Greystone Smiths

The Greystone Smiths were a guild and brotherhood of craftsmen, who were entrusted with the secret knowledge of greystone smithing. Many of them are known as the greatest smiths of the ancient years. In the later years, once they had realised what evils these weapons could cause in the wrong hands, their aim was to find and hide or destroy the greystone weapons forged by their predecessors.

Founding & lineage

The founder of the order was Deremhos the Elder, who had discovered the secrets of greystone while he was in slavery of the Stone Giants under the Stonelords' Throne. He forged the Skyswords to arm his companions for the Great Slave Rebellion of Stonelords' Throne. After he had been freed, he lived in Wasäkawakal, and trained many smiths. But the secret of the greystone smithing he entrusted only to his own sons.
It is known that many of the greystone smiths were direct descendants of Deremhos the Elder, though perhaps not all. In any case the secrets were never entrusted to much more than a handful of master smiths. Many of them served the leaders of the early kingdoms, and armed them against their enemies. In the later years they seemed to have went into hiding, and their identity is only speculated.

Secrecy

The secrecy of the brotherhood was partly because of the extreme rarity of greystone. These stones had been found in great quantities in the bottomless Tunnels of the Stone Giants, but once the humans left their old masters, only a small piece would be found every once in a while. The identity of greystone was not known by the common people, and it had a curious property, that even though it looked incredibly precious when looked at, the founder might even forget he found anything when not in the direct presense of the stone. The smiths would have had to listen attentively to rumors, and aquire the material through their secret networks.
The secrecy was also because of the dangers of the greystone weapons. Greystone was abhorred for its ability to kill the soul of its victim, thus denying them of the reincarnation. Less known cause of fear was, that the weapons seemed to influence the mind of their user. Many of the Holders of the Skyswords were rumored to have fallen for greed and bloodlust, for example Undinselwin who died in a desperate pursue of the fleeing giants deep into the heart of the mountains, or Dašar and Kaminbanda who fought a bloody war between their peoples for vengeance. It was feared, that in the wrong hands, greystone would cause great evil, and the smiths feared that if their knowledge was known, they would be forced to create weapons against their own will.

Agenda

The smiths worked in secret perfecting the art of greystone smithing. They sought for greystone, that might have been found accidently, listening attentively to rumors, but trying to keep the true identity of the material a secret. Their motto Only Out of Necessity, reflects their dedication to use greystone only against an impossible enemy and threat to the mankind.

On the other hand, the brotherhood was dedicated to finding the existing weapons of greystone, and hiding them or perhaps finding a way to destroy them, so that they could not be used for the wrong purposes. It is supposed, that they were responsible for destroying Dašar's Skysword, so that only the hilt now remains.

Dissolution

It is rumored, that the last greystone smiths died in the plague during the Black Years, that killed nearly a third of the total population of Salan. However, it is possible that some of them still remain in secret.

Only Out of Necessity

c.200 BFS - c. 420 AFS

Type

Guild, Craftsmen

Founders

• Deremhos the Elder

Related technologies
Greystone smithing
Related organisations
Holders of the Skyswords
Items created
Skyswords

by Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.), v. 15, 1911

The Hilt of Dašar's Skysword
The blade it self has been destroyed, perhaps by the smiths.