Ash Mountain Clan
The Ash Mountain Clan were a proud and curious offshoot of the dwarves of Valeguard. A steadfast and hardy clan, they had a particular penchant for magic that was unheard of in most dwarven communities.
The Ash Mountain Clan was destroyed in 1837 CE by the Hemoclysm, a large-scale cataclysmic event that devastated their home, Ulzharrag, also known as the Ash Mountain.
The Ash Mountain Clan was destroyed in 1837 CE by the Hemoclysm, a large-scale cataclysmic event that devastated their home, Ulzharrag, also known as the Ash Mountain.
Structure
The Ash Mountain Clan is led by the Council of Eight, known as Azamar Thrynaz in Dwarven (‘Eternal Law’, in Common). It was composed of the eight masters of the schools of magic. The Council chambers were home to their most ancient and powerful tomes, grimoires, and spell-books. The council of eight had a rotating (ten year position) title of Magnus whose vote could be cast a second time if needed to break a tie, although this option was rarely needed.
Due to their population and extensive ties with the Ash Mountain Clan, the Mataktar Clan often had at least one (and occasionally two) permanent representatives at Council of Eight meetings. The Council of Eight took the contributions of the Mataktar Clan seriously and to this end, the Mataktar representatives were generally considered de facto council members.
Due to their population and extensive ties with the Ash Mountain Clan, the Mataktar Clan often had at least one (and occasionally two) permanent representatives at Council of Eight meetings. The Council of Eight took the contributions of the Mataktar Clan seriously and to this end, the Mataktar representatives were generally considered de facto council members.
Culture
The Ash Mountain dwarves’ society held commonalities with the rest of the dwarves in their artisanship, their appetite for feast and drink, and aesthetically-similar styling, though with a greater focus on and skill in cloth-work. The daily life inside the mountain was recognizable to anyone familiar with dwarven culture, but conversation about history and the craft of magic. Called snobbish and dainty by other clans, the Ash Mountain dwarves were no strangers to discrimination and their cosmopolitan halls were, alas, barren of most other dwarf clans. Fertile hillsides, prosperous lichen farms, and a large lake filled with fish had sustained the population for millennia. Their cuisine mostly based around those ingredients, though mammal and poultry meat were not uncommon at large festivals and important feasts.
The Ash Mountain dwarves produced a truly stunning amount of wizards and sorcerers, which was viewed by the Ash Mountain Clan as a gift from the mountain. Magic was an integral part of life, with many students of the eldritch arts starting their studies at very young ages. Most of the untrained dwarves could still produce a weak cantrip or two, simply because of the amount of magic in the air, and constant exposure to the invocations and gestures required to produce them. Individually, Ash Mountain dwarves were copper-skinned with dark hair and were average for dwarf height. Their clothing was generally made of fine cloth. Their architecture and stylings held the decidedly angular and hard-edged qualities that dwarven manufacturing do but with a few distinctions. Individual dwellings were carved into the stone with wooden facades built on the outside to give them a distinct look.
The Ash Mountain dwarves produced a truly stunning amount of wizards and sorcerers, which was viewed by the Ash Mountain Clan as a gift from the mountain. Magic was an integral part of life, with many students of the eldritch arts starting their studies at very young ages. Most of the untrained dwarves could still produce a weak cantrip or two, simply because of the amount of magic in the air, and constant exposure to the invocations and gestures required to produce them. Individually, Ash Mountain dwarves were copper-skinned with dark hair and were average for dwarf height. Their clothing was generally made of fine cloth. Their architecture and stylings held the decidedly angular and hard-edged qualities that dwarven manufacturing do but with a few distinctions. Individual dwellings were carved into the stone with wooden facades built on the outside to give them a distinct look.
History
In 176 BCE, Emperor Orin IV decreed that any of the 143 formerly-assimilated Dwarven clans can, by intra-clan referendum, choose to transition to being an Imperial vassal, or even outright secede from the Empire. Of the 143 clans, 95 announced immediate referendums.
