[ N a m e ]
Karr Armstrong
[ N i c k n a m e ]
Iron Fist
[ G e n d e r ]
Male
[ A p p e a r e d - A g e ]
42
[ A c t u a l - A g e ]
42
[ R a c e ]
Human
[ S e x u a l - O r i e n t a t i o n ]
Heterosexual
[ F a m i l y ]
Zahra Karim Armstrong - Karr's daughter who is training to become knight. For most part of her childhood, Karr wanted her to have better future than he had. Karr knows that being a blacksmith is hard, dirty work that will force one to be surrounded by walls. He wants better for Zahra and he works hard to enable her to become better person. Although he protested as she decided to become knight, he still supports her in her wish. Even after she grew up into a fine woman, Karr is still very overprotective of her, vowing that only one who wrestles arms with him and wins will be given a fair shot to earn Zahra's heart and not a moment sooner.
[ R o l e ]
Blacksmith
[ B i o g r a p h y ]
Nothing that Karr is today has been given to him. Everything that he has, that he is, he made with his own ten fingers.
Ever since he was born, Karr was small, scrawny, barely keeping himself on his own two feet. As he grew, everyone noticed just how much he is lagging behind other children. He was easy to push him and even easier to make him cry. Vegetables and fruit were his favorite and he disliked meat. By the age of seven it was clear that he has his father's facial lines and hair... but that was it. His father, Thomas Armstrong was a smith whose name preceded him wherever he would go, able to hit a metal with such perfection that it would become pure, rid of any other metals but the one he wanted it to be. His swords were legendary and his armor well prized and often on high demand. It was clear to everyone all that young Karr will not be inheriting his father's forge despite boy's willingness. And how was it clear? Well... when Thomas was seven, he was twice as tall and three times as wide.
Passing of his mother made things even worse... left on his own, Thomas found himself in unfamiliar waters. He was good parent but now he was the only one and he didn't knew what to do. Young boy missed his mother greatly but. Thomas wondered, how could such a small boy be so weak, coming from a father who could break the boulder just by hitting it once with hammer? Nevertheless Thomas desired greatly for boy to continue family tradition and took Karr to his forge, day after day just to keep him close, within his sight. Boy was always fascinated, he never once desired to be anything else but the smith... but his size promised nothing but disappointment. Thomas took the heavy hammer and strike down the piece of metal, always the same way, always with same force. Metal was yelling, screaming and growling from the force of the hammer that fell upon it and it always yielded. Boy was in awe as he looked at his father turn a small piece of iron ingot into a magnificent sword. Thomas never once missed the glitter in Karr's eyes and one day he gave Karr small ingot and just as small hammer.
"Shouldn't it be hot first?" Karr asked as he held hammer with both hands.
"Ney. Do not wait for metal to be hot to strike, strike it to make it hot." Thomas replied and took a small stool to sit. Karr lift the hammer and hit the metal. Weak... pathetic... Again, and again but not a single dent was visible on the metal. Only three strikes and boy was already tired.
"Take a break, son." Thomas said but Karr did not listen. He lift up the hammer and hit it again, almost missing the entire ingot. Father took the hammer and sat his son down on the chair to rest. Tomorrow they will try again. Day after day, month after month, boy hit the same ingot but showed little improvement. Thomas was patient, hopeful. More time he spent watching his son battle with piece of iron, less time he had to work and many of his customers and friends became more and more agitated. He was a smith unlike any in land with a chance to become even better, to forge himself into history but he did not... he chose to spend time with young Karr.
"Cast the boy aside!" They told him "Find a better apprentice, teach him your ways. Let not your gift be squandered on those unworthy!"
But Thomas heeded not their words. To leave his own flesh and blood? To abandon piece of him and of his beloved? The very thought angered him. Eventually, it became unbearable for the boy... both smiting and school so father decided to do something he never thought he would. He picked up everything that valuable to him and left with Karr, abandoning the forge. If this city will reject them, then they will find another one. And so, they found their way to Aelcastle. Small village, good people, seemed perfect and most importantly... they needed someone who can work with forge. For four years Thomas worked with pay far less than it was in the city. Instead of swords, he forged horseshoes, instead of armors and shields, nails and tools but that bothered him not. Kids accepted Karr and it was all he could ever hope for.
