Mother Mountain

Dwarven Pantheon

Sigil

A triangle pointing upward set within a circle.  Sigils are almost universally made of precious metals, and are often the most expensive object a dwarf personally owns. There are no established sigils for the five children, but the Mountain Sigil may be surrounded by five precious stones to honor them.

Portfolio

Mother Mountain - Protection, Bravery, Pride

Breath - Life, Family

Stream - Caution, Commerce

Heat - Creativity, Warfare

Stone - Endurance, Organization

Ore - Crafting, Creation

Appearance

Mother Mountain has no known form, but has been known to communicate through a voice resonating through stones, or other ambient subterranean noises, such as rocks falling.  While it is assumed that Mother Mountain can communicate through any stone, particularly devout worshippers will carry stones with them from the mountains of Berla, with those from Du Cragolm itself being prized the highest.

Doctrine

Dwarven culture is one of extremes, a fact that surprises most outsiders.  If a tower is built, it should be the greatest tower in history.  If armor is forged, it should be the most protective.  If a mine is dug, it should be the deepest and most productive.  This is because, on a foundational level, all labor is worship, and the outcome of that labor reflects not only on the dwarf, but also on his family, clan, and the Mountain herself, and every accomplishment is to the glory of the race as a whole, and their patron deity.

Unsurprisingly this has made Vespiria the anathema of dwarven culture, as its shifting and inconstant nature actively resists all permanent change.  The invention of cache boxes that resist this change and allow the stockpiling of goods and resources was a dwarven invention pioneered to counteract this.

While Mother Mountain was not the first deity the dwarves followed, the previous god or gods were entirely abandoned and forgotten during the cataclysm that caused the dwarves to occupy their current home.  There is no active worship of the five children individually, but their names may be evoked in prayers or oaths when applicable.

Dwarven prayers to Mother Mountain are often rhythmic and repetitive, often taking the “call and response” format of a marching cadence or sea shanty and are usually at 60 beats per minute, which may seem leisurely until you realize these prayers are meant to be maintained for hours or days at a time.  This format is because a dwarf should work while he prays, and pray while he works, as each act is one and the same in the eyes of the Mountain.  The most common prayer in Mountain worship is the simple phrase “Bless this Strike”, be it a strike with an axe, a hammer, a pickaxe, or a metaphorical strike.

There are few things more beautiful and terrifying than a battalion of dwarves praying in unison.

“The Mountain Protect us…”
     “Bless this Strike!”
“Skin made of Iron…”
     “Bless this Strike!”
“Stone of the Mountain…”
     “Bless this Strike!”
“Steel in our Bones…”
     “Bless this Strike!”