[Ironworks] Forging Alliances, ii. (Eanos)

[Hadrian]

There was a quick smile for the pun, though it went otherwise unnoticed. He wasn't even sure if the stoic Isur had meant to add a note of levity to his otherwise straightforward instruction. The hook was set aside per Eanos permission and Hadrian hung up the tongs, always wanting to develop good habits of putting things in their place so he knew where to find them when he needed them. Not sure what else to do for the time being, he put his gloved hands on his hips and nodded to all that was said. "Well, it will be a new experience for me," he assured him. Marcus Braeden hadn't been quite so thorough, but he supposed that such attention to detail should be expected from an Isur before a human. Perhaps Hadrian had an Isurian soul. "Would you like to drop by the Inner Sanctum tomorrow to see what I am working on for the Knights?" he asked, voice not hushed but certainly not raised. Though there was a guard, he didn't want to advertise overmuch and risk people fiddling with his work. "It's still early in the process, but most of the glyph work is done until I have to shift things which... Well, I have a timeline, but it's an estimate. Sometimes I have to improvise as I go because the djed refuses to react the way I mean it to."

[Eanos]

Unaware that his dedication to his work had resulted in a serious mien, Eanos nodded in response to the comment by Hadrian which seemed to indicate that he was looking forward to the challenge that was offered. He nodded again at the offer. "It would please me greatly to see the work you are doing if it does not inconvenience you in the doing or reveal some trade craft that you wish to remain private. It has been a while now since I had the chance to see the craft in process." He understood from his own experience that unlike smithing which was quite predicatable once the basics were learnt properly, the craft which Hadrian was skilled in was far less definable. He understood too that there was a direct trade off between the lack of definition and the inverse relationship to the amount of power that could be wielded as a result.

[Hadrian]

Hadrian offered a small smile. It was easier to talk shop with a person, but he was still rather awkward at social interaction, though he found it easier to talk to this Isur, who was so self-contained. Perhaps Hadrian would have to make a concerted effort to ingratiate himself upon the race and move to Sultros; he seemed to share quite a few of their cultural traits within himself. "Tomorrow morning, then," he agreed. "There is a guard, but he is mostly there to make sure nobody tampers with my work. It is, regrettably, available to public viewing, or at least to those who can get into the Inner Sanctum. You're welcome to visit without me just to see how things are progressing, but if you come tomorrow I can have you help with a few things, help you get back into the practice." He glanced at the hook cooling there where he had placed it, watching the visible glow begin to fade as well as the change in the djed pattern with his inner eye. "How long do you suppose it will take to cool to the point where I can begin filing it?"

[Eanos]

Eanos was pleased with the development now, because for all that he loved the craft of the smith, he was not a teacher and if there was one thing that he loved more than anything else it was learning new things. Sometimes it seemed to him that Izurdin had doubly blessed the Isur for he looked forward to a long life of learning many, many new things. He was distracted from his musings by Hadrians question and concentrated. "It will be ready as soon as you can handle it." He did that himself ignoring the heat which it still contained and shrugged. He offered it to Hadrian and let him decide if he wanted to use the tongs or risk burning his fingers.

[Hadrian]

Hadrian was not quite sure, but he got the impression that Eanos was daring him to accept some pain-withstanding challenge. Hesitant for a moment, but then plunging in, he reached out with his gloved hand to take the hook from him. But humans were not so naturally hardy as the Isur, so he immediately began to draw his djed down his arm, transmuting it into res to push out the pores of his hand, then transmuting the res into cold water which soaked gradually through the leather, preventing the still hot metal from burning leather or the tender skin beneath. Some might regard it as cheating, others as cleverness. Hadrian didn't care what it was; he simply didn't want to lose feeling or control of his hands, as they were important for manipulating his enchantments, which was his livelihood unless he wanted to throw himself upon his father's mercy where living expenses were concerned. "Warm," he noted, picking up the file. "Same technique this time?" The hydromancy continued, water gradually seeping out of his skin to keep the leather saturated and its temperature under control.

[Eanos]

Even without the benefit of his Auristic vision and even in the somewhat dim light of the forge it was hard for Eanos with his dark adapted vision not to notice notice the slight changes of expression as his challenge was accepted. He nodded to Hadrian, choosing not to make comment for it was not his way to challenge the choices of others. "Indeed, the same as before," he smiled shortly, "even for a man as hardy as an Isur." It was a slight exaggeration of course, but it was a mark of respect for the action, regardless of how much anyone else might have considered it cheating. For Eanos, gifts or skills they were as much to be respected if not more than those things a man might have simply because of the luck of inheritance.