Life writes dramas and this family saw its fair share. At the age of fifteen Karr had to bury his father. Illness defeated him, leaving Karr all alone. With no school and no skill, he was left on his own. But he didn't want to give up. His father gave up on only life he ever knew how to lead to be there for him and he'll be damned if he gives up as well. With what money they had, Karr used only for food, constantly buying meat. His stomach kept rejecting it but he continued again and again, swallowing it with force, against his own will if needed. Each day he would come to the forge and resume hitting the same metal again and again and again. Boy slowly began gaining mass... the taste of meat became something he could not only tolerate but enjoy. He began growing, his muscles were bulging; every day constantly working from dawn till dusk, stubbornly carrying steel from one end of forge to another. He remembered everything his father taught him, every time he would sit with him in forge, he would tell young boy about the art of forging, about different kinds of metal, secrets on how to bend them to your will.
Boy learned well and repeated lessons that he learned again and again.The first ingot that he ever hit soon became a sword. Jagged, uneven but a sword. He was proud and took the sword to his father's grave to show it. One ingot after another, he resumed his work again and again, constantly improving himself. It was slow progress but Karr never once thought of giving up. One sword after another came from his forge, each better than last, each sharper, sturdier. He no longer became tired as he worked. Bathed in sweat, smelly but never tired. Small and scrawny kid now towered over people with muscles that looked like they belonged to a giant, not a man. He learned to listen to metal, to not count hits but to listen to it... to let it tell him when it is ready to be forged and bent into masterpiece. When iron proved no more challenge, he took up his father's books, ones that contained everything one needs to know about metals of all kind. He read them, diligently studying how to craft things with such precision and finesse that would impress king himself. As his skill grew his creations became smaller. He remembered his father lesson 'To truly learn the patience with metal, you must make not grand but small things'. And so, Karr's attention was drawn to create jewelry. A ring! Yes a ring would do but for that he will need gold.
The task of finding some was not easy but he obtained a nugget as large as his fist. From iron he made another hammer, small, light, perfect for working with metal as soft as gold. Day after day he worked, diligently, patiently, learning how to work with gold, silver and copper, with gems and stones of all kind.
As he turned twenty winters, he discovered that the village contained many secrets. Whispers in the winds told that there are more to be discovered and one of them tickled his curiosity.
A forge. One that never tires and never sleeps with flames that are never extinguished. Rumors said that from that forge long ago came weapons of legends, ones that could pierce the scale of a dragon and shrug off the blow of a giant. With nothing left to learn from books, he started wandering around the village in search of such forge. One day, he found an unusual discovery... a girl unlike any he has ever seen. She appeared to be lost and with no one around, he came to point her to the right path. Secrets of the village. She was searching for them too and so he found himself a companion. Their goals may be different but their paths were same and so he took it up upon himself to aid her in finding what she seeks if she would to help him. Bit by bit, she grew onto him and at the same rate he grew closer to her heart. That very year, they got a child. He cried, like never before in his entire life. Such small girl, beautiful like her mother.
"Zahra Karim Armstrong" Karr spoke as he took Zahra into his arms "She will no' inherit me forge! She'll be better tha' me, she will see th' world and all th' wonders it has."
[ P e r s o n a l i t y ]
Karr can only be described as person whose trust is easy to gain and hard to lose. He learned to believe in people and always give them a fair chance regardless how tall or small they are. He is always eager to listen to a story and even more eager to listen to a story with a mug of ale in front of him. He is a man of great strength, almost unnatural but he never once lifted a finger against a person. He hates any form of fighting and will rather endure hundred punches than to strike once. His strength, as he says, is there to make his metal sing. Although quick to laugh, Karr can just as quickly become emotional and will often shed a tear if a story hits his heart. There is one more thing that people learned about Karr... his love for singing although few wish to comment that openly. He is known to make dogs howl just by listening to him
[ P o w e r s ]
Master craftsman - There are few things Karr cannot make and those things do not count among the things that man has made. Some say he can fix a broken needle - they are not wrong. After all, the secrets of the forging has been passed down Armstrong line for generations!
Strength - Karr is unnaturally strong for a human, a feat he obtained through hard work and dedication stronger than steel.
[ E l e m e n t ]
Fire
[ L i k e s ]
Ale, boar meat, baked potatoes, milk, Knut (his forging hammer), singing.
[ D i s l i k e s ]
Combat and any form of fighting, hangover, any smith that neglects his tools, anyone trying to steal his tools, those who pick on weaker than themselves.
[ S e c r e t ]
Karr knows where legendary forge is located. According to the stories, flames of the forge cannot be extinguished and anything made in the forge is said to be of legendary quality.
[ F e a r s ]
Karr only fears two things. First is to see his daughter die and second is to lose his hands.
[ O t h e r s ]
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