[Sultros Blades] Epieu - Hrafn

[Eanos]

11th Winter 510 With his visitor gone, Eanos took a fresh look at the drawings and started on his own notes based on what the Isur had drawn along with the comments which for now were still sharp in his memory but which like as not if he did not get them noted down would vanish from his mind. There was a fine line in producing what the customer thought they wanted and what they actually needed. In this case Eanos held few qualms since his customer was a smith and quite clearly had a very precise vision of what he wanted. That Hrafn had not actually made the blade himself did not concern Eanos for the Isur had appeared to be around his own age and in that time it was simply not possible to be good at everything. Since he’d not heard of him as a blade maker in Syrilas then it was simple enough to assume that either he did not specialise in blades or did not have a forge in the city, and Eanos by now was quite sure he’d have heard of all Isurian weapon smiths of any ability in this not so large city. There was a question as to the metal for the blade, but that was something which whilst important was out of his hands and did not in any case change the design. The metal he obtained would dictate the finer details of how he made the blade, but in truth it would not change the process to any great degree. He did however make a note to see what Ros could find for him. The weapon was an interesting one, from a smiths point of view since it combined elements from several different weapon types. Whether it was any use in combat was not a question which concerned him overly, though it would be nice if the owner survived long enough to recommend him as the maker. He visualised it in his mind which helped since there were a number of design questions to be resolved. Clearly it could be held in several ways, but given the owner would be an Isurian smith who clearly wanted something with some heft, being forced to make it as light as possible was not going to be an issue. That was good because he was not overly happy about the wooden handle as a design concept, though as scales it would be acceptable since the butt of the weapon was also clearly designd for use and he wanted that to be a solild part of the design. Hrafn had specied custom carved and leather wrapped so Eanos made notes for scales and for leather wrapping forward of it. That could be removed if the customer wanted, but it was clear that the weapons intent was not only for swinging holding the handle, but also for a more forward grip up closer to the blade, something more like a knife and for that use the leather binding would be good. He made notes to tool the metal under the wrapping since that was how it was drawn. The blade itself was pulled into a daggers point for stabbing, yet the guard was large and heavy and would indeed with the broad blade give the weapon the ability to be used as a club. At first glance it was not dissimilar to a half spear yet it would need a solid metal shaft made as one with the blade and guards. It would be an interesting challenge to construct and he made several sketchs on the walls of his office as to alternatives as to how to make it.

[Eanos]

Winter 12 Now the design had become clear in his mind it was time to start turning those designs into reality. The forge out in the yard was still new to Eanos and it would take some time before he was comfortable with it such that he would not need to give it any thought. Now he stood, the air moving more freely here than it had inside. Winter had barely begun but already the air had changed and it carried with it the promise of what was to come. The winters here were mild or so he had been told yet for Eanos who had spent much of his life underground or indoors even minor changes had the tendency to catch him unaware. One thing which he missed already from the Ironworks were the machines which aided the work, but it was a nostalgia about which he had mixed feelings. The Lord Izurdin had gifted his race with abilities for a reason, and one of them was strength, so although working with hammer and operating the bellows was hard work, it was work which he could with ease dedicate to his god. Somehow the fact that he did everything made him happier for all that it made his life more difficult. But then he was not a short lived human who would try and find the shortest ways, indeed not, he would follow the right path, the one to mastery. He slipped a bar of steel into the fire and worked the bellows. It would take some time to bring this bar up to heat so that he could start working on it but he was not in a hurry. He spent the time in between working the bellows and shifting the bar on the bed of coals in making sure that everything was set up and ready. This bar would form the core of the weapon, forming the back of the blade as well as the hilt. When the blade was finally forged and heat treated this would not be hard enough to take the edge which was desired, especially on that sharp point, but it would instead have the flexibility to absorb the shock of impact, something especially important as the vibrations would travel down the handle being muted only slightly by leather and wood. The hammer drove a flurry of almost white sparks off the bar as he brought it down for the first time. The anvil too was new to him still, and whilst for most it might appear to be just a large lump of metal, still every anvil was different and it took time to learn their quirks and how to judge the power of the strikes against the rebound. Quickly the metal cooled as he started to work the ingot, drawing it out, strike by strike, turning it from a short and fat bar into something longer. He was aiming for an initial shaping to the length of his forearm for then he could start to bring in the second ingot. That though was still some way in the future and he turned his attention back to the colours as the bar came back up to heat in the coals of the forge. He turned it with his right hand, impervious to the heat as it was though he still used tongs to hold it as he hammered it. He wasn’t above some showmanship when a customer was about, just to reinforce the fact that the god had decreed that the Isur were to be smiths, but when he was alone he worked according to the dictates of ease and professionalism.

