Eryda Stouthaft was no different from any other Stouthaft in the community. She was raised on Torag's teachings of protection, strategy, and creation. Her ability to create suits of armor rivaled those half a century older than her. Yet, throughout her adolescent years, something pulled and tugged at her consciousness, like a quiet murmuring at the back of her head.
This innate power manifested itself on a day as ordinary as any other - Eryda was working on a shield when the murmurings grew louder and louder, eventually bringing forth raw, foreign words of power from her mouth. She began to work herself into a different rhythm, enchanting the shield without knowing what she was doing. This strange occurrence spooked the headsmith who decided to call for clerical assistance.
When the Forgemasters of the Stouthaft cloister arrived, they found Eryda unconscious on the ground and a shield enhanced with magic.
The cloister recognized the abilities of a Forgemaster and decided to train her in their ways. No one had yet seen or heard the foreign words that the headsmith claimed to have witnessed. Not till Eryda began to learn how to call upon Torag's power like the other Forgemasters. Try as she might, reciting the words she were taught and the prayers she was required to offer, Eryda was never able to achieve what she was asked to do.
The Forgemasters began to wonder if she really had divinity in her. Frustrated, Eryda tried ever harder, refusing to give up. She was rewarded with empty head shakes and disappointed faces. When she was asked to leave the cloister, Eryda fled the community, ashamed and dejected. With only her hammer and light provisions, the would-be Forgemaster wandered the tunnels aimlessly, scavenging and hunting, living in caves. All the while, the murmuring steadily but slowly grew.
It happened when she was preparing to rest for the day. On a whim, she offered a lengthy, sincere prayer to Torag, praying to the hammer in place of the altar in the cloister. She went to bed, not noticing that the murmurings had stopped. In her sleep, Eryda learnt of a distant town, of a oracle, of a half-elf woman, of power, of divinity - she learnt that she had to go to Sandpoint.
That was almost three decades ago. Following her enlightening dream, Eryda had come to Sandpoint, seeking a old, wizened half-elf oracle. The oracle, who similarly worshiped Torag, told Eryda how she herself had been called to Sandpoint in the same fashion for what she assumed was the same purpose - to learn what a wordcaster was.
Today, Eryda resided in Sandpoint alone. She stands proudly in front of the newly built cathedral, having contributed to the erection of the building.
