A Smith Demands More

Statue of Uruk-hai

Statue of an Uruk-hai – picture by Hermann Kaser

Have you had that happen? Does your subconscious plan your novels behind your back? At the moment, I have little time to spend with Lar Elien. My other life as therapist is claiming most of my attention right now. That’s why I had to laugh when a character from the second novel suddenly appeared before my inner eye and demanded more stage time.

Narul is a rather unusual smith who lives in Greenfields, the small town where Lina spent her summers as child. He is unusually tall, unusually strong and unusually ugly (not quite as the Uruk-hai in the picture, though). Of course, he also has unusual abilities, after all, he is the smith who created Lina’s magical sword. Goswin Greybeard reveals Narul’s past in the third novel.

Greenfield’s smith is a very sensitive … well, no, he isn’t entirely human. He’s the son of a human mother and a man from another race that is seen as monstruous by most humans. In RPG categories, he might be called a half-orc – even though I’m fairly sure that there are no classical orcs in the world of Lar Elien. His life was never easy. After a personal tragedy, he found refuge in Greenfields, pretending to be a simple smith. The people there accept him just as he is, which is something he always yearned for. Few people are even aware that he can create magical objects – Lina is an exception.

Well, suddenly Narul stood before me and told me his story wasn’t over yet. I’m not sure what he’ll get to experience in the end, but now I do know how to start novel #5. In the fourth novel, Lina and Andert went to search for Al-Quarim, the mage. In the course of their quest, Lina had to use her sword’s abilities to neutralize a spell – and that changed her sword. She hopes that Narul can repair it. Thus, the fifth tale begins with Andert and Lina riding out to Greenfields, which is great. I need them out of the way when Lar Elien itself gets attacked and taken.

Narul is truly one of my characters. They love doing that to me. And that’s why I love them.

About Hannah Steenbock

Hannah Steenbock is an author, dreamer, and coach. She has published several short stories in English and German, as well as one novel in German. In 2013 she started self-publishing her work. In 2014, she has won two awards for her short story "Sequoia".
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