[Eanos]

With the backbone of the weapon now in its initial shape it was time to incorporate that which form the edge of the blade. It was not so different from the metal which he’d been working until now, the real difference came in the fact that it hardened at a slightly lower temperature than the first. What made it so was something he left to the speciality of the Ironworks, though he knew the theory well enough. Some thought that there was magic in the process or that some metals were more special than others, but the reality was much more simple, though as with anything the key was knowledge. The second bar glowed red at the tip and so he pumped the bellows again, thankful for the knights and their curious codes. It was a system which was surprisingly fair to all, though he could imagine that it might well frustrate some. Coin to Eanos was just another tool and one which he did not yet need much of. One day that would change he knew becuase if he were to become the mage smith that he desired then he would need to be able to afford the reagents, but that was far enough away for him not to be overly concerned by it and instead he could focus on doing the things he loved, secure in the knowledge that he could afford it. Though a part of his mind drifted on dreams, there was a more practical part which remained focussed on the job so that before the metal could spark white hot in the flame he had it out and started working the end down into a thinner bar. It took a good deal less time than the first since these were to be just inserts. It wasn’t long then before the small courtyard rang with the sound of a red hot metal bar striking against the cobbles as he cut it from the stock. He repeated the process and struck off another bar which would form the guard and placed the stock against the wall where it could cool before being returned to his small store of jealously guarded metal. The bar which would form the handle was returned to the forge with the blade end in the fire to warm. Now it was long enough that he could start to dispense with the tongs some of the time for his left hand had some immunity to the heat, though nothing as his right which could be used as a hammer if need be and would be before this weapon was complete for he had planned something which would have been difficult indeed for a smith not of his race. As the end came up through cherry red he started to work it, flattening out the part which would be the blade. As it came to shape so he placed into the coals the bar he’d made to be the edge. It was necessary for the two pieces of metal to fuse into one; the weld being perfect for lives would depend upon it.

[Eanos]

With both of the metals up to the heat he wanted, it was time to clean them and coat them with flux, sand in this case. Any impurities from the forge soot or rust which formed very quickly on newly heated metal and there would be no weld for only clean metal welded in this process. It was time and he slipped the smaller bar into the crease he had created in the larger. Back to the flame and then the two were hammered into one. It was a time when he gave in to the whispers which urged him to release his djed and dive into the beauties of the hot metal, not though because of them but despite them. Still though he might resist but it was not easy and more djed than he needed transmuted to open up his Auristic vision. Shadows danced around the edges of his sight, telling him tales of things which he knew from experience were not true and with a good deal of effort he discarded them and concentrated on the weld. He ran the fingers of his right hand down the metal as it heated once more in the forge. Red hot metal, shading into yellow, his fingers knocked loose fragments of slag which adhered to the metal even as he stretched his sense of touch into the metal. Deep he pushed his awareness into the resistant metal, like trying to run in treacle, the metal was hard to feel into. As his fingers reached the end he released the djed, tossing it aside with a short intake of breath, freeing himself of the shadows and allowing him to think again. He brought the bar back to the anvil and with the hot cut chisel sliced off the top fingers length where the weld had failed. The metal rang softly on the anvil as he allowed the red hot bar to drop to the surface. He dug dirty fingers into his hair, loosening off the ties that held it so that it tumbled down. “Ahh! Izurdin preserve me!” The words whispered from his lips and he worked his shoulders to release the kinks which tension far more than work had placed there. How he hated the price which his over eagerness had brought and yet he knew deep down that it would not change until he was forced to change it. He had spent much of the Autumn carefully avoiding the use of djed and allowing his abused body and mind to rest and recover, yet still it affected him. Perhaps it was mostly in his imagination now, yet now it would be harder to avoid since in his own workshop he would no longer be able to work on simple projects. Now he would need all of his skills. He regretted now offering such a fair price for this work and determined in future that he would be more clear with his customers that if they wanted special work then they were going to have to pay for it. He could not afford the price which personal djed work inflicted on merely average pieces of work.

