Stonemasons' Covenant
The Stonemasons' Covenant was one of the Seven Great Guilds of the Orethan Dominion, charged with the construction and maintenance of the empire's built environment. Employing approximately 50,000 trained stone-shapers and drawing upon the power of earth crystals, the Covenant served the Dominion as builders, engineers, and defenders. Its symbol was a silver hammer on a black field, and its leader bore the title Granite Hand.
Headquarters: Petra Magna
The Covenant's seat was Petra Magna, a city the guild itself carved entirely from living rock—one of the most celebrated demonstrations of stone-shaping craft in the Dominion's history. According to A History of Rislandia, Petra Magna remained partly intact even at the time of the Great Gathering, a testament to the enduring quality of the Covenant's work.
Role and Achievements
The Stonemasons' Covenant functioned as the Dominion's primary corps of builders and civil engineers. Its members constructed the aqueducts, roads, and fortresses that underpinned imperial expansion and administration. Among the Covenant's most celebrated works were the underground sewers of Oretha Eternal and the seamless stone of the Forum Imperialis. The guild also maintained the aqueducts that supplied water across the empire, though these crumbled following the Great Sundering.
Internal Conflicts
The Covenant was not without internal strife. According to A History of Rislandia, the stonemasons split into two rival organizations for twenty years over the Blood Magic Schism before eventually reconciling. The guild also engaged in a prolonged dispute with the Windcallers' Brotherhood over control of transportation infrastructure.
The Night of Shattered Crystals
During the Night of Shattered Crystals, the Stonemasons' Covenant in Petra Magna resisted the imperial soldiers sent against it. A History of Rislandia records that the guild hall became the site of a three-day battle. Balthar Ironshield, who held the title of Granite Hand at the time, led the defense. When the position became untenable, Balthar collapsed the hall upon himself and the attacking soldiers, ending the battle and the Covenant's existence as an active institution.
Legacy
Following the fall of Oretha, remnant members of the stonemasons formed the Stoneheart Circle, carrying forward a diminished form of the guild's traditions. During the Years of Building that followed Jory Malaky's exodus, surviving stonemasons were still able to construct stone walls around new settlements and carve the foundation of the Crystal Spire deep into the hill, even without access to crystal magic. The son of Master Stonemason Balthar later completed the Crystal Spire using traditional techniques, preserving the guild's legacy in the heart of the new kingdom.
The aqueducts the Covenant had built across the Dominion crumbled after the Great Sundering, their loss marking the end of the infrastructure age the guild had made possible.