Smith (CTL)

Smith is one of the sub-types of the Wizened seeming. They are the forgers of Faerie weapons and superb equipment. Theirs is the blessing of the Steel Mastery.

Overview
Faerie is  full  of  wondrous  items,  weapons  and  gewgaws, many of which were not forged by the Others. They were the work of Wizened slaves who worked as smiths, tinkers and builders for their Keepers. Though much of what the Wizened built is impossible to replicate in the physical laws of the mortal world, these Lost retain a preternatural skill for making.

The Wizened compulsion to work is strong within Smiths. Theirs was a very direct and hands-on craft, and it doesn’t take long for their fingers to itch for the feel of a hammer and tongs. Many are drafted by their freeholds to hand-forge iron weapons, just in case. It’s a tricky order, as raw iron is the one thing no Smith learned how to work in Arcadia.

The Smith is molded by her work. Her arms are corded and powerful from relentless hours spent at the anvil, or her fingers are long and metallic like the repair tools she uses. She may be tattooed with the same maker’s mark she places on her work, or her skin may be tinged in places with metal or ash. Some Smiths are permanently blackened by their exposure to the forge. Others bear hammer-marks along their bodies, their flesh shaped as if it were metal that had been beaten into place.

Durance
The torments inflicted on a Smith bled over into the tasks given her. The kind of crafting a Smith learned in Faerie required notable skill, and thus she was put to work early and hard. Her first task may have been to forge her own chains, which were then tested by her Keeper — if they seemed too loose or flimsy, her punishment would be terrible. Rest was all but a dream.

The Smith may have forged weapons for the Fae hosts, or tinkered among huge rotating gears that powered machines the size of cities. Her work may have been the means of escape as well as her torment — artificial wings that carried her into the Thorns before breaking apart, an axe that cut her chains or a long lock pick to open the back gates of the castle.

Folklore
Legendary smiths are all but ubiquitous in folklore. The process of turning raw metal into a fine tool or weapon has seemed wondrous and magical for as long as the craft has existed. The Smith is kin to the dwarves of Germanic and Norse legend who crafted wonders suitable for the gods; she is cousin to Wayland Maker and his ilk. She may have worked to forge a masterpiece, or  developed  a  knack  for  dismantling  equipment like a gremlin.

The strange ingredients said to be necessary for some swords, such as the bile of hares in Chinese legend, hint at fae mercuriality. Some magical smiths cursed their work, as the dwarves Dvalin  and  Durin  did  with  the  sword  Tyrfing. Many legendary smiths  were  lame  or  crippled,  sometimes  with  their tendons deliberately cut to keep them at their forges.

Frailties
May not work raw iron, compulsion to eat coal, cannot use  another  person’s  tools,  bane  of  toad’s  spittle,  must baptize a work in blood, cannot fight without a weapon