Solo Finishing's of a blade

[Tiath Othos]

19th of Spring

The first tingling’s of consciousness began to creep through Tiath, a slight groan of annoyance coming through his lips as he didn't want to wake just up yet, the warm cocoon of his blankets teasing him back into the pleasantness that had been his sleep. He pulled the blanket over his head, pulling his legs into his chest and curling up within the warmth, Come on, you gotta get up, you got work to do, mentally chiding himself in an attempt to try and get himself out of bed, a thought suddenly clicking as he remembered about the blade that he had been working on all of the previous day. The mix of nervousness and excitement cause him to quickly wake from his slumber and kick off his blankets and get, rushing to find his pants and get ready for another day of work. I wonder how it turned out? He thought to himself which only cause the excitement to build, I know it won't be the good, not even close to it but I need to see it!

It didn't take him long to find his clothing and get out of his room, rushing to get back to the forge and see it however his return was to be delayed by the complaints of his stomach Come on..He muttered to himself before turning to take a detour through an market area where he knew that he could find something to eat, his mind wondering what he should get to eat before a slight grin covered his face as he knew the answer to that question already, Bread and cheese it shall be! He was dodging through the last of the crowd when he reached the courtyard that surrounded the Iron Works, shovelling in the last of the bread that he had bought into his mouth as he entered hearing the 7th bell ringing off in the distance, heading towards the work area that he had hidden the blade in last night. He glanced around the foundry as he entered his work station, he was an earlier then he normal would be to getting work as he had rushed his normal morning routine and now he was one of the earlier ones to get here, which while he wasn't often late it was surprising that it had happened, it was always a sight that made him look around in awe as he looked over the empty stations and was able to actually hear the sound of individuals work instead of it all being blurred into a mush of background noises. The smile disappeared quickly off his face as quickly moved over to the work bench and took a deep breath before he bent down to reach into the back of the cabinet, his hands feeling the rough leather of the mesh blanket that held his latest work. He was about to pull it out when he heard a cough from behind him.

[Tiath Othos]

http://i.imgur.com/VvrRSuQ.png?1

He looked over his shoulder to unsurprisingly find that Baldemar was standing at the entrance to the work space and was watching him with his usual unreadable expression. Tiath quickly withdrew his hands from the blanket and stood up bowing slightly to the man, "Good morning Baldemar" He said quietly as he watched for any signs that what he was doing was wrong, I thought he would be maybe slightly glade that I was here already? he thought to himself slightly disappointed as he played the waiting game with the man. It wasn't long before the towering man raised his eyebrow at him, "So are you going to get to work or not? You're not getting paid to stand around" This threw Tiath off balance as he scrambled to get on task, reaching again under the bench to pull out the blade and its case out from its spot. He placed it onto of the bench and was surprised to feel that it was still slightly warm to the touch, making him again curious about what the material surrounding the steel mesh was, glancing over his should to check if it was time to unravel it he received a nod from Baldemar. Slowly he unwrapped the blade from its cocoon, his eyes widening at seeing the blade and the work that he had done, it wasn't finished by a long shot but even then, it was still his work that had brought it to this point.

It had taken the rough shape of a blade, a slightly uneven surface covering the faces of it and the edges themselves were still as blunt as when he left them. "Do I have to sharpen it now?" He asked aloud before turning to look at Baldemar who had wondered over to look over the blade with his more experienced eye. He felt slightly disheartened as he knew that the master smith would be able to see a million imperfections in the blade, the man didn't say anything as he picked it up and felt its weight in his hands. "For your first attempt it wasn't bad" he said as he glanced at the boy before he turned to walk over to the grind stone that was in the corner of the forge, the comment had again thrown him off as he was not expecting that comment from the man. He followed the man to the grind stone and watched him sit down and begin to start to pedal the wheel, bringing it up to a speed where it would be able to start to bite into the metal and sharpen the edges and even out the face of the blade. Baldemar begun to work on it and placed the blade against the stone and held it steady as the wheel ground against it, Tiath could only admire how steady the man was able to keep it against the stone his past experiences with resharpening a blade had been a challenge to do on a grind stone, he could only guess how much effort it was taking to keep it in place, like that. Soon he had flipped it over had begun working on the other side of it with him realising that his mentor was only doing a small strip of the blade.

