The Doctrine of Echo (The Veinless Rebels)

“The mountain never forgets.”

The Veinless — a secret abolitionist sect — believe neither release nor consumption occurs.

To them, each shard carries the full consciousness of a dwarf ancestor, forever trapped and fragmented.

The quieting, they say, is not silence but shock.

A soul, severed from the mountain’s chorus, falls mute — alone, aware, terrified.

The Veinless claim to have heard these isolated minds in the hum of cooling furnaces and the static of scrying mirrors.

They seek to reunite the scattered fragments by returning all mined mirrorstone to the deep veins, in a ritual called “The Rejoining.”

This act is illegal; transporting mirrorstone back into the mines without permission is punishable by hanging.

The Veinless are closest:

mirrorstone doesn’t destroy or free souls — it splits them infinitely. Every reflection, every mirror, is a living echo. The world is haunted by fragments of memory; even mirrors in Harlequin Vale sometimes blink back.

If souls are fragmented:

world itself becomes unstable — reflections take on lives of their own; ghostly doubles wander Canava.

Notable NPC'S

1. MARRUN HESH — “THE LANTERN-EAR”

Echo-Interpreter

Belief:

Each fragment is a whole mind screaming in pieces.

Traits:

• When heated, shards whisper emotions she can “hear.”

• Trembles when echoes are too loud.

Hook:

Asks PCs to recover the shard containing her brother’s echo before Lantern Priests burn it.

2. DROKKAN VALE — “THE PICK-BROTHER”

Saboteur & Tunnel Fighter

Belief:

Every Sanctifier or Forgewright strike is a murder.

Every vein is an ancestral family tree.

Traits:

• Wields twin ritual picks: Left Cry and Right Cry.

• Resonance scars glow faintly in dim light.

Hook:

Beggs PCs to collapse a shaft before miners can “butcher” the sleeping ancestors within.

3. VESK ORMIRAN — “THE FALSE PILGRIM”

Master of Disguise & Infiltration

Belief:

If Sanctifiers use stillness as a weapon, the Veinless must weaponize deception.

Traits:

• Mimics Sanctifier prayer-cadences flawlessly.

• Can pass as clergy from 20 feet away.

Hook:

Needs PCs to help him impersonate a Lantern Priest to hijack a mirrorstone convoy.

4. JORAH “THE QUIET” LINT

Crossbow Marksman & Soul-Guardian

Belief:

Every bolt he fires is a plea for a soul to go home.

Traits:

• Detects resonance changes through fingertips.

• Claims echoes grow louder when someone is lying.

Hook:

He heard a whisper say “Return.”

He wants PCs to help him find where that soul belongs.

5. SISTER REN VARRASY — “THE UNBOUND”

Ritual Leader & Zealot-Orator

Belief:

Mirrorstone is alive.

The mountain is alive.

And Canava is butchering its own ancestors.

Traits:

• Ritual scars forming natural Heartroot shapes.

• Can quiet a whole cavern with her voice alone.

Hook:

Requests PCs to escort her during a forbidden Rejoining ritual in an abandoned shaft — one the Lantern Priests patrol.