The Danger In Starting a Fire [Closed]

[Eadon]

Ever since arriving in Elder Tale, there had been two things that Eadon had missed more than anything from the old world. The first was his metalworking classes, one of the only things he had truly enjoyed about high school in the British Isles. The other was his fencing foil. Before the Apocalypse, Eadon had lived on the tiny Isle of Skye, and spent a good deal of his free time learning the art of fencing from a bored old man who lived in the nearby castle, along with some of the other local children. At the time, it had seemed like a complete waste. The geezer had charged an arm and a leg for the privilege, and swore almost as badly. Still, Eadon had been fascinated by the swords and the elegance of the sport and, unlike in many of his other endeavours, been a most apt pupil.  Now, trapped in a world of fantasy that was so breathtakingly beautiful as to be mistaken for reality itself, he was immensely grateful that he had put up with the old windbag. Unlike many, he at least had an idea of how to use the unwieldy long sword strapped across his back.  The young sorcerer frowned, eyeing said weapon critically, "You really are a piece of junk, aren't you," he asked it, eyes going over the various imperfections and flaws in its design. "Not that I could do much better, mind," he added, almost as an afterthought. Thinking about it though, Eadon realised that he could do a lot better. The longsword was a weapon all about brute force. Unelegant and ungainly, it was something that he was not trained at all to use. A foil, though... Logically speaking, a foil in its form from the real world would be absolutely useless as a weapon in a fantasy themed MMO game. Eadon really did miss the light-weight blade, even so. The foil had not sprung into being fully formed in the mid twentieth century, however. It had been based off of a far older, and much more effective sword, a rapier.  Eadon had only used one of the old style swords a handful of times, but for actual usability, and the ability to actually utilise his existing sword knowledge from his time fencing, it would make a much more effective weapon than the one he carried now. Rapiers were very similar in usage to a long sword, if a tiny bit heavier overall. In reality, this trait wasn't exactly a negative. Ultimately, it did add the advantage of the rapier actually being useful as a weapon, because that weight made it a lot less durable and unlikely to break than the foil was. Comparatively the long sword was a fine weapon, but hardly one suited for a person trained in the usage of significantly lighter and more elegant weapons. Tapping a hand idly on the hilt of said weapon, Eadon yawned and got to his feet. He was sure that with a bit of patience and some hard work crafting a basic low level rapier wasn't going to be too horribly difficult or time consuming. It would also serve the dual purpose of making for some good training for his blacksmithing level, meaning in future he could upgrade even more of his equipment and gear, to higher level items. Mind made up, the young red-headed adventurer headed to the markets and quickly acquired all of the ingredients he would need to make a sword, and add some basic enchantments to it. splurging a few of his starter gold on something that would hopefully make a worthwhile investment down the line. Even if it didn't, he could definitely use the experience points towards his blacksmith level. Struck by another thought, Eadon grabbed a few extra materials. He wasn't sure if it would work, but he figured it was definitely worth a try. All stocked up and with a new found desire to test out some of the crafting skills in Elder Tale, had resulted in him finding himself in one of the dingier areas of St. Pancreas Station. He had been told by one of the helpful people of the land that one of the local blacksmiths here would happily loan out access to his forge, in exchange for said person doing some grunt work around the smithy for him. It had been the same kind of deal back in the real world when he was making silly little paperweights in his metalworking classes, Eadon mused. So long as he helped to keep the lab neat and tidy, he could be as creative as he wanted and use all the various devices. Strictly supervised, of course. Knowing the people of the land, this blacksmith would likely be just as accommodating. If Eadon helped him out, he would hopefully help Eadon out with his need for a forge and access to the tools found only in a well stocked shop. The various tools and such that there was no way he could afford, without some serious saving. Now there was just the problem of finding him. Which you know. Was a whole lot easier said than actually done. There was also apparently a free player accessible forge somewhere more central in the crafting district, but Eadon had purposefully avoided it for this first project of his. If he was going to make a complete and utter fool out of himself, he intended to do it with at least a modicum of privacy, where no one else could see him messing things up royally. He could go there for his next project, for sure. Nodding to himself, with his mind made up, Eadon promised that he wouldn't hide from prying eyes in future. Let them all see his work. Just not this time, he thought, smiling. This time he would mess up all he wanted and see just how good he was as a blacksmith. "Just my luck, lost already..." Eadon grumbled to himself as he slowly drifted back to reality, staring around the station with a chagrined look, "where on earth is that blacksmiths' shop I was looking for anyways."