[Tiath Othos]

http://i.imgur.com/VvrRSuQ.png?1

Baldemar looked over his own work for a moment before he stood up and walked over to Tiath, holding the blade for him to take which he did and looked over the work himself. The small strip that his mentor had done was now a polished strip, running his finger along its face he could feel how smooth that part was in comparison to the rest of it and then the edge itself he could feel how easily it would be able to cut through his skin if he put further pressure against the edge. He could only look up at the man with a sense of awe as he couldn't fathom how skilled the man much be in order to take his work and change it so completely. The look must have amused the man greatly as he chuckled once as he walked past him, clapping him on the shoulder once "So now you've seen what it should look like when it’s done so now it is your turn to try and do the same thing, if you have any questions ask them now." Tiath looked at the man for a moment thinking hard about any questions he could have about it, I've sharpened blades before back at Mithryn when I worked there.. A slight smile showing as he remembered the amount of pain that had followed for the few days, he had been nearly unable to even raise him arms the following days, the muscles in his arms had been strained in ways he hadn't been ready for.

He moved over and took a seat at the grinding stone, running a hand against its surface feeling the way the texture grazed against his skin before he placed his feet on the peddles. He took a deep breath before he started to push against the pedals, the stone wheel slowly starting to spin and gaining some speed taking him a little bit of time in order to get the rhythm of pushing the peddles correctly. Lifting the blade he glanced at the surface I should start one the face of the blade to try and smooth and leave the edges until later, then at least I will have a better feel for what I am doing.. It has been awhile. Placing the flat against the stone and jumped backwards in his seat as sparks flew from the stone surprising him. He couldn't help but laugh at himself as he steady his arms against the bucking on the blade under his grip as if had taken a life of its own and was trying to free itself, gritting his teeth he pushed back just as hard, trying to keep it steady as it felt a lot harder to do then when he had just been re-sharpening them.

[Tiath Othos]

http://i.imgur.com/VvrRSuQ.png?1

Tiath was also finding that this task would not only be able about trying his skill in the craft, which he himself had no faith in but also his endurance as he slowly moved the blade against the stone. He was able to feel as the face of the blade was slowly becoming smoother when he saw his mentor move out of the corner of his vision, he was surprised and lost concentration, his grip loosening and blade tugging away from him before being sent across the workspace. He moved to stand up and retrieve it as Baldemar stooped low and picked it up, looking over it handed it to the boy, "The face of the blade doesn’t need to be grinded normally, I only did it to show you that one could, today tho continue to do it." He said as he let go of the blade, "Over time you will get better at forging a blades surface and you won’t have to put so much effort in to smoothing the face." He could only nod as he took back the blade and begin to push the face against the stone again, moving the blade a slight bit faster along the stone, it took a little but he finished up one half of the side and re adjusted the blade, spinning it around so that he could he do the other part.

He flipped the blade over as he reached the end of it and looked over the side that he had somehow managed to do, the face of it was now a lot smoother and there was a lot less ridges and uneven bumps along it which made him happy, it was going decently on at this point. He took a moment to roll his ankles around a little as well as to shake his arms out a little releasing the building up tension that was there. He was very surprised however, the effort that it normally took to sharpen a dull blade seemed to be at least on par to this, not that he was going to complain about it. He again placed his feet against the peddles and begun to get the stone spinning again up to the speed that he had it at before, carefully placing the blade against the stone again this time making sure not to startle himself so much as the sparks started to fly off it and disappear into the air, a smile showing as he kept himself steady for a while. The smile didn't last as long as he would have liked as his concentration got the better of him, the stiffness quickly returning to his arms and feet, There in no point complaining tho, you have your job and you're being taught something new, you can’t let a little bit of struggle get the better of you!

[Tiath Othos]

http://i.imgur.com/VvrRSuQ.png?1

Gritting his teeth he redoubled his efforts and was able to finish the rest of the face without much struggle and lifted the blade off the stone but kept peddling it, the slightest switch of a smile happening before he continued, Ok, you've sharpened your fathers blade many times before, this is no different to that. He gripped the blade with both his hands on the edge out of habit, moving it slowly closer to the spinning stone and preparing for the kick that came from the connection his hands having been cut enough times in the past from not being prepared for it. He pictured the edge of blade and how it would have to be placed against the stone in order to get it form a point that would be sharp. He held the blade inches off the stone and continuously adjusted the angle over and over until he finally got it to where he hoped it would be the right angle. He slowly placed the dull edge to it stone and felt the blunt side hit his hand slightly which to he could only scold himself under his breath "Didn't you just warn yourself of that?"

