The Smith

Areas of Concern
Crafts, creativity, patient toil

Personality & Reputation
The Smith was born to mortal Dwarf parents in the early days of that people, in a time which only the oldest clans have recorded. She grew up obsessed with improving and creating practical things, excluding almost all other things. It is said that she didn’t speak a word or make a noise until the day she had to direct her first apprentice.

It was The Smith’s relentless creative passion that led her to plan the great workshop-settlement of The Forge, and it was there that she became a cult figure, an embodiment of industry and artisan pride. It is said that she keeps herself too busy to die.

This obsessiveness may have been the reason why she did not intervene in the Dwarven civil war. No one knows, for she was barely seen during that time, and has not spoken of it since. As usual, she let her deeds speak for her, and left The Forge when the war reached its apex.

She moved across the Razor Mountains, settling in a river valley. There she built her Complex, an ever-changing stronghold that challenges petitioners with cunning traps and complicated puzzles. There she toiled for many years, and the town of Mint had formed around it when she finally emerged to present her newest creation: the Gieldans.

The Gieldans were her way of protesting Dwarven belligerence. She had welded together patience, compassion, creativity, strength and an aversion to violence, hoping to show the Dwarves a better way.

She hasn’t really followed up on this, preferring to stay inside her complex. There she works on new creations, attended by a priesthood she doesn’t seem to recognize.

Worship

 * The creators of practical things throughout the continent see her as the epitome of the artisan, and it is customary to dedicate the first application of a tool to her. She is assumed to appreciate offerings of raw materials sent to the Complex.
 * The Priesthood of the Smithy dress plainly and live to work. They accept anyone who is willing to dedicate their entire lives to assisting The Smith in her works, but to be considered part of the clergy the applicant must first solve a convoluted series of puzzles which take years to solve for most.

Holy Places

 * The Forge is considered the spiritual birthplace of The Smith, and although her leaving has cast a shadow over the place, its reclamation project has become an important symbol of Dwarven unity.
 * The Mint has a reputation of being the foremost hub of technological innovation on the continent. Its markets are full of clockwork toys and other wonders. Her presence is infused in everything there, even though she hardly ever interacts with the place directly.

Notable Creations
The Forge The Mint and the Complex Gieldans