Hearthblood

The Hearthblood were a people of master craftspeople who gathered on the slopes of Hearth-Home, at the base of the dormant volcano where the forge-god Ornn labors. Drawn from all corners of Valoran to follow his example, these blacksmiths, architects, and brewmasters numbered in the thousands, and they came to create the finest tools, the sturdiest structures, and the tastiest ales the world had ever known, their workmanship rivaled only by Ornn's own. Ornn never considered himself their patron. He answered their offered work with little more than curt nods or frowns, and his highest praise was a single grudging word, "Passable." Even so, the Hearthblood honed their skills undeterred, certain he secretly approved of their perseverance and their endless drive to better their craft. Their culture ended in a single catastrophic night. Ornn's brother Volibear came demanding weapons for his army of twisted, bear-like aberrations, and when Ornn refused, Volibear seized armor from the forge to provoke him. The two demigods battled at the mountain's peak for eight days, until the summit exploded in a storm of fire, ash, and lightning seen ten horizons away. When the smoke cleared, Hearth-Home was a smoldering caldera and the Hearthblood lay dead in the ruins. Devastated and wracked with guilt at the mortal potential lost, Ornn retreated into his foundry for an age. Ornn's name was later expunged from most histories, and the Hearthblood endure now only through the handful of Freljordian tribes that trace their lineage back to them and keep their fireside tales alive, so that children's children might still hear their ancestors' voices. Their surviving artifacts drew the spirit walker Aurora, who studied them to locate Hearth-Home and, through its ruins, reached Ornn's forge itself. The old tales promise that when the forge-god returns, it will be to remake the world.