In 165 BCE, fragments of several clans which decided to remain Imperial vassals broke away and took up residence in the Greater Rorack mountain range. One of these clans renamed itself the Ash Mountain Clan and began construction of Ulzharrag Proper.
In 165 BCE, fragments of several clans which decided to remain Imperial vassals broke away and took up residence in the Greater Rorack mountain range. One of these clans renamed itself the Ash Mountain Clan and began construction of Ulzharrag Proper.
Disbandment
Destroyed in 1837 CE by the Hemoclysm .
Military
Traditionally, the Ash Mountain Clan had very little in the way of a military, except for a small force numbering around 1000 that acted as a national guard. The Stoutfist dwarves were longtime allies, and their martial prowess and proximity to Ulzharrag provided most of the military power needed.
The First War of Coalescence (479 BCE - 523 BCE) changed everything. In the run-up to the Empire's attack, the Ash Mountain started retrofitting its airships and began building many siege engines. After stopping the Empire on their doorstep, the Ash Mountain developed a robust school for war-mages and finished construction of the Jabyd-Sal, which revolutionized life in the mountain and facilitated mass production of new war machines. With the new sense of civic pride and its advanced schools of magic, Ulzharrag quadrupled the fighting force of the Ash Mountain to nearly 4000 (2,500 ground troops and 1,500 warmages) and around 2000 more support personnel. This new army was one twelfth of the population of Ulzharrag at that time.
The Second War of Coalescence (701 BCE - 772 BCE)
The First War of Coalescence (479 BCE - 523 BCE) changed everything. In the run-up to the Empire's attack, the Ash Mountain started retrofitting its airships and began building many siege engines. After stopping the Empire on their doorstep, the Ash Mountain developed a robust school for war-mages and finished construction of the Jabyd-Sal, which revolutionized life in the mountain and facilitated mass production of new war machines. With the new sense of civic pride and its advanced schools of magic, Ulzharrag quadrupled the fighting force of the Ash Mountain to nearly 4000 (2,500 ground troops and 1,500 warmages) and around 2000 more support personnel. This new army was one twelfth of the population of Ulzharrag at that time.
The Second War of Coalescence (701 BCE - 772 BCE)
Foreign Relations
The Ash Mountain dwarves had few true alliances and treaties. Most mountain dwarves avoided the Ulzharrag, with only one clan engaging with them (even then so only at arm’s length), and two hill dwarf clans that would actively trade and interact with their people.
The Truehammer dwarves: Great stone workers and jewel traders that lived in a small city-state just northwest of the Ash Mountain. They traded jewels in exchange for the fish and crops the Ash Mountain Clan produced.
The Tharhak dwarves: One of the smallest dwarven clans, they had but one hall in a medium hill at the base of the Greater Rorack mountains just due west of Ulzharrag. The Tharhak dwarves were mostly glass merchants and goat herders. A peaceful clan, they looked to Ulzharrag for defense, and happily traded with the Ash Mountain in exchange for its protection and its advanced machinery.
The Stoutfist dwarves: A proud clan, quick to anger and steadfast in holding grudges; they resided due east of Ulzharrag. They traded with Ulzharrag for siege engines and advanced military hardware, such as airships. They had long been at war with the Bloodanvil clan to the northeast, who were bitterly hostile to the Ash Mountain.
Mataktar orcs: Ancient allies of the Ash Mountain, said to be one of the first alliances between orcs and dwarves. Their settlement lay directly to the north of Ulzharrag. They traded with the mountain for food, in exchange for their premium leathers and excellent bladed weaponry. The elite of the Ash Mountain guard worked with Mataktar blacksmiths to create the unique broadswords used exclusively by the guards’ captains. Mataktar orcs made up a quarter of Ulzharrag's, and many studied magic within its walls.
Aelnon Hierarchy: The Ash Mountain Clan maintained friendly relations with their neighbor to the south across Loch For, finding the humans there to be excellent trade partners.
