Closed An Engraving for a Saving

[Clyde Sullins]

64 Summer 515

Clyde had plans. Always he had some angle, some plot, some means of growing himself, his wealth, his power, or his knowledge. If he was lucky those ends would overlap. But no matter where he was, how limited he was, he kept himself busy and making strides forward.

He'd come to Nyka in hopes of selling a creation of Magecrafting. But it wasn't something cheap, something you could just sell easily. A person needed contacts, needed people to know and like them if they wanted to convince them to buy.

In that regard quality of product was a secondary issue, something that mattered but only once you got in the door.

Because of this need, a plan had come to Clyde's mind. He wasn't just a skilled Magecrafter, he also had other skills. Like Glyphing. If he could use those skills to make something, something that required a lot of skill but didn't cost a lot, he could perhaps gain the buyers favor. Show them his worth. And if they liked his work, then perhaps they'd be persuaded to purchase from him.

The first thing that came to mind was something he'd first learned to make seasons ago, on Sahova. Djed shackles. They were a tool created by glyphing that more or less turned off a personal mages ability to use said personal magic.

It would be a time intensive process, engraving in metal, since it would require using his engraving tools. When he'd made his first pair they'd been of stone, and so Clyde could engrave them directly using Reimancy. That wouldn't be possible with metal shackles.

And so Clyde found himself wandering about the Fourth Day Market, trying to find some hand restraints. Shackles, manacles, anything that functioned as such.

One thing Clyde quickly found odd was the lack of food in the market. He didn't fully understand Nyka, but knew that food was something not freely sold. This was in stark comparison to Ravok, which had several markets devoted just to food.

He also observed those about him trading. Or the lack thereof. There was little talking, no haggling or negotiating or finding a price. There was a set price, and people either took it or they didn't. This was odd to Clyde's sensibilities of how trading should occur.

However he was a man on a mission with things to do, so he didn't have time to further puzzle out the oddities of this society, and he was no anthropologist learned in the ways of understanding such things. It was enough that he noticed the difference, and was able to adjust his actions accordingly.

Within half a bell he found someone, a metal worker of some sort, who had manacles for sale. They were a simple affair, iron hand bindings connected by more iron, with a small locking mechanism on each wrist. There were two varieties, differentiated by the complexity of the lock. The ones with simple locks cost the equivalent of 15 gm, and the ones of a higher quality with more complex locks cost the equivalent of 50 gm. Each one had a matching key which unlocked the manacles they went with. Clyde quietly forked over the 65 gm for the items, and headed back to his room at the Safehaven hostel to begin his work.

[Clyde Sullins]

Back in his room in the Safehaven hostel, Clyde took out his gear and began to inspect his new items.

First thing for any project was to plan out ones path. For djed shackles the main bit of glyphing was on the outside, a circling sweeping enforced by the glyphs. On the inside were the syphons or pulls, which pressed against the skin. Along the sides were also a pair of paths, connecting the syphons on the inside with the circling and outward pouring tap.

The syphon pulled in the djed, and was fed up the pathways and into the main outer glyphs. Carried by the momentum of the circling, the djed carried along. Finally it radiated outward from an exit focus. Or at least that was how Clyde understood it to work. The end result was all that mattered, as a mage with such a device on them was unable to channel their djed or to bring it to the needed level and density for performing personal magic.

Clyde had purchased two pairs of manacles, one cheaper one to practice with, and a second nicer one to give to the buyers.

Taking out his engraving tools, he checked them over to make sure they were fully usable. Each of the engraving tools had a fleck of diamond at its tip, sort of like a writing stylus. However with the way it was situated the fleck of diamond ground into the softer materials, till a path was carved into the object, thus making an engraving over time.

While Clyde wasn't wholly unskilled, neither was he proficient with engraving. He couldn't do anything but the simplest of shapes and designs, nothing fine or compact. He was also slow, having to be careful with his work, taking things layer by layer and using much more shallow cuts into the material.

But he could work the simplicity of imagery into his design.

Beginning on the cheaper manacles, Clyde took out one of the engraving tools, and began to make a pass. First was the outside. To start he drew a line, a simple thing to draw which bisected the middle of the outer side of the object.

However the curve of the manacle made it trickier. He started with a shallow cut, just enough to get some purchase on the surface. He then made a second path, using the slight indention of the first cut as a guide. The third cut was even deeper, and moved much quicker as the prior cuts served as a guiding route for it to go along.

After a few more careful passes, the initial line was cut in well. Next was a series of dashes next to it. While these were smaller lines than the first one, and so quicker, there were many more of them. Each of them was in a fresh spot, which meant in the end they took longer than the first.

The dashes radiated outward from the central line diagonally, like fins radiating off of a fish, or heat off of a flame. They all moved in the same direction, arching outward along the path. This was to be a pathway of sorts, carrying along djed in a current around and around, pulling more along with it. Clyde double checked his work, making sure each was deep enough as needed, that none were too shallow or too deep.

