[S/C] Mastication Numérique

[Elkeid]

Elkeid was out on vacation, exploring Avon Valley when she got the news that a few of the crafting classes had been merged together. Pharmacists and Brewers could now craft each other's wares, and the same was said of Artisans and Woodcrafters. Elkeid wasn’t sure how to take this at first, but little Sorrel, despite having none of the crafting classes listed above, was downright ecstatic. Elk herself was still on the fence. Sure, it gave them more to do, and they had blurred the lines a few times, but the specialization that she favored… Bluh. That was not going to stop her from engaging in the shenanigans, though. Why not accept it and just get busy already? Besides, it would be a nice way to boost up her crafting class. Level twenty five was nice and all, but it was definitely not as high as she would like it.

She pawned Sorrel off on some Lander children while she sat down on a work bench, a little too overwhelmed by the options in front of her to begin immediately. What should she start on, first? Beginner equipment, beginner control bar & pierro, wooden musical instruments… it was too much. So instead of frantically overthinking things, Elk just closed her eyes and took controlled breaths as she went over the simpler recipes in her head. The simpler instruments, walls and special martial arts weapons came to mind, except she could only think of staffs for the last. When Elk opened her eyes, she was determined to just make a simple wall. All it required was some old planks, glue and sandpaper. How hard could that be? 'It's a shame that Renai isn't here…' He had been a Woodcrafter for far longer than she, and probably could have given a few pointers. It was a shame she had not seen him in a while, but alas.

Feeling somewhat uncomfortable with the small group of people working nearby, Elkeid took out the needed materials to construct a wall - three old planks, one container of old glue, and some old sandpaper. Hmm… Should she sandpaper the planks before gluing them together, or save that for after she was done? A bead of sweat ran down the back of her neck. She felt in over her head, but if she did not at least try, how would she learn?

Elk picked up one of the old planks, and using the sandpaper, she smoothed both sides and the edges. The formerly rough and uneven texture felt much better in her hands when she was done, though by the third they were starting to ache from the friction and monotonous movement. Still, she persevered, and continued until all of the old planks were well sanded and smooth to the touch. She felt confident that her work was adequate, though that may be due to her already higher level in Artisan. The results more than likely would have been shabbier if she was level ten or something.

Lastly, it came time to put all of this wood together, which she prepped for by uncapping the glue and standing one of the planks on its end. She then carefully lined the top side with glue, and placed the edge of the second on top of it. Elkeid held the planks together for almost a minute as she waited for the glue to settle in and stick, almost wishing that she had called Sorrel over to help her - not that it would have mattered much, anyway. The little runt had ducked off with his newfound friends to screw around out of sight.

Feeling a little flustered now, Elkeid shakily removed her hands from the fused plank, and began adding glue to the topmost one. The final plank was added soon afterwards, and the final piece was steadied until the glue dried. A little fearful of her wall coming apart, though, Elkeid held on for almost an extra minute until she was confident that it was sturdy, and then set the wall down on the floor, propping it up against her work bench. She had casually placed it there so that the other group would have a much harder time peeking at her work, but also to make coloring the wall black with charcoal an easier task. The finishing touches she added to it was the silhouette of a dragon's side in white. 'Phase one is a go,' she thought with some relief. That was only the tip of the iceberg, of course. There was so much more that needed to be done here.

coded by benetnasch of THQ / ET

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[attr="class","alkaid"]

Muse:
Mastication Numérique

Notes:
Making a wall.

Tags:
Elkeid

Words:
766

[Elkeid]

Okay, that was one item out of ten items done, leaving… nine more to go. Whoop. Well, eight, if she couldn't get the simple locking mechanism for the locked door. Wait. Hiro was a mechanic, right? She could just ask him, assuming she could find the little squirt, anyway. For now, though… it was best to focus on objects that she could make on her own. Elkeid was going to bump up the difficulty a notch, by going straight for beginner equipment. This was going to be a doozy, wasn't it? 'People do like their weapons, though.' Perhaps she could start with a bow and some arrows? It would be just like carving stone… sort of.

