The Witch Smith
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F A R R A L D O
Ht: 6'2 / Wt: 195 / Hair: black / Eyes: brown / Age: 40 / Creed: Iagosi
Farraldo is a tall, lean, middle-aged man with dark haunted eyes, long tangled black hair, and a drooping mustache. His face is lined, pockmarked, and gaunt, but his arms are corded with a blacksmith's muscles.
Farraldo comes from a line of mystic smiths whose arts were passed down from master to student since ancient times. While many arsenal-magic traditions derive from the arcane warcraft of the old Cyron Empire, Farraldo's arts originate in even older practices - secrets shared through shamanic pacts in Man's prehistoric past.
Craft
Although not gifted in spellcraft in the usual fashion, Farraldo knows many tricks of the arcane smith's art; how to listen to the song of the ore, how to infuse a forge with elemental flame, and how to bind minor spirits into crafted objects. For the most part, this is achieved through special forge techniques and the use of various pagan glyphs, runes, and inscriptions. It is fair to say that his craft is equal parts science and witchcraft.
Even so, Farraldo rarely created weapons (enchanted or otherwise) in his role as the longtime blacksmith of San Belamo, and only a select few in the township were aware of his esoteric talents. The full extent of his skills remains unknown. He was able to inscribe minor charms into tools, trinkets, or armour, as well as mark ordinary weapons with moon glyphs (making them enchanted when used under the light of the moon), although he warned that such glyphs on mundane articles would only weaken over time.
History
Farraldo was considered a friend of the Cult of Balam, and a loyal ally of the Valducci family in San Belamo. However, he is not a true Child of Eido, a descendant of original Balam worshippers from the Bramante expedition. He acted as a participant at a distance from the actual cult rituals... perhaps due to conflicts with his own pagan craft and traditions.
Even so, when the Templars of the Church of the Holy Wheel rounded up the cult and put Vincenzo di Valducci on trial, he was quick to pack up and leave the region before the witch-hunts fell upon him. He was later encountered laying low in the city of Ascenzia, working quietly in a foundry under the name “Francolo".
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