Overview
The Goddess of the Forge is one of the Outer Gods and one of the oldest. She came into life as the humans tried to believe in the working and the might of metal and steel and so she was believed into existence.
And she was not happy about it.
She has a name but she is mostly referred to as "Goddess of the Forge" or "Fire Goddess" - which makes the actual Goddess of Fire unhappy - and she only gives out her name if she trusts the other being. Which is a really seldom occurence. There are only three recorded occurences and one of them is still walking among us.
Origin
In the early days of the creation, shortly before the dawn of the wars which are refered in the history books as the
Clash of Nations, mankind dreamt about ores and metal and steel. They found it rather fascinating and thought that there has to be a better way than fighting with pointy sticks, stone swords or heavy wooden clubs.
As they found the first iron ore it was like dreams became a reality. And for most of them it was a dream becoming reality because down in the first mine they found the Goddess of the Forge, clothed in black linen and chained to the wall of the large cave.
"What are you gawking at, you apes? Don't point your stick at me, free me, you daft! No, not with the stick, collect the boulder over there, that will break this chains. No, what... that is a small one. Yes, I am nearly naked, never seen a naked woman? For the love of the Eternals, just hit it as hard as you can! This is all your fault, couldn't you have dreamed about me in a frigging black plate armour?!" — A really annoyed Goddess of the Forge
They freed her and so she gave humanity the knowledge of how to collect ore, craft ingots, make fire so hot they can melt iron and craft steel. She vanished shortly after in a blaze of fire and smoke smelling like burning coal but not before ordering an anvil so heavy and dark that it looked like it could bear the weight of the entire creation without buging. Her followers used the anvil as a sign for her or a female face which looks like it was set on fire. There are three holy sites dedicated to her, the original one shows the Goddess in all her angry glory and beauty.
Realm
The Goddess of the Forge vanished as she recieved the anvil. Her realm is an endless forest with mines and a few servants who are bringing her the ingredients and tools. She crafts them herself, but sometimes even a goddess needs a little help. The sun is always shining but her workshop is set in a large cave deep inside a mountain range where she can hammer right away. Not there where other living beings beside her, even her servants are constructs made out of stone.
There are also large rivers, shores and crystal-blue oceans and one active volcano in the distance. She is constantly recieving prayers from all of her followers and everyone who beliefs in her which might be literally everyone who has something to do with a smithy. She also has a vault with vast and large shelves and one altar where offerings appear. Sometimes she grants a wish or visits the person or helps them in a subtle way before she stows the offering away. She loves them all and is also angry about the fact that she has a weak heart.
Workings
The Goddess of the Forge is creating a lot of mechanisms in her realm. New ones or enhanced existing ones from the world of Koria. She buries them under trees or deep inside the earth or beneath the mountains. She constructs living metal, infused with the strength of the earths blood, forges weapons and armours with different materials and different techniques.
If she comes along a technique - or a recipe - that is working, she normally does two things: whisper it into the ear of a smith or "hides" the formula, the schematic, the tome - you name it - in a not so hidden place where a smith stumbles upon it eventually.
Tools
The Goddess uses a heavy blacksmith hammer and a chisel for her work. She is often depicted with a raised arm while holding the hammer, grabbing a piece of metal with some pliers in her other hand. She does not need her hammer to craft whatever she wants, it just helps. And the hammer is her own creation, created in a night full of anger and helplessness.
Personality
The Goddess of the Forge has a really big problem: the anger inside her. Not that she
wants to be angry all the time, it is just the problem that the humans thought that she was angry all the time. How else could she hammer things away the way she does?
Inside the Goddess is a loving woman who enjoys the heat of the forge, the gentle cold of the rivers of her realm and the whispering of birds. But because of the constant prayers in her head including her own thoughts she has a mean headache and well... is angry about it. The fire inside her does not really makes it better, only sometimes the offerings numbs the constant headache.
Her Name
Her name is a mystery to many people and even the gods does not know it. She only gives it to people who she trusts and those are so rare you can count them on one hand.
Show spoiler
Her name is Itana Tiararena Drea Xilora and she only gives out Itana because names have powers and no one should have power over the Goddess of the Forge.
I like the idea behind the character and the personality that is subject to change (as often as changes happen to the smiths and other metalworkers and their prayers :D). What does it mean for a God/Goddess to be an Outer God/Goddess? I'm curious about several other stuff, like are her servants known to the general public, e.g., walking among the people?
Hey ho Ang, glad to have you here :) The concept of being an Eternal, Outer God or Inner God is not finished, it will be explained in the primer, but I give you a short overview: Eternals are Life and Death, the two eternal beings. Both are not changable and can't be destroyed, they are the pillars of the Universe. An Outer God is a more "general" god like the God of Water, Goddess of Parfume, Goddess of Beauty, God of Knowledge etc. Concepts which are universal in their core. An Inner God is a god dreamt into reality by ethnicities, clans, religions, you name it. They are mostly equally powerful to an Outer God, but they have their boundaries in terms of area of working. Seldomly a servant of Itana walks along the mortals, but when they do, the mortals shiver when a servant is passing by because of their "godly" aura. Some people might notice them as a servant if they have knowledge over the Goddess of the Forge, so yeah, some know and some will tell the tale. :D If you have further questions, just shoot. :)