~Bang Cordinus~

~Age~
67

~Occupation~
Inventor, Engineer, Philosopher, Writer, Alchemist

~History~

Bang Cordinus was born not far from Silverstone. His father was a stubborn old warrior who had lost his fief to unscrupulous money lenders and a age long feud with a neighbouring Bann. Cast out and overcome with shame the family moved to escape the derision of those they knew. The mines of Silverstone beckonned.
What his father lacked in vision and drive his mother more than made up for with a kindred spirit and a sharp mind. She was from the Lowlands and had access to the best teachers in Penumbria, that is those who were willing to teach a girl. She quickly learned to dress as a boy if she wanted to stimulate her mind as opposed to her social graces. Book after book was stored in her mind, and abstract concepts constantly evolved in her thoughts. When she was married off to young Lord Cordinus in the rural Highlands, her only mental outlet was her young and gifted son. With a mind matching hers he absorbed and mastered everything she had learned by the time he was fifteen.

When young Bang designed a system of pulleys and pipes to feed fresh air into the depths of the silver mines his fortunes quickly changed. His mother called in her last favours and sent the boy to Langsmerth to study under the tutelage of another old free thinker and sage. The boy blossomed and quickly caught the attention of other teachers who noticed his capacity to absorb information and grasp complex problems, whether it be mathematical, philosophical, or logical. However, his time in the limelight was quickly extinguished, as jealous colleagues and intimidated teachers quickly banished the young prodigy as a sorcerer.

Bang returned to Silverstone where he further contributed with redesigned tools, a trolley and mule system, and advanced bookkeeping techniques to aid the growing town and mine. Every last Crown he saved was spent in Langsmerth on books, formulas, recipes, and new ideas. The boy became a man, and the man became the local repository of knowledge, and solver of intricate problems. He became known as Cordinus the Wise. To get away from his semi-celebrity status the Sage moved into a comfortable mountain home. Here he began his career as a contract inventor, with people quickly taking notice he started to get requests from all over the realm. His mistake was agree to work on weapons and war machines. As his fame spread so did the demand for his knowledge. The last challenge he accepted was to invent a special steel to manufacture weapons.

A dungeon in Arv Rondalion suddenly became his new home with Lord Arv Rondalion as his new landlord. With skills such as his, Bang's landlord soon called on him to start earning his keep, the result was a compromise. Bang now lives under house arrest just outside Arv Rondalion, quietly removed from society and the kingdom's consiousness. He has proven to be a key element in the meteoric rise of the Lowlands with his inventions gracing every corner of the Wardenship. Foremost among these was his enhanced steel formula, which allows Arv Rondalion to produce the finest weapons in all of Penumbria. Neither the Lords of Arv Rondalion nor his thirty-five years of imprisonment has dulled his sharp mind or diminished his passion for new ideas.