[Swords and Plowshares] Way Back Home [Jerzy]

[Vanos Strongarm]

Acquiring the metal for the job was something that Jerzy had made relatively easy at the forge. The creation of a hammer, however, was something that Vanos wasn't exactly sure how to accomplish as he had never made one before. There was no real use for one with his own people as their dominant arm was more than enough for the function of a hammer and other tools that were used in the hot fire of a forge. But if it was something that Jerzy could use, and something that he could benefit from then Vanos would go about creating something from his mind and not from years of practice at the forge. Dipping the metal in the forge was as natural to Vanos as breathing. The metal warmed and glowed between his fingers as the fire warmed it up, changing the colours until it reached a perfect orange hue which meant Vanos could pull it out and begin to hammer it into the perfect shape with his hand. There were no tools necessarily required for this job as his flesh and muscle were more than enough to accomplish what a human and a hammer could do at the anvil, and there was Vanos pounding away at it with his fist during the first few primary strikes to wield the metal to the shape he wanted. The hammer head was going to be more difficult for him to form and thus he took the easier route of forming the shaft of the hammer first, going between the forge and the anvil to perfect the shape. While an Isurian's hand could do many things, it wasn't able to make the metal perfectly smooth; a file would need to be employed to make the shaft grip-able by the flesh of a soft hand. The manipulation of the hammer head was next and Vanos glanced one time over to Jerzy's hammer for a moment before he started to form it and tease the metal into a cylinder shape, upsetting the metal so that it thickened in the one spot that mattered and the head of the hammer that would get the most abuse. Vanos smirked at himself for a moment at the thought of making this more solid and more like Isurian steel, but there were elements missing from this metal that he would need in order to make it that nearly-indestructible metal that was highly sought-after outside the gates of Sultros. As Vanos dipped the all metal hammer into the water and turned away as the steam clouded his vision, he frowned at the thought of the creation that he had just made. He made an all metal hammer for a human blacksmith. When Vanos pulled out the cooled down and rough looking metal he turned to Jerzy with a bit of a scowl, accentuated by the ridge over his eyes and let out a low grunt. "Never thought about making a tool for a human hand," Vanos said with a shake of his head. "This tool would be fine for me, but it would get too hot for your hands to handle." He was about to consider throwing the tool out for the absolutely useless function it now served as he rubbed his finger along the blunt face of the hammer head. "Perhaps we give this to your lazy Isur, since I very much doubt he can use his hand like a true Isurian."

[Tabarnac]

Jerzy had seen this before, but never tired of the marvel. At times he was envious, but Izurdin had given him a strong body and a disciplined mind, and he had acquired his skill over the years with painstaking work. So he could not shove his bare hand into the fire without losing it forever, but he could still create things. All the same, a faint smile curved his lips. He finished his filing by the time Vanos came to a stopping point. It must not have been blessed with Izentor, for Vanos didn't look unduly weary. "It is a good hammer. A good study. Perhaps someday when you are very, very grateful for my..." He didn't know the word beneficence in his own dialect of Common, and so he was confused for a moment before he managed, "generosity. Isurian steel, and blessed with your god's grace." He winked. It was a lot to ask a from a new employee, he knew. But he took the hammer to feel its heft after Vanos cooled it, and he gave no indication that it was too heavy for him. Heavy metal was his thing. "I wrap the handle in leather." He paused, taking a breath before he could remember the conditional tense. "I would wrap the handle. No slip." Between leather thongs braided tightly around the metal and the leather gloves he wore to work, he would be protected from the worst of the heat. "You are not so bad. You can show Landeril what to do with his hand." That last had some strange connotations in the Isur tongue that Jerzy probably didn't mean, his tone of voice playful, but not exactly raunchy.

[Vanos Strongarm]

The hammer was just a hammer, in Vanos' mind, it was nothing special but something just to prove that he could make something instead of just talk about it. The air from Vanos' lungs escaped through his mouth in a sigh as he looked up to Jerzy at the thought of having his own piece of Isurian Steel, marked by Izentor. Vanos wasn't sure what sort of gift a hammer could grant the user, but he knew that it would probably help the human out in some form. Perhaps it would be the closest thing he got to a Gnosis mark from Izurdin, but Vanos thought that the human, too, should be marked as he seemed quite determined and dedicated to his craft. Vanos caught the way that the tone in Jerzy's Isurian was, well, slightly slapping him in the face with a subtext that he never really got from someone he had just met before. He raised a brow curiously over to Jerzy and wondered if that's what he had truly meant or was merely having difficulty in controlling the tone in which Isurian was usually spoken. "Showing him what I do with my hands will not instill the dedication that one requires for this kind of work. If he doesn't have the passion for it, me showing him how to do it all will do nothing at all. My hands know many hours of hard work," He looked over to Jerzy and didn't repeat the playful tone in which he had spoken to him. There was a little hint in the way that he smiled up to the human that would convey that desire, if it was truly reciprocated and not merely a comprehension error. "What else can I show you, to prove my worth as a smith? As Isurian?"

[Tabarnac]

Perhaps someday his kindness to the Isur as well as his dedication to his craft would pique Izurdin's interest, but for now he would settle for Isur in his employ. He seemed to have offended Vanos, so he dropped the attempt at humor. It would take a bit of time to get used to the Isurian temperament again. Landeril hadn't socialized with him much at all. "No, it will not," he said, his Isur perfect in its simplicity. "I require nothing else at this time, and I know your hard work will prove your worth in the future. Perhaps you would like to see the room where you could stay? We can move things out now if you decide you want to stay here."

[Vanos Strongarm]

"Tomorrow perhaps. Tour of Denval, vill be taken on soon. Then ve vill look at room, decide about place to sleep. Perhaps make something more useful than silly Isurian hammer that is common like rock." Vanos said with a little grin as he stepped back from the heat of the forge and wiped the sweat at the top of his ridged brow with the back of his massive left hand. As much as Jerzy knew about Isurian customs, it felt weird to consider him a brother and treat him as such. Therefore, Vanos reached out his right hand for Jerzy's hand to give him a handshake much in the customary human tradition that he was instructed in before his departure from his clan. He was carefully instructed on how to handle the hand within his own, and how to gently squeeze it without giving a human fear that the hand would crushed under "Isurian Might." "Pleasure to meet you, Jerzy of Swords and Plowshares. I vill come again tomorrow, and ve vill get real vork done." He said with just the faintest hint of a smirk as he gripped Jerzy's hand and gave it a good, firm shake. He wasn't as worried that the blacksmith in front of him would take offence at a normal, Isurian hand's squeeze.

[Tabarnac]

XP Award! Vanos XP Award: Negotiation +5; Seduction +1; Blacksmithing +3 Additional Notes: You now have housing and employment! If you did any threads with smithing in them during the Summer season, you can send them to me for seasonal income/XP. Otherwise, we’ll just give it to you for Fall. Welcome to Denval! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or concerns. Keep writing!