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 his work. His arms are corded and powerful from relentless hours spent at the anvil, or his fingers are long and metallic like the repair tools he uses. He may be tattooed with the same maker’s mark he places on his work, or his 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 him. The kind of crafting a Smith learned in Faerie required notable skill, and thus he was put to work early and hard. His first task may have been to forge his own chains, which were then tested by his Keeper — if they seemed too loose or flimsy, his 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. His work may have been the means of escape as well as his torment — artificial wings that carried him into the Thorns before breaking apart, an axe that cut his 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; he is cousin to Wayland Maker and his ilk. He 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
References[]
- CTL: Changeling: the Lost Rulebook, p. 122
- CTL: Winter Masques, p. 94
