Crowing of the Forgeking

In the year 5450 BGW, thirty years after the founding of Dumatharun, the dwarves of Kharak-Dur stood at the precipice of a new age. The halls beneath the mountain had expanded into vast stone chambers, forges roared with the breath of Dumathar, and Drakthorite veins wound like rivers of fire through the deep. Yet, despite their unmatched craftsmanship, the dwarves lacked unity—a voice to bind the forgeholds together as one people.

Though the Forgefathers of each great hall wielded influence, the absence of a singular ruler led to disputes over Drakthorite, the forging of sacred relics, and the carving of new tunnels. Each forgehold worked tirelessly, but in isolation, their ambitions pulling in different directions. The mountain whispered not of discord, but of potential waiting to be shaped.

It was Brammek, one of the six Forgefathers of Dumathraun, who saw what the others could not.

The Vision at the Founding Stone

As legend tells, Brammek descended alone into the lowest chamber of Dumatharun—Nak-Tharud, where the deepest veins of Drakthorite pulsed beneath the Founding Stone, a massive slab of untouched rock said to be the first laid by Dumathar himself. There, he knelt before the stone, seeking guidance in the heart of the mountain.

For three days, Brammek gazed into the stone’s smooth surface, seeing not his reflection but the fractured faces of his kin—scattered, divided, and proud. The stone seemed to hum beneath his fingertips, and as the third night fell, the air shifted. Brammek, alone in the dark, spoke words that would echo through dwarven history:

"Stone remembers the hand that shapes it, but a thousand hands shape nothing if they do not strike as one hammer."

At that moment, the Founding Stone flickered with a faint light—Drakthorite veins surfaced across its surface, glowing like molten rivers. Brammek’s eyes remained fixed on it, unblinking, as he saw the vision of Dumathar walking the ancient forges, shaping the mountain into halls for his children.

When Brammek returned to his forgehold, the others saw a change in him. His gaze was unwavering, steady as stone, and his voice carried the weight of the mountain. From that day forward, he was known as Brammek Stonegaze, the Watcher of the Founding Stone.

The Crowning at Thrangrim

In the halls of Thrangrim, the Deep Forge, the other Forgefathers gathered to witness Brammek’s ascension. He did not claim kingship by force or decree but by consensus and reverence. The Forgefathers, seeing the mark of Dumathar’s favor upon him, each brought forth a relic from their forge—hammers, rings, and blades crafted in the deepest fires of their halls.

These relics were melted together at Thrangrim’s heart, reforged into The Crown of the Forge, a helm adorned with a single Drakthorite spire in the shape of an anvil. As the molten metal cooled, Brammek stood before the gathering, eyes fixed not on the crown, but on the flames that shaped it.

He spoke not of power, but of duty to the stone and kin.

"A Forgeking is no master of the mountain. He is its servant, its watcher, and its voice. As stone outlasts fire, so shall we endure—but only if we strike as one."

Brammek’s words became the first tenet of dwarven unity:
"Stone Does Not Forget."

The Forgefathers crowned Brammek beneath the glowing veins of Nak-Tharud, naming him Forgeking of Dumatharun and Keeper of the Deep Halls.

Legacy and The Line of Stonegaze

Brammek ruled for over four centuries, guiding the dwarves through the early expansion of Dumatharun’s halls and the binding of the forgeholds into a singular dwarven kingdom. His reign marked the creation of the Council of Forgefathers, a tradition that would continue for millennia, balancing the power between the Forgeking and the masters of each forgehold.

Upon his death, his descendants took the name Stonegaze in honor of his vision at the Founding Stone, ensuring the crown would pass to those who carried his unwavering gaze and the strength to hold the dwarves together.

In every coronation since, the new Forgeking has descended into Nak-Tharud, standing before the Founding Stone to await Dumathar’s blessing, as Brammek once had.

The Stonegaze line endures as the beating heart of dwarven rule—each king a watcher, never turning from the forge that binds their people together.