Runekeeper Dazdurk

The preservation of runescript is vital to the Dwarves. They exalt the mystical language as the pinnacle of magic, believing it to be the purest way to access arcane power, and one that should remain unsullied by foreign hands. To ensure the development of runescript, specialist scholars known as Runekeepers study, catalog, and protect the secrets of this magical Dwarven calligraphy that allows them to imbue awesome power into metal and stone. It is the tangibility and tactility of runescript that the Dwarves adore – and desperately cling to – while the world above continues their studies of magic with spoken spells, potions, and other such like. During the Age of Hellfire, Dazdurk was a veteran Runekeeper working in the great libraries of the Skyiron Dominion when Siroth's Demonspawn armies burst out of portals throughout the world-spanning under-empire. While Dwarven soldiers equipped with tall runic shields and wielding long, script-laden spears protected the runescript archives, it was only a matter of time before their lines broke. As the years passed hall after hall fell to the Demonspawn, and the number of Dwarven dead rose to the hundreds of thousands. No counter-thrust could throw them back for long, and none of the few Runekeepers who ever found one of the monsters' portals to Anathraad could close one. Hammers blazing with runelight had no impact on the shimmering apertures. Carefully inscribed sigil-wards could not undo the portals' whirling magic. The only option, it seemed, was to collapse the tunnels around them, but even if the stubborn Dwarves were willing to countenance cutting off parts of their hard-dug territory, they knew that the portals themselves would remain intact, and thus forever be a danger. Future generations could forget their existence, and reopen the tunnels without realizing the immense danger, and the Demonspawn could carve a path through from the other side. Despite his position, Dazdurk had always kept his mind open about other forms of magic. He knew of the Aravian researchers of the arcane, the grand academicians of Ireth, and the scattered mages of the fallen Dragonkin Empire. Perhaps, he thought, their knowledge could help unlock further secrets of the runescript and help save the Dwarven under-empire from ruin. Unlike in Gloomdeep Hold, the Skyiron Dominion is composed of multiple cantons, each with its own Mountain King who holds sway over their domain. Dazdurk appealed to his canton's ruler, Hazdrul, to let him venture to the surface world, and learn with those in his field. He swore he would keep the runescript safe and would return with something that would both be the envy of the world and the scourge of the Demonspawn invaders. But these were the dark days of Dwarven isolation – it would be generations before the Dwarves allowed topsiders into their domain, or wish to interact with them. Hazdrul, exhausted, beset with disaster after disaster every day, was furious. The outsiders could offer them nothing they did not already have, he thundered. Dazdurk was thrown out of his Mountain King's hall in shame, but the Runekeeper's resolve was only strengthened. His people faced an existential threat, and even then their stubbornness was so great they would not give up their pride and seek aid. He would have to do it for them. As the Demonspawn continued their storming of his homeland, Dazdurk took up his mace, gathered his tomes, and began the long climb to the surface. No matter the danger, he would return with the knowledge he needed to save his people.