Trip around Iceglaze

[Darren]

Darren took a look at the blades as she was speaking.

The only differences here was the size and style for the most part to him. He really couldn't tell what were the subtle differences either way. He tossed them towards the dummies a few times before he started to get the differences between the three.

The first one seemed to be the easiest to throw and move quick and concise with, every time he threw it he had the urge to follow up with it. It seemed easy enough to throw two in quick succession and follow up almost instantaneous. This one would makes me feel rather agile and skilled already, and they seem light enough to carry a whole bunch with he thought aloud as he looked at the other two.

The second one he had trouble aiming perfectly. Not that it mattered he thought as he looked to see the huge dents starting to pile on the dummy. This one seems to be rather effective though. It's a heavy weight and all but it just seems like something was in the way of his throws he thought as he sent another knife flying. He watched and compared it to the first dagger. This one seems to have an alot more airtime then the first he thought as watched it go. More so he seemed to be off balanced after it was thrown. Hmph decent enough weight but not seeming reliable to be used with both handshe noted finally as he watched it hit much lower then he had intended, the air resistance of it isn't as good as the first one but you can't deny it's efficiency noting how the target crumbles against it's power.

He looked at the final throwing armament, it seemed to be very even throughout it's structure. Hmm... he took a chance and flipped the knife in the air in the air a few times. A few close calls but the results were worth it. That proves it he said throwing the blade in a horizontal fashion he watched it glide through the air and hit almost at his mark. This one seems to be the most reliable of the three he ended.

He finally had one last test for the three. He picked them all and put them into some makeshift holsters he found during the session. Alright he said as he held the third first. Then quick as a flash he threw one aimed at the targets center, he instantaneously followed up with the first before ending the motion with a huge swing releasing the 2nd and final knife at the target. After the shot of adrenaline finally ended he looked at his handy work and smiled. The first one he threw was 5cm from the center of the dummy, the second one was off center but still stuck to the top-left side of the target and the final knife hit the lower part of the target. Since he threw it with much gusto the affected area was splinted and nearly broken.

He turned to Danyella for approval. He smiled, even though I am only 5 feet from these targets it feels rather awesome doing all of that. He then turned to the daggers, remembering each of their properties. Say...think you can build me a custom type that would at the least try to encompass all the good things I've noted about them? He was beyond excited from this but he kept himself from jumping around from joy waiting for her answer to his request.

[Danyella]

After studying the man's form, Danyello motioned for him to follow her into the shop. "One more test if you don't mind," she reached under the counter and pulled out a cylinder. It was a wooden cylinder with a layer of greyish clay around it. She put it back and grabbed a thinner one, and held it up. She smiled and grabbed an identical one. "I want you to grip these, one with each hand, as you would with a throwing knife, firm but a bit loose, understand?"

She went into the back and a loud amount of clanging filled the air while her father walked out to the counter. He looked at Darren and smiled, "Ah I see you are unscathed. Good good, not everyone gets on her bad side but gets her to do work and doesn't get hurt."

Danyella walked back out. "Can you come back in the morning? I'll be done with the prototypes by then." Without waiting for an answer as she began running the bellows, and her father walked back. 

"You sure you want to make these? Your prototypes are more than vicious."

"Dah, weapons don't kill, but if they will be used to kill, they better do it right?"

[Darren]

Darren was getting a bit more confidence after seeing Danyella smile for the first time he has met her. Um, sure of course he said with a smile as he took the wooden cylinder.

He then saw Danyella's dad and waved back at him before facing Danyella again. Yea that's fine, I'll come back tommorow at noon if you need time he said as he picked up his bag and moved outside the store. He looked around, it was stark dark outside but he was still hyper from all the adrenaline. Sigh let's see if there if I can burn off all this energy he thought as he looked for a nearby tavern he could stay the night in. He later found a cheap inn nearby that was near the mines. Hmm this place is perfect he thought as he went dropped off his bag outside before he headed outside. It was a short jog to the nearby mines, he looked around looking for a large enough size rock he could probably train with before he headed back to sleep.

