Kining Blondebeard

NPC overview

Kining Blondebeard, also known as Keening or Keening The Dwarven Smith, is the owner and smith of the Phaendar Trading Company and the closest thing the town has to a resident mystery. She is a dwarf, exiled from Glimmerhold for crimes she refuses to discuss under any circumstances and in any quantity of drink. Kining has been in Phaendar long enough to become a fixture, and the town has settled into an uneasy acceptance of her — she is unpleasant, greedy, and entirely lacking in warmth, but she honors every contract to the letter and produces metalwork of a quality that the settlement genuinely cannot do without. Most locals have quietly agreed that her attitude is simply the cost of having reliable tools, horseshoes, and hardware, and leave it at that.
Kining is compact and heavily scarred — countless burn marks map the history of decades at a forge across her pale skin. Her iron-gray hair is kept in a short wedge. Her bedroom behind the shop is even barer than the shop floor itself, which is saying something. Hidden beneath a floorboard behind the counter, she keeps a buckler engraved with the holy symbol of Droskar — the dwarf god of toil, slavery, and dark ambition, whose worship is broadly frowned upon in polite dwarven society. She has not volunteered this detail to anyone and does not intend to.
She was hired last year to oversee repairs to Phaendar Bridge, removed a cracked keystone from the north arch, performed some preliminary work, and then announced she would require twice the original estimate to finish. The construction shed and crane have sat unused beside the river for nine months since, while the town argues about the money and Kining waits with the patience of someone who knows she holds the better position.
During a crisis in Phaendar, Kining initially refused to open the door to the trading company but recognized Wren and Finnetharyn, which led her to join their efforts to escort townsfolk to safety. She added herself and two commoners to the group of refugees and secured additional provisions for their journey. In the camp, Kining participated in the storytelling around the campfire, directing stories at the party and, alongside Vane, praising and sharing tales admiring Gundugar's alchemy.
After the crisis, Keening established a smithy among the refugees near the cleared caverns. She set up shop beside the forge and agreed to transfer or inscribe magical runes for the required materials or payment. Kining stated that she would inscribe runes on a weapon for the price of the materials and requested that the specific weapon be specified upon return.

• Dwarf, exiled from Glimmerhold; owner of the Phaendar Trading Company.
• Skilled smith producing high-quality metalwork.
• Holds an engraved buckler of Droskar hidden in her shop.
• Contributed to repairing Phaendar Bridge and negotiated a higher price for completion.
• Assisted in escorting townsfolk to safety during a crisis.
• Engaged in storytelling and praised Gundugar's alchemy in the refugee camp.
• Established a smithy among the refugees and offered to inscribe magical runes on weapons for materials.