The Dawncallers began as a circle of residents who compared dreams recorded near Orun's resting place. At first, they were a listening society, not a political movement. Sera Flint's public reading of the suppressed green-sun dream changed that. In the following years, Dawncallers organized food and care for households affected by the spreading blight, arguing that the town should prepare for Orun's awakening rather than treat his sleep as a permanent shield. Their watershed moment came during the Hollow Fever winter, when the blight reached homes previously considered safe. Dawncallers opened their grain store as a refuge and led residents through a service passage to deliver medicine. The Stillwardens said the passage risked disturbing Orun; the Dawncallers answered that waiting had already cost lives. The rescue saved dozens, but a collapse killed three volunteers and sealed an older route. Since then, Hearthrest has relied on the Covenant of Silence, brokered by Mara Bellweather, to prevent the conflict from becoming open violence. The agreement forbids either faction from disturbing certain deep chambers and limits public claims about what lies below. The movement has since become a modest but influential force. It is known for practical aid and a willingness to challenge the town's cautious authorities. Its current crisis is more dangerous than its founding dispute: the blight is spreading again, Orun's dream-signs are changing, and radicals have begun searching for the First Bell.

A former grain store at the edge of the oldest quarter, its stone floor warm on some mornings despite the cold. The Dawncallers use its upper room for public meetings and its cellar for first aid, dream records, and discreet planning. A blocked stair beneath the cellar is said to descend toward the buried passages.