Franz Goldsmith

Hephaestus Heracles ‘Franz’ Goldsmith is a walruthian from the planet Astradeia, and a wealthy business tycoon and oligarch.

Having grown up during a period of great change for Astradeia (albeit one you could enjoy only if you happened to be exceedingly rich), Franz Goldsmith (who was born to the wealthy Goldsmith family, who made their name in the mining and refinement business) was the first of his kind to venture into space. The business opportunities this brought him made him wealthy beyond his wildest boyhood dreams, and, combined with his passion for galactic exploration, soon made him the richest man in the Milky Way Galaxy.

Today, aged 85, Goldsmith lives a more reclusive life than he once did. He spends his days at home with his two duneracer companions, Grills and Crowns. He’s like a dragon, jealously guarding his assets, venturing out only to slaughter and feast. Occasionally, his associates are summoned on matters of business. It’s said that entering his mansion is like entering the den of a man-eating lion, and that your chances of getting out alive are about the same (but we’re sure those stories have probably been exaggerated).

Physical appearance

Walruthians like Goldsmith are a fat, blubbery humanoid species native to the planet Astradeia, and which are something like a cross between a walrus and a sasquatch. In Goldsmith, this can best be seen in his rubbery grey skin, his large hands, and his ample stomach. His skin is rough and grey, like the hide of a rhinoceros, and his head is large and bald (though, in his youth, he sported an impressive red mane which – alongside his exploits across the galaxy – earned him the epithet ‘the Lion of Astradeia’).

As the richest man in the galaxy, Goldsmith is ludicrously wealthy – a fact which is suitably reflected in his attire. He favours tailor-made suits in white, gold and red and smart shoes encrusted with diamonds and rubies when doing business and cutting deals; when lounging at Goldsmith Manor, he wears luscious robes in plush red or gold velvet and thick slippers. Whatever the circumstances, Goldsmith is always dressed to impress.

His eyes are large and lizard-like, and several of his teeth have been replaced with gold inserts, giving him a radiant smile. He has neither ears nor nose, but he can hear and smell all the same. Being very boastful, money can usually be found bursting from various nodes on his clothing, and he always has a pipe or cigar close at hand.

Personality

As a calculating and shrewd businessman, Goldsmith is somebody who always comes out on top. He’s a very powerful industrialist with much of the government in his pocket, always cutting deals, and he’s incredibly competitive, both in business and in the extreme sports he participates in. Being both very wealthy and very athletic, he was the first man on Astradeia to go into space, and since then his investments and keen business acumen have made him the Milky Way Galaxy’s richest man by far.

He’s very secretive, hoarding information in much the same way as he hoards his money – close to his chest, and seldom shared. He needs to be in control of everyone and everything, and he ensures his control by keeping everything to himself. He has precious little respect for anybody, and he has no time for anyone who does not have something to offer him, like business.

Goldsmith’s public persona may be flash and flamboyant, but in his private life he is both cunning and devious, and there’s nothing he won’t do in the name of making money. In his prime he was an infamous explorer and treasure hunter, who tore his way across the Milky Way Galaxy, wresting away valuable, cultural relics which he still hoards to this day. In his old age, Goldsmith hasn’t mellowed a bit, mining planets dry and leaving them poor, hiring hitmen and thieves, and even occasionally leaving his manor to beat people up.

His list of associates reads like a ‘who’s who?’ of villainous degenerates, with everyone from Mr Evil and Sludge-Queen Anaesthesia, to Vacio and Checkers and Draughts, on his payroll at one point or another.

Goldsmith is very loud and theatrical and he carries a big, booming voice. His tongue is always the loudest in any business setting, and his laughter is the most raucous. His duneracers are big and loud, his cars are big and loud, and his guns are big and loud. Simply put, everything about Goldsmith is very big, and very loud.

Skills and abilities

Goldsmith is a polymath – a true renaissance man.

When it comes to business, Goldsmith has the Midas touch. Being very cunning and shrewd, there isn’t a deal that he can’t turn in his favour. He always knows how to get the upper hand in a negotiation, and he’s never left out of pocket. He treats every deal like a game of poker, holding his cards close to his chest and never revealing his true intentions until it’s time to strike. He owns many businesses across the Milky Way Galaxy, including hotels, restaurants and luxury spas, and the Goldsmith Corporation is the galaxy’s largest energy extraction and refinement company.

But Goldsmith isn’t just about the money, and he naturally excels at many other things too. As well as being the richest man in the galaxy and a famed explorer, he also happens to be a classically-trained operatic singer, a bullfighter, a naturalist and survivalist, a pianist, a watercolourist, a professional daredevil, and a five-star restaurateur and chef.

Despite his old age and immense weight, Goldsmith still packs a surprising amount of strength and athleticism. He remains physically active, spending many hours a week working out in his private gym and devouring lots of protein. Only someone like Goldsmith could tame duneracers, or get away with whacking one with a slipper. Such savage hunters (which would be apex predators on their native Torrna) respect only brute physical power, and Grills and Crowns know exactly who the alpha is in Goldsmith Manor.

Equipment and possessions

Having spent much of his life pillaging his way across the Milky Way Galaxy, Goldsmith boasts a private collection of treasures and relics bigger than the British Museum – and he’s even more determined to keep them than they are! His collection – which is completely for his eyes only, by the way – contains everything from historical/religious relics and fine art to prehistoric fossils and classic cars, and even the galaxy’s largest coin collection. Naturally.

But where is a man like Goldsmith to hoard such treasures? It wouldn’t do for him to stash them in some New Triton tower block! Fortunately, Goldsmith has just the place: his ancestral home, Goldsmith Manor. Nestled deep in the mountains, high in the frozen wastes of Astradeia’s most northerly continent, Goldsmith’s stately mansion is an impenetrable fortress. It’s opulent and grand, but it’s also rigged full of traps and far worse things. Even if the best thief in the galaxy got in, they’d never get out.

Goldsmith is particularly fond of his two duneracers, Grills and Crowns. These large, fire-breathing canines are native to the planet Torrna, and are so ferocious that the breeding of them is illegal everywhere outside of their fiery homeworld. Nevertheless, Goldsmith has been engaged in this black market trade for many years, and has bought and sold many. All duneracers are savage and unpredictable, but brothers Grills and Crowns are so incredibly dangerous that Goldsmith chose to keep them as guards and companions.

He also has a large collection of guns, including his favourite: his beloved blunderbuss.