The High Forgemaster serves as the paramount leader of Ironcrag, elected for life by the Council of Elders from among the most respected clan heads, with the role emphasizing wisdom in mediation over raw authority. Ironcrag's society is built on enduring clan loyalties and a deep-seated value for craftsmanship and resilience, where disputes are resolved through ritualized challenges or forge trials to prevent outright clan wars.
Clan elders, representing the major dwarven and goliath families, comprise the Council of Elders, which governs daily affairs through consensus-driven debates in Deepforge's grand halls. Membership is hereditary but can be challenged via feats of strength or ingenuity, ensuring only the capable retain influence. The council handles resource allocation, trade policies, and defense strategies, with the High Forgemaster acting as a tiebreaker in deadlocked votes, though overreaching decisions can spark ritual feuds that test clan bonds without descending into chaos.
A network of guild masters from the mines, forges, and quarries advises the council, providing expertise on economic matters, but their input is non-binding and often contested by rival guilds vying for favor and contracts.
Individual Clans have home holds in their chosen area of Ironcrag, usually in Deepforge or one of the other large populations centers, however they will all have a major presence in Deepforge regardless of where their home hold is located. Clan members are most populous in and around their home holds but they often live and work in other areas across the nation as well. There are 7 major dwarven clans, and 3 major goliath clans that comprise the council of elders. Dozens of smaller clans exist, though they usually swear fealty or broker alliances with one of the major clans.
Dwarven Clans:
Hammerborn Clan - Known for the love of hammers, both of as useful smithing tools and as blunt weapons in war. A Hammerhorn warrior may fight with a one handed hammer and shield, or wield massive two handed hammers. Based in Deepforge.
Lavaheart Clan - Experts in volcanic forging; specialize in weapons tempered in lava flows, yielding heat-resistant arms that glow with inner fire. Based in Deepforge.
Deepdelve Clan - Underground explorers and cartographers; specialize in mapping hidden veins and combating subterranean threats like earth elementals. Based in Deepforge.
Boulderbreak Clan - Quarry masters of the Shattered Face; specialize in extracting stone despite landslides, using engineering to stabilize treacherous terrain. Based in Hammerhorn Village.
Summitguard Clan - High-altitude foresters in Summit Forest; specialize in harvesting ironwood for tools, adapting to thin air and cold. Based in Ironwood Glen.
Stonefist Clan - Masters of defensive engineering; known for carving unbreachable fortifications and traps in the Eastern Slopes' tunnels. Based in Cragwatch Keep
Elderstone Clan - Council mediators; specialize in ritualized feuds and legal arbitration, ensuring clan ties endure without war. Based in Deepforge.
Goliath Clans:
Thunderpeak Clan - Storm-hardened scouts and berserkers; known for enduring Westmount Wilds' eerie glows and hostile entities. Based in Stonevein Village.
Frostcrag Clan - High-elevation endurance experts; known for surviving Summit Forest's thin air, harvesting resources dwarves deem too risky. Based in Ironwood Glen.
Earthshaker Clan - Avalanche controllers; specialize in stabilizing Shattered Face landslides, using brute strength for engineering feats. Based in Hammerhold Village.
For additional inter-clan politics see 'Ironcrag - Clan Politics'
Ironcrag approaches other nations with a pragmatic focus on trade and mutual benefit, prioritizing secure exchanges of resources while fiercely defending their convoys and borders. They adhere closely to the Veilsea Accords to maintain stability for commerce, using Thaloryn's mediation to resolve disputes and avoid entanglements that could disrupt their industrious pursuits.
Duskreef: Ironcrag maintains a wary trade relationship, exchanging sturdy weapons and armor for smuggled relics or slaves, respecting the pirates' cunning but raiding back when convoys are targeted, often leading to Thaloryn-imposed sanctions. Interactions are limited, as Ironcrag's armored convoys are tough to breach, and Duskreef's swift ships evade prolonged engagements.
Korathis: Ironcrag is the primarily rival for Korathis in the production high-quality arms and armor, though they will trade to Korathis for use in the Crucible, fostering a respectful alliance based on shared values of merit through combat. They will occasionally mediate feuds between the two nations via the Accords to prevent escalation into broader conflicts.
Kragvost: Ironcrag views Kragvost as barbaric raiders but engages in cautious trade for raw furs and timber in exchange for tools. Other than the limited trade, Ironcrag has little use for the Kragvostians, and the defensibility of Ironcrag's shores make them an unlikely target for Kragvost raids.
Lumivale: Ironcrag supplies enchanted metals to Lumivale's arcanists in return for magical enhancements to their forges, maintaining cordial but hierarchical relations where Ironcrag's practical craftsmen often clash with Lumivale's elitist mages over contract terms.
Nyxumbra: Ironcrag avoids deep entanglements with Nyxumbra due to distrust of their necromantic practices, limiting interactions to rare trades of adamantine for alchemical reagents, with any violations swiftly reported to Thaloryn for Accord enforcement.
Sylvara: Ironcrag trades fore lumber and herbs with Sylvara, and for druidic wards to protect their mines from Veilbreak anomalies, sharing a mutual respect for nature's bounty but clashing over resource extraction methods that Sylvara deems exploitative. Slyvara has limited use for Ironcrag produced goods, but will make an exception for finely crafted swords and light armor.
Thaloryn: Ironcrag relies on Thaloryn as a trusted mediator and trade hub, providing raw materials in exchange for diplomatic support and knowledge, viewing them as essential to Accord stability and often aligning in sanctions against aggressors.
Valthorne: Ironcrag engages in robust commerce with Valthorne, supplying metals, arms, amor and tools for their markets in return for diverse goods, but monitors their slaving activities closely to ensure no bonded servants are mistreated in joint ventures. The largest clashes occur when Ironcrag sourced Dwarven or Goliath slaves enter Valthorne's slave markets in a great number.
Zephyris: Ironcrag trades lightweight alloys to Zephyris for aerial scouting services over their mountains, appreciating their freedom-loving ethos but finding their nomadic ways unreliable for long-term alliances, leading to occasional Accord-mediated disputes over airspace.