WORDS: 1027 TAGS: Eadon SONG: The Danger In Starting a Fire NOTES: A solo crafting thread. This should hopefully get me somewhere alright, with my blacksmith level.

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[Eadon]

Glancing along the section of the St. Pancras station that he had found himself in, Eadon could easily understand how it was that he had become lost. He could also readily understand why an NPC found here in this dive, would happily exchange the use of a forge for some grunt work. The place was absolutely filthy, everything covered in what seemed to be years of built up grime, soot and who knows what else. Gritting his teeth and trying to block out the various pieces of unwanted information assailing his senses, Eadon purposefully checked each shopfront, trying to pick which one would be the blacksmith shop. 'C'mon, finding a blacksmith shouldn't be this hard right," Eadon said frustratedly, eyes futilely roaming the street for any sign of the yet to be seen forge. Struck by a thought, he realised something. Knowing his abysmal luck, his destination was no doubt the filthiest, grimiest and most downright disgusting place in the entire area. Eyes homing in on a shopfront that looked like someone had dropped some kind of bomb on it, Eadon approached it warily. This was likely to be his best bet. He would just have to put up with the horrible conditions, and the no doubt rather intense cleaning he would need to do. Privacy from prying eyes did have its costs, after all. Other than him, and the occasional person ducking their head out from a shop as he passed, the area was as good as deserted.  "Well, here goes nothing," Eadon said to himself, coming to a stop outside the shop he had spotted from further up the street. Up close, it was even dingier than he had thought it would be. Taking a deep breath, he stepped inside. It was a forge alright, and the interior was, thankfully, a lot cleaner than the exterior. Though that was all a matter of perspective. Anywhere else, and this forge would have stuck out like a sore thumb as the most dire one of its kind anywhere in the entire Elder Tale universe.  Spotting the blacksmith, Eadon approached cautiously. "Uh, excuse me," he started politely, voice raised to be heard above the sounds of a clanging hammer, "word is you will let people use your forge, if we agree to do a bit of cleaning for you? I was hoping to take you up on the offer. My name is Eadon, sir." The sound of the hammer stopped, Eadon's critical eye noting that the work being done by the smith was of a much higher quality than anything he could hope to achieve. Yet, at least. Apparently outward appearances could be deceiving. He wouldn't doubt it for a second, were he to be told that the smith working in this tiny little wreck of a shop was one of the best NPC crafters in the entirety of London. The smith eyed him carefully, as though appraising whether or not Eadon was worth his time. "Eadon, are ye? Yer an adventurer, ain't you kid," the older man mused, as though contemplating something. His voice was a thick Scottish brogue, but Eadon with his own Scottish roots could decipher it easily enough. "That I am, sir," Eadon admitted readily enough, "though not that great of a blacksmith just yet." "Tell ye what kid, s'long as ye come back and listen ta what I haf te tell ye when ye be makin' things, yer welcome to use me shop any time, hear," the smith said, a twinkle in his eye, "I've been needin' meself an apprentice, like. ye can git this place into tip top shop, fer me and ye can use the forge all ye like. Me name be Reid, though ye can keep callin' me sir all ye like." "it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Reid," Eadon said, glad that what he had been told was true. This person of the land would hopefully be of great help in his work learning to make weapons and armour, to kit out himself and other adventurers. Starting with a nice simple rapier, of course. "Well dun jus' stand there Eadon, git to work, ye hear?" Reid said, eyes twinkling with mirth, "yer here to make somethin' ain't ye, so git to it." Nodding, Eadon headed over to the forge and dumped his materials on to one of the nearby work surfaces. The first step would be getting the forge hot enough, to make the metal nice and soft like he would need it to be in order to make something from it. Grabbing some of the coal he had brought with him, Eadon kitted himself out with some protective gear before approaching the forge and gingerly placing the coal into the forge, watching as it lit up to make a nice hot blaze for him to work with. Just like metalworking back in school. Except you know, with a big blazing furnace in the middle of the room.  Strangely enough, Eadon's body seemed to move almost of it's own accord, following the actions he needed to in order to fan the flames and get the forge nice and hot enough to melt the iron ore he had brought. It seemed that Elder Tale had programmed in some basic functions, making a lot of the skills work by instinct rather than through conscious thought and planning.  While he could definitely utilise those instincts, the young sorcerer realised that if he wanted to be truly great as a smith and a crafter he couldn't rely on them forever. He would need to be able to learn to do this all on his own without any help, using only his own brain and his own hands, rather than some half remembered basic idea of how to do something implanted by a game designer. It was a challenge well worth it in the end, Eadon thought with satisfaction, and now he had a real life blacksmith teacher to help him iron out any mistakes he was no doubt going to make along the way.

