The Lore of Artificer Aldo of the Valley

As a boy, Aldo was very poor. His father had passed from a terrible hunting accident, Aldo's mother was forced to do whatever she could to put food on the table.

This left Aldo alone most of his childhood, and as such, he became unnecessarily bitter. Towards his mother, his dead father, the townsfolk who ridiculed him for being poor and dirty...according to Aldo, they all had to pay.

And pay they would.

One fateful day, Aldo was wandering around the forest behind his home, when he discovered an injured old man. In exchange for helping him, the old man would bestow upon him incomprehensible riches.

Aldo, being jaded and turned off against the world, instead attempted to finish off the old man and take the riches for himself.

The old man quickly revealed himself to be a spirit of the forest, much to Aldo's chagrin. The spirit, offended and angry, weaved a terrible curse that would follow Aldo until his dying breath.

Anytime he would come into any kind of wealth, be it gold, jewels, money...it would immediately turn into a pile of ash.

After returning home from the woods, defeated and angry, Aldo promised himself he would do whatever it took to get his revenge. So, in the middle of the night, he took his meager belongings and headed off into the darkness, with no real plans.

Aldo spent years travelling, learning, and searching for riches of any type that would be immune to his curse. In this time, he focused on learning alchemy from an old tome he had been gifted for unknowingly saving a town's cleric from a bear. (He stumbled into the clearing running from his own bear, but he never mentioned this.)

It did not take long for him to take to the ancient art of alchemy, and learned how to eventually transform mundane objects into objects of wealth!

He also quickly learned that, as long as he did not touch the riches with his bare hands, it would not turn to dust. At first, using gloves seem to suffice, but it wouldn't take long for the curse to adapt to this as well.

After many failed attempts at picking up/carrying the newly made treasures, Aldo decided he must have a companion to do all the heavy lifting.

Not a huge fan of other people, Aldo opted for a pet monkey, which he was able to steal from some town or another as he made his way through the lands. The monkey, Midas, would become Aldo's most trusted friend and confidant.

Together the two would be able to secure the wealth that had eluded him for so long. With this, his real plan could start. Getting revenge on the forest spirits...

Entered by: 0x4787…02BB and preserved on chain (see transaction)