Fire in the Heart (Terag)

by **Poppy Blackburn** on April 8th, 2016, 9:40 am

15th Spring 516 AV

These were one of the few days that saw Poppy having some free time to herself. The spunky lass was given a break from training, and her usual squire duties to either rest up in the dormitories or free to pursue whatever hobbies she saw fit, so long as it was within the law. She had a particular interest she wished to pursue, and now that she was roughly more familiar with the city, she was willing to give it a try. Blacksmithing. An unusual interest for a girl, but that craft had always interested her since she first come across that profession in detail when her family had moved over from Sunberth, to the Mithryn Outpost in the Syliras region.

As a young girl, she had always been drawn to the sound of the local blacksmith hammering away at the anvil, then with the creaking and blowing of the billows accompanied by the roaring of the furnace. She had always found herself entranced, stopping in her tracks, her errands temporarily forgotten as she watched the craftsman at work.

Poppy could still remember the surprise the owner of the the local and only blacksmith shop in town when she had introduced herself as the newcomer, Poppy Blackburn. She doubt she would ever forget the big hearty bellow of laughter, as he introduced himself as Richard Blackburn. She’d been shocked that she’d shared the same name as him.

Richard had then told her about her destiny lay with weapons and metal, be they working with them or using them. Being too young to work with the forge, she had simply contented herself with watching Richard work as he churned out a variety of products, ranging from simple farm equipment to weapons and armour for the knights stationed at the outpost. The girl had always thought that if she didn’t became a knight, maybe she would have taken up a job in blacksmithing.

Back to the present, Poppy had decided to come to the Iron Works to see if there would be anyone willing to help her further her passion by teaching and imparting some skills to help so that she’ll be able get started. The Iron Works was one of the biggest forges in the whole of Mizahar, and the lass was hopeful that she’ll be able to persuade one of the craftsman there to teach her although that would might be difficult as she didn’t possess any tools or the necessary equipment for the craft.

The girl wasn’t exactly thinking so far ahead, and today she just wanted to learn. She could hear the sound of a hammer striking the anvil in the distance ahead and began walking towards the sound excitedly, speaking loudly but clearly. “Hello, is anyone there? I’m here to learn more about blacksmithing!” Poppy would then hope that whoever was at work, would be kind enough to spend some time to impart some of his skills and knowledge to an earn learner.

by **Terag** on April 9th, 2016, 7:13 am

Terag frowned as he looked at his work that lay in the fire of the forge. A silver dagger? The metal was not good for fighting, it was too soft to hold up to a real blow. He had even asked Ros if he was supposed to make it with his gnosis, but the other Isur only shook his head. Perhaps it was for something ceremonial, or some rich human thought it would look good on his hip. Strange regardless, but at least he could work the metal - slowly at any rate. He had just recently started working with it and was finding the soft metal to be much more giving than he had originally thought.

He reached his left hand into the flames of the forge and retrieved his nearly-finished work, the silver blade of a dagger. The flames felt almost non-existent against his skin since he had to cool the forge greatly as to not overheat the silver. He set it on top of his anvil and picked up a smaller hammer than he usually worked with. The hammer was brought up only to fall back down onto the metal in front of him, which was then shortly followed by a few colorful swears in Isurian. His hammer blow had been too hard again and had spread out the tang a bit too far. With a sigh he flipped his work over and worked the tang back to a rectangular shape with soft taps.

Tingtingting. Tingtingting. Tingtingting.

This sound went on for a long while as Terag worked at the tang of the weapon, trying to make it the perfect size. The blade was already finished, but he continued to hold it with great care. With his left arm he might be able to bend the metal with gripping it just a little too hard. After several long chimes he sighed and set metal into the water to cool. The water sizzled and steam rose up around his black arm as he waited for the metal to cool. Once done he set the dagger blade under the counter at the front of The Ironworks to be worked on later.

After he had set the forge to begin to heat up again to its normal temperature, and he had spent a few moments to wipe his hands on his apron, he heard a female voice calling out from the front entrance of the building. She was here to learn about blacksmithing? Strange, he wasn't aware that The Ironworks offered lessons. Perhaps she was new and was receiving training. Either way Terag made his way forward, if he could help someone out like he had been helped when he was young then he would definitely do so. Those smiths had changed his life, maybe he could do the same for another. He made his way to the front of The Building, wiping his hands off once more and then running his thumb and pointer down his goatee as if to flatten it out and make it more presentable, though it did nothing of the sort.

However, who he met was vastly different than a young Isurian male. It was an older female, she looked perhaps a few years younger than himself. Late thirties by Isurian standards at any rate, maybe early forties. He took a breath before speaking, usually he would still be somewhat nervous talking to her, but at work it was different. It was time for business. "Hello miss, you are here to learn about blacksmithing? I must be honest, I did not think we offered classes here but if you are to learn it than The Ironworks is as good a place as any. Are you going to be working here or are you learning for personal use?" Terag did his best to smile and be friendly. It was still a bit strange how the humans interacted with each other, and he had to constantly remind himself that he had to treat them as if he was talking to an Isur, or at least he had to do that if he wanted to keep his job here.

by **Poppy Blackburn** on April 11th, 2016, 3:39 am

After her question was asked, the clinking and clanking of the hammer striking an anvil halted as the sounds of a lone figure walked towards the front of the building. As the figure came within sight, Poppy noticed that the man was no mere human. The male did look like one but had several distinct features that marked him as one of the Isurian race. His dark blackened hair was almost black and it was short and messy, and he wore a ragged goatee on his face. He was shorter than her by several inches as most Isurians were, and like most of his race, he possessed a bony ridge above his eyes and his entire skin was tined with a blue hue. However, the most signature feature of the Isur were their coloured arms and this smith here had his left arm a dark shade of onyx with silver veins running up its entirety.

She could help but stare even though she knew it was rude for she had heard plenty about it but this was the first time she had seen it in the flesh, this being the first time she had laid eyes upon an Isur. This made sense, the lass thought to herself. The Isurs were renowned to be exceptional blacksmiths and it should have come to no surprise to her that there were Isurs working in the Iron Works, one of the biggest forges in all of Mizahar. This was going to be incredibly exciting. She had thought that she’ll be able to scrounge out a lesson or two of blacksmithing from a human, but from an Isur? That was even better. That was gold. The Isur asked if she was here to learn blacksmithing, but also indicated that he did not know that the establishment provided lessons. He also wanted to clarify if she was going to be working here or simply learning it for her personal use. Poppy quickly responded and with much gusto. “Yes, I’m here to learn blacksmithing. I know that this may seem odd and out of the ordinary, but I was going by the hunch that I could somehow persuade someone to teach me a little about the craft? I wasn’t expecting to learn from someone as great as the Isurs though! Oh, and I’m simply going to learn it for my personal use. I’m a squire in the Syliran Order, and that is my full time job. It’s already practically taking up most of my time, and be reassured that I’m only learning this on the side, as a personal interest. So no worries, I’m not here with the intentions to steal or rob anyone’s job or anything! Just an interest, nothing more.”

And that was the truth. The lass had no idea of stealing or robbing anyone of their profession, she was simply doing something to further her interest of blacksmithing, a craft that had entranced her since childhood, which was especially intriguing since none of her parents knew anything about the craft or even when near a forge.

by **Konrad Venger** on September 18th, 2016, 3:23 am

Poppy

Grade Withheld due to four months Inactivity

Terag

XP:
Observation - 1
Weaponsmithing - 1
Socialization - 1

Lore:
Silver: Too Soft for Decent Weapons
Using a Hammer for Fine work, Not just Smashing

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