Brimold Mor-Torak

Brimold Mor-Torak, a Dwarf Everywhere Except Among His Own

In Thornwick he shoes horses and straightens plowshares with hands that once forged for the Varns of Khardum. He is there for a debt. A man returned to him the founding anvil of the Mor-Torak, lost for generations, and Brimold left his city to follow him. He has not seen Khardum since. His Dürn axe sleeps above the hearth, and every evening, before banking the forge, he lays a hand on the anvil.

Describe him

The hammer does not stop when you walk in. He heard you coming and finishes his pass before he looks up. The forge smells of charcoal and burnt hoof. His voice is low and gravelly, and he never raises it: it is the sound of the metal that tells you he is angry. He wastes no motion. Nor any word.

Play him

Play the silence first. He works while listening. He answers in one sentence, never two. Faced with a request, he weighs whether the client knows what they are asking, then says nothing or answers dry and exact. Slip in a detail that betrays the master: a sickle blade tempered like a sword, or a glance at a player's weapon that is enough for him to name the forge it came from. Before the anvil, slow down, and let him say a little too much. Everything he does here goes toward settling a debt.

What he says (rarely)

"A tool that breaks twice, the smith lied the first time."
"Yes. And no, I will not speak of it."
"(his hand on the anvil) It carried my name before me. The account is not settled."