Kharaz Foehammer was a dwarven miner much like any other, albeit a promising one with more endurance than most. Sometimes, Kharaz would spend whole weeks underground in the quarry without returning to the hold, digging a new tunnel deep into the rock, working a vein of ore, or occasionally carving the tunnel walls. Familiar with the hazards of mining, Kharaz also learned the basics of bandaging and healing, the lore of the deep, and a touch of carpentry and engineering to build support beams, but he preferred to stay away from combat if he could, as he was not blessed with great strength or skill in battle. Kharaz seldom spoke of it, but he felt a closeness to the stone and earth he worked in, felt more at home in the deeps than on the surface, where the bright light stung his eyes. Underground was where dwarves belonged, and so long as they respected the earth, it would provide what they needed.
Things changed, however, when one day, on an expedition deep in the tunnels into uncharted territory, Kharaz took a wrong step, and slid into a deep ravine in the rock, beyond the reach of the other members of the expedition, vanishing into the earth. Days later, after he had already been written off as a casualty, Kharaz broke through back into Foehammer tunnels, thoroughly surprising a group of miners working in the same tunnel, even moreso when the passage he had emerged from promptly collapsed behind him, blocking the way to whatever place he had come from. Kharaz speaks little about the time he spent away, save that somewhere in the deeps, he fell into a place that was saturated with the primordial energies of the earth, and he was changed by the experience. Some changes were clear from the start; stone and ores from his mining would sift and sort themselves without the touch of a dwarf's hands, and his skin seemed nearly as stony as that of an oread. Others were less so, as he seemed more confident, more in touch with the stone, and with strange air of earthiness about him that bordered on the supernatural. Things truly came to a head when one of the aberrations of the deep attacked where he was mining, and Kharaz drove it back with a flurry of shards of stone and gravel that formed at his hands, and struck with great force. Many of the Foehammer clan are unsure of what to think of the changes to one who was once a humble miner, whether these things are a blessing or a curse, but Kharaz staunchly remains a solid member of the clan, solid as a pillar of stone, though at the same time, he longs to seek out new places in the deeps, to commune with the earth. He longs to reclaim the ancient homeland of the clan, so that they may dwell deep in the subterranean holds once more.
Kharaz became disquieted when the earthquakes began. No matter what was said, he could feel the pain of the earth, and he could tell these earthquakes were not simply natural. Eager to get to the bottom of this, he was quick to volunteer for the expedition, hoping that his connection to earth and stone might be of use in putting an end to the quakes, and reclaiming the deeps.