[Danyella]

"Dah, do we have any size three iron bars left?"
"No love, your darling Gensen stopped by to ask for some iron posts and I needed them for the joints. You want some help with these?"
"Thanks Dah, but I need the practice."
"I'll grab a sketch sheet so you can draw out your thoughts."
"No need Dah, i've got them visualized already. Thanks though. Why don't you go to the tavern? I'm sure your friends would be there. Maybe a lady..."

He just grunted and walked out. It saddened Danyella to see that ever since she was born, and her mother died in her birth, that her father distanced himself from his friends, and never noticed women any more. His life revolved around his work, and herself of course. She knew she needed to master her craft to let her father relax and enjoy life.

She began the arduous smithing from scratch process. She first called out, "Hey Dah!" he walked in, "Yes?" 
"I'm going to try my first attempt at smelting solo first, would you mind watching?"

Her father broke into a big grin, grabbed a stool, and prepared to watch his daughter-apprentice do her first scratch solo project.  She checked the heat of the furnace she had started nearly an hour ago. Satisfied, she grabbed many chunks of iron ore. She sighed at the fact that rocks hadn't been cleaned by whoever mined it. She put the first chunk into a vice, and she grabbed a chisel and the heavy hammer. Her eyes turned a deep emerald, as she began to concentrate. She positioned the chisel in the middle of the rock. She gripped the chisel, raised the hammer, and with a dull klang she struck the chisel driving it about halfway. She struck it once more, and the rock split down the middle. She continued to break down the rock into pea sized chunks. An hour later she had broken down enough rocks for the metal she needed.

She took the smaller chunks and put them into a thick cast iron pot and placed it into the roaring furnace. She had to be very careful now with the heat. Too hot and the cast iron pot would weld with the impure iron, not hot enough and she wouldn't be able to get water and other impurities out of the metal. She watched carefully in the dull glow of the furnace, as the iron chunks slowly glowed red, then orange. She quickly stepped on the foot bellows and increased the tempurature forcing the iron into a yellow state. Not yet competant enough to make steel yet, she continued the iron into it's liquid white state. She could see the impurities floating in the metal and some evaporating off. She grabbed her long handled sieve and began removing the impurities, while the pure iron dripped back into the pot. She did this quickly as this was a dangerous tempurature. When she felt it was pure enough, she placed a heavy cast iron lid on the pot to slow the bothersome process where air began to ruin the metal. She let the furnace air out some to lower the temperature. After letting the iron cool a bit she checked it and saw it had cooled more than she had wanted. It was a glowing orange and she placed it back in the fire. 
The iron finally heated to the workable yellow, and she pulled it from the furnace and poured the semi-solid onto the steel anvil. She let it cool a bit, the air forming blackened spots where unseen impurities were located. She quickly began pounding the metal with her hammer, the impurities flaking off. When the impurities were removed, or the ore cooled back to orange, she put would scrub it down with a steel wire brush, put it back in the pot, and bring it back to it's yellow state. She repeated this until she was satisfied that she had removed as many impurities as possible. She did one last scrub down and reheating then placed the yellow mass on the anvil.

 She split the clay like mass into four separate chunks. Two large chunks for the blade and hilt, and two small chunks for the hilt. She placed the excess iron into stone pot, and covered it to let it cool. She place the two smaller chunks and one of the larger ones into their own stone bowls and placed them inside the furnace. She grabbed her smaller hammer and tongs and began to work on the hilt. She hammered the mass into a rectangular bar, enjoying the clear rings that accompanied working with steel anvils. She then began drawing it out and thinning it at one end, forcing the other end to thicken. She then began pounding the thickened end so it spread just a bit out either side giving a uniform thickness. The hilt now looked like a capital T but was short in length and the branches were shortened as well. She then put the bottom of the hilt over the hardy hole and locked it into place with a vise. She grabbed a cylindrical chisel and position it near bottom, directly over the hole. In one sudden motion, she struck the chisel punching a near perfect hole in it. The metal circle that she punched out dropped into the scraps bucket below it.  She then took the chisel and sliced off some metal on both sides of the stretch between the hole and the cross section. She grabbed the clay cylinder that had Darren's grip imprinted into and began using the smallest chisel and hammer she owned, to form the base of the imprinted grip. She checked all sides of the hilt, satisfied, plunged it into a vat of water to cool it, then into a barrel of very finely ground sand to keep air from ruining it to a minimum. 

