Caers Stormhold and Goldhelm, as well as some above-ground structures in the Vale itself. The Clanmoot elders all hold council in Hammer Peak proper.

Allies

• Though the Guilds and the Great Clans are allies outwardly, friction has existed between them for many dwarven generations. This friction has only increased with the assumption of governance by the Guilds, seizing it by bloodless coup from the Great Clans. Despite this, they do still work together to improve life in the citadels and the Vale, and many of the personal friendships between individuals of both groups are warm and real.
• Though many dwarves do not properly understand human spirituality, the Great Clans have long supported the Pastoral Sainted for the care they give to their people, as well as the lands that feeds hammer and anvil alike.
• Though the power of the Great Clans has waned significantly, they have long memories and maintain active alliances with the Sea Lords still. In many ways, nobility regardless of culture understand one another better than they do anyone else.

Enemies

• For some reason, the old and strange Grinnir of the Grinnirwood and the Great Clans have cause to dislike one another, likely leading to the original settlement of the Vale, when the Grinnirwood almost filled the cradle itself, and the Great Clans strove with fire and steel to clear it and make it habitable for settlers.
• For many a year, the caprices of the Queen of Frost were a source of great aggravation for the Great Clans. While her diplomats no longer need engage with the old dwarven nobility, old enmities die hard among dwarvenkind.
• It is enough for the Great Clans that the Urram Athair speak out against the horror of the Vundilan. They have vowed to stymie and destroy it, in time.

Unique Token Benefits

• Mercy of the Urram Athair: The clerics of the dwarven Great Clans can be persuaded to aid those who have completed sanctified tasks on behalf of the Revered Ancestors.
• Retainer's Quarters: Those who serve the Great Clans well may well be supported as a proper, traditional retainer, their living arrangements and food requirements met by their patrons.
• The Runehall Archives: Those who have accomplished tasks on behalf of the Great Clans may be granted limited access to the Runehall Archives, what may very well be the most ancient archives in the world, a source of great lore and history

Associated Groups

• The Black Shield: An order of dwarven hunters and warriors dedicated to protecting the Deep Gates, those great sealed gates between the Underroads and the Underdark. They battle the threats to the dwarven citadels in the dark places beneath the earth.