The World of
Story & Lore
Two peoples. One mountain. An ancient power stirring beneath. This is the story of the Ironveil Wars.
“Three weeks on leaking barges. Half the fleet sank in the Straits. But we made it. This valley... it will do.”
- Grizzik One-Ear, Warchief of the Ashland Clans
The Ironveil Wars
Two desperate peoples collide in the Ironveil Mountains. The dwarves are defending their ancient homeland from what they see as invaders. The goblins are refugees fleeing a poisoned homeland across the sea, looking for anywhere to survive. Their war escalates from skirmishes to full-scale sieges, until an ancient consciousness buried deep beneath the mountain awakens, unleashing rune golems that attack everyone indiscriminately. Forced to ally or die, both sides must learn that some enemies are better as allies.
The Dwarves of Greyhelm
For three centuries, Greyhelm Hold has been their fortress, their home, their identity carved into living stone. Led by Thane Borin Deepforge, they are master builders, fierce warriors, and stubborn as the mountain itself.
"The mountain is ours. We have spent a thousand years making that true. Whatever came before can stay buried."
The Goblin Ashland Clans
Driven from their poisoned homeland, the Ashland clans crossed treacherous seas on leaking barges. Led by Grizzik One-Ear, they are survivors, scrappy, inventive, and ruthlessly pragmatic. In this new land of stone and snow, they must build, breed, and fight for every scrap of territory.
"Forward or death. There is no fleet to carry us back."
The World
The Ironveil Mountains
Four hundred miles of stone teeth running through the heart of Aethermere. The mountains were shaped by vast automated systems in an age before recorded history. Ore veins run in geometric patterns. Tunnels that no dwarf carved extend into depths that no map records. On moonless nights, a faint blue-white glow pulses from the deep places.
Greyhelm Hold
The largest and oldest dwarven hold, carved into the western face below Greyhelm Peak. Home to forty thousand dwarves, the Hall of Ancestors, the Great Forge, and the Grudge Archive. For a thousand years, the mountain folk have called this fortress home.
Anvil Pass
The widest crossing through the Ironveil, double-walled and heavily fortified. The primary chokepoint between east and west, and the site of the war's first major battle. Both sides paid dearly for control of this narrow corridor of stone.
The Deepvein Caverns
Sealed three generations ago after a collapse killed forty miners. Inside, scouts found script older than any dwarven settlement. The tunnels lead down to the Runeforge, a junction of ancient power. The seal is cracking. Whatever the ancestors locked away is stirring.
Timeline
~50,000 years ago
Age of Shaping
Vast automated systems shape the Ironveil Mountains, laying ore veins in geometric patterns and carving the deep tunnel networks.
~3,200 years ago
The First Sealing
Proto-dwarves and proto-goblins seal the Runeforge node with three runestones. The Shaper enters standby.
Year 0 AH
Founding of Greyhelm
The first dwarves carve Greyhelm Hold into the Ironveil's western face. The Seven Holds are established over the next two centuries.
~200 AH
The Smog Cities
Goblin civilization flourishes in the volcanic Ashlands. Five great cities arise, powered by geothermal engineering and fungal agriculture.
500-700 AH
Peak Prosperity
The golden age. Seven Holds wealthy and secure. Smog Cities productive and innovative. Trade flows freely across the continent.
995 AH
The Ashland Catastrophe
The Boomwrights' Guild cracks the vent system. The Smog Cities are destroyed. Eighty percent of the goblin population dies in three days.
995-996 AH
The Long March
Two hundred barges cross the Ember Straits. Half sink. Forty thousand survivors push inland to the Ironveil Mountains.
1012 AH
Present Day
The war continues. The seal weakens. The Shaper reactivates. Two peoples running out of time to realize the ground they're fighting over is about to move.
Campaign Heroes
Six heroes drive the story across 32 missions. Each levels up, gains abilities, and faces choices that shape the outcome of the war.
Thane Borin Deepforge
Dwarf Warrior-King
Leader of Greyhelm Hold. A proud, stubborn warrior who slowly learns that strength means knowing when to extend a hand instead of a fist. His defining arc: from defender of borders to builder of bridges.
"We came to defend a mountain. We leave having discovered what truly lies beneath it."
Sigrid Ironmantle
Dwarf Scout Commander
Flamebraid. The finest crossbow in the mountain kingdoms. The first dwarf to see the goblins as refugees rather than invaders. She plants the seed of empathy early on.
"They seemed more scared of us than anything."
