Heavyhand Clan

The Heavyhand Clan or "Heavy-hands" are an estranged group of Ironskar Clan Dwarves who sided with and intermingled with the Dark Iron Dwarves---eventually becoming full-blooded Dark Iron, then managing to achieve enough prestige and family connections to gain offices within the Shadowforge Senate and other positions within the Empire of Thaurissan.

Origin
Once an extension of the Ironskar Clan, the Heavy-hands dwelled in the north face of Ironforge Mountain in Bael Ironskar. Due to the Ironskars' prowess in martial combat and zealous use of weaponry, the first utterance of a "Heavy-handed Ironskar"---the supposed common ancestor of the Heavyhands and cousin of the Ironskar Patriarch---was made when a warrior wielded a mace three times greater in size than himself.

As the tale goes, this Cousin and his descendants had a love of stout women of darker skin and vibrantly-red or pitch-black hair---thus, marrying into some of the various Dark Iron Clans and bearing heirs genetically (and culturally) closer to the Dark Iron with each generation.

Schism
After the passing of High King Anvilmar, the Bronzebeard Dwarves had banished the defeated Wildhammer and Dark Iron in the civil war that ravaged Ironforge itself. Having suffered greater and fairing far worse than the exiled Wildhammer, the Thane Thaurissan Clan and his people marched south into what was then a portion of the Redridge Mountains, the Red Steppes.

Having seen many of the Ironskar drink to the very friends and family they had defeated or killed, the angered Heavyhands left Bael Ironskar and empathetically joined their future kinsmen and enthusiastically lent their strong-arm slamming of hammers to the forges---crafting weapons highly envied by the Humans under Lord Reginald Morgan.

The War of the Three Hammers and the Fall of Thaurissan
Having never forgotten the disgrace they had won and always plotting, the Dark Iron then saw their chance at vengeance...

In 362 K.C, a terrible earthquake severely damaged the kingdoms of Ironforge and Grim Batol to the north. Seeing a ripe opportunity to exact their vengeance, Thaurissan (Thane) and his sorceress wife, Modgud, launched a two-pronged assault against their Bronzebeard and Wildhammer cousins. Having stolen mines and other goods from the Redridge Humans, they would soon become trapped between the forces of Stormwind and both of the other Dwarven Clans.

After Modgud's death and the failure to take Grim Batol, the Dark Iron were pinned between both Clans and slaughtered mercilessly while those who assaulted Ironforge and Redridge were turned running back to the Capitol, Thaurissan (City). With enemies crowding around them, the Thane and his greatest sorcerers attempted to---and disastrously did---summon a powerful entity to end the war: Ragnaros, the Firelord.

As Thaurissan himself was slain and the city of his name made ruins, all of the Red Steppes were made into a volcanic wasteland we know today as the Burning Steppes, centered around Blackrock Mountain. The Dark Iron that yet lived, including the Heavyhands, were enslaved and carved-out Shadowforge City as the new capitol---close to their Elemental Lord and Master's domain.

Aftermath and the Resurrection of Thaurissan
With the City made and the Empire of Thaurissan intent on reemerging, systems were put in place to ensure a war that would finally take Ironforge and destroy the Clans---better yet, conquer or destroy the world; Craftsmen of all kinds were trained and working on an unprecedented scale, war-machines and Golems being paraded down the Dark Iron Highway and into the open air, treasurers and jewel-cutters financing an entire world and its lust for vengeance. The Heavyhands, however, decided to take an alternative route.

Their strong hands turned from wielding massive arms and beating foes to wielding magicks and swaying political rivals; some became Treasurers, others Sorcerers, but most became Senators and Advisors of the Empire. In the days proceeding and during the invasions of Shadowforge itself, the Heavyhands experienced an unprecedented level of promotion and access to highly-coveted posts. Among three sons of the late Senator Magnus Heavyhand was Runus, who had gone from mere Senator Clerk under his father and Assistant Bank Teller to Senator and Treasurer in the span of a mere month.

But when the Azerothian Heroes commanded by Morgan's Militia and the Kargath Expedition broke into the Imperial Throne Room---slaying senators wantonly and defeating Emperor Dagran Thaurissan I before his newly-wed wife, Moira Bronzebeard, Runus was met with a rather challenging dilemma...

Was he to continue parlaying with the Cult of the Twilight's Hammer as some of his peers were, disowning the Bronzebeard Princess and the half-breed heir? Or was he to follow the unborn Emperor and raise him alongside the fair-skinned Empress when she would return to the court of Ironforge? Electing the latter, Runus and his brothers then assisted the hunt for Twilight Cultist Dark Iron.

With Runus' knowledge of their account withdrawals from The Black Vault and the rosters and bills from the Shadowforge Senate as a de facto "Intelligence Officer"---having some contacts that still communicated with him from the Cult---and his older brothers' military service, the collective Loyalist Dark Iron prevailed and would later bring honor after the Blood in the Snow Campaign.

Currently
Though the older brothers had perished in the Blood in the Snow campaign and with the need for the Heavyhands' legacy and valued service to endure, the Imperial Command allowed the surviving Runus to engage in far more "civilian" endeavors. Still wishing to be intellectuals rather than warriors, Runus, the extended family of the Heavyhands and their descendants would likely be within positions similar to that of their past: book-keeping, curating, accounting and tutoring of all sorts.

Player Heavyhands

 * Runus Heavyhand