I actually found the Damned Merchant in the same game. I will probably make a sanguine dousing rod then hunt enough slaves to empower a smith. That should do the trick.
It is incredible. I am ulm...with drain 3...and I lead the world in magic research. Can you beleive it? I haven't even found sages yet. Just using smiths. One of my tricks is to make them get a small amount of combat experience before becoming researchers.