GARRON HEARTHMANTLE
ElementalsHigh Minister of Balance (Earthheart Citadel)
"The stone remembers what the living forget. I have listened to it for twenty-three centuries, and it has never once lied to me. That is why I am afraid now.""
Identity
- Residence
- Earthheart Citadel, Heartstone Plateau
- Civilization
- Elementals
Appearance
• Physical: A towering colossus of layered granite and deep-green jade, standing nearly forty feet tall. His body is seamed with veins of raw emerald that pulse faintly in rhythm with the ley-lines beneath the Heartstone Plateau. His face is a chiseled mask of polished basalt, ancient and immovable, with eyes like twin geodes -- violet amethyst set in grey stone. • Clothing: Wears a ceremonial mantle of interlocking obsidian plates etched with the sigils of the Balance Ministry. • Distinguishing Marks: A deep fissure runs diagonally across his chest from an old wound sustained during the Tide-Rift Skirmish; it glows amber when he channels Resonance.
Relationships
- Family - Three "offspring" birthed at Nexus Cradles to which he contributed essence; maintains respectful but formal bonds with them
- Allies - Lithos (the Primarch, who trusts Garron's counsel implicitly), senior Stonewardens, the Miner's Guild leadership at Thornwall
- Rivals - The Fire Kingdom's High Minister of Ley-Line Management, who contests Earth's extraction rates along shared geothermal veins
Personality
- Traits: Unyielding in principle, deeply patient, quietly compassionate, burdened by foresight
- Mannerisms: Presses one palm flat against the ground before speaking, closes his geode-eyes when listening to ley-line fluctuations, speaks in measured pauses as if weighing each word against centuries of precedent
- Voice: A low, tectonic rumble that vibrates through stone and bone alike -- deliberate, unhurried, carrying the gravity of deep earth.
Backstory
Garron emerged through Confluence Birthing at a Nexus Cradle deep beneath the Heartstone Plateau, his essence drawn from three elder Earth Elementals who had served Lithos since the Shaping Era. He rose through the ranks over millennia -- first as a Stonewarden, then a Warden of Stonehold Holds, and finally High Minister of Balance after demonstrating unmatched understanding of the Balance Quotas during the aftermath of the Aetheric Schism. He has held the post for over eight hundred years, longer than any predecessor.
Daily Life
Garron begins each day at the Stone-Heart Resonator, reading the ley-line flux reports and adjusting extraction quotas for the Crystal-Forge District and the Deep Mines of Thornwall. He presides over Balance Ministry sessions at midday, adjudicates resource disputes in the afternoon, and spends his evenings in the Temple of Stability in solitary meditation, communing with the Heartstone itself.
Secret
2. A faction within the Balance Ministry accuses Garron of manipulating extraction quotas to favor Earth over the other kingdoms, threatening his position and the inter-kingdom peace.
Narrative Value
Garron provides high-level political access within the Earth Kingdom, a gateway to Balance Ministry intrigue, and a campaign-scale threat through the Heartstone corruption. He is a patron figure who offers quests that carry weighty consequences for the entire Elemental Confederation. ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════