A little Backstory -- Clan Sturmhahn

Just a little something to fill in some information. Seems a lot of readers of The Praxeum Chronicles are quite taken with my two dwarf cousins, Rhandall and Hanna. So, here's a little backstory on the origins of their clan's name and where they came from.

Enjoy! -- SSJ


CLAN STORMHAND / STURMHAHN


The Stormhand (nie - Sturmhahn) Clan is an extended clan of several families of the Wildhammer dwarves, all of whom live in the Hinterlands area near the Wildhammer city of Aerie Peak.

Originally, 100 years prior to the War of the Three Hammers, a lesser thane of some fame (he was a survivor of the Second War) named Ogden Stormrage took the daughter of a prominent merchant family in Grim Batol -- a fiery, yet companionable lady named Elsa Hammerhand. Under the advisement of a shaman who oversaw the arrangement of their union, and foresaw a time when their joined family would serve a higher purpose, the couple combined their names, forging a new surname; Stormhand.

Ogden and Elsa had ten children born from their union; six boys and four girls. Under their guidance, each child was married and helped to grow and strengthen the original bloodline, and in forty years time since their original pairing, the Stormhand Clan had thirty-two families.

After the War of the Three Hammers, and the subsequent loss of Grim Batol as a home, the Wildhammer Clans all relocated to the Hinterlands in south Loredaeron. After their thane Khardros established a new home on the mountains of that region -- which would later become Aerie Peak -- many of the Stormhands settled on lands near the western most face of that chain. Finding a plateau and several small, sheltered valleys near it that supported arable land for farming, Ogden’s clan-mates set about establishing their own homes; creating a small, dwarven community that later became named Storm’s Bed.

Here, the families cultivated grains and fruit crops, all in support of the wild game in the forests and their own passion; beer brewing and spirits crafting. In time, heady ales and stouts, along with fine liquors were being shipped via wagons and gryphon riders to the local towns of Southshore, Pyrewood and Loredaeron itself; where they were received with much appreciation by the humans living there.

In due course, due to the human language having its particular quirks, the Stormhand name was mispronounced by some as Sturmhahn. While the family and clan thane tried to dissuade it, eventually the mispronounced name stuck, and the Stormhand clan became forever after known as the Sturmhahns among the human populations of that region.

Out of all of the surviving families (now twenty-three out of the original thirty-five), the most prominent ones are the families of Kala Sturmhahn (a master-weaver and herbalist), Jorg Sturmhahn (a survivor of the Second and Third Wars, and acclaimed battle-master), and Bronbor and Burdoc Sturmhahn (both brothers, master hunters and marksmen). It is the Brothers Bronbor and Burdoc who are also acclaimed brew-masters -- having created and perfected some of the more lively, profound and most-liked brews and spirits ever made in the Hinterlands.

Of note, both brothers have children of notable mark: Hanna, Bronbor’s eldest daughter and Rhandall, Burdoc’s middle son. Both are first cousins, and have taken to the craft of hunting and marksmanship as their primary trade in life. In this manner, they have managed to leave their homeland and travel the world of Azeroth in pursuit of perfecting their skills and bringing honor to their family name.

Currently, over 400 members of the collective Sturmhahn clan lives in their holding at Storm’s Bed, near Aerie Peak. They are stout supporters of the Alliance.