"Many places have a local smith -- skilled at shaping metal but usually good at cracking troublesome skulls with his hammer as well!"
- —Description of a blacksmith from Total War: Warhammer.[1a]
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A blacksmith, as depicted in concept art for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.
A blacksmith is a craftsman and metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut. Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, grilles, railings, light fixtures, furniture, sculpture, tools, agricultural implements, decorative and religious items, cooking utensils, and weapons. The place where a blacksmith works is called variously a smithy, a forge or a blacksmith's shop. A blacksmith is a generalist craftsman who has a general knowledge of how to make and repair many things, from the most complex of weapons and armour to simple things like nails or lengths of chain. Blacksmiths in the provinces of the Empire and indeed throughout the Old World fashion more than just horseshoes. Arms, armour, talismans, swords and countless other blades are hammered and shaped under a blacksmith's hammer for the industry of the Empire is war.[1a]
A blacksmith of the Old World hard at work.
The secrets of forging stronger steel are held exclusively by the Dwarfs and Men. It was the Dwarfs that were the mortal world's first true metalworkers, but thanks to centuries of alliances they have shared some, if not all, the secrets of the process with the nascent Empire. Soon Human smiths were super-heating iron and adding charcoal to create stronger, more pliant steel -- the perfect material for making full plate armour.[1c]
Skilled blacksmiths are also highly sought after in Bretonnia, being one of the few peasant trades that knights do not look down upon on. Of course, this is probably because the nobility need their horses shoed, their lances in ready supply, their swords sharp and the dents in their armour knocked out. Skilled Bretonnian blacksmiths gravitate to more prosperous towns and cities, rarely staying in villages where little business can be found.[1b]
The Old World has very few swordsmiths, for they are the finest craftsmen in the realm and always in demand. To be a swordsmith takes many years of perfecting one's skill to hone blades to their sharpest edges. These individuals are no mere blacksmiths, they are swordmakers for kings and emperors and can command a hefty price for their services.[1d]
Swords and armour of Tilean manufacture are easy to distinguish from similar Imperial ones. Altdorfers or Nulners prefer a hilt to be plain and sturdy while Tilean works are more refined and embellished.[2a]
Sources[]
- 1: Total War: Warhammer (PC Game)
- 2: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition: Doomstones - Death Rock (RPG)
- 2a: pg. 32