How to Use Thordin at the Table

Use Thordin as a methodical blacksmith, Underdark alloy expert, and guarded merchant contact. He sells only to referred customers and tests new ones by quoting an obviously inflated price. Anyone who accepts without hesitation will not get a second appointment.

He works well as a quest contact for Underdark-related missions, drow trade routes, rare ore procurement, or mysterious weapons forged from alloys no ordinary smith can identify.

Thordin does not rage. He grinds. In social scenes, that same patience makes him hard to move and harder to fool.

Roleplaying Thordin

Personality

Thordin speaks little and deliberately. He answers questions with the minimum number of words required, often just a nod or grunt. With customers he is correct, never warm. With trust, he can be surprisingly direct and dryly funny.

Mannerisms

He runs his thumb across his burn scar when lying or under pressure, turns every coin over once before accepting it, and mutters old dwarven forge-prayers while working.

Motivation

Thordin wants to be left alone and to someday repay the debt he owes Mirva, the drow slave who helped him escape. He does not know whether she is still alive, and that uncertainty gnaws at him.

Medium humanoid (dwarf), lawful neutral. AC 14 (breastplate equivalent), HP 52 (8d8+16), Speed 25 ft.

Saving Throws: STR +5, CON +4. Skills: Athletics +5, History +3, Perception +3.

Resistances: poison. Senses: darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13. Languages: Common, Dwarvish, Undercommon. Challenge: 3 (700 XP).

Forge Features

Darkiron Knowledge. Thordin automatically identifies weapons and armor forged from darkiron or Underdark alloys. He can assess origin, quality, and hidden properties without a roll.

Darkiron Crafting. Weapons Thordin personally crafts from darkiron gain a +1 damage bonus.

Iron Will. Once per short rest, as a bonus action, Thordin suppresses one active frightened or charmed condition for 1 minute.

Dwarven Resilience. Thordin has advantage on saving throws against poison and resistance to poison damage.

Plot Hooks

1. The party finds a weapon forged from an unidentified alloy, and a merchant directs them to Thordin as the only smith who might know what it is.
2. A drow assassin arrives in the city asking after someone matching Thordin’s description. Has Mirva finally found him, or has someone else?
3. Thordin quietly asks the party to smuggle a shipment of darkiron ingots across town, offering no explanation.

Encounter Ideas

1. Notice Board Ore Job: Thordin posts a procurement request for rare ore at The White Mouse.
2. Suspicious Customer: someone tries to buy darkiron with too much eagerness and too little knowledge.
3. Forge Visit: the party brings him an Underdark blade, and he recognizes the maker’s hand before he says why.
4. Mirva’s Shadow: a drow message reaches Ashway Forge through a tool delivery, written in an old code Thordin hoped never to see again.

Relationships and Location

Thordin runs Ashway Forge in the Craftsmen’s Quarter. He occasionally posts material procurement jobs on The White Mouse notice board, making the tavern a natural first contact point.

Fizzle Mosswick: close friend and White Mouse regular. Fizzle talks, Thordin nods occasionally. He values that she never pries; she values that he never lies.

Mirva: the drow slave who helped him escape the Underdark. Thordin does not know whether she is still alive, and the debt remains unfinished.