Thoril Stonehammer

The Apprentice Smith

 When the clanless Thoril first arrived
to Kal-Ordo, the great Hollow Kingdom of the Dwarves, he had much
difficulty acquiring an apprenticeship as a smith, until he arrived
at the shop of Brogar Silverhammer. Now Brogar was a shrewd
business-dwarf, and had an eye for talent, even if he had none
himself (though this last was not generally known). And given that
his last apprentice had recently “mysteriously” disappeared, he
found himself in need of another. So Brogar went though the difficult
and costly process of adopting Thoril into the Silverhammer Clan. And
he was not disappointed in his gamble, for Thoril advanced in
smith-craft at a prodigious rate. So much so that the Mark of
Brogar's shop became synonymous with the highest quality of goods. It
even looked like Brogar (who peddled Thoril's handiwork as his own)
was on his way to being honored with a Thane-ship for his craft. As
for Thoril? He was content to receive excellent pay for his work and
continue uninterrupted in his smithing, for nothing seemed to sate
him as did the swing of his hammer on hot steel.

 But one day, during one of the weekly
assaults that plagued the edges of Kal-Ordo, something penetrated
deep into the heart of the city and murdered Torgthar, the son of the
Chief of the Thanes, Ragthar Goldenhelm. Eye witness accounts varied,
some saying it was shaped as a dwarf, other claiming it was like an
elf, still others that it was dragon-kin. But all agreed its skin was
so dark that it seemed to absorb the light, and it moved with a speed
and agility that belied mortal powers. As terrifying as this sounds,
however, the nature of the creature was considered of secondary
importance to the weapon it used. For the weapons recovered from the
attackers and the dagger that the mysterious creature thrust through
the eye of Torgthar bore the mark of the Silverhammers, specifically
of Brogar's shop.

When Brogar was arrested on charges of
arms-dealing to enemies of the Dwarves, he claimed that he had no
knowledge of any arms-dealing, but he “volunteered” that he
received far less work out of Thoril than was standard, and that his
apprentice seemed to have no shortage of money. Thoril was brought in
for questioning, and his quarters were searched; the large sums of
gold corroborated Brogars accusation, and evidence was shortly found
that all but proved that Thoril must have been selling to mysterious
individuals from the caverns without. Given no chance to defend
himself before the Council, Thoril was cast into Nogrod, the highest
security prison of Kal-Ordo, to rot until his beard should fall out.
And there he remained for almost a year, despairing and bemoaning his
fate, until he had a vision:

 In this vision, he saw Valkauna, Lady
of the Forge, smelting and hammering at the most beautiful forge he
had ever seen. In the background, a figure lay in repose upon a large
stone alter. As he stood there gaping, Valkauna noticed him, and
gestured him forward. She then spoke, “Welcome, Smith, to the Hall
of the King. You have gained a small measure of skill in my art. I
have need of apprentices, to aid me in preparing the Arms and
Armaments of Stone. If you would be my apprentice, find my forge in
the North.” With that, Thoril awoke with a fire in his heart, a
burning desire to escape. Within a week, he concocted a plan,
leveraged the bars of his cell, and successfully escaped. On the run,
he crossed the Thresh river and arrived in Alistair's Landing with
nothing but the clothes on his back, and a silver spoon with an
engraved "M" that he found in his cell.

 [Thoril Stonehammer, Dwarven Cleric of the Forge 1, Liam A.]