To Forge with love. ~ Farathorn (Samheen 18th MTT)

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Caelin

Post by Caelin »

Farathorn smiled as she bit her lip, although inside it made him feel rather warm, but took the words from her for what they were, a deep appreciation for what he had crafted for her. "I can only hope that it will serve you well, Mylady." He lowered his voice suddenly, before he spoke again. "Albeit it had to be one of my best works so far, otherwise it would have looked ugly compared to the hand it was in."

The achadhiel nodded and spoke in his normal tone again, reminding her of his schedule for the morning. "Late morningtide would be preferrable, or at tradetide, Mylady. I have to go to Audreys for my fitting in the early morning." His voice sounded disappointed to have made previous plans.

(OOC: according timeline, that would put the training just after the thread of the song for caesar, or just before it, if we follow my suggestion, twi. I think in correspondance to these events and having to catch up to the synch, the former would work best? :))
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Post by Guest »

“Late morningtide then,” the young woman replied, choosing the sooner of the two offered times. She hesitated, as though she might say more, but then Aesa recollected herself and their surroundings.

“I’ll leave you to your task then.” Crystalline eyes told Farathorn that she would be eagerly awaiting their next meeting, when she might say things she could not express in the smithy.

“Good Tradetide, Master Farathorn, Master Smith Garlon,” Aesa bid the two men, raising her voice enough for the Master Smith to hear her. Garlon returned her farewell, accompanied with a blush and bow. His staff echoed the bow, some with less proficiency, but none with more delight.

((OOC: Sounds ideal to me!))
Caelin

Post by Caelin »

"Late morningtide it shall be then, mylady. That would permit me to go and get my new clothing at tradetide." Farathorn bowed slowly and his eyes reflected Aesa's sentiment. Tomorrow they'd be able to talk more.

The achadhiel went back to the smithy, following in the wake of Garlon and returned to his projects.

(( OOC: Uhmmm, can we even open a thread for the 19th with the synch event? ))
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Post by Twilight »

((OOC: Nope, we'll just have to assume that it happens behind the scenes. Do you wish to carry on with the sword smithing, or shall we assume that as well?))
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Caelin

Post by Caelin »

((OOC: I'll post in here once in a while, mainly to keep the practise in describing the work, but the rest can easily go the the background, such as the teaching. For what the thread goes so far, you can wrap it up. We'll see what happens if I post in here again to describe the swordsmithing, if that is allright with you?))
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Post by Twilight »

((OOC: Excellent! :D ))
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Caelin

Post by Caelin »

(( Samheen 20th, EMT ))


Farathorn had returned to the smithy, as agreed on with Garlon, to teach his pupils the art of making Kislovan steel. The two hours had passed quickly and the two young lads were doing well, picking up on his instructions and calculations rather swiftly. Concluding the lessons he had given during these two hours, the achadhiel had given them both a task, which was to make a calculation for the crafting of three swords, where the entire sword was to be made out of a single piece of steel. Tomorrow he would check their calculations and see if both had done their math right.

Now he had gone to work on the two swords, reheating the steel plate until it was red hot, then taking the plate to the anvil to fold it and pound it back into shape. The work was tedious, but necessary to reach the result he had in mind, which he did with a tenacity that did not let up. After cooling off the first plate, he placed it back into the fire and took out the second one and repeated the process. This he did on and on, until both plates were folded ten times and more and more they began to take their final shape. Each of them now being wide as a hand at the hilt, curving slightly inwards on both sides and widening again at the tip of the blade, only to curve inwards again in a sharp point. The edges were left dull while he shaped them to his wish.

The crossguard was formed by hammering it out, the thickness just slightly more then the center of the blade, in which he had carved a groove, that ended three inch before the tip, so it would have enough room to let the opponent bleed where he would be stabbed. The handles were made thinner, pounding the metal in a fluid motion towards the end, where he shaped the residue into that of an acorn. These were to balance the sword, acting as a counterweight, to improve the overall balance of it. With the handle thin enough for what he had in mind, he began to carve four pieces of oak, which he polished to a smooth finish, after drilling three holes in each of them. These would be fitted onto the handle and wrapped with a layer of leather, to make a comfortable grip and lessen the vibration that would flow from the metal into the hand of the wielder.

