> [!infobox]+ Thuldar Hammerforge > > <div class="infobox-coat-of-arms"> > <div class="coat-of-arms-layout"> > <a href="Moradin.md" class="internal-link coat-of-arms-link"><div class="coat-of-arms-obsidian"><img src="MoradinSymbol.png" alt="Coat of Arms" class="internal-image"></div></a> > <div class="character-name-container"><div class="character-main-name">Thuldar Hammerforge</div></div> > <a href="Moradin.md" class="internal-link coat-of-arms-link"><div class="coat-of-arms-obsidian"><img src="MoradinSymbol.png" alt="Coat of Arms" class="internal-image"></div></a> > </div> > </div> > > <div style="text-align: center; padding: 0.2em;"> > <img src="Thuldar Hammerforge-Portrait.png" alt="Thuldar Hammerforge" style="max-width: 250px; height: auto;" class="internal-image"> > </div> > <table class="infobox-table"> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Race</td><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Dwarves.md" class="internal-link">Mountain Dwarf</a></td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Titles</td><td class="infobox-data">• Champion of Moradin<br>• Master Runesmith</td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Allegiance</td><td class="infobox-data">• <a href="Moradin.md" class="internal-link">Moradin</a><br>• <a href="Brazenthrone.md" class="internal-link">Brazenthrone</a><br>• <a href="Rexsall.md" class="internal-link">Rexsall</a><br>• <a href="Group 8274.md" class="internal-link">Group 8274</a></td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Culture</td><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Dwarves.md" class="internal-link">Dwarvish</a></td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Born</td><td class="infobox-data">13^th Godsnight 2847 PD, <a href="Brazenthrone.md" class="internal-link">Brazenthrone</a></td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Died</td><td class="infobox-data">7^th Snowmoot 3036 PD, <a href="Rexsall.md" class="internal-link">Rexsall</a></td></tr> > <tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-section-header">Family</td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Mother</td><td class="infobox-data"><em>Not Known</em></td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Father</td><td class="infobox-data"><em>Not Known</em></td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Spouse</td><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Torlyn Hammerforge.md" class="internal-link">Torlyn Hammerforge</a></td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Other Family</td><td class="infobox-data">• Torgarr Hammerforge † (Grandfather)</td></tr> > </table> ### Appearance and Character Thuldar was a stocky, broad-shouldered [[Dwarves|Mountain Dwarf]] with warm dark brown skin and dark eyes beneath heavy brows, his gaze at once kind and powerful. He was bald on top, with close-cropped dark hair at the sides and back of his head, and wore a very long, thick black beard worked into heavy braids and set with rings of polished silver and gold. In his later years he was rarely seen out of the armour he had forged for himself, a suit of gleaming mithral plate traced with gold filigree and engraved with runes that glowed a soft pale blue, worn over crimson cloth. At his side, or resting on his shoulder, was always his warhammer, [[Forgestriker]]. Those who knew him remembered a steady, humble and quietly proud dwarf, more at home at the anvil than in any court. He held to the commandments of the All-Hammer in all things - loyal to his family, his clan and his friends, stoic in the face of catastrophe, and certain that to make something that lasts is to change the world for the better. Despite the slights he suffered in [[Brazenthrone]], he was never known to speak bitterly of them, and he crafted great works for those who fought for good causes. ### Life of Thuldar #### Early Life Thuldar was born on the 13^th of Godsnight, 2847 PD, in [[Brazenthrone]], the grandson of Torgarr Hammerforge, then King of [[Brazenthrone]]. The kingship of the city has never been strictly hereditary. The title of heir is given to whoever is judged best suited to rule, and while that is often the monarch's child, it is not always so. Thuldar's father was a skilled brewer, but no leader, and so he was never named heir, and when the crown passed on, it passed out of the Hammerforge family. As Thuldar neared adulthood, his grandfather, still on the throne, placed him as an apprentice to the royal smith of [[Brazenthrone]], hoping the boy would show more of an aptitude for greatness than his father. He did. Thuldar proved a gifted smith, and in time he became a master of the craft in his own right, working from a forge in the city's Anvil Quarter. #### Life It was in the markets of [[Brazenthrone]] that Thuldar met [[Torlyn Hammerforge|Torlyn]], a merchant who supplied him with materials for his forge. The two married, and for the rest of his life Torlyn ran his stalls in the markets of [[Brazenthrone]], and later of [[Rexsall]]. On Deep Solace, the holy day of [[Moradin]], in 2986 PD, Thuldar forged his masterpiece. Like many champions of [[Moradin]] before him, he was chosen in the act of creation. As he worked, he found himself smithing in ways unknown even to