Ferrant Newmere

Aye Laddie or Lassie, ye wanna hear a tale about a wee ol' dwarf now do ye? Well, I have a tale just for the likes of ye about the life of good ol' Ferrant Newmere.

Ferrant was born on the sixth-day of Kythorn in 1372 in The Mror Holds. Specifically, he was born at the ancient ritual site called The Fist of Onatar, a dormant volcano that his people looked to as a portal to the pantheon. Whereas their dwarven cousins were a society based around war and brute strength, the Dwarves of the Fist of Onatar were shamanistic. They communed with the earth around them, focusing on their latent magic powers thinking that it was they who would be closer to the Dwarven gods in the end.

Ferrant grew up in this society of shamanistic dwarves, being told by his mother that he needed to commune with the gods and embrace shamanism to become enlightened. Ferrant at a young age was regarded as a prodigy. At the age of five, he not only was able to demonstrate the fundamentals of transmutation magic, but he was also capable of medium level abjuration, creating shields and enhancing his resistances to various types of attack. This, however, upset his mother who dreamed of a child who could master evocation and conjuration type magics and wished for her son to raise up in the hierarchy of shaman-hood.

Despite his gifts and natural calling towards magic, Ferrant was not happy with the idea of being another shaman or learning to channel the elements. In fact, out of all the magic, he had access to, elemental magic was his weakest point. What Ferrant really desired was to see his Dwarven Cousins in the Mror Holds at the main settlement. He wanted to see what the so-called warfaring dwarves were like and went to his father for help. His father was a Blacksmith who frequently traveled to the Mror Holds for materials and as such, he gladly took his son with him, thinking it would be an excellent way to bring him into the family business rather than let the religion have him.

Ferrant was fascinated with the warfaring dwarves of the main settlement. He saw their bladed weaponry, their fierce solid armor, and on several occasions even had the chance to witness them fighting beasts from the south. He was enamored with the idea of heavy armor, watching it deflect blows from massive weapons and fearsome beasts, and turned to his father asking him to teach him how to craft armor.

His father agreed and fully brought Ferrant on board as his apprentice, teaching him the craft. He taught Ferrant how to build and fashion the rings in chainmail, explained to him how to properly temper and bend steel, and even conveyed to him basic tanning and leatherworking skills to add padding to his armor. However, as the years passed with Ferrant honing his skills and increasing his knowledge, his father noticed something spectacular. Ferrant was capable of imparting his magical power into the items he interacted with. His father explained to Ferrant that what this was is a school of magic called Enchantment, the enhancement of gear. His father looked at him with pride and told him to continue his training and to continue his practice into magic outside of his smithing.

By the time Ferrant was 22, he had finally learned all he could from his father on basic and intermediate smithing - armor techniques. He not only mastered the techniques themselves but had also learned to properly control his emotions and thoughts while smithing as to impart his magic into the gear he fashioned. His father was proud and on Ferrrant's 22nd birthday gave Ferrant a box containing a family heirloom that his deceased Grandfather once used in his smithing days, an item called the Soul Hammer.

The Soul Hammer looked like a large two-handed hammer but was actually as light as a small log. The platinum head that topped the hammer looked incredibly heavy, yet it was lighter than the average smithing tools. His father explained to him that the hammer was engraved in special runes that would help him channel his magical aptitude into his items more than he was already able to and that only a person capable of enchantment could wield it.

Having reached an impasse in his training, needing to seek out a more talented and masterful craftsman to learn more about armor, Ferrant left the Fist of Onatar, past the main settlement, and made his way to the Dwarven capital, Korunda Gate. Upon arrival, Ferrant was flabbergasted by the numerous people he saw. He was accustomed to towns of up to 800 people, but this city held over 20,000. He had never seen so many people in one place and compared to his small town, this place was loud and seemed overly crowded.

Among the first Dwarves, he met in Korunda Gate was the local Arena Champion, Galdrik Hirlon, whom Ferrant ran into at the Iron Stout Inn. Galdrik was boisterous and obnoxious but was a solid fighter. Ferrant went and watched him a few times and saw Galdrik's unique fighting style first hand. Galdrik would never dodge a single blow his opponent delivered. He would stand tall and proud, staring down his attacker from his heavy plate armor, and taunt them until they were worn out enough that he could just kick them over. He was called "The Korundan Tank".

Ferrant was excited to see such a style of defense that existed out there. He imagined that if he had a chance to learn the same style of fighting as Galdrik, he could utilize his magical ability to take him even further than the arena champion. So Ferrant proposed a deal to Galdrik, he would tend to the champion's armor and give it some enhancements; and in return, Galdrik would teach Ferrant his fighting style. Galdrik referred to this style as the Steel Body Technique.

Ferrant spent the next 46 years in Korunda Gate, living at the Hirlon residence as a guest and even opening his own armor shop. Due to the work, he provided on Galdrik's armor during the Dwarf's time as the arena champion, he saw many dwarves and travelers come by his shop for repairs and custom orders. Ferrant had the most successful armory shop in the Mror Holds.

During his time he continued daily training with Galdrik, becoming a sparring partner of his friend and co-instructor at Galdrik's Iron Barracks where he helped teach the Steel Body Technique. He had also started having relations with Galdrik's sister, Corra Hirlon. They had grown so close over the years that Corra had even informed Ferrant that he would soon be a father.

Ferrant was ecstatic at the idea of being a father. He had wanted a kid for a while and now was happy to have somebody he could possibly pass his knowledge down to. With a happy thought in his head and as he started to think of names, Ferrant picked up his personal armor, his soul hammer, and his travel sack to head to work, but when he turned and left the door to his home......he was in a forest and his home behind him was gone. Where in Eberron was he...? Little did he know, this wasn't Eberron at all.