The achadhiel heated six pieces of steel, which he pounded through the holes he had made in both the wood and the handle, then rounded them off on the anvil were they protruded from the wood. He had been working continuously for three marks now and wrapped the swords in cloth. He'd return here after his training session with Aesa, to work on them again. In the meantime, the stack of rings that was made during his teaching had grown enough for him to realise that he would have more then enough of these in a few days, to make the first piece for Audrey. This realisation set his mind in motion and his thoughts formed into a plan to construct a swordbelt for these blades, together with sheaths, shudded with steel and mail, riveted onto the leather backing, instead of sowing them in place. The sheaths able to be clipped onto the belt, or left off pending on the occasion in which she'd wear them.

With a wide grin the achadhiel cleaned himself up and took a few sips of water, as he sat down while dressing himself again. The ideas that had formed in his head sank in and remained there, to complete the work and form an absolutely stunning set of matching swords, worthy of the beautiful woman that would wield them. The blades themselves would be engraved with the same leaf pattern that adorned the sceptre. What was left was to hone the edges of the blades into a sharp v-shape and engrave them, before he brought them to their final shine. He turned his head to Garlon and raised his voice. "Garlon, I'll be back to work on these after my class. Do we have dark brown leather here, which I can use to make sheaths and a belt?"
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Post by Twilight »

The Master Smith scratched his head for a flicker, considering, before he replied, “Nothing good, but Minhata will have some of the quality stuff. I’ll send one of the boys for you,” he offered.

Garlon gave directions to one young fellow, who quickly disappeared to speak to the person the smith had mentioned. Garlon then moved over to where Farathorn was taking his ease, wiping his great hands on a flannel cloth as he took a seat beside the Achadhiel.

“How goes it, my friend?” he asked, in his customarily cheerful manner.
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Caelin

Post by Caelin »

The achadhiel grinned and pulled away the cloth that was covering the blades on the table, showing their rough outline to the master smith. Once the edges have been honed and balanced, the engraving added and the entire thing polished to a shine, I think they will be presentable. For now, they are in their rough shape, but folded as many times as I intended to. What is left is finishing it." He pulled out a piece of paper from his scroll holder and showed this to Garlon. The design made on paper was visible in the raw outlines of the blades on the table, but without the details it only resembled it vaguely.

"I hope that leather is available, I want to add a belt and sheaths to ptresent the entire thing as a set. That will probably be tomorrow however, before I can even start on it. The metal that is left from forging these, I will use to make decoration on the belt and sheaths. What do you think so far?" The achadhiel asked this with interest in his opinion, knowing that this man would probably be much better at this then he was, but his opinion would ba valued.
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Post by Twilight »

Garlon examined the swords in progress with the eye of an expert; considering carefully what he saw and felt, for his fingers, his hands were as knowledgeable as his eyes. The man mulled over the sketches as compared to the rough outlines upon the metal, nodding his understanding of what had been done, and what was to come.

“Quality, this,” he declared, still nodding to himself. “T’will be a fine pair of weapons, I judge. Like to see the edge when you’re done though,” the Master Smith added. “Should hold a good, sharp edge, eh?” he ventured, turning a comradely grin upon the Achadhiel.

“They say those Trothgard ladies have an eye for good weaponry,” Garlon added, his voice revealing both awe and respect. “Can’t imagine our lasses even being interested in a good blade. Some special breed of woman they must be,” he speculated philosophically, although there was a hint of whimsy in his tone.

“Oh, but there’s no fear about the leather, my friend,” he assured Farathorn, with a cheerful pat on the shoulder. “Minhata always has plenty of good leather around, even if she only needs it for them fancy sheaths, for ceremonial weapons. Useless things those, but noblemen insist on display, you know.” Garlon winked to punctuate his jest at the foolishness and conceit of the Citadel’s upper class.
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Caelin

Post by Caelin »

Farathorn smiled at the comradery of Garlon and his openness towards him. Once he was finished, the achadhiel came closer to him and pointed to the edge of the blade. "The intention of the folding technique, is to create an edge that will not easily chip or dull, but retain it's edge for a longer duration of time. By layering the metal like this, the edge is harder and more resistant to impact." He calmly told this to the master smith, although he had very little doubt that the man knew quite a bit about it.