It was a struggle to keep the angle of it this time as it was the most important part, if he didn’t keep an even grind across the entire edge it would end up with the blade being.. He found he didn't actually know the correct reason for it, [i]Well I guess that it wouldn't be as good in cutting or something, maybe it would become blunt quicker due to a wave edge? It didn't matter anyways just like he had told himself every other time he had a task to work on and he didn't understand something fully, he had a job to do and he would do it to the best of his abilities. It took a bit longer to cover just one edge then took to cover both sides of the face of the blade and his arms were beginning to stiffen up from the strange position they were being forced to stay in and his ankles were on fire from keeping the stone moving, however the task was one of endurance and reached the halfway mark without incident.

He became nervous at this point knowing that now the work became slightly dangerous, he had finished both sides of one of the edges which had honed it to a fine point which when he placed his finger on it he knew would easily be able to slice through his skin. He tried to calm his nerves as he flipped the blade over and put the sharpened edge between his fingers and thumb, holding it by the face as steadily as he could as he placed the blade close to the stone, again having to find the angle in order to try and replicate the completed edge. He gripped the sword blade as tightly as he could before placing it against the stone, bracing himself for the kick that was coming, a slight gasp coming from him as he felt the blade flick slightly upward slicing slightly into his skin.

[Tiath Othos]

http://i.imgur.com/VvrRSuQ.png?1

He had to ignore it tho and keep focused on the grinding, slowly working his way back and forth along its edge slowly, the blade nearing its final shape with him only having one side left to do. He lifted the blade away to give himself a moment to check the cut he had received, a slight crimson line against his palms, he sighed to himself out of relief as it seemed to be a very superficial wound. Again he flipped the blade over so that the final side faced the grindstone and placed it against it, a bubble of excitement slowly building up inside him as he slowly got closer to the end of creating his first weapon. When he finally finished it he lifted the blade up buy the square handle, looking over it with a smile beaming over his face that he had managed to create the weapon on his own.

Carefully he placed it down on the anvil and left the workstation to find Baldemar, unable to hold in his excitement he was awkwardly switching between walking and running as he looked for his mentor, finding him helping out another of his students. He waited eagerly rocking back and forth on his toes as he listened into their conversation, the other pupil had been their longer than him and they were talking about a technique that he was attempting to do. Leaning forward he tried to see what they were working on to find that he was in the middle of working on what seemed to be a gauntlet. He felt his interest slightly drop at finding this out as it was beyond him on how they made such smooth bends in such tiny arcs, the way that each layer had been perfectly crafted.

It wasn't long before they finished their talk and Baldemar came over to him "So you finished did you" Nodding once before he replied "Yes sir, I was wondering tho if you could come and have a look at it tho?" Getting waved to lead the way he forced himself to match pace with his mentor as they slowly returned to his work area, he quickly picked up the completed blade and presented it to his teacher and awaited a response as he watched the man eye it. "Not too bad, so now for the next step." Tiath could only blink at that part [/b]"There’s more steps?" [/b] He blurted aloud before his face went red as he acted out of character. This got him a raised eyebrow from his mentor, "Well yes, now you're going to have to get your forge as hot as you can and then quench the blade in the tank." Baldemar waited for Tiath to nod before he continued "After that you have to reheat the blade but not as dramatically, just heat it up a bit then quench it but you’re going to have to do this about three times before your fully done with this."

[Tiath Othos]

http://i.imgur.com/VvrRSuQ.png?1

It was a weird for Tiath as he suddenly felt very let down as if everything he had down up to this point had been for naught, he knew that it hadn't but it was just because he thought he had finished only to be told there was so much more work to do. He sighed and dropped his gaze "I will get right on it" even his teacher could tell he was disheartened but chose not to speak on it as he left. Slowly he moved to the furnace and took up the bellows and started to force air into the coal, watching them as they slowly turned from a deep red and into a bright yellow and while it took a little while longer he managed to bring it to a near white glow. Even through the steel of the forge he could feel the heat radiating from it, he had never been told to force it to such a degree of heat before and it was slightly awing to him.

Quickly he placed the bellow back onto their peg and picked up a pair of tongs, picking up the blade with them he opened the forge only to be blasted by the wave of heat that came up, his eyes instantly drying out causing him to shield his face by turning it away and haphazardly placing the blade in the centre of the coals before quickly shutting the door. I really didn't expect it to be that hot he thought to himself as he wiped the sweat from his brow and picked up the bellows and continued to force air into it as he waited for it to heat the metal. After while he opened the door again slowly, keeping his face away from the opening wave of heat, the sword had gained a white glow it as well that matched the coals. Carefully he picked up the tongs again and reached in and picked up the blade, the heat making him move quickly as he pulled it out and placed it into the oil tank.