Elk set down her two old planks and old glue, and suddenly had the urge to make a shield instead. That was simpler, right? She just had to… carve it right… Putting her ideas of making a bow and arrows aside, Elk sighed softly as she fondled one of the long planks of wood, and set it down again to pluck her wood carving tool from her pocket. She had a rough visualization of - oh hold on. She should at least make a rough sketch of this damn thing, before she started carving and neeping shit up.

She took out a piece of paper and a pen, and began sketching a large shield - one of those tower shields that Guardians used. Elk immediately thought of Ox, but seriously doubted that the man would like her first shitty shield. Why would he, when he had a nice metallic one from Caer? It was odd how disappointed she felt by this revelation, but she shrugged the discomfort off as she continued to draw the shield. Satisfied with its appearance after a bit of tweaking and twerking, Elkeid picked up her carving tool. She gently caressed the plank, before rudely slicing off an ugly gnarl in the wood. Somewhere, a man was reading this and cringing as they felt sympathy pangs in their groin.

coded by benetnasch of THQ / ET

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Muse:
Fancy

Notes:
The beginning of a crummy shield.

Tags:
Elkeid

Words:
339

[Elkeid]

Elkeid carved more and more of the wood, trying to get the basic shape down pat - for one side of the shield, anyway. The planks by themselves just were not big enough to do what she wanted to accomplish, so she would glue the halves together once she was done. For now, she focused on carving and shaping one side. This side was curved on the outside, but straight on the other - or would be, once she was done with it.

One of the many things she was learning today was that wood was a bit harder to carve than clay or stone. Maybe that was because she was dealing with a new material, or the fact that wood "shaved" when you carved it, and finely, too. Clay and stone just felt so much better in her hands. This wood was pretty old too, which was annoying in of itself. She also had to be careful of accidentally cutting herself with the tool or sharpened curve of the wood. Alas, she did not make it out unscathed; her hand slipped and she nicked herself with the tool, an incident that was followed with some light cursing and finger sucking. Even as a Monk, sharp things could still sting like a son of a bitch. She took out a rag and ripped it into strips, which she then eloquently tied around her injured hand. She wasn't going to let a little cut interfere with her work.

The Monk exercised more caution when she began on the adjoining side, the carving for this one seeming more smooth and less bloodier (as in not bloody at all, in fact) than the other. It was a success, in other words. All that was left for her to do now was to combine the two pieces, which should be the easiest part of this entire craft. It was just gluing, right?

coded by benetnasch of THQ / ET

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[attr="class","alkaid"]

Muse:
What Does My Girl Say?

Notes:
Still working on that shield. ;;.

Tags:
Elkeid

Words:
318

[Elkeid]

Elk was in the process of arranging the pieces of carved wood side by side, when she realized that she had not carved a handhold. That's what it was called, right? Whatever. Sorrel would probably know more about it than her. The little werecat was a Guardian, after all, but this shield was clearly too large for him to handle on his own. It was a tower shield intended for a man of Oxford's stature, so it completely dwarfed the little werecat. While Elk had no doubt that he might be able to (somehow) carry it, thanks to the way strength worked in this game, it would still be unwieldy for someone of his frame.

She picked up her carving tool, and began carving out a deep groove near the straight sides of each piece. It was a bit difficult to smooth it down, and took a few extra minutes, but by the time she was done, Elk was pleased with the result. It wasn't as good as it could have been, but oh well. Now she could actually piece the lot together, and be done with this dumb thing forever... okay, not forever. She should be prudent and practice equipment reforging, too.

The straight edges of the shield were laced with glue, and then promptly stuck together. Much like the wall she had constructed earlier, Elk held the ends together for a full minute, until she was content that the damn thing would not fall apart on her. It was all around an okay shield, but far from spectacular. Elkeid placed it down, directly in front of the work bench from the other side. Now she was protected from onlookers on two sides - for now, anyway. There was that whole reforge thing to look into, so that shield would not be sitting there for very long.

coded by benetnasch of THQ / ET

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Muse:
Bonnie & Clyde

Notes:
Finsihed making the shield.

