Gardain Walks-With-Bear was born into the Bronzebeard clan. Like many dwarven clans, the Bronzebeards were proud of the heritage and amazing metalsmiths. Gardain Bronzebeard showed tremendous skill as an artisan at an early age and was apprenticed to the clan’s master metalsmith, Thoradin Bronzebeard.
Thoradin tried hard to instill dwarven virtues into Gardain, but Gardain had trouble truly believing in them. A proper dwarven smith made armor for dwarves, and absolutely no one else. Gardain saw that this blind adherence to tradition was contributing to their loss of influence among the other clans, who were able to build up their wealth through trade with the non-dwarven races.
After Thoradin passed, Gardain Bronzebeard became the master metalsmith. He tried to push the elders to open up trade with outsiders, but he was always rebuked, but the frequency of his pleas decreased with time until that day when a group of humans from the human empire stormed their way into the Great Halls.
Their demands were simple: open trade with them or face destruction. The elders steadfastly refused to deal with them, for the believed it more noble for their clan to be wiped out than for them to deal with outsiders. Gardain saw that this was an opportunity and struck a covert deal with them that would provide them with dwarven arms and armor they desired. Unfortunately, shipments of arms and armor are difficult to conceal, and the elders found out about what had happened.
They ordered Gardain stripped of his Clan name and exiled from the Great Halls. The humans were furious that the deal had been broken, and Gardain could see the smoke pouring from the entrance to the Great Halls as he made his way into exile.
Gardain’s hopes of adoption into one of the other dwarven clans were dashed when he learned that he had been cast out of all clans. Even though their trade policies were more liberal than the Bronzebeards, going against an elder was unforgivable. Gardain wandered over the next 50 years looking for his place in the world before the spirits spoke to him.
He was sitting in a circle of trees, contemplating where he should travel next. A bear had walked right up to him. Gardain was startled, but he did not feel like he was in danger. A voice spoke to him, telling him that he should not doubt what he had done because he had made the offer in good faith. As if the entire scene were choreographed, he felt backwards into the arms of a shifter and her panther.
Over the next few days, she taught him of the primal power of nature and the wisdom of the spirits. Since he no longer had a clan name, the shifter gave him the name “Gardain Walks-With-Bear” because of the spirit companion who never left his side, though only those skilled in such things could see it.
Afterward, he would head south back towards civilization. He knew not why he should head south, but he trusted the spirits to guide him. It was at this point that he was contacted by the High Enchanter.
Description: Gardain Walks-With-Bear is an older dwarf. Rather than decorate his beard as other dwarves do, he leaves it unkempt. From the time he spent in the woods, he’s come to prefer simple clothes and leather armor because it’s easier to maintain without a proper forge.
Personality: Gardain is pragmatic. He wants to help people, and he won’t allow dogmatic adherence to tradition get in the way of that. He’s as brave as any dwarf, and he prefers to see a task through to its end.
