Old Jack

Biodata

Background / History

Early Life and Friendship with Hiri

As a young blacksmith’s apprentice, Jack protected Hiri from local thugs by wielding a hammer and sheltering him behind his back. Hiri later entered the Baruch household while Jack continued smithing. Although they saw less of one another, their friendship endured 8.

By old age, Jack had no children of his own and earned barely enough from his smithy to support himself. He later told Loa that he had no other relatives and few friends 1 19.

Taking in Loa

In late autumn of Yulan Calendar year 9979, Jack found an abandoned infant outside his smithy. He wrapped the cold, frail child in his own padded coat and brought him inside to the forge’s warmth. The following morning, he carried the baby across town to Old Henry’s clinic 1.

Henry advised keeping the child warm and feeding him rice water and goat’s milk. Jack paid the consultation fee with copper coins he had saved for tobacco, committed himself to raising the baby, and named him Loa 1.

Jack raised Loa as his grandson, interrupting his forging to feed him, making him a wooden stool, and keeping dangerous tools out of reach as he learned to climb. Loa’s first clear attempt to say “Grandpa” delighted him; neighbors remarked that raising the boy had made Jack noticeably more cheerful 2.

Supporting Loa’s Training

When Loa asked to learn blacksmithing, Jack agreed earlier than he had originally planned, conscious of his own aging body. He made the boy a small practice hammer and taught him to work iron. At six, Loa was helping enough to increase the smithy’s output and improve their meals 3.

Concerned that Loa might injure himself training alone, Jack arranged for Hillman to teach him. He continued supporting the boy’s development by providing heavier hammers, supervising his work with the main forging hammer, and improving his food despite their limited means 3 5 6.

Jack also obtained medicinal salve from Old Henry and rubbed it into Loa’s sore shoulders, arms, and back. He worried about the expense privately rather than burdening Loa, while repeatedly warning him not to damage his body through excessive training 7.

As Jack’s cough worsened, Loa began hunting and gathering herbs partly to improve his grandfather’s health. Jack initially opposed the dangerous mountain trips. After Loa returned with a slain rank-one Rockskin Boar, he helped process its remains into protective equipment. He eventually permitted further trips, acknowledging that real skill could not develop entirely at home 14 15.

Declining Health and Death

Jack’s health deteriorated sharply during the winter around Loa’s tenth birthday. Severe coughing, breathlessness, clammy sweat, and a shaking hammer hand increasingly interrupted his work. Despite Loa’s requests that he rest, he refused to abandon the craft that supported them 19.

A brief improvement followed: Jack cooked again, coughed less, and carefully sharpened Loa’s iron sword. Before his death, he told Loa about a small wooden box beneath the cabinet containing savings for emergencies. Loa subsequently found him dead in bed 19.

Loa washed his grandfather’s body and arranged a simple burial with Mund, Old Brown, and Hiri, following Jack’s wishes to avoid unnecessary expense. A few townspeople whom Jack had helped also attended. Loa carved a memorial tablet identifying him simply as his grandfather, Old Jack 19.

Posthumous Legacy

Jack’s box contained coins, a carving knife, and a charcoal stub. Loa used the charcoal to draw his grandfather’s portrait on leather. Grieving over the picture, he resolved to gain enough strength to resist illness, aging, and the loss of control over his own life and death 19.

The smithy was later destroyed by the collateral damage of Rudi and Dillon’s Saint-level battle. Loa recovered the sword Jack had last sharpened, damaged leather pictures, boar-hide armor, and a surviving fang dagger. Afterward, he spent the night at Jack’s grave and resolved to seek strength beyond Wushan Town 25 26 27.

Jack’s teaching also gave Loa a practical means of survival: his smithing skill secured paid work and lodging at Bob’s Anvil in Fenlai City 32.

On the first anniversary of Jack’s death, Loa returned with food, ale, and spirit money. He reported his progress as a rank-four warrior and privately hoped that reaching far greater heights might one day let him discover whether Jack’s soul still existed in the realm of death. The grave was clean and already bore offerings, showing that townspeople continued to remember him 44.

Appearance

• Build and posture: Thin and frail-looking, with a hunched back in his later years, though still capable of vigorous hammer work before his health declined 2 16.
• Face and hair: Deep wrinkles, graying hair, failing eyesight, and yellowed teeth visible when he grinned 1 2.
• Hands: Rough skin, thick knuckles, heavy calluses, and old burn scars from a lifetime at the forge 19.
• Clothing: Worn, heavily patched garments, including the padded coat he used to warm the abandoned Loa 1 19.

Personality

Jack was taciturn and sometimes stern, but expressed affection through practical care. He sacrificed small comforts, gave Loa the better portions of food, and quietly found ways to pay for the boy’s nourishment and medicine. His gruff instructions often concealed worry rather than anger 1 6 7 18.

Protective without ultimately being controlling, Jack worried about Loa’s isolation, solitary exercises, and mountain hunting. Nevertheless, he arranged proper instruction and gradually accepted the boy’s independence, asking above all that he return safely 2 3 15.

He valued steady work, composure, and self-reliance. Even as illness made forging difficult, he remained attached to the trade that sustained his household. His wish for an inexpensive burial reflected the same lifelong frugality 19.

Abilities & Skills

Blacksmithing

Jack’s hammer technique was refined through countless repetitions rather than any documented supernatural power 2.

• Forged and repaired agricultural tools, including billhooks, hoes, and plowshares 6 8 16.
• Judged the quality of worked iron by its shape and sound, including checking a billhook’s ring and expected hardness 6.
• Recognized the care and material quality in the sword Loa secretly forged 14.
• Taught Loa to steady his application of force by imagining his breath sinking into his lower abdomen 17.
• No warrior rank or cultivation advancement is documented for him.

Leatherworking and Material Preparation

• Recognized the Rockskin Boar’s hide and tusks as belonging to a rank-one magical beast 15.
• Taught Loa to cure its hide while preserving its toughness; together they fashioned a chest guard and bracers 15.
• Ground the boar’s tusks in preparation for conversion into daggers or fittings 15.

Sewing and Household Care

• Made Loa’s clothing from old canvas and extended outgrown garments with saved scraps 8 12.
• Cared for Loa through fevers using cold compresses and body wiping, seeking Old Henry’s help when needed 2 3.

Relationships

• Loa — Adoptive grandson and apprentice. Jack found, named, raised, and taught him; Loa continued visiting his grave and carrying his keepsakes after leaving Wushan Town 1 3 27 44.
• Hiri — Longtime friend whom Jack protected during their youth. Jack later repaired small tools without charge to thank Hiri for helping Loa 8 10.
• Old Henry — Physician whom Jack consulted for Loa’s health and commissioned to make training salve 1 3 7.
• Hillman — Entrusted with Loa’s warrior training because Jack wanted the boy to have safe, proper guidance 3.
• Mund — One of the friends Jack specifically asked Loa to notify upon his death; helped arrange the burial 19.
• Old Brown — Friend and fellow craftsman. Jack repaired his shoe lasts and advised him on his craft; Brown later helped bury Jack and made shoes for Loa 19 20.

Notable Quotes

“Coming across him was fate. As long as I have a bite to eat, he won't go hungry.” 1

“Your body is your foundation. If you ruin it, you have nothing.” 7

“I don't ask for anything else. Just come back safe.” 15

“A sword needs regular honing to keep its edge. People need honing too, to keep their hearts clear.” 19