Character and article by BDC
In the foothills beneath the volcanic peaks of Mount Velus, the sound of many hammers rage using the heat off the flow of lava to power their forges all working toward pleasing their god, Purphorus, by creating weapons, magic items and works of art; each outdoing the last.
One particular Minotaur, Sharnisko the Anvilwright, puts the finishing touches on a life’s work. Backing up from it, the artisan feels as though he is looking in a mirror. For the creation he has put so much work in is a life size replica of himself in brass. Some have called it an act of vanity; others a work of absolute art. Sharnisko has no care for the opinions of others. He only wishes to gain the attention of his master, the very god of the forge, Purphorus. Just to hear or experience the approval of the restless earth would make his life’s work so much worth it.
Falling to his knees, he calls upon the source of his inspiration; pleading for him to hear his pleas and, if found worthy, bring it to life. It was here, for the first time, that Sharnisko felt his heart give out just a little. From that very moment, he knew he did not have long in this world. Yet he prayed on. Feeling the blood, sweat and tears that went into its creation and the utter purity of craftsmanship, the Minotaur found approval from above.
Moved by the passion of Sharnisko’s words and work, Purphorus reached from his abode and granted the artisan’s request; bestowing power and life to the metalwork, giving it life itself. This was the story of the birth of the Anvilwrought Minotaur, SHARN, the crafted.
Sharn spent the next few years learning the art of the forge from his creator. Those around these two ended up calling this metal minotaur SHARN as not to confuse the issue. He learned not only to craft weapons, items, armor and instruments of magic and anvilwrought wonder, Sharn learned to work on himself. He perfected himself by fashioning a visage of an orator, artisan and a warrior. Shattering the egos of all others, Sharn surpassed so many of them; proving to all that the blessing of life given to him by the god, Purphorus, was well placed and earned.
Death was something that Sharn was neither educated in nor prepared for. Facing the immortality of his form, it was hard to accept that his creator was not. Slowly, as Sharnisko taught his work everything he knew, the master’s heart gave out. Holding the lifeless body of an aged master, Sharn was left with a massive void in his life. For, considering everything his master taught him, the one thing he did not teach him was how to feel about this or anything.
Left without a teacher, Sharn set off into the world to start his next great lesson: LIFE
Of all of the things I’ve read about in the MYTHIC ODDYSEYS OF THEROS, the Anvilwrought is the most enigmatic. We have had the Warforged from Eberron for a while, but they are all roughly human shaped. However, I’m not sure what has stopped someone from creating a warforged in a different image. Still, THEROS gives us a warforged like ability as a supernatural gift. It is still a wonder that I am now able to create a creature in the shape of the Minotaur built of metal and given life by the gods.
Thus, we get what amounts to a warforged minotaur. However, since you have the racial traits of a minotaur, you only receive the Constructed Resilience and Sentry’s Rest traits from being a living construct. The supernatural gifts are one of the main things I like about the world of Theros along with maybe the devotion mechanic and the unique cosmology.
I chose a unique path for Sharn. Being a constructed being, he was taught from birth to create things himself. In fact, in the long run, he intends to create his own companions made out of brass and, hopefully down the road, IRON!
From the same 5E book that gives us a new look at the Warforged, we also get serious game play numbers for the Artifcer. So, I took the natural leap to not only make him an artificer like his creator, but also made him a Battlesmith (However, I could have just as easily made him an Artillerist and even toyed with the idea of using the ‘Ironman’ build in the UA.
Although the book doesn’t give me any instruction in this area, I decided that, since SHARN was a created being and his master took the years left in his life to teach SHARN the art of the forge, that he was a bit naïve when it came to emotions and world. His master never took the time to show him love or any of the other myriad of emotions attached to the human condition. It has been all work from day one. As a roleplay mechanic, Sharn will be a bit of an innocent akin to the antics of Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy or DATA from Star Trek.
Choosing to give all of SHARN’s devotion to Purphorus was an easy choice. A constructed being taught the ways of the forge by a creator who is eat up with making the next best thing would obviously lead the metal minotaur to a life of worship of the god of the anvil and an obsession in pleasing him with the works of his hand.
Can’t wait to get to play this character; especially roleplaying along side PANDA’s Satyr who is diametrically opposite of Sharn. How would you optimize SHARN? Which way would you take him? Different class? Different subclass? I look forward to seeing what you would do.
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