Mountainfolk

Stubborn, communal, bound by oath and stone. They endured the Shrouding by fortifying their mountain halls and waiting it out. Slow to trust, harder to break. Their society is an oath-bound hierarchy where decision-making is a responsibility you must prove yourself worthy of — appointed by competency, often inherited, but always learned from the predecessor first. Virtue, recognised through deeds and reputation, is the measure of a person.

What they say about "The Shrouding"

The story they tell children

What adults believe is true

What they think the Fog People are

The one detail that is actually true

Society

Structure

Mountainfolk society is an oath-bound hierarchy. At its core are Oath-Holds — fortified communities carved into the rock, each bound by a network of sworn promises between lord and vassal, master and apprentice, host and guest. These oaths are not religious — they are social contracts, renewed annually at the Stone-Moot. Breaking an oath is the worst crime a mountainfolk can commit, because an oath is how society holds together.

Leaders

Each Oath-Hold is led by a Hold-Lord, a person appointed by competency — often the predecessor's chosen successor, who spent years learning the role directly. Officially, no one inherits a title; they earn it by proving they can bear it. A Hold-Lord who rules poorly will find their oaths quietly unrenewed, their hold emptying season by season.

Commoners

Most mountainfolk are herders, stonemasons, brewers, or guards. They live in stone longhouses built into the mountainside, and nearly everyone learns to work stone from childhood. Full plate armor — heavy, elegant, richly ornamented — is a mark of earned status, expensive and rare. Those who have earned it wear it with pride outside the fortress, their faces hidden behind fear-inspiring full-face helmets. Banners, long and colourful, are worn over the armor and are awarded for specific deeds or achievements — each one a story visible to anyone who knows how to read them.

Cities

Mountainfolk cities are carved directly into the mountain, not built upon it. The outer fortifications are visible as sheer stone walls and gatehouses, but the bulk of the city lies within — terraced halls, underground marketplaces, and deep reservoirs that kept the Oath-Holds self-sufficient during the Shrouding. Stonefast is the largest such city: a fortress carved into a cliff face, connected by stairs and winch-lifts. It has never fallen to siege.

Secrets the ruling circle keeps

The Hold-Lords and their inner circle know that the oaths binding their society are not as old as they claim. The oldest records — kept in a sealed vault beneath Stonefast — suggest the oath system was invented generations after the Shrouding, retrofitted onto a society that was already falling apart. The founding oaths may never have been sworn at all. They keep this knowledge buried because if the oaths are not sacred, what holds them together?

Attitudes toward other folks

Naming conventions

Given names

Torben, Helga, Brokk, Sven, Yrsa, Gunnar, Hilda, Orm, Thyra, Rune

Clan names

Mountainfolk belong to clans tied to peaks or valleys. Clan names come first, followed by the given name. Examples: Stormpeak-Torben, Deepvalley-Helga, Ironcrest-Brokk

Typical character concepts