Tags:
Elkeid

Words:
308

[Elkeid]

Okay, so how did reforging work? Elkeid took out the recipe and looked it over. It... had the same exact requirements needed to make the damn beginner equipment, but apparently took less time to complete? Ugh. This was so stupid. So she just had to make the same exact shield over again, or...? Elk was beginning to feel flustered again, but this time not out of confusion, but annoyance. All this to just give this dumb thing an effect. Passive health regeneration sounded good for a shield, right? Right. She had no idea if she was supposed to call forth the voodoo magic to accomplish this, but eh. She would work something out.

Elk picked up her newly forged shield, and basically pulled it apart again. She picked up a "fresh" old plank, and laid it beneath the other. With a piece of charcoal, she did her best to outline the piece, and then did the same for the other half, with an equally "fresh" plank. Holy crap this was dumb. It was so dumb. Was reforging this painful for the other crafters? Is this what she subjected the crafters she employed in the past to?! This was horrible, and really weird. As soon as she was able to, she would be speed crafting beginner equipment and reforges. No one should be subjected to this nonsense, unless they were making works of art (display things, not weapons and armor).

Elkeid squinted down at the rough outlines of the shield halves. She deemed them acceptable as crafting test dummies. It was her first time, spent on making something she really had no use for. It was definitely being stored in someone's (most likely hers) attic when she was done. Or perhaps a basement... if she could find a nice place with one, anyway.

coded by benetnasch of THQ / ET

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Muse:
Artificial Nocturne

Notes:
Part one of reforge complete. Now for phase 2...

Tags:
Elkeid

Words:
302

[Elkeid]

Now that the same exact shield that she had just turn put together, only to tear apart again was... well, split in half, Elkeid could put it all back together again. Whoop de neeping doo. Had she mentioned before how weird this whole process was? But no, she just had to pander to the sliver of a chance that the new customers would come rushing in for her mad new woodcrafting skills. Word. This was the biz nasty - no. She wasn't going to go there. She wasn't an ironic and blonde thirteen year old, who wore shades to hide the red eyes he was insecure about. She was an adult.

Elkeid resisted the urge to yawn as she lined the straight sides of the shield with the old glue. It occurred to her then that she had formed a heart shape shield, which was still a little rough around the edges. She should fix that, and would have, had she not already glued the ends together. Whoops. It wasn't too late to fix, though, even if she could just leave it like that for the sake of "artistic license."

After the two ends were firmly glued together, Elkeid sat the completed shield up, and began carving and smoothing down the edges with her wood carving tool. She of course had to add the groove for the handhold, but that was not as hard as it had previously been. It, in her opinion, came out much better. Now, all she had to do was - just how many times had that phrase been tossed about during her crafting session, anyway? - was work out the reforge effect. If she was alone and prone to silliness, she would have curved her fingers towards her palms, and then waved her hands around, going "ooga booga!" But nope. The recipe said that the effect was random, anyway, which was fine with her.

coded by benetnasch of THQ / ET

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Muse:
Independent Women p1

Notes:
And done with reforge stuff.

Tags:
Elkeid

Words:
319

[Elkeid]

[attr="class","roadhead"]

In any case, one of the harder crafts was finally out of the way, which gave Elk some freedom to screw around with something far less stressful. She briefly considered updating the wall, Private Eyes, that Renai had crafted for her ages ago, but she honestly lacked the ability to focus on another tedious task. She wanted to do something… fun and relaxing, like paint a pretty picture or sculpt something out of clay or rock. Unfortunately, Artisan crafts were not on the menu for today. She wanted to get at least half of these recipes for woodcrafter done, so that she could speedily craft them later.

After a bit of digging through the recipes, Elk settled on one in particular - sliding wooden doors. It required one old plank, one old glue, and one old sandpaper, along with the choice of one of three objects, two of which she did not have immediate access to. Those were parchment and a soft blanket, made by scribes and tailors. That third object, available to her class, was a mere painting.

