[The Sanctuary] Paying Her Way

Ialari, newly employed at The Sanctuary's forge, works to construct quality items for the facility.

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Built into the cliffs overlooking the Suvan Sea, Riverfall resides on the edge of grasslands of Cyphrus where the Bluevein River plunges off the plain and cascades down to the inland sea below. Home of the Akalak, Riverfall is a self-supporting city populated by devoted warriors. [Riverfall Codex]

[The Sanctuary] Paying Her Way

Postby Ialari Pythone on February 26th, 2016, 6:10 am

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20th Day of Winter in the Year 515 AV


Ialari's relatively short time spent at The Sanctuary had been quite eventful. Although a great many important things had happened, the one that she still felt the most excited about was the discovery of the strange ability to transform certain inanimate objects to into living, breathing snakes. Like many people throughout Riverfall, Ialari spontaneously developed this strange power with no obvious reason for its happening. She hoped to explore the gift further but for the time being, she had other duties to attend to. In exchange for being a guest at The Sanctuary, Ialari agreed to work in the facility's forge. While there were always things needed such as nails, horseshoes, buckles, tools, etc., most of those were pretty easy for Ialari thanks to the added benefits of her metallic arm.

This particular day, Ialari arrived at the forge early. She began the day with the crafting of nails. It was a mundane task that was easy enough that it took little thought which allowed her the opportunity to occupy her mind with other things. For the nails, Ialari used a couple small iron bars. Using her metallic hand, she pinched off small pieces of metal and with the support of her off-hand, rolled the iron between her metallic fingers until it was very thin and elongated. She then pinched the metal off at regular intervals. She did this over and over again, continuously adding to a growing pile of the rough, nail-shaped pieces. Later she would grind, sharpen and clean up the pieces until they were in their final form.

While she worked, Ialari thought of the power that she was now blessed with. She didn't know whether or not it would last or how long. Where did it come from? How did she acquire it? What outside force was responsible? She figured it had to have come from some outside source since the occurrence of all manner of strange abilities among others were being reported throughout Riverfall. The fact that her gift played upon her affinity and interest in snakes told her that not all of the powers being discovered in Riverfall were necessarily random.

Having filled a small metal can with the rough nails, Ialari moved over to a small grinding stone tasked for small projects like this one. She used the stone to sharpen the nails one by one until they all had a decent point. After sharpening each one, Ialari used her thumb to slightly flatten the dull end. Her technique was somewhat rough thanks in part to her lack of an appropriate forge for so long. While living on her own in the wilds and in her Dominion, Ialari had to make due with little more than a campfire, scrap metal scavenged from shipwrecks and her own arm. She didn't have much in the way of tools aside that which she could throw together from scrap. While this left many of her projects rather primitive in style, she made up for it in the speed and efficiency of their production and allowed Ialari to eliminate many of the more time consuming steps. By streamlining the production of simple items over the years, Ialari was able to use those techniques to benefit her work in The Sanctuary's forge.

When she'd finished with the nails, she looked around for something else to start on.
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Remade In My Dominion!

Character Sheet

Granted Flashback Threads between 510 and 512 by Tarot.
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Ialari Pythone
I'm Poison.
 
Posts: 619
Words: 923994
Joined roleplay: August 13th, 2009, 3:26 am
Race: Isur
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Medals: 7
Mizahar Grader (1) Trailblazer (2)
Overlored (1) Riverfall Seasonal Challenge (1)
2013 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1) 2012 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1)

[The Sanctuary] Paying Her Way

Postby Ialari Pythone on February 27th, 2016, 4:17 am

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There seemed to be a constant need for upgrading and/or replacing storage around The Sanctuary. With as busy as the facility seemed to be at times, the need came as no surprise to Ialari. Most of the routine smithing of simple metal tools and implements were handled by The Sanctuary’s resident smith yet Ialari enjoyed the exercise of crafting such small things like the nails. As she considered the next project, she thought about what would be useful around the facility yet wasn’t something that was commonly crafted on-site. The Within, the underground of The Sanctuary, employed a number of torches and candles for lighting. While much of the interior architecture was skillful and magnificent to be sure, the lighting looked as though it could use an additional touch. This is where Ialari got the idea for some candle holders and torch sconces. Both would be easy enough to craft multiples of and would provide Ialari with much needed practice but also would bring more of a personal touch to The Sanctuary.

Taking some time to gather materials from around the forge, Ialari collected a variety of different sized metal rods. Starting with a smaller candleholder, Ialari picked out three round rods that were a half-an-inch in diameter and about ten inches long. Making sure the forge fires were burning solidly, Ialari placed the rods into the flames to heat. She waited until they were just a bit shy of their melting point before removing them from the fire. While she waited for the rods to heat, she proceeded to use a couple of clamps, fixing them into points on each side of the anvil. When the rods were ready to remove from the fire, Ialari took them out one at a time as needed and set one into the clamps. With another held by a pair of tongs, she laid it on top of the clamped rod and used a basic forge hammer to lightly pound the two heated pieces together. Forge welding as it was called, was a very basic welding technique that required little skill though did rely on attention to detail. Hitting the iron too hard would damage the shape Ialari desired yet not hitting it in the right place would create a weak weld.