Fifth Great Empire of Orin: The Empire was the Ash Mountains most bitter foe, facing off against Ulzharrag in the First and Second War of Coalescence, and finally in the Great War.
The Truehammer dwarves: Great stone workers and jewel traders that lived in a small city-state just northwest of the Ash Mountain. They traded jewels in exchange for the fish and crops the Ash Mountain Clan produced.
The Tharhak dwarves: One of the smallest dwarven clans, they had but one hall in a medium hill at the base of the Greater Rorack mountains just due west of Ulzharrag. The Tharhak dwarves were mostly glass merchants and goat herders. A peaceful clan, they looked to Ulzharrag for defense, and happily traded with the Ash Mountain in exchange for its protection and its advanced machinery.
The Stoutfist dwarves: A proud clan, quick to anger and steadfast in holding grudges; they resided due east of Ulzharrag. They traded with Ulzharrag for siege engines and advanced military hardware, such as airships. They had long been at war with the Bloodanvil clan to the northeast, who were bitterly hostile to the Ash Mountain.
Mataktar orcs: Ancient allies of the Ash Mountain, said to be one of the first alliances between orcs and dwarves. Their settlement lay directly to the north of Ulzharrag. They traded with the mountain for food, in exchange for their premium leathers and excellent bladed weaponry. The elite of the Ash Mountain guard worked with Mataktar blacksmiths to create the unique broadswords used exclusively by the guards’ captains. Mataktar orcs made up a quarter of Ulzharrag's, and many studied magic within its walls.
Aelnon Hierarchy: The Ash Mountain Clan maintained friendly relations with their neighbor to the south across Loch For, finding the humans there to be excellent trade partners.
Fifth Great Empire of Orin: The Empire was the Ash Mountains most bitter foe, facing off against Ulzharrag in the First and Second War of Coalescence, and finally in the Great War.
Mythology & Lore
The Ash Mountain Dwarves subscribed to the same Dawn War pantheon of gods of most Valeguardians, but with a few key narrative differences. Moradin was the most revered (as he was in most dwarven nations), but Ioun was strongly revered as well. Depicted in their work as distinctly dwarven, Ioun was considered the forlorn lover of Moradin and it was their distant love that set the dwarves on a more scholarly and arcane path from their kin, and also represented the emotional distance that left the Ash Mountain dwarves so removed from the affairs of other clans.
Worship
The Temple of Slate and Timber was a grand cathedral that used the opening of the volcano to channel light into beautiful stone- and wood-work inlaid with emeralds around midday.
While many of the Ash Mountain Clan held dear the stories, the religion itself was given very little day-to-day attention with no weekly devotionals, rather usually monthly feasts to honor the city's twin patron gods. It should be mentioned that Tharizdun was considered to be the most evil of the dark god of the pantheon and as such most anything made in the Ulzharrag was devoid of any sort of spirals.
While many of the Ash Mountain Clan held dear the stories, the religion itself was given very little day-to-day attention with no weekly devotionals, rather usually monthly feasts to honor the city's twin patron gods. It should be mentioned that Tharizdun was considered to be the most evil of the dark god of the pantheon and as such most anything made in the Ulzharrag was devoid of any sort of spirals.
DISBANDED/DISSOLVED
Sow Knowledge, Reap Wisdom
165 BCE - 1837 CE
Type
Geopolitical, Clan
Capital
Successor Organization
Judicial Body
Laws of the Ash Mountain Clan
- Knowledge is the source of both wisdom and power; study both or perish.
- Work to benefit the mountain - for through it, we are made, and for it, we must gain knowledge.
- Be kind to people of all creeds and backgrounds; just as knowledge has no prejudice, neither should you.
- Strive to make a positive outcome for your people and those who have shown respect for the mountain.
- Seek peace when peace is called for, but be steadfast in battle. Forgiveness is appropriate only when true remorse is shown.
- Every individual has their right to self-determination unless they trespass on others, then they must be taught peace.
Location
Controlled Territories
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