A few flickers of silence fell, as Farathorn pondered over his reply towards his question of Aesa. "From what Mylady told me, trothgardian women are the leading class in their society. They are warriors and do have a keen eye for weaponry. Most master a weapon in their training, quite in contrast to those in our society, who barely know how to deal with a dagger, unless they grew up on the streets. Better yet, Mylady is interested in visiting the smithy on occasion, to see how the weapons are made. I guess knowing this will enable her to make repairs to her own weapons, should the need arise." He counted on the fact that Garlon took pride in his work, something that would grow with Aesa visiting his smithy more often.

Nodding to the last comment the master smith made, Farathorn spoke up and gave the man his own thoughts. "Good leather shall be welcome and fitted around a wooden shaft with steel decoration, it will look splendid enough for her to be seen wearing them. I have seen nobles that did not know anything about a swordfight, but persisted on carrying one." He patted the sheaths on his own belt and grinned. "Of course I prefer a high quality weapon myself, yet I have no need for decorum. I carry these in case I have to use them, not a part of an ensemble for an occasion." With a grin he fixed his gaze on Garlon's face.
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Post by Twilight »

The information about Trothgardian women was obviously news to the Master Smith and his eyes widened with surprise, and then he nodded with a mixture of appreciation and uncertainty. This was certainly not the way women behaved in the Citadel, and yet he approved of those who could appreciate good weaponry. Then he laughed heartily as Farathorn spoke of his weapons not being for dress purposes. He was just about to speak, when the youth returned from his errand to the Palace Leatherworker.

“Ah, here is your leather,” he declared, turning to pat the youth on the shoulderblade, as he spoke to Farathorn.

The fellow handed over a high quality piece of leather, looking quite pleased with himself.

“Mistress Minhata says to come to her yourself, should you need more, sir. I think she wants to make sure you know what to do with it,” he grinned, before scurrying back to his previous task.

Garlon chuckled. “That’s our Min,” he said, patting Farathorn’s shoulder good-naturedly, before going off to check on the progress of his staff.
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Caelin

Post by Caelin »

Farathorn accepted the leather from the young man and smiled, while he looked it over. "Very nice, well done. Should I need more I will go seek Minhata out myself, to convince her of that." He nodded to the youngster.

The achadhiel turned his head to Garlon and smiled. "He has an eye for good quality leather, that young man. This wil do admirably." He placed the leather on top of the swords and grinned at the master smith. "Time I head towards the training grounds. I'll see you tomorrow, but if something comes up in the meantime, do not hesitate to send me a messenger."

Farathorn gave Garlon a pat back and headed out of the smithy.



OOC: I'll make the next post soon, so we can wrap this thread up quickly, Twi.
Last edited by Caelin on Wed Jun 08, 2005 10:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Caelin

samheen 21 EMT, first mark.

Post by Caelin »

The achadhiel had returned to the smithy the following morning, first teaching the two young men, then going on to his own project. Now he threw himself fully upon the swords again, clearing his mind from everything else but the blades he had envisioned in his mind. He reheated the fire and placed the first of the two blades within it. While the steel was being heated, Farathorn made two halves of wood, to fit the blade within, shaping it roughly at the beginning.

As the steel was hot enough, he took the first sword out of the fire and placed the second one into it, before he began to form the initial one into the final shape, whilst slightly thinning out the edges of the blade. With the hilt and crossguard already finished, this was the last thing to do. With the blade of the sword in its final shape, he dipped it into the water, cooling it off rapidly, but tempering it at the same time.

Repeating the same process on the second blade, the achadhiel now had two blades ready to be sharpened, as these were still to receive their final edge. This would be one of the more tricky parts, so before he began to work on it, he made a small prayer to the mother, just as he had done before crafting the sceptre.

The sharpening stone gradually picked up speed, using the pedal beneath with his foot to keep the rotation of it at a steady pace, as he sat behind it on a stool. He held the blade tight and slid it past the stone in a fluid movement, from the hilt to the tip. This he repeated over and over, until he turned it around and did the same thing to the other side of the edge. Once satisfied with the edge, he turned the blade over and began from the top. After two marks of work, the blade had both it's edges and the achadhiel took a small break, sipping some water and carving out the inside of the wood for the sheath, so that the blade would slide in cleanly.

Once he had finished the two halves, he seated himself behind the sharpening stone again and brought the stone to life again with the continual pressure and release of his foot, slowly beginning to go through each step again on the second of the two blades. Another two marks went past, as Farathorn pushed himself not to rush any of it, so that the two swords in the end would have almost exactly the same weight and balance. Done with the work and almost too tired to do another of these, he placed the swords on the table and worked on the wood for the other sheath, until he had carved it similarly to the first.