The oil hissed and sputtered causing him to nearly jump backwards, causing him to nearly drop the tongs. His face lit up in embarrassment, glancing around to see if any had seen his reaction and was grateful that no one else had been watching him. He watched the oil bubble for away and waited for it to slowly begin to die down, he couldn't help but have a childish curiosity and feel the urge to reach out and touch the bubbles but he knew that it would be boiling hot now due to the blade. After a while the bubbling stopped and he lifted out the blade and looked over it, he bit his lip in worry as nothing seemed to have changed with the blade, Did I do it wrong, Baldemar didn’t tell me any other instructions.. He didn’t want to seem incompetent to his mentor either so he continued to follow the instructions.

[Tiath Othos]

http://i.imgur.com/VvrRSuQ.png?1

Again he opened the forge and placed the blade back into it this time leaving the door open before he lifted himself onto the bench and sat there watching the blade. "I have to let it heat slightly?" he muttered to himself as he watched it slowly heat again, there was nothing he could really do here besides wait. It wasn't long before it had started to become to take on a heated glow and he picked it up and place it back into the quenching tank. He continued to repeat this process as he had been instructed, just watching it as while it was repetitive the time in-between each task was rather short so it meant that unlike the previous day he couldn't go and offer to help other smiths at their jobs.

On the final quenching he pulled it out from the oil as Baldemar came into the area and took the tongs without a word from him, looking over the creation before he took it from the tongs with his hands and went over to the bench and begun to work on it, leaving Tiath in the dark on what was going on. It wasn't long before the man turned around with the finished product, the blade now having a cross guard and a proper hilt attached it, Tiath could only grin at the finished product very pleased with the way it came out. "Hey Baldemar.. Do you think.. It would be ok if I bought that blade?" He stumbled over his words as he nervously up at the man. His mentor only grinned and gave a nod "I don't see why it would be a problem, how come you want it tho?" Tiath could only look away as he gave him answer "Well it’s my first weapon and I want it as a keep sake" He said quietly as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a single iron nail and showed it to his mentor "Just like this nail from my first lesson here" He finished quietly which was followed by a burst of laughter from Baldemar "Well then yours it shall be, for the price of the iron you used however." Looking up he saw his mentor smiling at him for the first time. Did I do something wrong?

[Dravite]

Tiath Othos


XP Award:

• Socialisation: 2
• Running: 2
• Observation: 5
• Weaponsmithing: 3
• Endurance: 2
• Bodybuilding: 1
• Blacksmithing: 1
• Rhetoric: 1

Lore:

• Baldemar: Not a very tolerant man
• Weaponsmithing: Metalwork takes a long time to cool
• Baldemar: An expert eye
• Sword: A blunt blade is useless
• Weaponsmithing: Sharpening a blade
• Weaponsmithing: What a finished blade looks like
• Observation: Pay attention!
• Weapon: How to hold a sword
• Tiath Othos: Taking your own advice
• Weaponsmithing: A dangerous occupation
• Weaponsmithing: Over-sharpening the weapon will make the blade weak
• Tiath Othos: A curious young man
• Baldemar: A good teacher

Penalties:
Tiath’s muscles will be sore for the next two days.
The cut on his finger will heal within a week.

Loot:
1 x Iron Longsword

Notes: Hello Tiath! This was an enjoyable read and a pleasure to grade. It is good to get into the habit of skimming your work even once it is posted for mistakes like broken tags and missing capital letters. These are all easily fixed and make your story a lot easier to read. Just a handy tip! Each time a new character speaks in the story, start on a new line to avoid confusion. This will help break up your massive paragraphs too.

You said that Tiath had cheese and bread for breakfast from the market place. Make sure you put a little note at the end of the thread regarding changes to your ledger. I can see cheese and bread deducted from the ledger on your CS but I have no way of telling whether or not it belongs to this thread without going through all of your other threads. It might help if you link all of your threads to your CS. Also, if Tiath did in fact buy the sword, you need to deduct the price of the iron he used from your ledger. Once you have done this PM me and I can award the Iron Longsword. You also need to deduct seasonal expenses from your ledger as there has been a season change since this thread was posted.

This was a lovely story and I wouldn't hesitate to grade one of your threads again! Well done, Tiath. Let me know if you think I have missed anything here and be sure to edit your grading request!

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