Willis

Biodata

Appearance

• An older dwarf with a thick gray beard, muscular arms, and rough, callused hands 2 5 8.
• Strong enough to wield a forging hammer weighing over ten jin continuously and move his heavy anvil aside 5 6.

Background / History

White Orchard’s Blacksmith

Willis had served White Orchard for fifty years before the events of the story. Following Nilfgaard’s occupation of the formerly Temerian village, he was forced to forge weapons and repair military equipment. Villagers accused him of profiting from their suffering and encouraged others to ostracize him 3.

His regular workload included ten standard-issue longswords each day, alongside maintenance of armor and horse tack. The Nilfgaardians paid him a fixed daily wage of one crown and fifty copper coins 6.

Arson and Apprenticeship

Chen Xu first approached Willis with homemade pepper vodka and a request to learn smithing. Willis refused, insisting that he did not teach outsiders. His reluctance reflected his concern that teaching a human would further undermine the craft dwarves had preserved for centuries 2 3.

That night, Napp set fire to Willis’s cottage. Despite Willis’s long service, the villagers watched without helping; Chen Xu alone attempted to fight the fire and recovered clothes for him. The cottage collapsed, leaving Willis with almost nothing. Chen Xu offered him lodging 2.

Penny then used Charm to draw Willis toward her. He recovered enough to identify her as a witch, prompting nearby Nilfgaardian soldiers to intervene. After Chen Xu implicated Sethis as her associate, Willis asked the soldiers to take both away 2.

Willis initially offered to teach Chen Xu how to make farming tools. He agreed to a formal apprenticeship when Chen Xu promised to catch the arsonist. After Chen Xu identified Napp, Willis confronted him, recalling that he had never charged Napp’s mother for his help. The soldiers took Napp away to be hanged and promised to rebuild the workshop 3.

Willis formally registered Chen Xu as his apprentice, freeing him from compulsory field labor. In return, the smithy’s required production increased by fifty percent 3.

Teaching Chen Xu

Willis taught hammering, quenching, sharpening, and his closely guarded runic forging method. Although he hoped to establish his authority over his talented apprentice, Chen Xu produced ten acceptable sword blanks by noon—twice the five Willis had assigned 5 6.

After Chen Xu collapsed while finishing Gram, Willis brought him back to his hut, gave him water, and supplied scabbards for both his swords. He praised the weapons as masterworks beyond anything he had previously seen, comparing Chen Xu’s skill to that of the master smiths at Crow’s Perch and Novigrad 8.

The realization that his apprentice had surpassed him left Willis despondent. Chen Xu reassured him that he would always acknowledge Willis of White Orchard as his master, giving the dwarf hope that his name might become known throughout Velen 8.

The rebuilt smithy received a second set of equipment for Chen Xu. To meet the new quota of fifteen swords per day, they divided the work: Chen Xu forged the blanks, while Willis polished them 12.

Death and Burial

After escaping imprisonment, Sethis and Penny killed the Nilfgaardian soldiers and villagers who opposed them. Chen Xu found Willis at the smithy with his throat cut, his eyes open in fury, and a half-polished longsword still clutched in his hand. He closed the dwarf’s eyes before pursuing Sethis 16.

The following morning, Chen Xu melted down sword blanks to make an iron shovel and buried Willis behind the smithy. Using corrosive ink found in Willis’s clothing, he inscribed the shovel as a grave marker: “The finest blacksmith in White Orchard—Willis.” The burial spared Willis’s body from the subsequent mass cremation ordered by the Nilfgaardian commander 17.

Personality

Willis is blunt, irritable, and protective of his trade. His public notice threatens anyone who urinates in his yard, and his first response to a prospective apprentice is an impatient rejection. Nevertheless, he values promises: once he accepts Chen Xu formally, he shares runic forging despite regarding it as a closely guarded secret 2 6.

The villagers’ hostility leaves him deeply bitter, particularly because he had served them for decades and helped people such as Napp’s mother without payment. Their refusal to help during the fire finally drives him to side with the Nilfgaardians 3.

His professional pride makes Chen Xu’s rapid progress difficult to accept. He initially withholds praise, becomes jealous when he cannot find mistakes to correct, and drinks heavily after losing his home. Yet he ultimately recognizes his apprentice’s superior craftsmanship and cares for him after his collapse 5 6 8.

Abilities & Skills

Blacksmithing

Willis is a Blacksmith Lv.2, capable of producing military weapons and maintaining equipment 6.

• Sword production: Demonstrates hammering, water quenching, sharpening, and testing a longsword that meets Nilfgaardian requirements 5.
• Equipment maintenance: Repairs armor and horse tack as part of his regular workload 6.
• Scabbard construction: Makes comfortable leather scabbards reinforced with polished iron plates, and wraps sword hilts in waxed thread to improve grip 8 9.

Runic Forging

Willis uses a corrosive potion and a special quill to trace energy-conducting patterns onto blades, preparing them for runestones 6.

• Method: Sketches guide lines in charcoal, then traces them with purple corrosive ink that leaves a conductive film 6.
• Potential: Explains that runestones can allow ordinary iron weapons to rival or surpass meteoric iron 6.
• Cost: Does not install a runestone during his demonstration because each costs dozens or hundreds of crowns 6.
• Limitations: Uneven corrosion reduces consistency, quality, and durability. The ready-made circuit also limits Dark Energy penetration into the weapon itself, leaving it insufficiently reinforced for higher-tier combat 6.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Smithy tools — Furnace, anvil, forging hammer, quenching barrel, and whetstone; some tools survived the fire through the soldiers’ salvage efforts 2 3 5.
• Runic supplies — A leather pouch containing corrosive ink, a runestone, and a quill made from a cockatrice feather purchased from a witcher 6.
• Corrosive potion formula — Lent to Chen Xu to memorize. Chen Xu later used the potion to etch energy circuits into modified Temerian armor 6 22.

Relationships

• Chen Xu / Pro — Formal apprentice. Chen Xu secures the apprenticeship by catching Napp, surpasses Willis’s craftsmanship, and later buries him. His identification as Willis’s apprentice remains useful after leaving White Orchard 3 8 17 23.
• Fergus — Old friend and fellow dwarf whose forging skill is approximately comparable to Willis’s. Fergus supports Chen Xu’s claimed apprenticeship; Chen Xu later conceals Willis’s death from him 23 28 29.
• Napp — Arsonist responsible for destroying Willis’s cottage, despite Willis’s past generosity toward his mother 3.
• Nilfgaardian garrison — Military employer that supplies materials, rebuilds his workshop, and arranges a replacement home after the fire 3 5 8 12.
• Sethis and Penny — Has them detained after Penny’s attempted magical manipulation. Their later massacre claims his life 2 16.

Notable Quotes

“I've served this place for fifty whole years, and this is what I get in return!” 3

“A professional blacksmith only gets drunk at night!” 5

“Good. Maybe, thanks to you, my name will spread throughout Velen someday!” 8