[Eanos]

A shudder of distaste ran down the Isurian spine as he contemplated the issues around the use of djed and the way that it formed a barrier against his progress. Normally such a barrier would be one that he could counter by aggressively attacking it until it was conquered but in this case such an approach as he had done in the Summer only made things worse. He would need to act smarter not harder if he was to overcome it. But for now he had the blade to work on and with the metal newly heated by the forge he started on the tip, pushing the metal back and away until it started to approximate the shape that he wanted. Until the finishing the top would remain crudely made for to work on it more now would result in hammer marks cutting into the metal and remaining visible once the weapon was done, and that sort of beginner mistake was not one that Eanos intended to make on this blade. The blade went though several cycles of heating as he pushed the metal around to create the shape dictated by the design. He didn’t work just with the hammer once the initial shaping was done but also with the file, scattering red hot flakes of metal as he made the initial smoothing away of hammer marks and brought the bevel into shape. He worked the blade carefully from both sides since it was important to get the balance even. Any fool could make a blade, but it took a master to create a thing of beauty. Of course Eanos was not yet a master, yet he had enough experience to ensure that he was able to recover from mistakes which the master would not have made and to produce a blade which was fair on the eye if not the sort of thing which might grace the belt of the Knights Grandmaster. With the end of the steel rod now appearing as a blade even to the most inexperienced eye it was time to bring the metal up to heat and then to allow it to cool slowly. Had he dared to risk his other vision he knew what he would have seen, but with the metal taken up to heat then crystals of iron would melt, and as the metal cooled would form once more, this time though smooth and integral into the design, not fractured and bent from the working of the metal. He took the time whilst the steel was cooling to start work on the guard. This was to be made of the same steel as the blade edge though it would not be as hardened. It appeared from the design that the guard was not passive or just defensive but could also be used in striking, so for that he needed it to be strong enough to penetrate as a punch yet not shatter or shap if it caught a blow. It was not massive enough to take a hard driven sword blow, but he assumed that any user would be aware of that risk, yet it should stop a sword blade from slipping down from the point of impact on the epieu blade onto the fingers of the wielder.

[Eanos]

He worked on the guard in the heat of the forge itself once he had drawn it to the shape that he wanted. Holding it still with tongs, the fingers of his right hand drew the end round into a circle. It took several attempts to get the size just right and for this he referred back to his drawings, careful to ensure that the hot metal did not scorch the sketching. With it brought round as he wanted then it was a matter of bringing the metal up to welding heat. Sweat rose even on his Isurian brow as he worked so closely to the heat, his skin protection yet not a complete barrier. Only his right arm was unaffected and with the fingers of his right hand he pushed the end of the almost white hot metal into the straight part of the bar. Bringing it back to the anvil he hammered it home, working by need with his clenched fist to hammer on the hot metal. Once he’d made the mistake of picking up his hammer, but until he made himself a metal hafted hammer for this time it was a mistake he did not intend to make again, especially since now he would bear the cost of replacing the haft. The circle was formed, still a little roughly, but it was close enough for this stage, which was to make it strong not to make it pretty and he now put the blade back into the forge to heat, the heat concentrated on the point where guard would weld into hilt. As it heated he worked at the joint with a half round file so that the guard would slip into the socket that it created. It was a ticklish job to be sure but he didn’t want to rivet it and he wanted the joint to be one with the blade. This was to be no sword guard, no this would be one with the blade and without the vision to see into the steel it should be impossible to tell that there were ever two pieces. He slipped the blade a little off the heat and put the guard into its place, taking it out and hammering down on a stake to cut a hole through where the blade would sit. Then it was back on the heat, the guard running hotter than blade so that they would weld but also so that the guard would shrink into the socket, guarding against any risk of weld failure. In many ways the weld was decorative so that the two appeared to be one piece of metal yet it was hard to weld effectively two seperate pieces of metal without the heavy work process he had employed on the blade. He made a few minor adjustments to the other side of the guard to bring it into shape and cut off the excess. Then it was time for the process of slipping guard down over blade and hammering home. In many ways this was the most complex part of the whole construction for the unity of the whole depended upon this joint. He kept the heat focussed on the guard as he slipped the two together, hammering the guard along the blade until it slipped home in the joint. Then he worked to weld, frowning as he did because the heat was distorting the guard ends, forcing him to keep an eye on them and bend them back as they started to sag ever so slightly under the welding heat.

