Essentially, Soul-Forging involves conjuring a spirit (ghost, minor demon., Bane, etc.) at the forge, forging it into superheated metaphysical flames, and melding it with strange alloys until matter and ephemera become one.  By this process, Hellsmtths craft weapons, machines, amulets and even buildings; the great temple of Ereskigal in Bhat was supposedly made of glowing black stones forged by artisans who revered the goddess, and those stones were said to have been hammered from the souls of several thousand human sacrifices. The magick obliterates the spirit's original form, at least temporarily, but a bit of its consciousness still remains. Soul-forged items whisper and cry out occasionally, and carry a definite air of malevolence about them.

This Art is not easy to master; a true Hellsmith must be both an artisan and a spirit-magus, able to shape both ores and souls with great skill. Stoking the forge-fire with obscene rites (that often involve live burnt offerings and corpse-ashes}, the Infernalist prepares his workshop with special tools — a soul-forged hammer and tongs, buckets of Tass water, a bellows enchanted with Forces Arts, and so on. Drawings pentacle around the forge-fire, the Hellsmith calls up the spirits and binds them within the flames. Smelting specially prepared ores over the forge, the smith draws his "helpers" into the metal and gradually works them together. The process takes hours; although most Hellsmiths use apprentices, it takes a callous person to withstand the piteous wails of the soul-forged spirits. After the ore cools somewhat, it can be worked into intricate designs, Diabolical connoisseurs love artworks and mechanical toys crafted by Hellsmiths, and pay very high prices for them. Names like Black Michael of London, Theodosius of Rome, Jakob Sturms of Hartz, Gillante of Damascus, Wan Fang of Bejing and Ja'afar of Istanbul echo in the braggadocio of wealthy Infernalists across the civilized world.

It has been said that souls make the most delicate yet durable materials possible. Some artisans employ similar rites to create tapestries, clothing and even paint from distilled spirit-stuff Although most ephemeral items return gradually to their spiritual state, a good soul-forged object can last years or even decades. If you can bear the moaning of the trapped spirits (and the inevitable curses they bestow), the creations of Hell-bound artisans are exquisite indeed.

[Spirit, Prime and Forces stoke the fire; more Spirit, Matter and Prime mingle the materials together and make them pliable enough for the Hellsmith (or other artisan) to employ. See "Summoning and Warding" and "Magickal Devices, Fetishes and Talismans" for system details about spirit conjuration and Talisman construction.

[In game terms Soul-Forging combines a Device and a fetish into one; the Hellsmith makes a Device, but draws a spirit entity into it during the process. Most often, this involves Spirit 4, although an "advanced" form uses Spirit 5 to actually yank the soul from a living being and imprison it in the object. Any form of spirit (short of a god or major angel or devil) may be forged this way, although it powerful entity can be extraordinarily difficult to trap and forge.

[The actual forging process demands a specially prepared smithery {see above) and an extended series of  Dexterity + Crafts (blacksmithing) rolls. The difficulty of those rolls depends on the "materials" and the end product.

[If the Storyteller wants to actually make rolls for the process, each roll reflects an hour of work. A botch at any part of the Forging ruins the item — the spirits rebel and deform the object, and the artisan must begin again.

[At the Storyteller's option, a Soul-Forged item may have special minor powers based on the spirits involved; an angry ghost might make a sword cut especially deeply (+1 Health Level of damage), for example. Any other magickal Effects must be built into the item at the time of Forging (again, see the rulebook for details).

[Trapped spirits are not happy, and they curse whatever item they inhabit. In story terms, a Soul-Forged work has breathtaking beauty and power, but brings misfortune down on whomever owns it. Sometimes, if a particularly willful spirit or ghost was imprisoned in the object, it may influence or even command the item's owner. Voices begin to whisper when the owner is all alone, and they suggest terrible things.... In game terms, the Storyteller may have the owner's player make occasional Willpower rolls (difficulty 7) or succumb to temptation. If she fails a. roll, the Fallen One may commit some rash, self'-destructive act; if she botches, she'll immediately do what the spirits command. Even if she succeeds, however, the voices will taunt her whenever she comes near the item — many a rich Infematist has been hounded to death by spirits trapped within his art collection.....]