Bruster McSonn

See Also Dakarians (List)

After his father died of fever in 1426, Bruster as the oldest son took on the job of providing for the house. He got as a labor for Master Jenni, the village smith. After a few years of moving ingots, anvils, and the various tools of the trade, Master Jenni agreed to teach him the basics in exchange for a reduction in his weeky pay. With the chance to learn a trade, Bruster readily agreed. For the next three years, Bruster learned actual skills needed by a smith — including the hows of running his own smithy someday. While Jenni had ever intention of turning his own smithy over to his sons, he had hoped that Bruster would be good enough to earn a living elsewhere. Instead, what he got surprised him.

Bruster was not just a good smith, he turned out to be an excellent smith. He only had to be shown a technique once or twice and he was able to duplicate it — after working a technique for a few months he was often able to surpass his master, which worried Jenni. He would have dismissed Bruster for fear of jeopardizing his own son's future; except that Bruster seemed to have no understanding of show work. He was fantastic with horseshoes, bits, nail, and all of the various underpinnings, but he always forgot to clean off the scale or scrape the metal; such that his pieces were always functionally fantastic, but looked like junk.

Still, it wouldn't be long before Bruster would feel enough confidence to produce more delicate pieces — so before that day arrived he arranged for Bruster to move to the town of Wilhelm and apprentice with a friend of his. So in 1448, Bruster and his wife moved to Wilhelm in the hopes of a better life. The bustling town of Wilhelm not only opened Bruster's eyes to all sorts of things, but brought with it a very different take on his trade. His new master, Master Coresant, was not simply a mastersmith but a true practitioner of forge magic. He recognized the untapped potential within Bruster and agreed to take him as an apprentice even though he was far too old to be fully taught.

Bruster worked hard for the five years to learn everything that his new master was willing to teach. He excelled in the working of all manner of metals to such a degree that even his master was in disbelief at the skill of someone so untrained. However, the same problem that haunted him before returned to his work again — no matter how often he cleaned and scraped it would never look good. While Master Coresant's other apprentice turned out high-quality silverware, Bruster's were ugly and slightly mishappen. Like Master Jenni, his new master would have dismissed him except that Bruster seemed to have a natural talent at the forge and could overcome the difficulty of working with any metal.

In 1455, finding nothing but frustration at the forge and following on the heels of the death of his wife while giving birth to their first child, Bruster left the town of Wilhelm to seek his on fortune. He sold all of his belongings that wouldn't fit into his wagon and left after a quick goodbye to his master. He returned to his mother, giving her half of all the money he had saved up because he didn't know if he would ever be able to send her money again. Then with only a portable smithy he went in search of his own answers.

The life of a smith is hard on a body, and the life of a travelling one even more difficult. While his body is still strong and tough from the forge, it has begun to soften with age. Most of his hair is gone and what little remains is left in small tufts on the sides of his head. His once bright blue eyes have dulled with age and constantly rimmed in red from the smoke and ash. Pockmarks from hammer sparks and hot metal dot his upper body, while an accident at Master Jenni's anvil has left his right leg just slightly out of place.

His once white skin is typically covered in forge dust and even when cleaned up he is darkened from working outside so much. Bruster' speech and mannerisms are a dead giveaway that he is from a small village in southwest Dakar, but he doesn't like to talk about home so it rarely comes up. He prefers instead the life a a vagabond with no ties to hold him to any single area.

Bruster travels around the Western lands of Dakar. He is not only a highly skilled smith, but trained as a forge magus. He still has not overcome his inability to produce works of beauty, but after so many years it no longer bothers him the way it once did. Instead, he is happy to work the forge and create anything that is far superior to others of his craft.

It would not be impossible to someone travelling through the Western Providences of Dakar and not either run into him or hear of his exploits, this is especially true if questioning other smiths or talking to the nobles that can afford his special jobs.

History

1416
Born a freeman in the village of Wateryard
1426
Father dies
Becomes laborer for Master Jenni
1429
Master Jenni takes Bruster as his apprentice
1448
Moves to Wilhelm, with his wife Lorina, to become an apprentice to Master Coresant a skilled forge magus
1455
Lorina, his wife, dies in failed birth of their first child
Leaves Wilhelm to seek his own fortune as a travelling smith