Master Hid

The man behind the steel that made the Norton brand. Pulls iron-ore deposits with Old Balek, smelts at the Dark Iron Foundry, and supplies the steel wheeled crossbows that broke beast tides and noble cavalry alike.

**Steel that made the brand.** Master Hid runs the Dark Iron Foundry — the workshop that produced the steel wheeled crossbows and heavy-plate armour that broke both magical beast tides and Lukins-coalition cavalry charges.

**Pairing with Old Balek.** Routinely off in the field prospecting iron-ore deposits with Old Balek — that's why he's missing from most war councils. The five-thousand-set armour order from Baron Charlwood in ch 182 came off his production line.

A craftsman to the bone, curious about new casting techniques. When Lorist showed him that his 'quality steel' was in fact smelted far more crudely than it could be, Hid lit up with interest rather than offence, and gladly took up the improvements.

The Nortons' chief smith, master of the Dark Iron Foundry — the workshop that turned out the steel wheeled crossbows and heavy armour that broke both the magical-beast tides and Lukins's coalition cavalry. It was to him that Lorist assigned the design of separate sets of standard equipment for the three allied houses — no worse in protection than the White Lion corps' armour. Hid has an eldest son who is drawn into prospecting the resources of Siglovas island.

The man behind the steel that made the Norton name. With Old Balek he hunts iron-ore seams (which is why he is absent from most war councils), smelts at the Dark Iron Foundry and arms the troops. After the victory at Rockcastle he reforges captured weapons (ch 165), and in ch 182 puts a batch of steel armour into production on Baron Charlwood's order.

When, after the Iberian Second Prince's rout, all four allied houses craved the same standard equipment as the Nortons, Lorist credited its whole creation to Master Hid — and tasked him with designing a separate set for each of the three houses (ch 195). Later Lorist modernises Hid's foundry, raising it to a new level (ch 263).