Singrim / Kimewyn Brightstone

You were born under the mountain which houses one of the great Dwarven Delves: the Glitterhold. Your family can trace its line back to Dwarves of the Stonebreaker Clan that ventured forth with others thousands of years ago to found this Delve. You were raised to respect the Duagnar deities that brought the Dwarves into this world, and from a young age, you showed a greater than typical interest in the ceremonies and lore that surrounded the deities and their interactions with the Folk of Cartyrion. Your family and close clan members expected that you would eventually enter the priesthood to serve one or more of these deities for the rest of your life, and at an early age, it seemed you had made the decision to do so.

You began your studies as all acolytes do - reading the ancient lore surrounding the Awakenings, the Founding of the Delves, and the many times that the Duagnar. But somewhere along the way, you also read of a sect of Dwarves that called themselves the Spirit of the Mountain. There were priests among this group, but there were also monks, and it was the monks that fascinated you. They revered the gods, of course, but they did not pray to them to grant magical aid as the priests did. Instead, they devoted their efforts to mastering the inner forces of the Six Energies that exist within every thing on Cartyrion, and in particular, the Energy of Earth. Before long, you found yourself among the Adherente to the Spirit of the Mountain, training as one of its monks.

When monks of the order reach a certain level of training, they are expected to venture forth beyond the Delve in order to experience the manifestation of the Six Energies in the wider world. When they feel they have experienced enough, they return home to teach others what they learned. Having reached the required stage of your training, you have just recently embarked on this mission of discovery - to see the world, and you decided that you would begin by experiencing environments as different from your under-mountain home as possible. You would journey to the Feywood and experience life among the trees and the many Fey creatures and races of the Folk put in the world by gods not your own.

Experiencing celebrations of other Folk seems important to you. You know how important feasts are to the Dwarves; it will be interesting to see how other Folk treat their festivals. So when you heard about this "Strawberry Festival" hosted by an entire village of Halflings, how could you pass up the chance to visit?

Role-Playing this Character

There are two important things to remember when playing any Dwarven character in Cartyrion. The first is that all Dwarves belong to a Clan - yours is the Stonebreaker Clan. The Twelve Clans can trace their origins back to the first Dwarves to be Awakened, Every Dwarf is given a Clan Dagger at their Naming Ceremony on their first birthday; that Dagger is a symbol and reminder of who they are and where they came from.

The second thing to remember is that all Dwarves -- regardless of temperament, ethics, morals, or otherwise - value three things above all else: their beards, their Clan Daggers, and their families... in that order. A Dwarf, male or female, without a beard, or without a Clan Dagger, is nothing, and since a Dwarf includes all members of their Clan as "family", being without Family means being without Clan. Again... such a Dwarf is nothing. Even the nastiest, most selfish Dwarf on Cartyrion will never willingly do ill toward a member of their own Clan. Good friends gathered during a lifetime are also of extreme importance, but they never supersede these three things.

You are on a journey of discovery - a mission to experience as much of the world as possible. Your training has given you a firm anchor to the essence of the Earth (in more ways than one), but you wish to understand the essence of other things - and other beings - as well. Your teaching tells you that only by seeing all the other ways the Energies can manifest will you be able to truly understand the power and significance of the Energy of Earth.

Your natural strength and agility will permit you to perform Athletic and Acrobatic feats more easily than most, whether it be leaping over gaps, climbing trees, or sneaking through undergrowth. Additionally, you have some training in medicine; this will allow you to Treat Wounds as long as you have your Healer's Tools. Since the party does not have a healing Cleric, this may be a valuable skill.

Special Abilities, Features, and Feats

Your Dwarf Ancestry

Physically, you are shorter and stockier than the Elves, Humans, and Orcs of Cartyrion, though not as short as the Halflings, Goblins, and Gnomes. Your purposed gait gets you where you want to go a bit slower than other Folk, but your stamina makes up for this. But you find the Elves particularly annoying because of their ability to cover ground much faster than you can. Being born under a mountain and far from the light of day, you can see rather clearly even in total darkness, and you are able to travel quite nimbly over rocky terrain and traverse narrow ledges without fear.

You have a deep-seated respect for tradition and clan/family that other folk might even call obsessive. The pride and respect for your beard falls into that category as well. While your general nature is often seen by non-Dwarves as being stoic, stubborn, and serious, you most defintely know how to have a good time - if the time and place are right for it. The fact that something worth doing is worth doing well has been drilled into you from your childhood; that applies to celebrating as well.

You can undestand, speak, read, and write the Common and Dwarvish languages.

Your Stone Dwarf Culture

You were born with a natural affinity to the roots of the world - to the dirt and stone that make its foundation. Perhaps this is why the monastic order was so appealing to you. Even before you began your training, you were physically more stable, more foot-sure with bare rock beneath your feet than you ever were when trodding on grass or wood.

Your Acolyte Prior Training

Your pre-monastic training taught you the basics of prayer to the Duagnar deities, and gave you the ability to call upon them for limited boons.

As a Monk

You have learned to recognize and take advantage of your affinity with the dirt and rock that are the foundation of Cartyrion. Your martial training has given you discipline as well.