Once that was done Clyde began to inscribe the same glyphs onto the other hand of the manacle, using the same patterns in the engraving. Now that he'd done it once, it was much simpler the second time.

As he made his work slowly, sweat beaded on his forehead, the concentration and the strain of his focused action taking its toll. By the time he'd matched the engravings on the second hand he was quite tired, and needed to take a break for a few chimes. He stopped, closed his eyes and let them rest, and took a sip of water before he began on the inner glyphs to be engraved.

[Clyde Sullins]

The outer Glyphs done, Clyde carried on to the inner engraving. Using the key he popped open the manacles, and checked the inner sides. It was still uniform iron, a bit rougher perhaps than the other set of manacles. But still smooth and clean enough. The work was not done poorly.

Since curves and sweeps were out of the question with his skill, he'd need to use more lines. However he'd need to be creative, doing it in a different fashion so as to mix things up. Choosing the two spots equally space away from the opening and the inner hinge, Clyde drew out a small series of dashes, connecting them into a diamond. As with the prior engraving he started with a shallow series of cuts, opening a path, which he then deepened and expanded upon.

As he worked bits of metallic dust and scrapings began to cover the floor beneath his object of attention. It made sense, after all the material he engraved away didn't just vanish, it had to go somewhere. In this case it flaked, fell, or broke away, usually as tiny motes of metal, like sand or some other grit. He'd need to be careful later in cleaning it up, lest he should get any in his eyes.

Once the diamond cutting was done, he proceeded onward, Making a series of dashes radiating outward from each of the corners of the diamond, like the faces of a compass. From each of these he made a cross bar, turning the offshoot into a T. Then cutting diagonally off of each of the end of the T, he made two antenna, sweeping off in a cut diagonally. with this repeated on each of the four points of the diamond, the inner syphon or focus spanned most of the way to the sides of the face, almost touching the edges.

Perhaps when he was more skilled he could do this more cleanly, more compact, but for now this was his limit. Hopefully the simple design would work as he needed it to.

Done with the pair of focus mechanism, Clyde continued onward, making the same engraving onto the other hand of the manacle.

Looking at it objectively, and with his skilled Glypher's eye, he could see the difference between the two. Even between his first set of engravings on the one hand, and the same ones on the second, there was a clear difference in legibility and purpose.

Clearly there was a learning curve in engraving metal for such a purpose. By comparison to his second attempt on the second hand, his first set was quite poor.

Clyde could only hope that this would mean he'd be even better and more practiced when doing the same sigils again on the second pair of manacles, the ones he planned to gift.

Of course not only was it his first attempt at engraving this particular material and subject, it was also his first time using this particular pattern of glyphs. If he took his time though with the second pair, they'd hopefully be even better than this second attempt on the second hand of the first manacle.

[Clyde Sullins]

Done with both the outer layer of glyphs and the inner, all that was left was to connect the two layers.

This was usually the trickiest part, as corners were notoriously hard to engrave around. However Clyde had a theory. If he engraved toward the edge with a line one way, and then toward the edge coming from the opposite way, he could perhaps not have to engrave over the edge but instead up to it in both directions.

Of course this was but a theory, and Clyde had no hard knowledge of whether it would work. But logically speaking it made sense, using his understanding of such matters and the process of engraving.

Starting at the point where the inner focus came closest to the edge, Clyde drew a small X mark. Connecting but not touching the focus. Out of this he drew a single line, out of the fork in between the X, or more to the point the point in between the diagonal cuts of the V, heading outward toward the edge.

He drew this several times, cutting ever deeper, till he had gotten to the edge of the piece. He then repeated this method in reverse, with the X and the line just off the edge of the glyphs on the outer face. Once the second face was done, he met in the middle, and drew outward toward each edge on the third face, that of the side. He carefully matched up the lines to intersect and overlap. Now he had the sweeping line curving about the outside with diagonal offshoots, the diamond cored focus with offshoots and branches, and a pathway connecting with a line and a X at each end which met with the sides respective faces.

Once this was done Clyde copied this series of motions onto the second focus on the same hand, careful and slow and precise.

Clyde looked over his work, checked the glyphs, and then nodded as he pressed on to copy these same glyphs onto the second hand of the manacle. He found as before that having practiced the motions things went much smoother and quicker, and looked much neater.

After what seemed like days, but much more likely was bells of work, Clyde was done. Now all that was left was to test it.

After making sure that he still had the key, Clyde clamped the second hand of the manacles onto his wrist, and then closed and locked it.

Then he tried to use magic. The simplest for him was of course Reimancy. He willed res to rise, to emit from his arm like beads of sweat... And... Nothing.

He couldn't use his magic.

Using the key he unlocked the manacle, and then repeated the process with the first hand he'd done. He closed it, locked it, and willed res to rise.

However this time a series of beads of silvery res formed, growing to life on his arm. Cursing a "petch" under his breath, Clyde took off the manacle, and reabsorbed the res.

