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.
• The Great Clans remember that the nightmares of the Vundilan started as they were becoming aware of their own waning power, and many of them can't help but feel that the strange, whispering entity was a harbinger of their downfall, if not an outright cause.