The Trial of a Hundred Hands

Overview

The Trial of a Hundred Hands is one of the most celebrated and improbable military victories in Dwarven history. Occurring outside the Dwarven city of Kaldur Hollow, the battle saw a hastily assembled force of bakers, brewers, and culinary apprentices repel a band of hardened surface raiders. The event is famed not just for the unconventional defenders, but for the legendary debut of The Stonebrow Loaf baked by the philosopher-baker Korrim Stonebrow amid the chaos.

Background

With Kaldur Hollow’s standing militia temporarily deployed to the Deepwalk Front, the Stonecradle Tunnels, a key trade artery for subterranean grain, hops, and salt, were left dangerously undefended. Seizing the opportunity, a group of Bleakmarch Marauders—known for their cruelty and flint-edged weapons—descended into the upper trade tunnels.

The only thing standing between the invaders and Kaldur’s granary vaults were a few dozen bakers, brewmasters, and apprentices preparing for the annual Feast of the Firedrake.

The Conflict

Under the leadership of Korrim Stonebrow, a respected philosopher-baker known more for poetic lectures than pugilism, the guilds organized a desperate resistance:

• Boiling Cauldrons were rigged in chokepoints.
• Scalding beer mash was weaponized and hurled from raised gantries.
• Rising yeast bombs—sacks of flour, hops, and raw fungi—were tossed into fires to explode in sticky clouds.
• Improvised weapons included oven paddles, barrel staves, and red-hot bread peels.

Korrim himself wielded a cast-iron dough hook and gave rousing speeches mid-fight, rallying defenders with philosophy, puns, and pride.

The Stonebrow Loaf

As a symbol of unity and defiance, Korrim baked a dense, unbreakable loaf of bread using emergency stock flour, volcanic salts, and a yeast strain cultivated during the siege. It was:

• Dense enough to block a blow from a raider’s mace.
• Nutritious enough to sustain fighters for days.
• Symbolic enough to become a lasting icon of dwarven culinary resilience.

A fresh loaf was carried into battle and broken ceremoniously by the defenders after each successful skirmish.