Clearly he'd done something wrong with his first attempt, which had made it not work.

He'd need to review his engravings to figure it out.

[Clyde Sullins]

Checking over his work, Clyde checked the different bits, the engravings, the glyphs, the sigils, his work. He compared the two hands, checked to see what was the same, what was different, trying to find the source of the problem.

He knew he hadn't done as well on his first attempt, that he'd learned quickly and done much better with the second, and so the second set were finer and better made, but that alone should have been the issue... Unless he messed something up on the first set, something he'd overlooked.

Letting out a sigh he checked over his work again, part by part. The branching of the diagonals were finer on the second, but similar in intent. On the inner side the breaks of the forking were the same...

Except for the gap. He'd left a gap in the engraving in the start of the first arch, which acted as a disconnect. A discontinuity of meaning and purpose. Glyphing was all about giving the wards meaning, meaning and purpose, and breaking his own would only mean failure. Taking out the engraving tool once more, he overwrote the small error, connecting the two bits of warding once separated by a gap. As always each cut was somewhat deeper, till he had the appropriate depth.

If he was more skilled he imagined he could do it all in one pass, but he wasn't there yet. He knew if he tried to do it quickly like that, he'd end up with non-uniform depth, and possibly with engravings that were deeper than he wanted. It was easier to make something a bit deeper, than to repair something he'd made too deep.

So caution was the wise choice.

Next was the connectors on the sides. This also seemed to have a break or two. But if only one of the connectors was in error, it should still work, which meant both was messed up.

It took Clyde another two chimes of review to find it, a small sweeping and dotage of the line. A clear gap, once on the outset and another on the corner.

Sweeping over them again with the engraving tool, he corrected the mistakes, and made the anew. Fresh and correct, with the intended purpose.

Now that he knew what was wrong, and what made it not work, he'd have a better idea of what would make it actually work for the second pair.

With his newly repaired work, Clyde slapped the first hand onto his wrist, locked it, and tried to exude res. After a full two chimes unable to exude any, he knew he'd fixed it.

Now he had a fully functioning pair of djed shackles for himself.

Now he was on to the second pair, to gift.

[Clyde Sullins]

After taking another few chimes to rest, Clyde began on the second pair.This time he knew what he was doing, and so the glyphs and engraving came much easier. Having practiced on the first pair, he knew were the issues where likely to occur, where he was likely to make mistakes, and what needed to be done.

It seemed his decision to buy two pairs, and to practice on a cheaper one, was a wise decision.

While it took just as long as the second hand had taken, Clyde felt that this new pair on both hands looked just as good if not better than the second hand had. He did not doubt that with more repetition he'd get increasingly good at the process. At least too a point. Eventually he'd hit a threshold, where the only way to improve was to deviate, to improve and push forward with.

For now he was not to that point, but his work would serve him for now.

As with the first one, he made a single solid line to bisect the outer side. Then he drew a series of off-shooting diagonal lines radiating outward. On the inner side he cut a diamond shape, made a line off each of the four points, and turned the line into a T. Then he cut diagonal lines off each end of the T, like tiny antenna on a insect. Next where the pair of connectors. An X next to each faces sigils, then a line towards the edge. Repeat in reverse. Then outward lines on the third face, the side, going out to meet the lines on the edges.

With all of that done he repeated onto the second hand of the finer manacles, exactly copying the process with the engraving.

Once done with both hands, Clyde spent several chimes checking over the glyphs for any issues. Then he spent another few chimes checking over the problem areas from the former mess up. He let out a sigh as he failed to find any, practice bringing precision.

One day when he was more skilled he be able to be precise on the first time. Some day, but not today.

With that he made sure he had the key, and then test each hand of the djed shackles on himself. First one, then the other, trying it on and locking it and then attempting to exude res.

Clyde let out an even bigger sigh of relief when he failed to exude so much as a bead of res when either hand alone was slapped onto him. Which meant when working together they'd be even more perfect. Technically only one hand was needed, but a proper set had redundancy.

So while only one hand was needed to cut off magic, mistakes or accidents could happen, so one used both.

His work done, Clyde stowed away both sets of djed shackles, and then proceeded to carefully clean up the metal fragments and dust.

By the time Clyde was finished cleaning, he was exhausted, and ready to turn in. It was already late in the day, if not night, Clyde having spent bells upon bells at work. He took one last sip of water, and collapsed onto his bed to rest.

[Pulren Marsh]

A Grade is Coming
Your Wave

Djed Shackles sound terrible. Excellent for gifts or sale, however. Good show!

 

Clyde

XP

• Planning 2
• Organization 2
• Drawing 2
• Engraving 5

Lores

• Reimancy: Reabsorbing Res
• Organization: Cleaning Up After a Project
• Engraving: Metal Versus Wood
• Planning: Making a Practice Item before the Real Craft

Miscellaneous

• Simple Shackles + key -15 GM
• Complex Shackles + key -50 GM

Your Grader,


Pulren Marsh