Closed Blood and Steel (Cyrene)

[Yisanareysin]

The snake will
always bite
back

.



Rey breathed deeply, the flavours of her aura flickering over his palate even as the heat of the forge seared his lungs. A steady, deep flavour, rich but not bitter- something focused, he guessed. Or maybe it just was concentration? Something a little subtler, not quite sweet, but light and smooth - Happiness? No, not exactly. Satisfaction? Contentment? Comfort? Something like that. And then.. Hmm. A spike of... pepper? Irritation, annoyance, not quite anger, but lower down on that spectrum.

Interesting. Just what was causing irritation? He was about to focus deeper in on the smith when she stepped closer to loom over him. Startled, Rey's sense dissipated, and he stepped back instinctively, bumping up against the wall.

Oh. Personality definitely the same

Rey considered the woman before him, and her apparent annoyance. In the nest, a display like this, from an older craftswoman to a younger male from a family without any particular status, would have been his cue for wide-eyed, worried apologies. But this smith... Her reaction to his previous apology had been oddly muted. He hadn't sensed any particular satisfaction in it, nor much anger.

So he took a chance, and held his ground. "Hard not to sstare when persson change in front of me, and ssay they change with ssetting of syna." He looked up at her, trying to project confidence without coming off as challenging or aggressive, not entirely successfully. Why did she have to shift into a form that was so tall, he grumbled to himself internally.

When she turned away from him, he very quietly exhaled in relief, and leaned back against the wall. Now that he didn't have to focus on her, Rey could feel the after effects of pushing his sense to its limits. His head was throbbing in time with his heartbeat, spiking on the ba and receding on the dum, and he could feel an soreness on the roof of his mouth, towards the back.

The drilling Quinlain was doing didn't help with his headache, but he forced himself to ignore it as she spoke again, having apparently figured out her mistake. "Doess not matter much, no? Hass happen before." He shrugged, then winced as the jolt caused a spike of pain in his skull. As to her other question...

"Sso I sstop assk questionss?" He suggested jokingly as he considered the smith. "City growss dangerouss. Ssomething iss coming. Do not know what, but the end of lasst sseason... Want to protect mysself, and.." Well, there wasn't really anyone else. Scratch that. "Bessidess, thiss-" What was the word she'd used earlier? "Cutlasss is for keeping, yes? Why not make as best as possible?"

Snake Toungue : Common : Arumenic

[Cyrene Everwind]

Description "Cyrene" Thoughts Isur Tukant Others

Cyrene stopped her workings of the wooden handle. A pause in her work as she looked over her shoulder at Rey. Propping her rear up onto the anvil she sat and watched him now as she worked. She didn’t need a secure surface to work the wood. Cyrene looked over the piece of wood in her hands listening to him. “What’s so strange about shifting? I’m fairly certain that it’s not that uncommon. After all Kelvics do so. So do Dhani.” A small flick of a smile on her features. She passed the edge of the blade against the wood wedging it lightly into the wooden grip, she carved out a small edge into it and began to spiral it around the edge. “Besides I think a Dhani would be a little more…Used to changing.” She now gave him a hard look, not harsh enough to illicit a response but enough to let him know she was onto his secret.

She carved the knife into the very bottom of the handle and began to shape the top edge slowly. Taking her time with it, if she messed it up she was going to have to make another. “As for making a mistake thinking you were a woman. True it doesn’t matter much but you could have said something and not let me feel like an idiot upon realizing." She Placed the knife down now picking up some fine grit sand paper and began to smooth over the handle. “So, I’ve noticed the city growing dangerous.” She swung her head over to the glaive propped up to her left. If she needed it, it was within arms-reach and she knew how to use it. “As for the cutlass, I can make it strong and the best possible but.” She paused looking at the mess of pieces that would soon form a strong blade of their own right. “My weapons are strong of their own accord. I don’t need to izentor it. I need a reason to impart a piece of who I am into it.”

She held up the handle now smooth and carved into the air. She began to assemble the blade slipping the guard and the handle on together. She picked up the stopper she’d made and screwed the cap onto the end. Giving the cutlass a few quick tests of swings she turned back to the edge of the anvil stepping around it from behind using the forge to light the blade the picked up the engraving tools. She began to carve into the steel her sigil and then a pattern flowing down the blade like water. The design would take time and would be different on each side as she was not only free handing it but putting it straight into the steel. “What I want is not why you want it, but why I should do it. I’d settle with the thirteen mizas for just the blade but I want to know why you deserve this charged. What makes you so special as to need it?” She narrowed her eyes working on the steel, flowing the lines so carefully and so delicately.

“So Reysin. All I want is a reason and I might be able to do this for you.” As she spoke the put the tools down pulling her right arm out of the shirt and letting it hang beneath her arm. She needed as little marring her view as possible. A small smirk on her face. She’d outlasted many of her creations but still it made her happy to make what things, it was the only time she felt truly at peace.

creditSerious thanks to Fire and credit to Firenze for this freakin sweet template

[Kaleidoscope]

 

Reysin

Skills

• Running: +1
• Medicine: +1
• Weapon: Dagger: +1
• Auristics: +3
• Socialisation: +2
• Acting: +1

Lores

• Medicine: Simple Wound Cleansing
• Alvadas Location: Kitrean Krafts
• Kitrean Krafts: A Forge
• Cutlass: A Curved Blade, Associated With Pirates
• Race: Isur Have Coloured Arms From Their God
• Blacksmithing: Hammering Into Shape
• Isur-Ethaefal Smith: Quinlain
• Ethaefal: Children of Syna & Leth
• God of the Isur: God of Craftmanship
• Marks: Generally Effect the Marked
• Blacksmithing: Oil For Tempering

Effects and Consequences:
- Small scratches that will heal in a handful of days.
- A rip in your shirt.

- As the thread was not completed, unfortunately Rey cannot gain the cutlass.

 

Cyrene

Skills

• Blacksmithing: +3
• Leadership: +1
• Endurance: +2
• Weaponsmithing: +3
• Teaching: +1
• Carving: +2
• Engraving: +1
• Observation: +4

Lores

• Blacksmithing: The Importance of Keeping a Steady Rhythm
• Reysin: Girl or Boy? It's Difficult To Tell
• Weaponsmithing: Judging the Straightness of a Blade
• Reysin: Dhani From Ahnatep, Has Travelled Far
• Nights Are Hard in Eyktol
• Reysin: 'Not Of The Human Persuasion'
• Weaponsmithing: Getting a Handle on Handles
• Alvadas: Something Dangerous Coming
• Weaponsmithing: A Basic Cutlass
• Engraving: Personal Sigil

Comments
Overall, I enjoyed this thread. Please make sure to deduct 1sm 2cm for the Cotton Shirt from your ledger if you haven't already. I liked the detail which wasn't too overpowering that you put in. Apologies for the delay in grading.

Comments: Hi both. I enjoyed reading this thread, it's a shame it had to be cut short. Cyrene sure is snarky. Reysin was very much the embodiment of a curious snek here too. Overall, a nice read.

Enjoy your grade, and please don't forget to delete/edit out your grade request. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to send me a PM.