him, his hands guided by the spirit of the All-Hammer himself. For days he worked without rest, and through that connection he learned the Runes of [[Moradin]], the ancient dwarven art of runesmithing, lost to all but a few. When he finished on the holy day itself, he held his warhammer, [[Forgestriker]], and he was the champion of [[Moradin]]. From then on, Thuldar was widely regarded as the finest smith in [[Aeborhia|the world]], and the last known master of runesmithing. By every right, the champion of the All-Hammer should have risen to become royal smith of [[Brazenthrone]], but he never did. Thuldar was held back for political reasons, out of jealousy from [[Vokdun Lightguard]], then king of [[Brazenthrone]] in name only, as the city still lay under the rule of the [[Stacien Empire]]. A grandson of the old king who also bore the favour of [[Moradin]] was a rival the Lightguards had no wish to see at court. In 3032 PD, Thuldar received a vision from [[Moradin]] of himself clearing the ruins of the Old Palace of [[Brazenthrone]], abandoned for some two hundred years after a cave-in, of the grey dwarves and dark elves that had taken it. With the help of the adventurers of [[Group 8274]], he did exactly that, and as his reward he claimed from the royal treasury the runeforging anvil that had once belonged to his great-grandfather. Soon after, Thuldar and [[Torlyn Hammerforge|Torlyn]] left [[Brazenthrone]] with [[Group 8274]], settling at Champions' Rest, the hamlet outside [[Rexsall]] that is home to many of the city's heroes. Thuldar fought alongside the group for the rest of his life. On the 21^st of Dusk, 3032 PD, when the vampire army of [[Jairus]] invaded [[Rexsall]], he and [[Arjal Goldstein]] held the city's middle district against hordes of undead until the siege was broken. Later that year, when [[Rexsall]] seceded from the [[Stacien Empire]], Thuldar was one of the three divine champions living in the city, alongside [[Arjal Goldstein]], champion of [[Bahamut]], and Raven, champion of the Raven Queen. In these years he forged and runesmithed arms and armour for many of [[Group 8274|Group 8274's]] members and allies, much of it still carried today. #### Death Thuldar fell in the [[Battle of Rexsall]] on the 7^th of Snowmoot, 3036 PD, when the demonic armies of [[Orcus]] assaulted the city. He fought with the force led by [[Arjal Goldstein]] against a powerful mage and a host of summoned demons, a battle that claimed many of its defenders, Thuldar and Raven among them. How exactly he fell is not recorded. Thuldar was buried in his family's tomb in the old, reclaimed section of [[Brazenthrone]], the very ruins he had cleared four years earlier. His name is listed on the memorial to the fallen in [[Rexsall|Rexsall's]] middle ring, and is inscribed in mithral letters upon the walls of the Hall of [[Moradin]] in [[Khaztharim]], among every champion of the All-Hammer since the first. [[Moradin]] has named no new champion since his death. ### Notable Possessions - **[[Forgestriker]]** - Thuldar's masterpiece, a mithral and adamantine warhammer forged under the guidance of the spirit of [[Moradin]] on Deep Solace, 2986 PD. Wreathed in flame when it strikes, it returns to its wielder's hand when thrown and warns them of coming danger. After his death, [[Torlyn Hammerforge|Torlyn]] donated it to the Hall of [[Moradin]] in [[Khaztharim]], where it is displayed today. - **Mithral Plate** - A suit of pure mithral plate armour, forged and runesmithed by Thuldar himself and bearing more runes than any other work of his hand. It lightens itself to its wearer, never tarnishes or dirties, can take on the appearance of any other clothing or armour, can be shed in moments, and even lets its wearer swim as easily as they walk. It is displayed beside [[Forgestriker]] in the Hall of [[Moradin]]. - **Spellguard Shield** - A shield of his own making, warded against magic. It was donated to the Hall of [[Moradin]] alongside his hammer and armour. ### Known Works Many of the most famous arms and armour of the 31^st century PD came from Thuldar's forge, a great many of them made for the members of [[Group 8274]]. - **[[Arjal Goldstein|Arjal Goldstein's]] Sun-Blade.** - **[[Bertie Lizard|Bertie Lizard's]] Battleaxe and Plate Armour** - A battleaxe crackling with lightning that returns to the hand when thrown, and a suit of mithral-lined plate. - **[[Elora Kraok|Elora Kraok's]] Greatsword, Longbow and Plate Armour** - A greatsword that burns with radiant light, a longbow as deadly beneath the waves as above them, and a suit of plate able to disguise itself as other clothing. - **[[Ilaphe|Ilaphe's]] Glaive and Half Plate** - A radiant glaive whose wounds will not close, and a suit of mithral-lined half plate. - **[[Sorcerer Jack|Sorcerer Jack's]] Half Plate and Longsword** - A suit of half plate runed against the might of dragons, and the runes worked into his black dragonbone-hilted longsword, which sheds moonlight in the darkness. - **[[Gerald Fitzgerald|Gerald Fitzgerald's]] Rapiers and Armour** - The twin rapiers *The Golden Sunrise* and *The Midnight's Sunset*, the latter with a blade of purple mithral and a guard of emerald steel, and the studded leather armour known as *The Herald's Panzer*.