Gon
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I am Gon, Son of Unfol & Torna of the Fourth Noble House of Clan Runehammer of the Royal Bloodline of Stonehelm, the Rightful Thanes of <insert dwarf territory here>, Third in Line to the Lapis Throne.
I was born & raised within the Runehammer Estate, a much smaller dwelling than the halls of Stonehelm that had been usurped from my family a generation ago by the current false Thane when he murdered my grandfather & uncles because of their position between him and the throne. Only my father had survived & in order to preserve his life & those of his wife & children, he accepted defeat & swore fealty to the Usurper Thane. The First & Second Noble Houses had died out and the old king was the last of his line in the Third. Clan Runehammer should have been next in line to the throne. But the Fifth Noble House, the last of the Stonehelm bloodline after us, became over ambitious and decided to remove us from our rightful place, publicly assaulting us as an unworthy line, given our family tradition of worshiping the great wizard Corellon & devotion to arcane studies. He used this as a play to gain popularity so that when he performed his coup, our few allies remaining would either fall with us or choose not to come to our aid or share in our fate. It's no mystery that as soon as we had been removed as a threat that the old king died & the Usurper was raised up and made Thane.
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Time passed on while our family role & prestige in government & society became less & less through the Thane & his allies machinations. Eventually it became too much for my eldest brother Erudar to bear & against my fathers wishes he began to plot against the Usurper. This culminated in a terribly botched assassination attempt. Things spun out of control and the Thane and his allies used it as an opportunity to imagine all sorts of complex conspiracies against the throne. In the end, both of my older brothers, my father, an uncle & a cousin were executed for treason. I suspect the only reason I was spared was due to my age, being far too young for any credible charges to be brought against me. Clan Runehammer was disgraced, our noble house status & estate were officially dissolved. For a short time we found ourselves having to live amongst the common people in the lower wards. Not much time passed before we were gathered up one last time & brought before the Thane and Court. Clan Runehammer was officially stripped of all titles, rights & citizenship. We were forever cast out, exiled from <insert dwarf territory here>. Each of us, from elder to the smallest babe were taken before the seat of the Usurper Thane, where he & his Court would look down at us, declare that no dwarf nor friend stands before them & for us to leave the sublime realms below to the surface & sky where we belong. They would turn their backs & then the Hooded would take the hot brand from his anvil & mark each one of us. The mark of exile, one upon the back of our right hand and one upon the left side of our neck.
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We were escorted back to our temporary homes to collect our belongings & then through the city where we were ridiculed by the gathered masses in the great Hall of Gates. Instead of passage through the smaller doors that were more commonly used by dwarves & allies coming & going, the massive ancient doors were opened & we were marched out and on up the long sloping hall, each gate we approached opened ritualistically as a great dwarven family was cast out. Eventually we found ourselves standing in the frigid mountain air, the sky & sun above and the gates slamming shut behind us. For most of us, this was the first time we had ever seen the sky or sun & later in the night, the moon or stars. Some saw wonder in these things, some saw terror. In the first week, several of my kin took their own lives.
A family of priests, scholars, sages & wizards, we were not skilled in building houses or growing crops, especially on the surface. We traveled in search of a new home amongst others. Most of us remained together, though a few chose to strike off on their own in different directions. Small villages & towns had little use for us & the skills we brought to them. We eventually made our way to a city and made a home for ourselves there. Our scholarly skills were appreciated there & the family quickly earned a name, home & prosperity amongst the humans. Some of the family sought travel & adventure, hiring themselves out as mercenaries. The old hierarchy within the clan based on the line to the throne had been cast aside. While we all recognized that we were the rightful royal bloodline of the usurped throne. Some dream of amassing enough wealth & resources to one day return & take it back, but others have accepted life on the surface. The humans have accepted us in a way that the dwarven people never did. Our strangeness below that made people dislike us has become our strength topside. I personally do not crave the throne. My uncle & cousin sit before me in line anyway, but I would like to see justice done, the Thane cast down and honor restored to my clan.
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For now I seek more in life than to sit at my desk & work in the library, an honorable & respectful profession that I have taken pride in before, but I seek adventure. I seek fame & fortune. Wizardry is a respected profession amongst my clan & I trained with others under my mother & aunt. Now it is time for me to take leave of the family estates in the city & venture forth to make my mark in the world.
