Born the son of a smith and an herbalist, Haegen spent the majority of his childhood learning from his father, seeking to emulate in almost all ways the elder Silverhand. He borrowed everything from his father, in mannerisms as much as personality. From his earliest days, he was taught the tenets of the Red Faith, to the point where the first project his father gave him as a test of skill was to forge a proper hammer icon, which he still wears worn on a leather cord around his neck.
As he grew, he and his brother both heard tales of men who held fantastical abilities. Though his brother was enamored at the idea of casting a fireball or summoning lightning, Haegen was drawn to the tales of a smith who could put a part of himself into a creation, and thus, create sentient automata. As he grew, the childhood fascination with the arcane grew into a hunger for knowledge.
Spending most of his time working the forge and crafting tools and weapons for his village, he and his brother Morrin led a simple life. While his access to research into the arcane was nonexistent, limited to only the whispers provided by children's fables, he studied into the crafting techniques of the master smiths of the Starbreaker clan. Though the finer points of their technique eluded him, the occasional blade or hammer forged by the fabled Dwarven smiths drew his eye, leading him to attempt to emulate their techniques, moreso than the techniques handed down from his father. Still, his hunger for knowledge led him to greater heights. He sought to enchant his work, make armor harder than steel and lighter than silk, but the laws of their village forbade any practice that might veer near the arcane, due to an incident with a necromancer decades prior.
Thus, after years of work on the parts of both brothers, and the untimely death of their father, leading to a strained relationship with their mother and her new husband, the pair set out from their home, content to leave all they knew behind in the pursuit of knowledge.
The man's grandiose greeting was met by a skeptical eye and a raised brow. After a moment of silence, the man lets out a quiet breath. "None of the above. Knowledge is what I seek, Heartlander." Gently resting a hand on the hammer at his waist, Haegen lets out a quiet chuckle. "Of course, a bit of wealth would do well towards getting there, eh? Mind pointing me towards the nearest smithy that needs an extra hand?"
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