Elkeid could feel her body relaxing as she took out a few pieces of charcoal and a blank canvas. She was going to draw something that went well with the wall she had made earlier. Said wall had been colored over with black charcoal, and had the design of a dragon etched into it with white charcoal. She would likely color the sliding wooden door in a similar manner, and decided to go ahead and base the painting on that theme. This drawing could contain the dragon's eye.

She started with the very basic shape of the dragon's eye, which included the curve and outline, and then gradually worked her way up to the finer details. The woman softly hummed to herself as she worked. The eye was going to be a vibrant shade of red once she was done sketching it. She intended to place it so that it would startle whomever slid the door open - it would be like a frightening welcome from an irate dragon. This was mostly for Sorrel's "benefit". She did not imagine that she would have many visitors at her newly acquired homes, and the little werecat was such a nosy scamp.

The Monk / Artisan paused for a few moments to gauge the state of her art, and after adding a few tweaks here and there, she rummaged around for her paint set. The eye, in a matter of twenty minutes, went from white and dull, to red and mesmerizing. It could have been even better, if only she had access to superior materials. It would do for what she had in mind, though. Sufficiently satisfied with the painting, and unable to improve upon it further without ruining it, Elkeid leaned it against her seat. Now it was time to craft the actual sliding door, so that she could mount the painting within it. This hopefully would not take her too long to complete.

coded by benetnasch of THQ / ET

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Muse:
Make Love

Notes:
Nej.

Tags:
Elkeid

Words:
501

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[Elkeid]

[attr="class","roadhead"]

Elkeid cracked her knuckles together, now gazing upon the "fresh" materials scattered about her work bench. It was the standard wood crafting materials, including the completed painting of the dragon's eye. She decided to start with the base of the sliding door - or frame. That worked too, she supposed.

She picked up the old plank, laid it neatly on the table in front of her, and then karate chopped the neeper in half. It was a rather neat break, though she would still be sure to smooth it down after the whole thing was constructed- or perhaps even sooner. She picked up both pieces, one by one, to give them a thorough once over. One looked all right in her eyes, but the other had a few splinters and a rather rough edge. Elkeid set down the okay looking half, and began carving off the splintered bits with her carving tool. After that part was sorted out, the woman used the sandpaper to smooth the edges down. She would have stopped there, but went ahead and smoothed down the other half, too.

As she looked at her broken, but smoothed halves of wood, she realized it was probably a good idea that her painting was long enough to be considered a canvas tapestry - assuming that was a thing, anyway. So it was not an actual sliding door, but the painting would give her the false security of being one. Oh well. She could just place it in an area that did not require much privacy, like the living room or something. Or put it outside her door or work area, mostly to tease Sorrel.

Elk broke the halves down a few more times, and sanded those, too. This seemed like it would be a much easier process than making that shield, especially since she just needed to glue the pieces in the right places. Of course, she had to properly arrange them first, which was probably the easiest way to go about it. She neatly rearranged the pieces until she was one hundred percent satisfied with what she had, and then picked up the glue. It was time to get serious.

Each piece was carefully laced with glue, and then slowly assembled them, one by one, together. When she was done, all that remained was the painting, the ends of which she gingerly applied glue to affixed to the contours of the sliding door's frame. She stood the frame up and placed it against her recently crafted wall, and practiced opening and closing the "door" a few times. The way it worked, the painting would not be visible unless it was pulled closed, and would disappear from sight when it was slid open. Elk considered this to be perfect, and one final adjustment later, her sliding door contraption was complete.

Of course, that meant that her work area was now more than a bit crowded, so Elkeid went ahead and stored the heart shield, her wall, and the sliding door into her inventory. It was getting a little late, though, so she might pack up entirely and head home for the day.

coded by benetnasch of THQ / ET

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[attr="class","alkaid"]

Muse:
Sni Bong

Notes:
Sliding door thingy.

Tags:
Elkeid

Words:
524

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