She checked the bowl with the large mass and was happy to see it glowing yellow. She placed it on the anvil and let it cool a bit. She began pounding it out, lengthening it to about five inches. She made sure she tapered it so one end was thicker and the opposite end was narrowing to a point. She was a bit worried about the thinness, so she pounded and shortened it a bit. It was now thick enough to punch through some plate mails, and pierce through chainmail. She flattened the faces of the blade giving it a diamond shape.
She checked all the faces and edges and was satisfied. She plunged it into water then into the sand. 

She now began work on the prongs, which she had put into the design to both increase the center weight of the blade to help it punch through armor and body parts, and also to help off balance the thick weighted hilt, to allow for a nearly perfectly balanced throw. The prongs were fairly simple, she first shaped the metal clumps into  thin rectangles. She then worked one end on each into a diamond point, then bent the prongs so when attached to the hilt they would curve out from the hilt, then back in again to the blade. She then worked the rectangle into a shape that would be easily welded to the hilt. 

She dunked them into the water and then dried them off with a rag. She grabbed a wire brush and began scouring the surfaces with it. When they shone she grabbed a small whet stone and began sharpening the points of the prongs as well the outside edges. She checked the edges then powdered the prongs in soda ash, to help harden and prevent rust. Setting them off to the side she pulled the blade out from the sand. She grabbed the wirebrush and removed the sand. She polished the blade and began sharpening the edges. She had to make sure the blade tip was sharp but not a perfect point, so to not  break when piercing armor. When the sharpening was finished, she repeated the process with the hilt, only without the sharpening. She made sure to polish the fingerhole extra smooth so to allow for quick spin and release. She pulled out the clay mold once more and began polishing and buffing the grip to suit Darren's hand and style. 

She checked over all of the pieces and was satisfied, so she took the hilt in a set of tongs and place the edge that would meet to blade in the furnace, and did the same with the blade. As they softened she took a chisel and made a groove into the hilt and inserted the blade into it. She then put the combined unison of metal onto the anvil, and with some light pounding she had fused the blade and hilt. She then place the hilt into the furnace, along with the prong tips. When yellow she fused them together, she plunged the whole blade into the water then the sand. She pulled it out after a while, then began polishing the blade as a whole, checking in great detail the edges and weld joints. Satisfied she carved a T and a K into opposite sides of the blade near the hilt.

She removed her gloves, and picked up the blade. She felt the smoothness of the faces, the sharpness of the edges. She tossed it back and forth between her hands appreciating it's weight, it would punch well through most things. She flipped it over in her hands and knew it was a finally balanced blade and would fly true.

She sighed and began making three more, one identical to this one, and two for his left hand. It was well into the morning when she finished.  She wrapped them in cloth and wearily awaited Darren, not caring that she was covered in sweat and soot, smelled like a bull muskox in heat, and couldn't even lift her arms anymore. Still, she waited, her father smiling as he readied his shop for another day of business.

[Darren]

Darren toured the mines for a bit until he found himself in a quarry. He spent a bit of time testing his strength moving whatever huge rocks he can find around the mostly just keeping his mind busy while the adrenaline was still pumping in his veins. After a bit he just started throwing rocks around the quarry, using gravity to break the rocks instead of using the pickaxes and tools he saw here and there. Somewhat exhausted he set himself down on a rock tossing it up and catching it a few times. After awhile he felt a huge burn in his abs, he took in the muscles he was working. It looks like my arms, lower core and shoulders are doing all the work here he thought as he then started throwing it with much gusto to increase it's efficiency.

The image of the woman at the store suddenly came into view. Hmph, she had a look of determination and conviction he said to the darkness. Nothing I have yet he thought, I may be older but that woman holds herself normally with more conviction then most people. He looked to the sky and grinned, Looks like I found someone interesting for once he thought as a very familiar looking rock was suddenly hurtling back into view. Oh shi-he said before he used his ability in flux just in time to catch the rock one handed, ugh that's my indicator I should stop he said to himself as he looked around the quarry. Umm...oops he thought as he looked at the rocks he came in contact with randomly moved around and some broken into many pieces, I would not wanna be the one on cleaning today today he thought as headed back to his inn room.

