[Ironworks] Designs in steel (Eris)

[Eanos]

It seemed that his blade passed the test which was more of a relief than he hoped showed in his face, but he tried to hide it by keeping his face serious for all that he tried not to care what she thought.

"We can most certainly give you a wooden handle," he replied squinting up at the red heads face, "and the wood will not splinter, at least not from normal use in any case." He contemplated her request for a moment the new design spinning in his mind as he visualised what it would look like.

"That dagger," he said indicating her choice, has a spike tang with a metal handle which helps to counter balance the weight of the blade. Because of that it makes the blade itself almost weightless in your hand and can be turned very quickly. With a wooden handle it would be best if I used a full width tang because otherwise I'll be forced to add a larger pommel weight in order to counter balance the blade." That she wanted wider was of no particular issue to the blade weight and so he discarded it from his mind.

He understood too he thought what she meant by needing to use the weapon to understand it, for he felt the same when using tools. Whilst it was nice to have a good looking tool, unless the tool actually performed well in the hand it wasn't something which he was likely to keep on using.

"Thank you for your trust," he said with only a hint of light irony in his voice. "Which leaves us only with the question of price. How much you wish to pay will affect the quality of the finish. A simple steel dagger with a plain wood handle to your design will cost eight gold miza. A better steel blade will cost you ten gold miza but in both cases the blade quality will be much higher than with a standard blade as the spine will be less hardened than the edge which will give the blade some chance of flexing instead of just snapping across. However as with any dagger because the point has to be hardened in order to hold the sharpness you need if you embed it in bone then there will be a risk of snapping the tip." He shrugged his shoulders to this because blade damage could not easily be avoided. "For another twenty miza you can choose if you wish the blade to receive the blessing of Izurdin. If you choose this then the blade will be much stronger and less liable to damage."

[Eris]

“Do whatever you think best with the pommel weights and width tangs and such,” Eris replied, admitting to herself that most of what he was saying was lost on her.

Ah. So we finally come to the price. She had expected a much higher price than ten gold mizas, so that did not pose a problem in itself. What gave her some pause was this blessing the Isur spoke of. Eris had never liked to meddle with magic or Gods or their blessings for that matter. She had always thought that fighters using blessed weapons were cowards of a sort, afraid to face the simple nature of their blade without layers of magic cast over it. Then again, if the blessing would indeed make her blade stronger and more durable… She shouldn’t be waving an advantage like that away.

“What does this blessing entail, exactly? And how is it cast?” Eris asked, letting her doubt show in her voice.

She had always stayed away from the Gods and anything pertaining to them. But with all this talk of blessing, memories of her mother came unbidden to her mind. The woman had been so religious and so devoted to worship… And yet, she had been a terrible person and in the end her prayers had not saved her from the illness at her death bed. Leave me in peace, won’t you child? You’re making too much noise. You’re getting in my way. You’ve ruined my life. The memory left a bitter taste in Eris’s mouth. Did she really want to be reminded of her mouth every time she looked at her new weapon?

[Eanos]

The Isur watched her aura as he mentioned the price and smiled to himself. One day the price would be much higher, but then his skills would be higher too, but for now he was employed here and the Ironworks set the prices not him yet even so she could have bought one of the displayed daggers still cheaper. But for him it was his chance to get his work out there.

"Ah, well now, the blessing is one of the things which makes Isurian steel so sought after, one of the things mind," he said with a smile. "As for how it's cast well that is hard to explain, but it will take me longer than it will to make the dagger which is why the price for the blessing is higher than the price of the dagger itself. It is something which only I can do for you, at least on the dagger I will make for you in any case. It adds two days to the making of it and requires me to channel His blessing into the steel. This is simply a blessing on the steel itself," he said unaware of her inner turmoil, "it is a passive thing for you and will not give you any other advantages but neither will it give you any restrictions, it merely gives you a blade which is stronger than mere steel can be."

[Eris]

Eris expelled a small sigh. She had the money, of course. Her last job left her quite well off, with no need to work for weeks. That was part of the reason for her having the luxury of spending her time in Syliras. Normally, she would be looking for another employer just about this time, but with all the money she’d earned, she could afford to give herself a break. And that money would be well spent buying a dagger. And that dagger had better be the best. If this Isurdian blessing meant that her weapon could be stronger and endure harsher blows, then she would pay for it.

Mother had kept me in a cage. She ruined the first half of my life and I’m not about to let her ruin anything else. So, what if she thought about her mother when she looked at the dagger? The woman found a way into her thoughts anyway – whenever she passed a temple, whenever she bent down to pick some healing herbs…

Eris nodded her head slightly, coming to a decision. “Fine. I will pay ten gold mizas for the dagger and twenty for the blessing.”

“I trust that it will be the best quality you can make it,” she added, a dangerous glint flashing in her eyes. She wasn’t threatening the Isur – that would be foolish. She was simply making her expectations clear and letting him know and that it would be best that he met them.

Eris reached into the inside fold of her jacket, but stopped midway and asked, “Shall I pay now or after the dagger is complete?”

[Eanos]

Her words might have had a threatening edge to them, but all that the Isurian smith heard in them was the passion which she invested in the dagger and it was that as much as any matter of professionalism or pride in his race which made him offer her a short bow of his head and a smile.

