Rise of the Living Forge 3 characters

Also known as Ifrit, the Hero of Lian

Appears from the start

The former Hero of Lian, believed dead since the explosion that ended a secretly staged war, now living quietly in the remote city of Milten. He carries the unique Living Forge crafting class and a curse, the Hungering Maw, that forces him to devour magical items to survive. Behind a mask he works as the smith Ifrit and leads the small guild Menagerie from Lillia's tavern, with her as his partner. As the book opens he is rebuilding his craft and strength, set on one day rooting out the corruption in the Adventurer's Guild's leadership.

Also known as the Demon Queen

Appears from the start

The former Demon Queen, stripped of her old power by the explosion that also felled Arwin, now hiding in Milten as the innkeeper of a monster-themed tavern, the Devil's Den. She carries the unique Hearthkeeper class, which draws strength from the guests she feeds and lodges, and she despises needless killing. Her purple skin and concealed tail keep her mostly indoors. A founding member of the Menagerie and Arwin's partner, she is slowly building the tavern into something far larger than an inn.

Appears from the start

A former street thief of Milten and a full member of the Menagerie. She carries the unique Warden class, built on restraint and control rather than killing, and gathers information as readily as she once lifted purses. Guarded and shaped by a hard childhood on the streets, she has grown fiercely loyal to the odd household she now calls a guild.

Appears from the start

An easygoing warrior in heavy plate and a founding member of the Menagerie, often at the healer Anna's side. Genial and dependable in a fight, he is secretly a fallen paladin who lost his holy power and now fights as an ordinary man-at-arms. He guards the deeper reasons for his fall closely, sharing little of his past even with those closest to him.

Appears from the start

A kind, forthright healer who travels with the warrior Rodrick and belongs to the Menagerie. An ordinary healer rather than a battle-mage, her power is limited by her own energy and cannot mend every wound, yet she is the group's lifeline through its hardest fights. She keeps her own past largely to herself.

Appears from the start

A scarred, red-haired warrior missing her right forearm, battle-tested despite the injury, and a full member of the Menagerie. She joined after Arwin outfitted her and proved her worth, and carries the private weight of a mesh Challenge that upended an earlier life. Loyal and quietly proud, she is still owed parts of the guild's hidden history.

Appears from the start

A merchant and Arwin's metal supplier, and secretly a vampire. Once a soldier in Lillia's old army, he recognized her as his former queen and swore himself to her service. Formal and theatrical in manner but quick to violence when crossed, he keeps the smithy stocked and treats Lillia's word as law.

First appears in chapter 3

The Secret Eye's on-site representative at the newly opened Milten dungeon, controlling who is permitted to enter. Composed and hard to read, she recognizes Arwin on sight and defers to no guild's authority but her own organization's. She screens adventuring teams to keep the unstable dungeon from being pushed into a catastrophic break.

First appears in chapter 18

An enormously tall and powerfully built adventurer, among the Infernal Armory's first major customers. She buys a set of Arwin's scale armor that must be custom-fitted to her unusual frame, takes the tavern's monster theme in good humor, and returns as a regular patron.

First appears in chapter 28

The guildmaster of the Ardent Guild, a powerful thief-and-information network that has been feuding with the Menagerie. Controlled and image-conscious, he punishes his subordinates' failures but avoids open moves that would cost his guild public standing. He sees Arwin's rising group as an obstacle to his ambitions and weighs whether to absorb it or quietly remove it.

First appears in chapter 28

The Ardent Guild's chief spymaster and Charles's superior, responsible for the intelligence network behind the guild's moves against the Menagerie. His information badly underestimated Arwin's group, leaving him exposed to his own guildmaster's anger. Calculating and defensive, he scrambles to recover his standing as his schemes unravel.

First appears in chapter 30

The elderly, archaic-mannered proprietor of a cluttered curiosity shop in a Milten back alley, stocked with monster parts, oddities, and rare components. She carries a rare gift for sensing a person's greed, which leaves her deeply unsettled by Arwin, who seems to want nothing at all. Convinced he is something more than an ordinary smith, she attaches herself to the guild as a would-be supplier.

First appears in chapter 39

A young, sword-trained noblewoman of the Montibeau family, a minor noble and merchant house tied to Milten. Hunted through the city by hired assassins after her father's recent death, which she suspects a rival family arranged, she is gravely wounded by a poisoned blade and rescued near death by a mysterious white-haired stranger, then taken in by Arwin's guild. Once recovered, she strikes a deal with Arwin: he will outfit her with custom protective equipment in exchange for her family's future goodwill and partnership.

First appears in chapter 37

An unkempt, white-haired man who has long lived on the guild's street, usually taken for a harmless drunk. When assassins corner a fleeing noblewoman, he moves with startling, inhuman speed and strength to kill her attacker, his glazed eyes turning cold and clear. He refuses to give his name or explain himself, and keeps a wary distance from the Menagerie even as he helps them.

First appears in chapter 43

A professional assassin, skilled and pragmatic, who works alongside her partner Riker for a costly guild of hired killers. Handed a baffling contract to attack the same target for a few minutes on three consecutive nights and then withdraw, she grows uneasy on realizing the mark somehow knew they were coming.

First appears in chapter 43

A professional assassin and Lena's partner, working the same puzzling three-night contract at her side. Capable but increasingly frustrated as their skilled, heavily armored target shrugs off every attack without once striking back.

Also known as Wallace

First appears in chapter 56

A dwarven master smith of formidable power, clad in obsidian, magma-veined armor and wielding a fire-channeling hammer. When Arwin's transformed smithy opens a portal into his lava-lit workshop, Wallace steps through demanding answers, then is startled to find a self-taught human using dwarven fire-craft. Gruff and bound by a strict smith's code, he sets out to judge whether Arwin is fit to be trained.

First appears in chapter 91

A masked, gray-clad figure of immense and unsettling power who arrives at the Devil's Den seeking a 'dungeon heart,' an artifact of enormous magical signature that he says he once gave away and now means to reclaim. He offers to destroy a rival guild as payment for its return and sets a four-day deadline before departing in a curl of black smoke. His true allegiance and full strength are unknown.