Forgewife

In the Shattered Teeth Tribe, only chieftains and sons of the chief are permitted to take wives and have children, and each of those wives is assigned a duty determined by the order in which they were wed.
Traditionally, the second wife is the Forgewife and is responsible for learning the art of smithing. If she is the wife of the chieftain, she will spend a year with her predecessor in Drodkur, learning the art of smithing and how to determine the quality of various types of ore. After this year, she will spend the majority of the year traveling with the tribe and overseeing the collection of ore and other materials required for smithing, and when the tribe travels to Uklon for the annual convening of the tribes, she will instead return to Drodkur to assist her predecessor and continue her studies.
If she is the wife of one of the chieftains sons, she will learn from the chieftain's forgewife while she travels with the tribe and will travel with her to Drodkur during the winter.
Upon the deaths of their husbands -- or their ultimate dishonor -- all forgewives take a permanent home in Drodkur.

Qualifications

The Forgewife must have learned the art and science of smithing from her predecessor

Requirements

The Forgewife must be the wife of the current chieftain or have the most experience in the instance that the current chieftain's Forgewife has not yet completed her training

Appointment

After being paired with the chieftain, he will make a formal declaration to the tribe announcing that she is elevated to the rank of Forgewife. There is then a kind of handing-off ceremony in which the chieftain transfers her into the care and tutelage of the now Dowager Forgewife (her predecessor) for her year of training. The chieftain cannot mate with his Forgewife until she completes her training so as not to compromise her safety or that of a potential child.

Responsibilities

Training the lesser forgewives, overseeing the smithies and the residents of Drodkur, forging the most technical and/or important works, safekeeping the Tools of Monah

Benefits

There is significant social capital that comes with being Forgewife. Although Orcish society is patriarchal, there is a strong matriarchal undertone as women are responsible for all the most critical aspects of tribal life, and the Forgewife is second only to the Huntswife due to her role in arming the tribe.

Accoutrements & Equipment

• Titan's Anvil: a massive, intricately decorated anvil passed down through the generations that is said to have been gifted to the first Forgewife by Monah herself
• Titan's Hammer: a heavy hammer with decorative etchings matching the Titan's Anvil, also said to have been gifted to the first Forgewife by Monah 
• Forgewife's Tongs: an ancient set of tongs said to have been forged by the first Forgewife and passed down through the generations

Type

Familial

Form of Address

Forgewife

Alternative Naming

Smithwife

Source of Authority

The Chieftain

Length of Term

Life, or until a new Forgewife is appointed

Current Holders

• Ushat

Reports directly to

Chieftain

Related Locations

• Drodkur