Hearthkeeper
Overview
"Our Hearthkeepers are the ones who we rely on the most once everyone is settled. Not only do they keep our fires alive inside the settlements, but they are also our strongest non-warriors. They are our shamans, our light in the darkness, fire incarnate. They treat fire like a living being and understand it in a way normal dwarves - maybe except the Magmakin - can't comprehend.They keep the fire bowls alive with next-to-no fuel, they can raise firestorms and they can hold the heat inside stone and metal. Truly they are a gift of the gods."
A Hearthkeeper is more like a Shaman who has an affinity for fire than a Stonecutter or a Blessed. This means they are used as fire-wielding sorcerer and source for fire and heat inside the settlements. They keep the fires alive and re-ignite them if the hearth is going cold. A Hearthkeeper is very rare, so there are maybe ten Hearthkeeper around the entire clans.
Yes, clans. It is not only counted in the Stonekin clan, but throughout all of the clans the Dwarves have right now. Except for the Magmakin, they are basically an entire clan made out of very angry Hearthkeepers, if you want.
There is no reason why there are so few of the Hearthkeepers. Communion with Greybeard, the dwarven main god, bore fruitless. Not that he didn't answer, more that he had no idea himself. At least it sounded like it. He mumbled something about strong powers and having powers in check, but never elaborated on that.
Hearthkeeper are not also a source of heat and light, but also guides. Fire provides not only warmth, but also guidance. It provides rage, but also the calm of a bonfire, a heated blanket, the touch of a lover. It can consume like a storm, and also provide the necessary warmth to grow crops. It is full of opposites and the Hearthkeppers can keep control over it. Either they keep the settlement warm even with the tiniest amount of fuel or they conjure up firestorms which can anihilate armies.
Every clan provides shelter, food, and a bit of income in the currency of the clan. Hearthkeepers don't have large temples or even followers. They are venerated as they are and have a few more freedoms than other dwarves.
Because there are only a few Hearthkeepers in the entire dwarven race, they marry normal dwarves. Normal in terms of not being a Hearthkeeper. They can switch castes by this, marrying into nobility sometimes. Their children stay in the noble houses or the merchant families. Everything else would not be honourable.
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