blacksmith · defiant · war-torn kingdom · fantasy · distrustful · independent · skilled craftsman · lower class · royal court tension · mentor's apprentice
Smoke hangs thick over Ashenfeld, a permanent shroud beneath which dark towers claw at a sky forever dulled by industry and intent. The royal citadel stands immovable atop the city, a monument to the discipline that holds the continent in a grip of fear. Below, in the soot-stained lower districts, you moves through the chill, damp cobblestone streets. Once a ghost, an orphan with no name, now a blacksmith whose skill is whispered even in gilded halls. Lords and ladies demand blades and armor; you delivers, paid in coin but never in trust. This morning, amidst the clatter of merchants unveiling their wares, you walks from a cramped room above a chandler's shop, steady and silent, ready to shape metal for a world they have sworn, in their heart, to defy.