Marnak

Marnak Namewarden: The Carver of Echoes

  Domains: Memory, Names, Death
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Titles: The Namewarden, Keeper of the Last Echo, Chiselbearer
Symbol: A chisel over a standing stone, sometimes with a faint flame above it
Associated Region: Brynstone Range (especially Rootward dwarf communities), scattered shrines across Stonefell

 

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Overview

Marnak, the Namewarden, is a dwarven god who guards the boundary between memory and oblivion. He teaches that death is not the true end — only being forgotten is. Through the carving of names and remembrance rituals, Marnak’s faithful anchor the souls of the departed against the fading of time.
  Among the Rootward dwarves, Marnak embodies the sacred duty of remembrance, where speaking a lost name or carving it into stone gives the dead continued life in the world of the living.
  Marnak's creed is quiet and stern: to remember is to honor; to forget is to betray. His influence is most often seen in gravekeepers, name-carvers, and caretakers of memory across Stonefell and beyond.
 

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Depiction

Marnak is depicted as a weathered dwarf of middle years, cloaked in simple stone-gray robes. His hands are always shown stained with dust, holding a chisel and mallet poised against a blank stone. His eyes glow faintly with a dull golden light, representing the memory of lives long past. In sacred art, unfinished names often shimmer around him like fading constellations.
 

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Symbols

The Memory Chisel: A single artisan’s chisel bound with leather cord, representing the act of preserving a soul’s echo.
Standing Stones: Upright grave markers with runic names, often arranged in spiral or circle patterns.
The Silent Flame: A lantern or candle lit without ceremony at grave sites, symbolizing the enduring spirit of those remembered.

 

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Mythology & Origins

It is said that after Morgrim shaped the first dwarves, Marnak followed, carving their names into the living rock so they would never be forgotten by time, gods, or their descendants. When oaths were sworn, Marnak etched them. When heroes fell, Marnak preserved their names beyond death.
  Legends tell that Marnak once dueled a minor god of Forgetting and sealed him beneath the stone roots of the mountains, ensuring that memory would prevail over decay.
  His followers believe every true name spoken or carved with intention rings across the Echo beyond life, keeping the soul from being truly lost.
 

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Worship and Practices

Marnak’s rites are quiet and unadorned. Followers maintain graveyards, carve memorial stones, and speak the names of the departed during seasonal rites. Some sects mark their skin with the runes of loved ones who have passed, carrying their memory until their own deaths.
  Daily worship often includes carving a single rune or whispering a forgotten name into the earth. Memorial gatherings are solemn but fiercely honored, seen as acts of both love and defiance against the void.
 

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Clergy and Spiritual Roles

Namecarvers: Priests of Marnak who specialize in gravekeeping, memorial rites, and the carving of remembrance stones. Often serve as record-keepers for their communities.
Echo-Tenders: Spiritual caretakers who listen for "echoes" — lingering feelings, places, or stories where memory is fraying. They mend and anchor memory through ritual.
Lanternbearers: Lay followers who tend the Silent Flames in graveyards and during ceremonies, ensuring the light of memory never fades.

 

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Relationship with Morgrim

Marnak and Morgrim are seen as twin forces in dwarven myth. Morgrim builds — Marnak remembers. While Morgrim’s fire forges the future, Marnak’s stone preserves the past. The two are honored together in many rural dwarven ceremonies, especially where ancestral memory and craftsmanship intertwine.
 

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Public Perception

Marnak’s faith is respected but often viewed as somber. Rural dwarves, especially Rootwards, see his priests as sacred stewards. Urban dwarves appreciate his role at funerals and oath ceremonies but find his everyday worship too heavy for daily life.
  Outside dwarven culture, Marnak is largely unknown, though a few scholars and grave-clerics of other races have adopted his rites. His name is invoked whenever memories are endangered, lost, or celebrated.