Runesmith

Runesmiths are what the Khazad call their magic wielders, although the practice is not what one would expect. Through the efforts of Hagrin Stonebrow, The First Runesmith, methods were revealed on how to locate echoes of our departed ancestors and learn from our forebearers themselves. While it is a record unchanging, it has given these artisans glimpses of how latch onto some of our inherent ability to shape the world. Elves, goblyns, trolls, humans... their magics come from many sources and can weave many beautiful and powerful effects. A fireball or enchanted bow is an enchantment of great value; the Khazad do not dispute this. We do not even dispute that we are magicless. Khazad are not given to the weaves, winds, mana, and whatever source of magic the other races have access to; what we do have, however, is the ancestral call to create and refine. In this, the Runesmiths have learned how to call forth traits inherent in whatever they are working with to enhance. This means, however, there are different rules to runes than many may think of.

Because Runesmiths work with the inherent nature of an object, you will not find an armory full of flaming swords or bows that string themselves. A Runesmith may call for a sword to be sharper, owing that its shape is that with an edge. They may call for it to be harder, enhancing the properties of the metal itself. A sword that doesn’t easily fly from the grip of the holder, enhancing the leather of the grip. The most skilled Runesmiths can enhance properties not quite seen, but this comes from experience, knowledge, and cunning as opposed to any sort of fae trickery.

But what of the flaming axes of the Khafelin Guard of legend? As we said, a Runesmith must call forth the inherent properties of the item. A powerful Runesmith might take a metal axe and work with its ability to hold heat, but then you must apply it to a fire before using. A legendary Runesmith might work for a decade and fashion runes in such a fashion that the act of swinging the axe generates friction that causes it to burst into flames.

A pragmatic Runesmith, which must be said is all of them because they are Khazad first and Runesmith second, will find rare metals or gems that inherently burn, or use washes, oils, and unguents in the process of making the axe that make it exceptionally volatile. The more of a quality is present, the easier a time that a Runesmith will have to enhance something.

This is why you hear that Khazad have the sturdiest armor, the sharpest blade, and the most unyielding of walls. Our Runesmiths have simply made each thing they work with more of the thing than it was before.

With all of this said and done, however, not every echo will connect well with a Runesmith, not every echo will contain the knowledge that a Runesmith will need. It is an art as much as it is an endeavor. Much like an artist or musician, the way someone perceives their art is as varied as there are artists and then some, and so Runesmiths often make excursions to far flung lands and holds in search of the resting places of our ancestors. Taking meticulous notes and communicating with other Runesmiths, it is not uncommon to see a letter enter a Runesmith’s forge and suddenly see them scuttle off with their assistants and family following behind trying to load them with enough food so they don’t starve on the trip.

Which is why sometimes the Khazad will fight over land that seems ordinary and worthless. A mountain hold with no mining prospects nor trade routes might have access to an echo chamber, or access to a specific mineral that’s only useful to the Runesmiths. No king or lord is so quick to raise the ire of a Runesmith to let access to these rare spots fall into enemy hands.

In the tradition of our ancestors, however, the Runesmiths are also keenly aware of the impact of their death, seeing as how Runesmiths are empowered with knowledge the way they are. A Runesmith is loathe to die far from home, and will seek to die on their own terms. Spending so much time dwelling in the nature of our world’s construction will see a Runesmith rejoin it, leaving their own echo behind.

In the greatest of holds, a Runesmith may find a final resting spot in a specially constructed chamber deep in the mountain, careful to ensure that their essence is captured but not mingled with other ancestors. Some choose to wander the mountains one last time and shape a chamber away from home. Every decision is unique to the Runesmith, with one particularly contrary Runesmith choosing to pour his essence into a room beneath a mountain with instructions to open a lava vent into the chamber. His last words, paraphrased for posterity, were along the lines of “As troublesome as my life was made by the cavern owner’s guild, I make my death as troublesome for them.” [Author’s note: The cavern owner’s guild later rescinded their policy against purple painted signposts after the king inquired as to what happened.]

In this, a Runesmith adds to the ancestors, leaving their knowledge behind for new Runesmiths to learn and grow. Unlike a library, it’s much harder to remove echos from the stone, so even if all the Runesmiths are killed, a new Runesmith can always find their calling by listening to the stones.

Roleplay Aspect

Runeworking is essentially reinforcing a specific aspect of whatever you are working with. Something sharp can be made sharper. Something metal can be made more durable. Something conductive, more so. Effectively "this, but more so" if it helps. It also helps to think of it as a set of scales in terms of strength and effort needed. The amount something is of something on a scale of 1-10, the inverse is true of the effort needed. So, if you have granite, that might be a 1 on the scale of flammability, so you'd need a 10 in terms of effort to make it set on fire. Coal, however, would be a 10 in terms of flammability, so you'd need a 1 in terms of effort to make it catch fire.

The goal of runeworking, at the end of the day, for roleplaying aspects is to justify dwarven magic and why it's not battlefield usable. A runesmith can make a wicked sweet axe, but it gains no actual battlefield bonus. It also gives a reason to fight over artifacts and quest and the like, because acquiring ancient artifacts of power is easier than trying to recreate them. This lends from the Warhammer Fantasy universe where knowledge of runes is very specific, a majority of it is lost, and it's much safer, easier, and more certain to just find the damned Fireaxe of Lord Kil'morork than to find the echo chamber, find all the needed ingredients, and then make it.

For apprentices, there's generally three main paths of Runes.

Runesmiths: Those who create items. This falls into your crafting territory. The idea here is to encourage people to make great items with lore attached to it.
Runemasters: Those who create stories. This is for people who are better with stories. Bring them your item and they'll give you a story to it.
Runelords: Those who quest/fight. This is for people who may not be great at crafting or writing, but perhaps they fight a better story and are more willing to create quests for others to engage in.