WORDS: 1009 TAGS: Eadon SONG: The Danger In Starting a Fire NOTES: And he found the NPC, and the smithy. Now to actually make the rapier, then enchant it and finish it be nice and awesome.

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[Eadon]

With the forge nice and hot, Eadon could begin the process of making the rapier itself. While he was by no means an expert on the art of sword making, he at least understood a few of the more basic principles of how to fauld the iron and the coal to make a nice strong block of steel, that could then be turned into the sword itself. What he couldn't do on his own, the instincts he had gained from entering into the world of Elder Tale would fill in the blanks.  Eadon would do his best to memorise those instincts, and turn them into actual skills he possessed himself, rather than by rote. Learning to forge a sword on his own was a skill that could prove invaluable in this world, especially when he got to a point where he could forge higher level gear and more intricate equipment. Placing the low leveled iron he had purchased earlier into the forge, Eadon let it slowly melt and merge with the carbon from the coal, and form steel, slowly faulding the block over and over again, to make a nice, long and thin block of metal to work with that was in the rough shape of what he wanted. The forging process took hours, during which Eadon completely blocked out most of the world around him, instead focused solely on the task in front of him. Reid occasionally interjected, offering advice to the young would-be smith that was now under his wing. The older NPC was otherwise content to watch though, secretly pleased at the devotion with which Eadon threw himself at the task. Hopefully one day the younger Scotsman would make a great swordsmith, And he could then tell the world about how he had been the master, to his new protege. After all, everyone knew that adventurers could easily out do even the most seasoned and experienced of the people of the land, if they actually stopped and put their minds to it. It was a sad truth, but a truth none-the-less. He wouldn't be surprised if this youngling could learn more about smithing than he had in his first few months as an apprentice, in just this first day. Several hours of work later and with the metal still hot, and having been faulded a good dozen times in the forge, Eadon decided he was ready to start the actual work on it. Glancing up at his mostly quiet mentor, Eadon blinked a few times. He was absolutely covered in soot from his work, with thin trails of sweat breaking it up across his face. "You're pretty quiet there, Reid," Eadon commented, more curious to see if what he had done was wrong somehow than anything, "is there a particular reason why?" The old man paused, before answering. "Well, son. t's been a while' since I seen anyone so pashinit 'bout their work, ya see..." the master finally said, before turning back to his own project, "keep at it, boy. I expect ta see tha' sword of yers dun by sunset." Eadon nodded, taking a deep breath before plunging back into the job before him. Slowly, he started  by hammering the still red hot metal into as straight and perfect a shape as he could manage. It irked him that it was still not quite right, but it was by no means poor workmanship either. Once he was done with the hammer, he grabbed some grinding stones, slowly grinding away the excess metal to put an edge on the blade. The grinding process was just as important if not more so than the forging one, a proper blade needing countless hours to get the edge just right, using progressively finer abrasives. It was also the most dangerous part in any project, where a sword could be ruined if the smith didn't use the right abrasive, or rushed the process. You needed to take your time with it. Eadon grunted. It certainly felt like he had been grinding away for hours, and the blade was still not quite right with the edge on it. Then again, it was said that no smith was ever perfectly satisfied with their work. It was still borderline passable, though. The sword actually looked like a rapier now, at any rate. It was decently balanced, if not to the level a true master of the craft could achieve, and had no majorly noticeable faults. Measuring the height of it against his own body, he was satisfied to find that it stood at about his navel in height, precisely where it should.  "Not half bad," Eadon said out loud, nodding to himself and humming happily, before quenching the blade for hopefully the final time and leaving it to cool while he got to work on a hilt. For the work of a complete novice such as himself, Eadon was immeasurably pleased with how his sword had turned out. The curve of the blade, the light weight of it. The fine balance and the delicate edge. It all felt like it would be perfect in his hands, much superior to the more common long sword he currently used. He almost couldn't contain the excitement and sheer wonder building in him at this act of creation. Soon, this sharpened piece of metal would be a weapon that was his, made with hos own sweat and tears. Compared to the blade, the hilt was child play. The young sorcerer quickly forged a nice simple, basket style hilt out of some excess iron scraps, bending them into place around the hilt as a handguard, before attaching the whole thing to the blade itself. "I think it's done now, sir," Eadon finally said, looking out of the shop window at the setting sun. Pausing on his own work, a set of mail armour, the smith looked over at the sword before nodding approvingly. "A lil' crude, youngin', but it is passable work." After another few seconds, he continued. "We ain't dun yet thou', Eadon me boy. Nay by a long shot. Now is tha part where I show ye the true art of tha blacksmith, the art of reforgin' tha blade to make it a true work of art."

