This week we saw our charismatic female dwarf make her
way into our random rolls. From the frozen north, residing in the Land of the
Linnorm Kings, we need to determine if her people are like all the other
dwarves of Avistan. Living underground with a mother and an older brother, she
died at one point during her childhood; A follower of the matron of the dwarven
pantheon Folgrit she values strict adherents to tradition–being Lawful
Neutral–above all things. So what did we do with all of this information? What
kind of character did I make?
First, let's talk about matching the creative process
with the mechanics. Researching the Land of the Linnorm Kings it seems that not
much lives up there other than the Ulfen, dwarves, gnomes and a lot of fey. To
me, that means the dwarves there probably don’t fight a lot of goblins as is
common with the standard dwarves. In looking at the alternate racial traits I
saw that there is not only a trait to replace this defense against goblins, but
also a trait to link her to the fey that permeate the land. I decided to swap
them out.
The normal dwarf greed and stonecunning traits became fey
magic. I did this because there is an invisible rift into the first world up
there. Fey magic means the character gains the use of Cure Light Wounds,
Enhanced Diplomacy, Purify Food and Water, and Stabilize once a day each as
spell-like abilities. I also exchanged the Hatred ability for the Giant Hunter
ability to make the frost giants of the frozen wastes her people’s natural
foes.
As for class, I chose Bard. You’ll see why in the story,
but this means I also rolled on the background chart for Bards on the random
background generator.
Bard Training: [Gift] Someone gave you a special
instrument or a collection of songs and stories at a time in your life when you
needed them most. You have treasured this object above all other possessions,
and it started you on a path to new songs and stories.
In the frozen wastes of the Land of the Linnorm Kings,
only the hardiest of dwarves can eke out a meager living. Although their
dwellings below the surface protect them from the worst of the cold weather,
the land is notoriously short on veins of ore. The dwarves near the crown of
the world mostly live there out of habit and stick to stonework instead of
metalwork to fill their desire to toil.
The Coldforge family were once one of the few mining and
forging dwarf clans in the north. When the vein of iron went dry and the forges
went cold they had to stoop to becoming farmers in the fungus fields for one of
the bigger clans. Bruness and her brother, Irngel were born into the Coldforge
clan at this, their lowest point.
In her early years, Burness was always fascinated with
the stories of her family’s life, back when they made weapons and armor for the
other dwarf clans. Her brother thought of these dreams of old as fanciful,
telling her that one day she would work like all the other members of the
family. He counseled her to give up on the stories of the past and live in the
future.
Although even the stone underground seemed frozen, there
were many pathways around the small subterranean town in which Bruness lived.
Some of these led to vast caverns that the dwarves used for storage. Others led
deeper into the bowels of the Darklands. On occasion creatures from the deep
would push their way closer to the surface and raid the dwarven village.
When the young dwarf was barely out of her thirties a
raiding party of duergar attacked the town. They specifically hit the mushroom
fields in an attempt to take off the workers as slaves. Bruness and Irngel were
in the fields with their father that day and he stood forward to defend them.
Bruness was frozen in terror as her father mounted his defense. The child
turned to find her brother but Irngel was nowhere to be found. Bruness’ father
died that day, and for a few moments so did Bruness.
Bruness’ death was short lived. Something in her began to
warm, not just her body, but her soul from the inside. The warmth spread and
she was healed, although still gravely injured. The young dwarf was carried out
of the fields and brought to her mother. The town was so small that they had no
healers of their own, as such Bruness was confined to her bed as she healed.
After her convalescence, Bruness lived as normal a life
as could be had in the cold tunnels beneath the Land of the Linnorm Kings. She
took up the faith of Folgrit, learning from the songs and stories in the book
her mother gave her. Irngel eventually took up the life of his father, toiling
in the mushroom fields. Burness fell in love with another young dwarf who
toiled in the fields as well. If life had remained this way maybe, just maybe,
the Coldforge family would have remained whole.
Eventually the duergar again attacked the fungal fields.
They took Bruness’ one true love and a few others. Burness was there again,
this time with more ability. She hid for sure, but she watched and she saw her
own brother receive payment from the dark dwarves. Not only that, but she heard
him admit his allegiance to the evil dwarven god Droskar.
Turning on your own is one thing but submitting to the
worship of Droskar is quite another. Bruness was torn because it was her own
brother, but turn him in she did. She went to the elders with what little proof
she had. The questions raised were difficult for her brother to deny, but he
did—just long enough to make his escape into the tunnels, presumably back to
his Duergar masters.
With her family torn apart, her one love lost to
the halls of the duergar, and the still lingering painful reminders of the
initial attack that left her injured, Bruness Coldforge had only one place she
could turn to. The book of tales that her mother gave her. In her time of need, the words and songs in
the book got her through. Not only that, they gave her power.
For many years the dwarves of her town hadn’t had a
cleric, but the power of the songs made Bruness a healer. She discovered within
herself the ability to heal the injured, and in some cases cure the sick. She
became not only a healer for her people, but a historian. Caring for her people
as Folgrit would for her own children, she counseled them to keep to tradition. To
keep the tendrils of Droskar from finding their way into others, the old ways
are the best ways. She believed the songs would not only heal, but keep the
hearth of her people still burning.
All of that information has congealed into the story that
is Bruness Coldwater. During the week I’ve seen some interesting backgrounds
from other readers, but not from all of you. So what would you have built? Who
is your dwarven follower of Folgrit? How did you make your decisions when
fashioning a background like this?
Stories and songs are the heart and soul of human
existence. If the stories I tell spur your own imagination, then consider
contributing to my Patreon. Check out the Patreon page for a video
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Come share your stories with everyone else.
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