Thor is the first to admit he is a disappointment to his entire family line. He does so, however, with a jovial smile and a hearty laugh, showing no sorrow for having upset his ancestors’ hopes for his generation’s perfect dwarven warrior. Thor’s ease rests mainly on the weight of gold in his pockets: he is one of the best-paid mercenaries in western Immoren, and his specialized talents command more coin than any duelist, rifleman, or other breed of common soldier. Unlike them, Thor can command and maintain the expensive warjacks essential to modern conflict and keep them running well past the point when they should collapse into scrap.
One of several fighting houses sworn to defend Groddenguard, the Steinhammer clan stands vigil against the horrors of the frozen northern plain, watching for the return of the dragon Scylfangen. Thor’s family expected this second-born of eight sons to master the art of war and take his place among their ranks of hardy champions renowned equally for drinking and fighting. Thor discovered in his youth a lasting fascination for the mechanikal, however, particularly the complex inner workings of Rhul’s mining ’jacks. Not caring that it would estrange him from his clan, he found work in a variety of mines, where he became acquainted with ’jacks integral to Rhulic mining, quarry work, and inter-clan warfare.
The warcaster Gorten Grundback introduced Thor to the mercenary life after a brief return to Rhul for resupply. Steinhammer saved the warcaster a sizable pile of coin by repairing two scrapped warjacks that Gorten had given up for salvage. Seeing the potential of such skill, Gorten used his wealth of coin and tales amassed through adventure across the war-torn southern lands to impress the younger dwarf.
Thor gladly left the cold Glass Peaks to find his fortune and has never looked back. He enjoys hiring on with fellow Rhulfolk, but he has also become a welcome sight in taverns frequented by human sell-swords from Five Fingers to Ternon Crag. Thor has followed Gorten’s advice to avoid the diamonds offered by southern zealots and to steer clear of the Scharde Isles, but the master mechanik has otherwise offered his services to a variety of paying clients. The excellent reputation he has earned with the illustrious Searforge Commission makes it easier to acquire the elusive mechanikal components required to keep ’jacks in proper fighting shape.
In addition to his fair hand with a wrench, Thor has a peerless knack for squeezing maximum performance from the machines under his command. Indeed, those who witness this facility sometimes mistake Thor for a warcaster. He relishes the opportunity to correct such assumptions, proud that his talent is rooted in simple know-how combined with a dash of finesse.