Seconds Please (Marcus)

[Gunho Ma]

Winter 27, 511 AV (date may change subject to Marcus' decision.) Gunho returned to the Ironworks a few days since his last visit with new thoughts buzzing through his mind. He came there dressed in thick winter clothing, his head covered in a hood meant to ward off the cold from his face. Sharp eyes swept left and right while his feet hastily drew him forward to a corner of the forge that was still fresh in his memory. "Sir Marcus!" Gunho would give the man a smaller bow that the last time, though it couldn't be mistaken as anything but a bow in any society. "I have another request sir, another order... This may seem strange after my last purchase but I have grown to admire your craftsmanship." "If you do me this favor I will pay in full in advance and offer you a free massage session of Soothing Waters, I've earned a position there... hence why I am willing to spend a little more than before." "My request this time is for a pair of small swords, one will be one for real combat... I'd like that as coldsteel and the other a dull one still heavy as the other meant for sparring. I'll be okay if that's not forged with your coldsteel method." he smiled and spoke evenly, politely. "If you have no time for today I am willing to pay in advance and wait for the order."

[Marcus Braeden]

Marcus hadn't even had the time to get started on one of the orders listed before a familiar faced had showed up before Marcus. It was Gunho, the same man who had come to him before, looking for a Dao, forged in cold steel. It was also the day that Marcus lost 20 gold mizas, considering he charged the man only ten gold mizas, rather than the 30 he should have charged. It was a stupid mistake, and he considered over pricing whatever order the man had this time. But Marcus refrained, realizing that it was his fault and he should just accept his punishment.

Marcus chuckled as the man addressed him as sir, as he turned around to meet Gunho. "I am no Sir, at least not yet" he mused. Marcus folded his arms across his chest and nodded slightly as Gunho went about explaining his order to Marcus. Marcus accepted Gunho's compliments graciously, as he created a picture of the weapons to be created in his mind. It was to be two short swords, one sharp, one mainly just a sparring sword. He was to once again use cold steel, meaning 30 gold mizas for that one sword, and ten for the other one.

"Well, I haven't gotten around to making anything yet today; I just got here. So I have time to create your order. I'm assuming you wont be wanting any flowery designs or anything, so it will be 40 gold mizas total, plus that trip to the Soothing Waters" he laughed. "Now, are you okay with this price?"

[Gunho Ma]

Gunho didn't complain about the price, it was around the price he had expected. He'd talked to a few people knowledagble about blades since his isit and he'd found out that coldsteel wasn't cheap, even if it was a simple though tiresome forging process that gave it the unique quality that made it stronger. "Forty will be great." he happilly agreed. Well that was more or less the end of the terms of their transaction and Gunho counted the coins he had, slipping sixty golden miza into a small pouch that was made from three layers of old clothing stitched upon each other to make it durable. "I asked around..." he held out the payment for Marcus in it's container. "I'm not sure if you were just being generous but I think I owe you around twenty golden mizas now. I thought coldsteel didn't cost that much but I found out I was mistaken after asking around... Not sure if you made a mistake and got carried away with the thought of making something new with that dao. I hear you're quite the artist, more than an ordinary sword smith." "If you can finish the job by the end of the day we can call that extra twenty a tip?" Gunho smiled, hoping the man would accept Gunho's attempt at righting the mistake he'd unwittingly allowed to happen. "You're a great smith, I don't want to sell you short. I like to keep my transactions fair and I don't want to take no for an answer."

[Marcus Braeden]

Marcus took the bag of coin into the palm of his hand. It certainly felt like it was heavier than 40 gold mizas. His suspicion was confirmed when Gunho told him he slipped an extra 20 gold mizas in the bag, for a 'tip.' Hmmm I wasn't aware us smiths were getting tips these days he thought to himself. He nodded and decided to take the tip, after all, Gunho said he didn't want to take no as an answer, right? Marcus set the bag of coins aside, and grabbed the steel he would need to create the swords. He planned on making both blades, and then constructing the hilts for each, rather than make each sword separately. It was just the way Marcus' mind wanted to do things.

"Once again, you are free to observe the process, carouse our stock, or come back later" Marcus told Gunho as he placed the metal in the furnace. Marcus watched, with his arms folded, as the flames surrounded and embraced the metal with its fiery arms. First he was going to make the cold steel blade, so he drew the metal out before hit had reached a white glow. Instead, it glowed a darker red. Using his smithing tongs, he carried the metal back to his anvil, where he began to morph the metal into the desired shape. The blade of a shortsword would be much simpler than creating one for a dao. The dao had a curve that one had to be weary when creating the blade and hilt. While a short sword could have some curves, generally the blade was straight, which was the case for this scenario.