[Eanos]

In many ways the most complex parts had now been completed. All were rough and oversized but in terms of technique what remained was relatively simple. Before he started work on the hilt was necessary that blade and guard were brought in much closer to their final shape and size so he immediately set to work with the roughest file to shape and then with a medium file to grind away the rougher file marks and to take away the deeper hammer marks. The surface was still rough but now the greatest part of the excess metal was removed and this he needed in order to be able to create the initial balance of the weapon. The blade was still far from finished, but if he was careful then the heat treating would not create too much distortion, not with a heavy blade such as this which had neither fineness nor length. Now he was able to start properly on the hilt, roughing it out in terms of widths and lengths of the individual sections. This was basic work and it did not take him long to lenthen it out from the guard, down the neck to the handle where he cut out a section for the custom wooden handle which in the design had been shaped to hold the weapon into a particular configuration. He left the handle long, cutting off the excess slowly, one cut after another, each time checking on how it changed the point of balance. That would not be fine tuned until the weapon was much closer to done but he needed to be sure that it was in a place that he could alter at whim as he worked. The piece was supposed to be blade heavy but he wanted the point of balance to be precisely where it should be on any bladed weapon and such that if it were held up behind the guard then it would loose all sense of weight in the hand for the balance would sit just slightly in front of the guard. As with the blade once the piece was to length then he worked to remove forge and hammer marks all the while bringing it into round and sharpening the cut outs for the scales. He was prepared to take the hilt to a much higher standard of finish than he was for the blade at this stage, leaving just the butt in a rough condition for that would both be the adjustment for the point of balance but would also need to be hardened. He filed the neck smoothly round then heating it again he started on the spiral engraving, drawing it out carefully first then cutting along the marks with a saw, deep enough to ensure that they were visible and would remain so. Then he heated the hilt and with a chisel cut the sides away from the saw marks creating grooves which spiralled up. They would be finished properly later and he repeated the process with the other decoration, creating the templaces which the later file work would sharpen and finalise.

[Eanos]

He experimented with the roughly created weapon, swinging it in arcs and roughly stabbing with it. Careful of the still soft edge to the blade he struck it into firewood. Changes to the hilt would make a big difference but now he had some idea of what he needed to do. Next though was to harden the blade so that he could test it properly. The blade had been annealed once more after the welding of the guards so now it was time to harden. Oil smoked and threatened to choke the smith for a moment as he held the blade vertically in the bucket. He felt the blade cool in his fingers and knew if he wanted to risk it that the steel had frozen in the form dictated by the heat. The blade section, which was made of the steel with the slightly lower melting point had transformed into its hardest form whilst the back was still at a relatively lower temperature, further away from its melting point. He hardened too the spike on the guard and quenched it. Then it was a question of tempering the metal, watching the colours run from the edges of blade, pulling it off the heat at just the right time for what he had in mind for the blade. Left untempered the metal would be hard but could snap under a heavy blow. The tempering lost some of that hardness but allowed a degree of flexbility to come back into the metal. It was perhaps most critical for the spiked guard to have this balance for the blade had the backing of the softer spine to absorb blows yet he knew that no customer would be pleased with a blade which chipped too easily. Chips and nicks were inevitable in battle or hard spar and yet they were not to be expected on a weapon of an Isurian weapon smith! With the tempering done, now the work moved into the finishing and yet this was perhaps the hardest and longest part of the process for now the metals were harder, requiring more work and because now no mistakes could be tolerated as they would be impossible to hide in the finished product. But it to think that the weapon was done in functional terms was a mistake. All that he had done so far could have been done by any smith, yet during the finishing stage was also the time when he could lavish the time on it which would impart the benefits of the gnosis mark, something which in this case the new owner would be only too aware of. He would need some time and perhaps a little prompting from his god to decide what benefit would accrue from that, for there were several possibilities and he had as yet to choose which to follow. Now that the main forge work was done, much of the following would be completed at the workbench and so he banked the forge and tidied away all evidence of his working so that all was neat and ready for the next time he needed it.