WORDS: 1040 TAGS: Eadon SONG: Can't Catch Tomorrow NOTES: Sword, tick. Now to get to work on adding anice random enchant to it. A lot of work for a level 1 gear, but hopefully worth it, and a good learning experience.

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[Eadon]

Once he had it explained to him, Eadon quickly realised that this reforging idea was relatively simple. In essence, you reheated the blade to try and purge it of any impurities, before going over it again and honing the edge to be just right. According to Reid, when a blacksmith did this it was as though they had poured a tiny piece of their soul into the weapon or item, giving it properties above and beyond that of any normal equipment. The whole thing intrigued him. How did it work? What was involved? Did he really end up putting some of his soul into the weapon, when he reforged it to imbue it with magical properties? Hopefully he would be able to answer all of these questions and more once he truly had mastered the art of the blacksmith. For now though, he was but a mere apprentice working under a much more skilled teacher. In the world they had left behind, it had always been that way. Eadon had held a huge amount of respect for the teacher who taught his metalworking classes, putting up with all of the incessant questions that Eadon had constantly badgered him with and answering them with a smile. A vulnerable look came across Eadon's features, his eyes suddenly turned downcast. He would never see that teacher from his old school ever again. He would never again see his friends, or his family. This here, this game and this virtual reality, were his home now as much as that old world had been. It was still something he had not quite managed to wrap his head around. Would he one day forget the old world, and fully embrace the memories and ideas that were formed in this one? No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't bring himself to just forget. Maybe it would be easier, in a way. if he had no memories of the world from before, maybe it would not hurt so much to think of what had been left behind, and he could truly immerse himself here in Elder Tale and form his own legend. "I should never forget," Eadon muttered under his breath, quiet enough to make sure that the older blacksmith didn't hear, "even if it's only a single memory, I should hold onto that past. For in the end, that's the real me. This me is just another part of a virtual world." Putting the morbid thoughts out of his mind, Eadon returned his full attention to the task at hand. When he first placed the blade back into the forge, adding more coal and more iron ore as necessary, Eadon was worried that he would completely ruin all of the work he had done on the weapon up until now. Calm down, this is necessary, he told his subconscious, putting the thoughts into the back of his mind where they wouldn't interrupt him in his work. Pulling the blade from the embers, Eadon took it back to to the anvil where he hammered out a few of the tiny little bends and warps the blade had developed the first time he had forged it. This done, it was back to the whetstone with the sword and to the various polishing and grinding stones to rehone the edge, hopefully this time imparting some of that blacksmith magic into the blade. While doing so, he thought about just what kind of magic he wanted to impart into the weapon. He wanted the sword, this rapier he was putting so much time and so much of his soul into, to be more like him. Less a weapon of brute force, and more a weapon of magic and finesse. Eadon let a smile of bemusement sneak onto his soot stained face. That would certainly be something. One of the rarer effects that Reid had told him about was for a sword to deal damage in the form of magic, rather than physical damage. He wasn't quite sure how it would work, but it seemed like precisely the kind of effect he should hope for in his weapon, if he as the creator had any say in it at all. Even more hours passed, as he slowly rehoned the edge, making the blade sharper, lighter and even stronger than it had been when it had initially been finished. While still a humble thing, made from poor materials and suited only for a low level adventurer like him, it was his. "Almost done, little sword," Eadon whispered to it, slowly going over the edge with yet another grade of sandpaper, "soon you will be done, and we can go slay monsters and explore this world together, at least for a little while." For that was the truth. No matter how much time, effort and love went into the making of this one sword, it like everything else he currently owned would be replaced by stronger, faster and better equipment as time went on. Even so, this sword would always have a place in his heart. It would be the first he would pour a piece of his soul into.

