Every mountain in Eldoria has a voice, but only one roars with the sound of hammer and flame. Ironclad, the Forgestone Kingdom, is a realm where stone and fire meet, where bloodlines are tempered like steel, and where dwarves walk taller, prouder, and fiercer than any legend told in the halls of men.
Forged in the First Age, when Durak Forgestone united the mountain clans after the First Sundering, Ironclad has stood as the beating heart of dwarven resilience, the anvil upon which the fate of kingdoms is often struck.
The Realm of Ironclad
Ironclad lies in the Firepeak Mountains, its capital Stoneforge Keep carved into the roots of living rock. Great rune-lit halls stretch for miles, their walls veined with molten ore, their pillars engraved with the histories of clans long past.
The Great Anvil Hall, throne room, and forge combined, burn eternally with forge-fires, where kings sit not above their people but among their craft. When judgment is passed, it is done beneath hammer and flame.
The land above is harsh and winter-bound, forcing most of Ironclad’s people into the undercities. Caverns, bridges, and labyrinthine mines stretch beneath the mountains, where rivers of crystal and fire illuminate cities carved from shadow and stone.
House Brannok – The Forgestone Bloodline
Ironclad’s ruling house traces back to Durak Forgestone (Durak Brannok I), the founder-king who forged the Runeblade Ankar’dûm and bound the mountain clans into a single kingdom. His line became the Brannoks, known as the Forgestone Bloodline.
Ancestral Legacy
- Durak Forgestone (Durak I) – Founder, first wielder of Ankar’dûm, united the clans.
- King Brannok II “The Iron-Banner” – Rallied armies, established the Iron Banner of unity.
- Princess Kaela Brannok – Founded the Emberguard, elite shieldmaidens who fight as queens’ protectors.
- Queen Mara Brannok “The Flame-Tongue” – First queen to rule alone; her speeches stirred armies like wildfire.
- Queen Veyra Brannok “The Steel Rose” – Legendary beauty and warrior, remembered in songs of both love and battle.
The Current Line
- King Torvald Brannok – Broad-shouldered warrior-king, smith of renown, but heavy with the weight of tradition.
- Queen Sigrid Brannok – Once commander of the Emberguard, famed for her beauty and battlefield ferocity.
- Crown Prince Halrik Brannok – Strong heir, yet torn between duty and wanderlust.
- Princess Kaelith Brannok – Striking, politically shrewd, whispered to be courted by Greenwood nobility.
- Prince Dorn Brannok – Youngest, mischievous, and a genius of runecraft, underestimated by many.
The Brannoks embody Ironclad’s creed: to be both hammer and flame, builders and destroyers, bound to legacy and prophecy alike.
The Dwarves of Ironclad – Distinct and Reimagined
Ironclad dwarves are not the squat miners of old tales. They are taller, closer to human stature, but broader and denser in build, their frames carved by the forge.
- Physique – Men stand between 5’2” and 5’10”, heavily muscled, with chiseled features. Women are striking, powerful, and renowned for their beauty as much as their strength.
- Beards & Hair – Men keep shorter, braided beards; some are clean-shaven. Women wear elaborate braids to signify rank, lineage, or warrior vows.
- Skin & Eyes – Tones of bronze, copper, obsidian, or pale silver-gray. Eyes glimmer like jewels or molten gold.
- Culture – Family is sacred. Every child’s birth is recorded in stone tablets marked with destiny. Love is fierce, enduring, and sung in feasts that last weeks.
Warriors & Forge
Ironclad dwarves are unmatched in smithcraft and war:
- Weapons – Rune-carved hammers, axes, and greatswords. Women favor twin axes or spear-shield formations.
- Tactics – Shock infantry backed by rune-powered war machines. Their siege engines once brought down Malakaroth’s fortress walls.
- Emberguard – Elite shieldmaidens, commanded by queens, as deadly as any male phalanx.
To fight as Ironclad is to see war not as bloodshed, but as sacred duty.
Role in History & Prophecy
Ironclad has long stood as a bulwark in the wars of Eldoria:
- The First War – Their siegecraft helped end Malakaroth’s reign, bringing down the Dread King’s fortresses.
- Alliances – Bound to Gallandor by marriage, their trade and smithing enriched the High Kingdom’s armies.
- Prophecy – A verse hidden in the rune-archives declares:
“From fire and stone shall rise beauty and blood,
When the shadow returns, Ironclad shall stand —
Neither man nor elf, but forged in both.”
This prophecy speaks not only of their mixed stature and heritage, but of a destiny that ties Ironclad directly to the final war.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths:
- Supreme smithing and rune-magic craft.
- Fearless warriors and shock infantry.
- Emberguard’s unmatched shieldmaiden ranks.
- Strong alliances with Gallandor and Greenwood.
Weaknesses:
- Pride and ambition often cause clan feuds.
- Vulnerable to betrayal from within.
- Haunted by the prophecy — some fear it will undo them.
Behind the Writing
Ironclad began for me as a way to reimagine dwarves beyond their stereotypes. I wanted a people who weren’t bound to being “short, drunken miners,” but a race of warriors and smiths who carried themselves with the nobility of men and the fire of their mountain forges.
Designing Ironclad became a blend of myth and reinvention: taller dwarves, fierce shieldmaidens, a society where passion, tradition, and artistry burn as brightly as war. Their culture became not just one of survival, but of legacy — every name carved into stone, every weapon a story, every queen and king part of an unbroken chain.
Until Next Time…
Ironclad is the hammer of Eldoria, the forge where prophecy itself is tempered. But not all kingdoms remain whole.
Next, we descend into Barakthûn, the Fallen Kingdom, now a shadowed realm where crowns burn with green fire and the lands have been twisted by Malakaroth’s curses.
If Ironclad is the anvil of hope, Barakthûn is the echo of ruin.
What happens when fire that was meant to forge is turned to ash?
A Hobbits Journey 