Muradin Bronzebeard, High King of the Khaz-Kordun Kingdom

A dwarf never destined for the throne, he received it anyway when his older brother was caught dealing with drow in an attempt to increase his wealth at the expense of the lowest tier of the dwarven castes. This event changed Muradin’s approach to the caste system that had existed for millennia, and his first act upon becoming High King was to loosen the restrictions on movement between castes; a progressive move that earned him many political foes amongst the top echelons of dwarven society, and the loyalty of councildwarf Rathkaz Hammerfel who would be instrumental in navigating the political quagmire to make many more progressive changes (including the eventual removal of the caste system entirely). In more recent years, Muradin was the driving force behind the building of Dun Halder which led to the cessation of the Cardean War.

Personality

Muradin's personality is predominantly shaped by his lack of desire for power. He never expected to receive it in the first place, and is highly impatient with the traditional political games that he feels had made progress near-impossible for the Dwarves in the last century. He has many staunch allies in his court and beyond, earned by his groundbreaking policies and efforts to improve what he refers to as 'the social situation' as seats that were previously impossible for many of the untitled and landless to achieve now represent what used to be the lower castes. Conversely, he has very few allies amongst the titled and landed, as his policies have caused much change to occur to their comfortable status quo. Regardless of his low popularity with the wealthy, he enjoys some support from that sector with the Hammerfels and the Thunderkilns backing him fiercly (both houses had previously been pariahs amongst the other wealthy houses for their willingness to 'marry low').

Muradin's loyalty is first and foremost to his people. He works to improve their situation and get them out of what he describes as a 'stagnation', citing Humans as an example to live up to for their vigor and willingness to revisit old ideas to cut out the rot and unnecessary portions, and to try new things just to see if they work.