[Hadrian]

Hadrian positioned the hook properly and spun the lever on the vice, tightening the grip until it was held steady enough for him to continue filing. He began to run the finer file along the point of the hook, sharpening it and smoothing its surface. It took him a little while, but he managed to block most distractions out so he could find a natural rhythm for it. He was still slower than most, to be sure, but he was being careful. He hated making mistakes. "How old were you when you began your apprenticeship?" he asked. He wanted to ask more personal questions, even along the lines of personal relationship with deity. Perhaps one day Izurdin would look with favor on Hadrian, too.

[Eanos]

With Hadrian now occupied with a task that needed no supervision Eanos had continued with the task which had been occupying him of late when he had filled his quota of work required by the Ironworks. He pumped the forge up higher so that the heat was intense even for him and slipped in a bar of iron and waited for it to start melting. He paused before answering the question in large part because he still had not resolved in his mind the conflicting needs to keep what happened in Sultros and was the business of only the Isur, secret and yet also reveal enough to allow Hadrian to trust him and to understand what he had been trained in. "If you are talking of smithing, then it is hard to say clearly. Since you spoke of going to Sultros then you may well know that there are a number of clans there, each of whom have their own speciality. One of the clans are the best smiths," it was true enough that it was not disloyal to the smiths in his own clan to admit it. "But just because they are the most specialised in smithing does not mean that they are the only smiths." It occurred to him to wonder why he was so defensive about that given how hard he had fought to justify it in his own mind. "I can't remember a time when I was not in our neighbourhood smithy, so what I regard as my apprenticeship began before I can remember. But if you mean my formal one, then that would have been in my thirtieth year, once I was done with my basic schooling." It seemed comfortable to talk about such things, now that the question had been asked and so he relaxed. "And what of your apprenticeship in the arts of djed manipulation?"

[Hadrian]

If Hadrian was surprised that Eanos had actually answered, he did a good job of hiding that fact in the concentration he alloted to the task at hand. Even if he only learned the basics of smithing from the Isur, there was a need for Eanos' approval with regard to the craft shared, else Hadrian had no other way of proving himself worthy of the instruction. Such things were complicated in his mind. He nodded thoughtfully to what was said, but with his eyes on his work, there was a sort of privacy allowed. "I was seventeen when I took my first class in magic at the University of Zeltiva. I had only just arrived from Syliras and it seemed like an interesting subject; it quickly proved the most interesting subject to me, much to the dismay of my parents..." He left off there, sure that Eanos cared little for the intricacies of family life among the Aelii. "I suppose I took to it quickly, but I have a rather single-minded purpose now. Whether it's dedication or madness, I suppose time will tell." Without looking up, he continued to file away at the point and farther up the metal hook, occasionally pausing to find rough spots that needed a bit of attention, and finding an awkward sort of pace for himself. He was careful rather than skilled; Eanos could only teach him the technique. He would have to master it himself with time, repetition, and a greater awareness for what he was doing. His Sight was still fixed on the metal, but the fine file made such minute changes in its structure that he could not make out much of a difference. Despite his growing skill with Auristics, some things were still beyond his ken. "And really," he added after a time, "I don't know that it was an apprenticeship. The University doesn't quite work as a guild. Professor Stonemiller took a particular interest in me, but I don't know that I could call myself his apprentice. He was a mentor, though. A gentle guide more than the sort of teacher a Master would be."

[Eanos]

Eanos found it hard to conceive that anyone at the merest age of seventeen could possibly be ready for an apprenticeship, or anything like such a thing. Most Isur at that age were barely able to move around without a mentor to make sure that they didn't get into trouble. Still though there was something in what Hadrian said which attracted his attention very closely for one of his main reasons for coming to this place was in order to learn about how and where any of the ancient learnings might be lurking. "I've heard tell of the university," he replied at length, once he was sure that he would not be interupting the concentration of his student. "Is it really as mysterious as it is made out to be? I had considered going there sometime to learn what I could of magecraft, but it seemed a long way to chase after rumours. I had heard that there was a large library there with much to tell about magecraft. Is that true or is everything guarded by the Masters?" He knew that it was possibly a delicate question yet Eanos was rarely delicate about anything.