Marcus remained focus as he struck the metal with accuracy and precision.His eyes scanned the surface for his next target location. Next, his mind determined the power and placement of his strike, and his arm completed the job. His body was working in perfect harmony with his mind. One strike effortlessly flowed into another. When the the metal needed to go back into the furnace, Marcus did not hesitate and moved accordingly to the furnace, allowing the metal to glow red once again.

[Gunho Ma]

This was the second time Gunho had the privelege to witness this man at work. His skill at shaping steel was an artform and even the inexperienced Gunho could udnerstand that the man had achieved a mastery over his skill that Gunho did not have in his own chief trade. Marcus seemed to know how hot he needed to make metal to make it malleable, unlike many of the other smiths around he did not test his way, he was sure in his methods and his hammer fall was rythmic, predictable and so precisely controlled that Gunho wondered if the smith was aware of how the metal would react to his attention even before the strike. The metal striking metal produced a nice sound, while sharp at first Gunho quickly learned to appreciate it and Marcus' hammering was akin to music. His skill made that metal sing, it's melody both sharp and profound. Gunho dared not speak, lest he interrupt the man's concentration and simply perched upon a stool, hands firmly on his knees while he observed with rapt wonder at this performance which went unnoticed by many. Perhaps, one day, if Gunho tired at kneading flesh he would learn how to shape steel too. It seemed a relaxing job, despite the great requirement of strength that was probably demanded by this craft.

[Marcus Braeden]

With each successful strike, Marcus neared the completion of the forging process of the first blade. What had begun as a hunk of steel, now looked like a finely crafted blade. All it needed was a quick go on the grinding wheel, just to get any kinks out, and then he would be able to start on the next blade, which would be completed even quicker, since it wasn't to be cold steel. Cold steel was tougher to smith, as the metal was not nearly as flexible since it was cooler. This usually made the forging time much longer and the work harder. However in exchange for this harder work, one would have a much stronger weapon, and pay three times more for it. Or, if you were lucky and had Marcus making the weapon, maybe he would make a mistake and charge you a one third the price. Marcus still chuckled to himself about the incident. His superiors gave him quite the talking to after he made the error. He just stood there with the resolve of a dumbfounded boy, before simply paying the Ironworks off out of his own pocket.

Marcus finished up the blade with a few more precise strikes near the point of the blade and then paused. He took his arm to his face and wiped the sweat from his forehead, and then resumed his work. He picked up the weapon and brought it to the grinder wheel. Another man had just finished and Marcus was quick to jump on the wheel, before anyone else decided to use it. As Marcus worked the ruggedness out of the blade, he casually turned to Gunho and asked "So what is Lhavit like?", ignoring the sparks produced by the friction between metal and stone. It was a mere attempt to start some sort of conversation. He mine as well and try and get to know his customer while he was here. Besides, there was only so many day dreams someone could think about before they started to repeat themselves. A little but of small talk couldn't hurt.

Marcus put his completed blade aside for the moment and once again took up some more steel. This time he would create a sparring sword, meant to be blunt, but it didn't mean it was going to be of poor quality. Marcus simply wouldn't allow it. Once again, he waited for the blade to heat, with his arms crossed. A smile crawled across his face as the flames danced around the surface of the metal, allowing for the metal to go from a shade of gray, to a white hot glow. Marcus gripped the metal with his tongs and proceeded back to his anvil, where he would once again continue his craft. Once again, the, blows of his hammer turned into a sort of rhythm. However, the metal was far easier to bend this time around, and it would not take too many trips back to the furnace before the blade was created.

[Gunho Ma]

Gunho didn't want to bother the man and risk ruining his concentration that he didn't think Marcus actually welcomed a little chatter. The question he voiced was easy to answer as well and Gunho, being the person he was supplied an answer cheerily. "Its a beautiful city, though no less wonderous than Syliras. We have this material called skyglass that dominates the city's construction and the skies are almost always clear and beautiful to behold, especially at night. We have a goddess, Zintila who resides in the city from time to time. She guides the people there and uses her power over the stars to keep Lhavit alive in the harsh environment of Kalea." He found the city he was raised in naturally beautiful but it was Zintila's skyglass that made it transform into an otherworldly place, a city clearly touched by the divine. "Its cooler there than it is here... though life there seems slower. We don't hurry so much, the activity here was a little hard to adapt to during my first few days in the city." "We also don't have a forge as large as this, our proximity to the home of the Isur helped us by giving access to their creations but at the same time it retarded the growth of local smiths. The city relied most of their metal working to Sultros."

