The Bone Smiths
People are always surprised when they discover that Saminga, the Demon Prince of Death, has quite a few competent artificers working for him. They probably shouldn’t be: the practice of necromancy is Death’s major operational priority, so it’s not unreasonable to expect his Servitors to be good at it. That implies a certain institutional knowledge and acceptance of Enchantment among Samingans. As necromancy is not the only thing that uses the Enchantment skill, it follows then that various Servitors of Death would have branched out into other fields of artifact creation.
In their own particular way.
Purpose and Goals
To provide Dread Lord Saminga with the tools and devices he requires in order to fulfill his vision. If, in the process, a few items are created for the appreciation of discerning connoisseurs — well, there is no harm in it.
Organization and Membership
This group is found entirely within Saminga’s organization. It is, in fact, an official group of Death’s, and one of the oldest. New members are drawn from artificers who have shown some talent at necromancy, and are taught enchantment techniques using the master / journeyman / apprentice system. For Hell, the relationship between an apprentice and his Master is surprisingly cordial; it helps that status in the Bone Smiths is marked by how many of a Master’s apprentices become journeymen. Plus, the nature of the Bone Smiths’ work is such that there’s always a convenient victim to work out one’s frustrations upon.
The Bone Smiths are not really organized above the level of Master. While the group is officially headed by Dread Lord Saminga — as is his practice, he takes up the top five ranks in the hierarchy of any group that he belongs to — the day-to-day affairs are handled by, well, no-one in particular. The closest thing to a leader of the group is the treasurer, who handles outside business from new customers. In emergencies the Master-level Smiths would theoretically meet, but there is yet to actually be an emergency serious enough to justify the call.
Abilities and Resources
The Bone Smiths are, as noted, artificers. While the majority of Saminga’s organization is dedicated to facilitating the creation of Undead, the Prince of Death does have a need for artifacts and relics, and the Bone Smiths are the craftsmen that he uses to acquire them. They are, interestingly (and counter-intuitively), probably the best creators of living artifacts in Hell; binding Forces comes naturally to them, given their usual work. They are more famous for their talismans than for their relics, and corporeal artifacts are generally left to the apprentices.
The aesthetics of the Bone Smiths requires some special note. Obviously, Death-related motifs are their usual (almost only) style: but the group has developed an entire artistic tradition that is in equal parts compelling and disturbing, not least because they have no compulsion against using materials that many demons would consider inappropriate. Most demons, in fact, find the Bone Smiths’ work just a bit too subtly disturbing to be really comfortable.
For example: knowing that your alarm clock is made out of the soul of a woman crushed by a car would not bother most demons. Knowing that the alarm’s actual sound is a reproduction of the woman’s death scream bothers perhaps a few more than would freely admit it. Knowing that owning that alarm clock for too long would result in you being able to communicate with the soul trapped inside — as well as you being willing to have a meaningful conversation with that soul, because you were legitimately curious about what it was like for the talking monkey — well, that’s when a prudent demon starts to worry. The Bone Smiths give off the air of being so far out there that they’ve looped around and come back. Only different.
Still, those few who enjoy the group’s aesthetics (or merely willing to overlook it) will usually pay quite well for their creations, as they are well-made and often provide unique features. As a result, Bone Smiths have an enviable place in Death’s supply chain: Saminga approves of their outside work, and approves even more of his cut of the proceeds (which he usually wastes on bizarre pet projects, but that’s not unusual for the Demon Prince of Death). Bone Smiths get first call on unassigned materials, and will often be given oversight on what construction projects occur in Abaddon. This does nothing to endear them to other Servitors of Death, but the animosity rarely gets above verbal sniping and the random assassination.
Celestial Relations
Heaven
Universal loathing: the nature and composition of the average Bone Smith artifact would appall and nauseate virtually any member of the Host. There has never been a confirmed account of a Bone Smith Redeeming, if only because Heaven tends to shoot them first and not ask questions at all. Demons carrying a Bone Smith relic are well-advised to keep it out of sight anywhere there might be an angelic presence.
Hell
Bone Smiths are generally given the same treatment due any other Servitor of Death. The respect that they get from their institutional wealth is more or less offset by the subtle disquiet that they cause in even the most hardened demons. It is not so much that Bone Smiths are particularly vile in manner, although they usually are; it is that their unique aesthetic sense colors all of their interactions with other demons.
History
The Bone Smiths have been around for about 3,000 years. Saminga formally chartered the organization a few centuries after his apotheosis. Their history since then has been largely devoid of interest to outsiders: the group has been happy to look ever inward, towards their own vision of the universe. Their work generally is fashionable in times of bloody corporeal warfare, but the Bone Smiths themselves are slow to adapt their styles. They are only now finishing their incorporation of themes from the Tai’peng Rebellion into their work, and only then because the possibilities inherent in contemplating the great influenza epidemic are so compelling. Only the most avant-garde even reference Fascist and Communist concepts, and then purely for shock value.
Shock value for other Bone Smiths, that is. Most of the rest of the Horde would have difficulty even recognizing that there was a difference, let alone what type, and of what intensity.
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