Runvar the Lorekeeper
Dwarf Runesmith Scholar
Keeper of the deep runes. Discovers the truth about the Runeforge through ancient texts. The academic counterpart to Mok's spiritual connection. The oldest living dwarf in Greyhelm.
"The Runeforge is not a wellspring, Borin. It is a consciousness."
Grizzik One-Ear
Goblin Warchief
Leader of the Ashland refugee clans. A warrior who chooses mercy over vengeance at the story's darkest moment. He refuses to become the monster his enemies expect.
"Find the ones who did this. But take prisoners. We are not them."
Skara Swiftstitch
Goblin Demolitionist
Boomfist. If it can explode, Skara has already improved it. Sarcastic, brilliant, and equally dangerous to friend and foe. After the war, she's already sketching plans for dwarf-goblin engineering collaborations.
"Pretty walls. Shame about the foundations."
Mok the Breaker
Goblin Shaman Elder
Spirit-speaker. The shamans say the ancestors whisper through him. Feels the Runeforge spiritually where Runvar reads it academically. Barefoot, half-mad, and always right.
"Gold in the deep, Warchief. But something else lives down there too."
Dwarf Campaign
The Weight of Stone
16 missions across 4 acts. Defend Greyhelm Hold, uncover the truth of the Runeforge, and learn that the enemy beneath the mountain is worse than the one at the gates.
Act I
The New Quartermaster
Greyhelm Hold is struggling. Mines running dry, granaries at quarter capacity. When green-skinned strangers appear in the lowlands, the mountain folk must rebuild their strength while deciding how to respond to the newcomers.
Act II
The Gathering Storm
Anvil Pass becomes the first major battlefield. Marshal Durgan's garrison barely holds. Desperate for gold, Borin reopens the legendary Deepvein deposits, sealed for three generations. Inside, both races find something far older than either of them.
Act III
The Deep Places
Runvar emerges from the archives with terrible news: the Runeforge is real, and the seal is cracking. The war between dwarf and goblin is a sideshow. Something ancient is awakening beneath both of them.
Act IV
The Reckoning
Rune golems pour from fissures in the cavern floor. The Shaper rises, three stories tall. Two races that have been killing each other must now march side by side or lose everything.
Goblin Campaign
The Long March
16 missions across 4 acts. Build a new homeland from nothing, face the same war from the other side, and discover that mercy is the hardest kind of strength.
Act I
The Ashlands
Three weeks on leaking barges. Half the fleet sank. The last of the Ashland clans make shore with nothing but the tools on their backs. Behind them, the homeland glows with poison. There is no way back.
Act II
Strangers in Stone Country
Anvil Pass, from the other side. Skara surveys the dwarf defenses and grins. After the pass falls, empty war coffers drive the clans into the same Deepvein caverns the dwarves are exploring.
Act III
Blood and Fire
The emotional core of the campaign. Ashwood Valley burns. Grizzik walks through smoldering ruins and makes a choice that defines his people: take prisoners, not vengeance. "We are not them. We will never be them."
Act IV
The Shaping
Mok reaches the Runeforge through visions. The same crisis, the same golems, the same forced alliance. Grizzik extends his hand to Borin with one word: "Alliance." The Long March ends not in conquest, but in understanding.
Two Sides of the Same War
Key battles appear in both campaigns. The Redwater Creek skirmish, the siege of Anvil Pass, the Deepvein expedition, and the final stand against the Shaper are all fought from both sides. What looks like aggression from one perspective looks like survival from the other.
Play both campaigns to understand the full story. Neither side is wholly right. Neither side is wholly wrong. The truth lies somewhere between the grudge book and the refugee camp.
Themes
Refugees vs. Defenders
Neither side chose this conflict. One is defending home. The other is searching for one.
Mercy as Strength
The hardest choice in war is not to fight harder, but to stop fighting when you have every reason not to.
The Mountain as Character
The Ironveil is not a backdrop. It is alive, ancient, and it has its own agenda.
Two Paths to Truth
Runvar reads the truth in ancient texts. Mok feels it in the stone. Both are right. Both are incomplete.
Coming Soon
More Campaigns on the Horizon
The Ironveil Wars are just the beginning. Future campaigns will explore the Ratmen of the Underhive, the ancient Lizardmen of the Star Empire, and the three Elven factions as they are drawn into the conflict. Each campaign adds new heroes, new missions, and new perspectives on the world of Shards of Stone.
Experience the Story
32 campaign missions. Two full campaigns. Six heroes. One war that changes everything.
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