WORDS: 858 TAGS: Eadon SONG: The Danger In Starting a Fire NOTES: The sword is almost done. One more post, and we will finally get there with our 5 post requirement. :D Blue, I'm so sorry for leaving you out for so much of this, I feel kind of bad. My muse has been yelling at me to write in this thread all day, and I couldn't deny it for long. If you prefer, we can run another thread together? I can make you something cool, to make up for it. You are of course still more than welcome to post in here if you want to. <3

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[Eadon]

How long Eadon had been working without even thinking about such trivial things as food, water, sleep and the like, he had no idea. Somehow, at the moment it felt as though his body could subsist itself simply on the act of creation, and through the liberal use of the forge and the other tools of smith. He could vaguely recall being physically removed from the forge, sat down at a cheery table looking over the station with a checked cloth over it, and some bread and water being thrust at him, as well as a damp cloth to remove the worst of the grime several times through that long day. Obviously someone was looking out for his wellbeing, and Eadon vaguely suspected that it was Reid, no doubt silently watching on through his obsession with this project with mild amusement. He smiled ruefully. No doubt his lack of accessing all the base necessities of life for such an extended period would come back to haunt him once he was finished, but for now it seemed an insignificant detail, as sand before the wind. The slight rumble of his body insisting food, and the parched feeling on his tongue were easily ignored, in favour of finally finishing his first ever weapon as a certified blacksmith. The feeling was intoxicating. Something that Eadon could definitely get very used to. he couldn't wait to make other things, new inventions, innovations and devices. New armour and gear. It was all possible, and only required a bit of imagination, sweat and hard work to make it happen. Taking a step out into the night air, Eadon held his new, lovingly crafted, rapier in front if him in wonder, swinging it a few times to get a feel for the blade. Compared to the cramped and dirty interior of the forge, now coated in an even thicker layer of soot and grime than it had been in the morning, the dingy back street of the St Pancras Station here was pure bliss. Breathing in deeply, Eadon let a smile make it's way onto his face. It was freezing, outside. He wouldn't be entirely surprised if the night brought frost, or maybe even snow. It was strangely refreshing though, after the heat fro inside the smithy he had been cooped up inside all day.  He had definitely found a new love, in this world. Smithing in the old world was done by machines, and in factories in far off countries, but here in Elder Tale he could make the things himself. One day, he might forge a blade that would change the very fabric of this universe. It was both terrifying, and exciting, all at once. He looked forwards to the challenge. The rapier he now held was a fairly plain thing, even if lovingly crafted, Eadon thought, examining his work critically in the dim light. The blade was long and roughly made, but would no doubt do the job, and the basket hilt little more than a nest of wires to protect the wielders hand. To anyone but him, it would likely appear plain and relatively non-interesting, but to him it was beautiful in its own strange way. "What should I name you," he asked it, examining the blade carefully once more and mind lost in the clouds thinking of a suitable name for his first ever completed weapon. Inspiration was slow to come, but when it did it was perfect. "Your name will be Lugus, little sword," Eadon told it confidently, the name perfect in his mind, "it was the name of the ancient Celtic god of creation and learning, and that is exactly what you are and what you will hopefully lead to." Suddenly exhausted, Eadon covered his mouth to conceal a huge yawn, before slumping against the wall next to the shop, his eyes droopy. It was like this, all but fast asleep and with his new sword propped besides him, that the old blacksmith Reid found him several minutes later. Taking pity on the adventurer, he swiftly lifted him up before carrying him upstairs and dropping him into one of the spare rooms in his home, above the forge. Normally he would never show his apprentices such care, but he figured he could let it slide just this once. Plus, he didn't want Eadon to have a rather rude awakening in the cathedral, sans some memories, come morning. It was freezing outside, and anyone would catch a cold in weather like that. The young sorcerer in question was too far gone to notice, mind instead lost to an entirely different fantasy world of dreams and dragons. A smile crept its way onto his face in his sleep. It was Britain, after all. There were surely dragons out there somewhere, He would just have to find one. Exhaustion did strange things to a persons mind. Reid listened to the mumbling, before quietly shutting the door, leaving the boy to his dreams of gallant knights and dragons and monsters.

WORDS: 836 TAGS: Eadon SONG: The Danger In Starting a Fire NOTES: Done! I guess me being tired somewhat, led to playing up on the exhaustion angle a bit too much. I think it reads alright, though! I love con-crit, so please tell me if you enjoyed this thread, guys! Adios, for now.

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