Zovra - The Fire Giant Blacksmith

Zovra

“Swords are forged through a balance of stress and softening. Hammer strikes and heat. Without the right balance, the sword will break in one way or another, but if you can get it right… it can withstand anything.”

• Zovra

Standing at least 17 feet tall is a fire giant with light skin the color of fresh ash and blazing hair tempered into a ponytail. She is adorned in pieces of blackened armor that while initially seems cohesive in their design, you realize each piece varies in quality where the structure, detail, and tones don’t quite match up. The only set pieces missing are a helmet and breastplate.

Traits

Zovra has the following traits:

Personality Trait: Zovra has a curious soul and enjoys being able to figure things out, either by herself through toil and investigation, or simply by asking those around her, but she learns best by being part of the experience.

Ideal: Through experience and perseverance, even the impossible can become possible. Zovra believes that anything can be accomplished if one can find the right way and tries hard enough, although some help may be required.

Bond: One day, Zovra plans to return home as the world’s greatest blacksmith, so that perhaps her old mentor may finally acknowledge her work as more than “sufficient”.

Flaw: Zovra is far too hard on herself, particularly in her craft. Although she is clearly skilled, making a small mistake can start her on the track of self-doubt, while any significant mistake can cause her to question her goals entirely. In the midst of these moods she can become stubborn, needing to accomplish a task to prove herself.

Background

The gasping of bellows and tinking of hammers have always rung like music to Zovra. Anytime she was around her uncle’s workshop her eyes would light up brighter than the forge itself. It took little convincing of her parents to take up the mantle of an apprentice, after all, forging was in her blood as they would say.

Before long Zovra had a perfect grasp of the basics, but venturing onwards in the craft seemed difficult. She had moved on to a new mentor, one of high renown, because of the promise she showed early on but at every challenge failed to meet his standards. Although the quality of her work was high compared to any mortal smith, the highest acclaim she was ever able to achieve after a year of trying with her mentor was “sufficient”. 

On the cusp of giving in, Zovra overheard her parents coming into the smithy and talking with her mentor. Although most of the discussion quickly became forgotten, his remark that “Zovra lacks the fire for the craft” will forever stay in her mind. On any normal day it would have crushed her, but on this day there was only rage. Rage that had her packed within moments, rage that sent her out into the world with a determination to prove him wrong. In a last moment of spite, she stole from her mentor a valuable tool that would help her learn from the smiths of the world; a forge that magically condenses down and fits within a pocket - She would need a forge her own size if she was to learn from such small creatures as dwarves and elves.

In each place, she works to create a new piece of her armor with what she has learned and engraves some of their story into the metal so she can look back with ease and fondness. While she misses her home deeply, she finds moments of joy in her travels from sharing her culture with others - With other blacksmiths, she doesn’t just offer her services in exchange for training, she teaches them the techniques of the fire giants. With other travelers, she shares tales of her home and their customs, and although it is difficult she tries to recreate her favorite foods for those she has come to call friends.

As a travelling blacksmith, Zovra has acquired the following magical item;

Portable Forge

You can use an action to place this 1 inch wrought iron cube on the ground and speak its command word. The cube then begins to unfold and grows into a room seemingly made of blackened metal with no roof or front wall. The room remains until you use an action to speak the command word that dismisses it, which only works if the room is empty.

The size of the room is determined by the creature it is attuned to. Inside contains all the basic requirements for a blacksmith to work, including a filled quenching bucket and a working forge.

Each creature in the area where the blacksmith’s room appears must make a [Medium] [Dodging Roll]. On a failure the creature takes [Minor] physical damage if the item is attuned to a small creature, [Moderate] physical damage if it is attuned to a medium creature, and [Severe] physical damage if it is attuned to a large creature or bigger. Half as much damage is taken on a success. The creature is then pushed into an unoccupied space outside but next to the room. Objects in the area that aren’t being worn or carried take this damage and are pushed automatically.

As An Ally

Zovra has immense skill and knowledge when it comes to her craft, despite what her old mentor may think. With this knowledge, she can rework the armor and weapons of her allies to be more effective. Taking it further, she can infuse them with additives she’s learned of and collected in her journeys to fold small magical boons into those items, or Zovra can create something grand from scratch if she likes the party enough.

Zovra can also aid in the party’s travels by sharing nuances of the cultures she’s met, information that can help in small ways, such as aiding them in making a good first impression rather than a bad one.