Yesterday's eveningtide, the achadhiel had already prepared the steel decoration for the sheaths, so that what remained to be done, was to fit the leather onto the outside of the wooden halves, so that they would fit tightly together, bound by the leather and the steel decoration. This did not take long with the preparation he had made and he kept the seam on the inside of the sheaths. On each side of the belt, he fitted the sheath into a baldric, the swords thus leaning slightly forwards to provide easier access to them. The belt carrying the same steel ornaments as the sheaths, but enriched with a layer of mail, riveted in place along the entire belt. This would prevent anyone from cutting through the belt. The buckle he had made carried the same symbol he had seen in Aesa's quarters, a circle with a sort of spiderweb in it, with feathers engraved along the rim of the circle. The same symbol he had engraved into the hilt of both swords, albeit a little smaller.

The brown leather formed a very appealing contrast with the shine of the steel and the swords themselves were balanced to the atmost best of his ability. After working for 6 marks straight, Farathorn had finished what he had set out to do. The leafpattern was engraved into the blades, bearing the same characteristics as those on the sceptre, plus the polish matched that previous work. The entire set looked better then any of his previous work, but he desired the opinion of his newly found friend, the master smith, in regards to the quality of it, although the man seemed to have been watching him during the honing of the edges, just as he had stated he would the day before. He turned and looked at Garlon, then called him over to check what he had done. "Garlon, I'd like your opinion on the finished work."

=============================================
OOC: Twi, I took a small liberty to have Garlon watching the honing of the edges, to keep continuity and wrap up this thread as swiftly as possible. All that remains is the last conversation and judgement of the master smith, to conclude this thread. Thank you for the opportunity. :)
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Post by Twilight »

Garlon showed great interest in Farathorn’s work, and offered the occasional pointer or encouraging word. He was clearly a man of great knowledge and skill, despite his relatively easygoing personality. Farathorn was able to add to his own knowledge and skill through the man’s subtle guidance, even as the Achadhiel shared the Kislovanian technique with Garlon and his staff. The end result reflected both Farathorn’s previous knowledge and Garlon’s artful augmentation of it.

Working the leather proved both interesting and rather a challenge, and Farathorn was forced to begin again with a new piece more than once. Still, the end result was satisfactory, and attractive as well as functional.

At Farathorn’s call, Garlon made his way over to inspect the fruits of the Achadhiel’s labours. His exacting eye examined the pieces carefully, before he nodded his approval. The smithy had suddenly become a rather quiet place.

“A set worthy of the Lady,” the Master Smith declared, setting the pieces down on the work table. Garlon clapped Farathorn on the back and grinned.

It was indeed high praise, and words to that affected buzzed amongst the smithy staff, filling the odd hush once again. Some had even moved a bit closer, to get a look at the set themselves, although they were quick to return their attention to their tasks.
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Caelin

Post by Caelin »

Farathorn smiled at the compliment from Garlon and extended his hand to the master smith. "I couldn't have done a much better job, Garlon, thanks to your help and that of your staff. Your efforts to bring out the best in someone is praiseworthy, my friend. I haven't created such fine work in a long time." The achadhiel had spoken in a friendly tone of voice, his eyes reflecting the honesty of his statement within them. "I have worked in a number of places, before settling into the palace and I can tell you that this is certainly one of the best operated ones. You're an asset to the craft and so will your team be in future."

Farathorn paused for a moment, while wrapping the blades into a cloth, then turned back to Garlon. "I will continue to teach your lads until they can do this in their sleep, despite the fact that they are progressing quite well. If I find the time, I will be back to do some work in here, as I have a little project for which I needed those mail rings. I'll tell you about it tomorrow. For now, I have to take my leave, but if there is anything you need to get done in relation to the smithy, come see me and i'll present it to the Lady for you." This was almost as good as a promise, of which the achadhiel hoped that Garlon would realise it for what it was. He took the bundle of cloth under his arm and smiled, while stating something softly enough to the smith, that his staff could not overhear it. "You can rest assured that Lady Aesa will know that you run this smithy well above what others expected it to be."
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Post by Twilight »

THREAD SKILLED
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