[Marcus Braeden]

Marcus found himself working the grinding wheel, once again removing the excess metal of the second blade. Marcus turned towards Gunho once more and said "Well, if you are getting most of your metal from Sultros, I'd bet you have some fine crafts available over there. Probably even better than what you can get here...unless you have me working" he joked. But still, I'll never be able to work with Isurian Steel, hell, I don't even know where one can find it."

Before long the sparks stopped flying and Marcus took both blades in his hands and walked towards the cooling tanks, which were already prepared by the first smiths to arrive that morning. Marcus put both blades into the fire and allowed them to heat up for the hardening process. He watched them, and eventually he drew them from the flames and plunged them into the water. Steam filled the surrounding area and Marcus set both blades back into the flames. He repeated the process several more times before moving onto tempering.

Once again he placed both weapons in at the same time, but this time he would most likely be juggling them, as they would surely not temper in a similar fashion. As the two blades rested in the fire, Marcus scanned the surfaces eyeing the properties of the metal. Marcus first drew the sparring blade and proceeded to quench it. The actual blade remained in the heat for another two minutes before it was plunged into the cooling tank. After juggling the two blades between the fire and water for roughly half a bell, Marcus finally resolved that they were done and he could begin hilt construction.

[Gunho Ma]

"Dare I say it, but you seem to be better than some Isur smiths I've seen with your specialty." it wasn't hollow praise, Gunho truly believed that this man was more talented than most Isur he'd men. The field of smithing may have been dominated by Isur but it wasn't their sole properly. "If I ever come across something forged or smelted from Isurian steel I'll go to you directly, I'm sure you'll find forging a shortsword from that fairly interesting. It'll be a learning experience for you and a I'll get myself something I can really treasure." Gunho watched the man once more, transfixed at the sight of the hot glowing metal. He could tell now the difference in cold steel and ordinary steel through their color while they were still being forged. It was definitely harder to create the former, it took more effort it seemed, to get the slightly less heated metal into the desired shape. But Marcus was an expert, capable of turning what many smiths found difficult into a simple chore. Over and over, Gunho observed the man's work. His hands were sometimes a blur and his efficient method of flipiing and hammering away at the forge shone against the way some of the other blacksmiths who too were working with both weapon and armor nearby. It seemed a trying process, cooling the blades in cool water then returning them to the pits without compromising them. Gunho understood from observing clay pots used for cooking shatter after being doused in very cold water while they yet steamed from heat. There must have been a trick to this, one he didn't know. "If its just the handle of the swords, I'll take the same style you used for with the Dao, dark leather... ideally one black the other brown, but I'll take what I can get sir. Normal crossguards too, maybe slightly swept up at the end to catch an opposing blade?" he stopped a moment, to give the man time to reply. "The curveture doesn't even have to be obvious, I'd even prefer it if it was subtle."

[Marcus Braeden]

"Well thank you for the praise" Marcus chuckled. No one had really praised his work like Gunho did. Hell, he usually never even met the people purchasing the equipment he forged. Gunho however, had requested equipment from him twice now! Maybe he was finally starting to build some sort of reputation around here. Hell, maybe I could open up my own shop! Wait, wait, I am trying to become a Syliran Knight. One dream at a time now. He slightly chuckled again, this time at his own thoughts. Marcus regained his focus and set to work on the hilts, after retrieving the appropriate metal and heating it.

"Alright a slight curvature. Not a problem my friend!" he said optimistically as the struck the glowing metal with his hammer. As usual Marcus' strikes managed to make the metal take the desired shape at a quickened pace. It was if after each strike a light would flash where the next strike would be, and Marcus would then follow through with another hit. To any observer that very well could be the situation, but Marcus simply scanned the metal for the next spot at a very fast rate, leaving no time for thought before striking that spot. Time seemed to just pass by for Marcus. He was in his own world when smithing and before he knew it one of the hilts was finished. And then the second one followed soon after. It was his own form of meditation in a way. But in this form of meditation, Marcus was creating.

Once his two hilts were done, he grabbed the leather that Gunho had requested, one brown, one black. The sparring blade, Marcus wrapped in the brown leather, while the other was bound by the black leather. Marcus though it was fitting, giving the one meant for war the color associated with death. Marcus next grabbed a rag and began wiping down each blade with some polish. It was standard to give the weapon a nice shiny coat upon completion. Marcus also went ahead and sharpened the black leather bound blade on both sides at the grinder wheel. His finger glided along the blade, testing its sharpness. Any more pressure and Marcus' finger would have been bleeding everywhere, if that was any indicator of how sharp a weapon was. With the battle ready sword in his left hand and the sparring sword in his right, he handed them over to Gunho.

"Do me a favor and try not to get yourself hurt with these things will ya?" Marcus grinned, as he took the coins Gunho had left for him.