When the two bars were hammered and welded together, Ialari repeated the process with the third bar until all three were welded together with two of them side by side and the third set in the center creating something of a triangle shape if looked at from one end. She then released the bars from the clamp and with her hammer, drew out the iron until the three pieces came to a short squire point. The other end she left unwelded with the three bars each separated, tapering out slightly about three inches from the closest weld.

For the next part, Ialari returned the three welded rods to the fire and worked them to an even heat throughout. While she could have accomplished this next step simply by using her hand without heating the metal, it was actually easier to heat it and use the anvil and vise for added support. With the iron bars heated, Ialari placed them in a vice. Gripping the welded iron bars in her hand, she twisted the metal a full turn. As she twisted them, the bars became wrapped and rope-like which added not only strength but also a bit of style to the main body of the candleholder.
Image
Remade In My Dominion!

Character Sheet

Granted Flashback Threads between 510 and 512 by Tarot.
User avatar
Ialari Pythone
I'm Poison.
 
Posts: 619
Words: 923994
Joined roleplay: August 13th, 2009, 3:26 am
Race: Isur
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Medals: 7
Mizahar Grader (1) Trailblazer (2)
Overlored (1) Riverfall Seasonal Challenge (1)
2013 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1) 2012 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1)

[The Sanctuary] Paying Her Way

Postby Ialari Pythone on February 27th, 2016, 4:20 am

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Removing the now rough form of the candleholder from the vise, Ialari used her hammer to draw out each of the three bars where they split apart from each other at one end. The effect of drawing each one out was that it formed three legs which she proceeded to draw out into a nice, even taper. When all three were the same length, around four inches with the right taper, Ialari used her hand, thumb and forefinger to curl the tips of the legs inward into even looking arcs.

Retrieving a bit of copper wire from a nearby cabinet, Ialari proceeded to wrap the wire around the base of the legs to help hide the weld she had created. With the copper wire wrapped tightly around the weld, Ialari set the piece on the face of the anvil and examined it for balance. After adjusting the legs a bit with a little light bending, she was satisfied with the results. All that was left was to create the next piece that would hold a candle in place. A small, flat, square piece of iron was the next thing Ialari chose. Drawing out the metal with her hammer, Ialari made the iron even flatter while using her hand to help modify the shape into more of a disk. When she drew the iron out to a thickness she thought would work, she finished it off by further rounding it and used her thumb to press a hole in the center. With a combination of her fingers and a file, she cleaned up the center hole. With a disc now around four inches in diameter, Ialari set it down over the blunt-spiked end of the holder. She then placed the candleholder into the fire so that the disk and pointed end would heat evenly together. When she pulled the holder out of the fire, she used her little finger on the underside of the disk to form a delicate yet stable weld. On the top of the disk, she did a similar thing but also manipulated the pointed end until it was much narrower and more pointed as to pierce a candle without breaking it.

Throughout the creation process, Ialari maintained a steady degree of heat on the iron which, when combined with her hand manipulations and hammering, gave the entire piece a slight organic flow that made it almost looked like a single piece of iron had somehow been twisted and shaped into a candleholder.
Image
Remade In My Dominion!

Character Sheet

Granted Flashback Threads between 510 and 512 by Tarot.
User avatar
Ialari Pythone
I'm Poison.
 
Posts: 619
Words: 923994
Joined roleplay: August 13th, 2009, 3:26 am
Race: Isur
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Medals: 7
Mizahar Grader (1) Trailblazer (2)
Overlored (1) Riverfall Seasonal Challenge (1)
2013 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1) 2012 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1)

[The Sanctuary] Paying Her Way

Postby Ialari Pythone on February 27th, 2016, 6:12 am

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There was still a lot of time left in the day for Ialari to attempt another small project. Having finished the first candleholder, she decided to go with a sconce next. The plan was, if both items turned out to be a success, Ialari would use them as models for several more of each. The candleholder wasn’t anything overly special but it could eventually lead to an even better, more elaborate design in the future. The sconce she had in mind was also not very elaborate but it didn’t need to be. She was never all that fond of torches so the design for the sconce was one that accommodated candles. Torches were dirty and the smoke and soot they produced required more cleaning that she cared for. Since the sconce would hold candles, it wouldn’t need to be as heavy and strong as once that would hold torches. From the supply of metal, Ialari retrieved a half inch square iron bar about a foot long. Scrounging about the forge Ialari also found a couple pieces of scrap brass.