His reply also carried pride, "you may rest assured that this dagger will be completed to the very best of my abilities." He considered for a moment the work to be done and the work he already needed to do. "You may return for the completed piece in five days time." He reflected again over the time needed; a day to forge, a day to sharpen and polish, a day to allow for the handle maker and a day for the blessing. It was somewhat generous and perhaps could be cut by a day or even two but only if this were his only piece and better not to set an expectation which might create disappointment.

"A payment of five crowns now and the balance on collection are my normal terms, but you may of course pay the entire sum now if that is your preference." It didn't enter his head for a moment that she might not be satisfied with the blade when the time came to collect it.

[Eris]

Eris plucked five golden coins from the inside fold of her jacket and placed them on the counter. She wouldn’t be paying the entire sum at one time. The Isur might look skilful, but she could not be sure until she saw the results of his work. Give as little money to one person at one time as possible. A smile tugged on her lips as she remembered that particular piece of Joel’s advice. They had been departing from an inn in the middle of the night, because Joel chose not to pay his gambling debts to the local loan shark. That had been a fun ride.

Eris broke off her train of thought, mentally returning to the present. Suddenly, a very funny thing occurred to her – funny only in the sense that she had forgotten an important civility yet again. Namely, an introduction. She was always forgetting what normal people did when they came into shops or met new people. In her line of work, introductions were secondary. After all, the less criminals know your name, the better.

Now, she looked at the Isur and said, “Before I leave, I’d just like to get your name, so I know who to ask for when I come back.”

“I am called Eris, by the way,” she added.

[Eanos]

His fingers slid the coins from the top and into the palm of his left hand where they chinked for a moment and then were muffled by the loose closing of his fist.

"A pleasure to do business with you," he replied not directly answering her question yet though it saved him from asking for something to identify her. "My name is Eanos and anyone here will be able to fetch me for you."

"Was there anything else that I can get for you?"

[Eris]

“No, I believe that is all,” Eris said, with a nod of the head. “I will return in five days, then.”

She spun around on her heels and crossed the floor to the door. As she pulled open the door, a fresh gust of air hit her face, making her realize just how happy she was to be in the open air. A few more steps and she was back on the street outside the Ironworks. Pulling her jacket tighter around her, she began making her way to Traveler’s Row.

*****

Five days later, Eris pushed open the door leading into the Ironworks once again. She made a point of coming exactly five days later - almost to the minute of the hour that they had agreed upon the transaction. She strode into the store, displaying a much greater level of confidence than when she had been there last. Now that she knew what she expected and what was expected of her, the entire process appeared to be much easier. She would take her dagger, pay the Isur and leave - no point in dilly-dallying.

She locked eyes with the Isur as soon as she walked through the door. A thin smile flashed across her lips briefly as she approached Eanos, "Good day. I assume you have my blade." Her words were dry and to the point, but her eyes held a glint of excitement in them. Getting a new dagger to her was what acquiring a new friend was to others.

[Eanos]

It was another day on the counter for the Isur, but this time it was a day of his choosing because he had a special customer arriving to collect an order.

He met her gaze easily and nodded in reply. It had been an interesting commission and work he'd enjoyed doing. It had shown him a way that he was interested in going forwards and for that it was worth the cheap price that she paid for the work.

"Good day to you too my Lady. The blade is indeed done." He bent under the counter and lifted up a package which he laid on the counter. Unwrapping the soft leather he revealed the dagger which had been made to her order and he waved his hand to it. "Please try it for yourself and see if it how you wished it to be."

[Eris]

Eris watched him unwrap the package almost hungrily, her gaze devouring the dagger as the wrapping fell away. It looked exquisite compared to her old, worn dagger. The blade shown like a mirror, unmarred by aged bloodstains and grime. She wrapped her hand around the hilt of the dagger and lifted it from the table, hefting it in both her hands experimentally. The weight of it was almost identical to her old dagger, but this blade was thinner and slightly longer. It also felt as if it had a better balance – a quality she was loath to admit to. She had always assumed that her old dagger had been perfect, if only because it was her first.

She dropped her right arm against her side, leaving the dagger loosely grasped in her hand. She appeared to be waiting for something as she stood absolutely still for half a chime. Then, without any outward warning, her hand lashed out upward and forward – the blade slicing through the air. Eris appeared satisfied as she turned the dagger over in her hands, now examining the hilt more closely. It was a dark cherry wood, almost black in appearance. The wooden hilt was a point of familiarity – a remnant of the old dagger that she had not been willing to let go of.

Her dagger now firmly grasped in her left hand, Eris reached into her satchel and pulled out 30 gold coins. She counted them over with her gaze as they lay in her palm.

“This is good work,” she said to Eanos, her eyes falling to the dagger once again. She turned the contents of her palm on the counter in front of her, the mizas landing in three little stacks. "The thirty mizas we agreed upon."

Then, she turned around and headed for the door, her new dagger hidden away in the folds of her jacket. She felt rather like a child who has just received a new toy – not a feeling she experienced very often in her actual childhood.

As she approached the door, she looked over her shoulder one last time. “Thank you,” she said simply. And just like that she was out the door and back in the comfort of the street.

FIN