[Eanos]

Forging was when the piece was made, the work he’d done before would dictacte how well the piece would function in battle. Some however, perhaps those who never intended such a use for the piece would invest their funds instead into the finishing and not worry about the functionality. For a smith the customer was king and most would likely create what the customer wanted. But a customer with a name or one who wished to have a name could not permit such a thing to happen. Eanos found himself in that position though not necessarily on this job for he had not just his name to protect against a future when early and shoddy work might later be held against him, he also had the reputation of the Isur to uphold. He was confident that he could make something to a very good standard in terms of functionality and he’d also as had all apprentices spent many, many days with the file in hand transforming something rough from the forge into something polished. Already the work was roughly finished, well enough that he could make the initial balancing now whilst the butt was still not yet hardened. Before that though he needed to fit scales for the grip since that would change the weight and so the balance. Wood was not his material of choice and yet anyone who made blades sooner or later needed to have at least the necessary skills to handle pieces even if he did not have the skills necessary to be a carpenter. He rifled through the wood he had put aside for the purpose, none of which was especially familiar to him since it was all local wood. He chose a piece which was slightly larger than he needed and which carried a little spalting, just enough to figure the light coloured wood but not enough to distract the eye from the blade, and split it into two lengthways. He trimmed the pieces to size and clamped them in place before drilling through. The scales were fixed with glue before the mosiac pins with their shims locked them in place. The metal cutouts were carefully cut away based on how the handle would be shaped. When the glue was dry the handle was roughly shaped with a rasp and file and then he made the first rough balancing of the weapon. Still, ornamentation aside the most important part of weapon was the blade and his first task was to make it as well polished as he could make it. The final sharpening would be the final step though once he was done with the final shaping and polishing the edge was sharp enough that he needed to bind it in leather while he worked on the rest of the weapon. With the blade filed and polished, differing from the drawing only in the lack of ornamentation on it, he was happy with it. Ornamentation served only to weaken the blade in his opinion, though he would admit that it could be done in such a way as to weaken it only marginally. That was acceptable in a blade designed for show and which would need to be used only in times of unexpected danger, but not for a weapon which would have to earn it’s keep in use. This was the time to dedicate the weapon to his god. Not that this was something that hadn't been in his mind from the start. A part of his concentration had been always focussed, every time he touched it with his right hand it had reminded him of the blessings that Izurdin had bestowed on the race. However he never felt good about asking for blessings early on when it might be that the work would go wrong and be abandoned. No. Early on he asked for a general blessing on the work, not to be imbued into the item. Now though he was confident in the work and now he focussed as he worked. It was unfortunate that this was also the most physically intense part of the job for it was repetitive and there was no let up in the rythym of filing and polishing. To add to that an intense concentration on the link from his arm to the work made it something which many would simply have given up on. To be fair he took a fair few breaks, some on the excuse of checking the progress, but sooner rather than later he was back at it. His focus and the link he worked on for this stage was on the sharpness of the weapon. He hadn't specified and his customer hadn't either exactly what the blessing would be. The weapon was massive enough that he wasn't worried about its durability but the implication was that like an axe it would be swung fast and hard and that would be tough on the edge if it impacted on a similar edge. So, as he worked so he whispered softly to himself; talking to his god and asking that as the blade became more finished and sharper that Izurdin would allow his blessing on the edge, to protect it from harm and to keep it sharp. Eventually he was happy with that and could turn his attention to the guards and hilt, working carefully with file and polish until all interior edges were sharp and all external corners gently radiused. The butt was shaped, the balance of the piece double checked and then the butt hardened and polished to match the rest. Then the whole was passed over to the leather workers who also worked for the Ironworks for the leather bindings and scabbard. Only when it was returned did it get it’s final sharpen and a final polish. The work was done and now it lacked only the customers review.

[Archon]

Illumination of Development Eanos +5 Weaponsmithing +1 Drawing +1 Auristics Lores: Construction: Unique Blade, Customer's wants Vs needs, Making a strong blade Other Rewards: The blade is well crafted and very solid, and with the help of Izentor the edge is very sharp and cuts more easily than a regular blade would. Care to see more? : This thread was all about the smithing, so the bulk of your experience is there, with small amounts for Drawing and Auristics for your use of them in assisting the process. Notes: A nicely done thread, you clearly have taken the time to research and write out the process of smithing. There were a couple times where it felt a bit repetitive, but overall quite good.