After heating the iron bar, Ialari raised her hammer and began. She started by hammering the bar to flatten it a little one direction. She then rotated the bar ninety degrees and repeated the hammer in that direction. She continued to rotate the bar while hammering until she had drawn out the metal to create a two-inch-long taper. Placing the taper against the horn of the anvil and holding the bar with her off hand, she used her metallic one to bend the bar around the horn. She continued to bend the bar while also curling the tip the opposite direction with her fingers until it created a bit of a rat’s tail. The result of the bending also created a loop that would go over a nail to allow the sconce to hang from a wall.

Next Ialari used her hammer to flatten a three-inch taper on the other end of the bar. She hammered the iron until the tapered end was roughly one-sixteenth of an inch thick. Continuing to maintain the heat of the iron while switching between her hand, tongs and hammer, Ialari again bent the bar around the horn of the anvil to create a curve in the bar four inches from the end. The curve was just a little more than ninety degrees. She then bent the far end just past perpendicular to the vertical part of the bar. Returning the bar to the fire, Ialari heated the middle of the bar until was red hot. She then clamped the bar into a vise. With her hand, she twisted the bar just over one-hundred-eighty degrees so that the bottom arm was ninety-degrees to the rat-tail loop.

At the end of the bottom arm, Ialari used the tip of her little finger to poke a small hole through the iron. With the hole punched, she sat the main body of the sconce aside and moved on to the brass scraps.
Image
Remade In My Dominion!

Character Sheet

Granted Flashback Threads between 510 and 512 by Tarot.
User avatar
Ialari Pythone
I'm Poison.
 
Posts: 619
Words: 923994
Joined roleplay: August 13th, 2009, 3:26 am
Race: Isur
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Medals: 7
Mizahar Grader (1) Trailblazer (2)
Overlored (1) Riverfall Seasonal Challenge (1)
2013 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1) 2012 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1)

[The Sanctuary] Paying Her Way

Postby Ialari Pythone on February 27th, 2016, 6:28 am

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It was hard to tell what exactly the scraps came from but they were more than adequate for what Ialari needed them for. Using her metallic hand to manipulate the metal while using her off hand for support, she molded the brass as if it were little more than a piece of clay. She pinched and pushed, squeezed and pressed the brass until she was able to form a shallow cup that was big enough to hold a candle. Using a punch, Ialari poked a hole through the bottom of the cup. She then moved on to the other piece of scrap.

The second piece she worked with both her hand and hammer to flatten and shape it into a very thin plate. With a metallic fingernail, she cut groves into the plate in a circular shape; ensuring a uniform circle with the help of a collection of available measuring tools. When the circle was etched out, Ialari proceeded to pinch the excess metal away. She then used her hand to fold the circle ever so slightly to create a shallow basin. This would serve as a drip pan that would catch melted wax. The pan was about three inches in diameter and Ialari used a punch to put a hole through its center as well.

It was now time to assemble the pieces. Grabbing one of the nails she made earlier, Ialari pushed the nail up through the hole in the arm of the main sconce body. She then put the drain pan down over the nail followed by the candle cup. Using her thumb, she smeared the head of the nail so that it was flush with the bottom of the arm. She then used her fingers to make the end of the nail even thinner while sealing it to the bottom of the candle cup. The end result was a coiled candle sconce that, while nothing fancy, was perfectly functional.

Although night was still far from falling, Ialari decided that she’d accomplished enough in the forge at least for the day. With her initial models for future pieces complete, Ialari would present them to Kavala to see if they were up to her standards. Ialari hoped that Kavala would be satisfied enough to want more of the pieces. Although the sconce and candleholder that she crafted were designed for smaller, more intimate locations such as rooms, she could always make larger, more heavy duty fixtures for the hallways and larger, more open areas of the underground parts of The Sanctuary. With those, the design concepts could remain the same with only the proportions changing. More iron and thicker parts would perform the task well.

After a bit of clean up, Ialari took the two pieces and left the forge in search of Kavala.
Image
Remade In My Dominion!

Character Sheet

Granted Flashback Threads between 510 and 512 by Tarot.
User avatar
Ialari Pythone
I'm Poison.
 
Posts: 619
Words: 923994
Joined roleplay: August 13th, 2009, 3:26 am
Race: Isur
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Medals: 7
Mizahar Grader (1) Trailblazer (2)
Overlored (1) Riverfall Seasonal Challenge (1)
2013 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1) 2012 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1)

[The Sanctuary] Paying Her Way

Postby Ialari Pythone on January 21st, 2018, 3:25 am

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Thread Grade

Blacksmithing 5

Lore: Competent techniques of blacksmithing (welding)
Lore: Designing and crafting a candleholder
Lore: Designing and crafting a torch sconce
Image
Remade In My Dominion!

Character Sheet

Granted Flashback Threads between 510 and 512 by Tarot.
User avatar
Ialari Pythone
I'm Poison.
 
Posts: 619
Words: 923994
Joined roleplay: August 13th, 2009, 3:26 am
Race: Isur
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Medals: 7
Mizahar Grader (1) Trailblazer (2)
Overlored (1) Riverfall Seasonal Challenge (1)
2013 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1) 2012 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1)


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