From there he assessed his muscles group by group and applied pressure to release some stress and increase blood flow around his body. Alrighty...with these massage techniques I shouldn't feel so bad in the morning he thought as he laid down, except of course the upper portion of my body where I used the flux magiche said to himself as he recalled the sudden burst of power he held in his hands. The power he said to himself wanting it so badly, soon it will be under my control he finished before he closed his eyes and went into a deep slumber...

He awoke a bit later then usual in the morning. Ugh, what a day he thought as he dragged himself out of bed. His body felt tired...but in a good way, he smiled, Alright! It was days that started like that, which usually put him in a good mood. He exited the inn and made his way to the store, the signs of the afternoon popping up as he walked along the shoveled path. He finally made his way into the store and opened the door. Ara? he exclaimed as he gave an awkward gaze at Danyella.

[Danyella]

Danyella looked up as Darren walked in.  She was barely able hold her head up, being so exhausted after working from yesterday afternoon, through the night, til morning. She reached underneath the counter and set the cloth bundle on the counter. She then rolled it open revealing the four shining blades. They were polished until light reflected brightly off of them. Her eyes a drained dull grey, she smiled, "I haven't fully named the design... But I was thinking maybe a Lunar Stilleto. Would you like to test them outback?"

She stood up, wobbled a bit and fell over. Right into the arms of her massive father. He picked her up in a cradling carry and stepped out the door, "Well son, you coming? She's waiting for you to test her work."

He walked outback and propped Danyella on a stomp against their fence. He then grabbed some snow and touched her face lightly with it and she bolted awake. "What did I miss?"

 

[Darren]

Darren took a gander at the knifes and grinned at her, before she nearly collapsed. He was a bit worried as her father carried her outside but nodded when he heard his request. Outside he watched as her father woke her with the snow and she bolted awake.

Hehe, oh nothing he said as he sheathed the knifes in the makeshift holder and lined himself up with the targets again. He took a knife in each hand and threw them again, but this time in a fancier movement went in a sort of oval motion, that allowed it to seemingly glide before it hit it's target. Darren watched with a look of fascination as it finally hit home. Hehe yea, this will definitely do he said with a laugh, he was surprised of the quality of the work even though he wasn't too well acquainted with throwing weapons. He picked up the remaining two and threw his right in a straight arch. It hit his intended target with a resonating thud before being followed up with the left that hit a bit to the left of where it was. Very good, this is a definite sign of your craft he complimented Danyella as he picked up the knives from the dummies.

Heh it looks like that will be all from me for a bit he said as he moved over to them. Do you have any small chains I can possibly use in conjunction with these I can look at later? he asked her father as he sheathed the knifes at last. He looked at Danyella with a set of gushing blue eyes, hehe, thank you for your hard work I really appreciate it he said taking her hand and shaking it, if you ever should come by the Whitevine hold look me up he said with a smile. We can probably hang out or do something fun. I'll be at the massage center on workdays, if you want first one's on me he winked. He turned to Danyella's dad, the same applies for you sir, although I think my dad would be the one in charge of you he said noting his huge size.

With that he left, happy to have made a new small excerpt to add to his life. He looked at the knifes a last time before he set out on the road to the WhiteVine compound. One two three Breathe* One two three Breathe* One two three Breathe*

[Cheshire]

. Character: Darren Experience: Running +1, Negotiation +1, Weapon (Throwing Daggers) +2, Bodybuilding +1, Flux +1 Lore: Caring for Others Wellbeing, Weight of Iceglaze Weapons (Basic), Knowing One's Own Limits Ledger: -4 GM (4 Throwing Daggers) Character: Danyella Experience: Weapon (Hammer) +1, Intimidation +1, Negotiation +1, Weapon (Throwing Daggers) +1, Weaponsmithing +3, Blacksmithing +3, Metalsmithing +1 Lore: Selling Weapons, Mental Mapping of Weapons (Basic), Crafting of Throwing Daggers Additional Note: Good work guys. I am always amazed to see the lengths people go to when writing about their craft. Quick note. There are not inns in Avanthal. You most likely would have been better off just going back to Whitevine. Also, I'm giving you a point in Flux Darren but next time describe the flux a little more. All in all, great thread. I hope to see more Danyella and Darren fun down the road. If you have any concerns or questions feel free to PM me.