Flashback Manipulating Metal (Solo)

[Xalet]

51th day of Spring, 510AV It was a breezy Spring day, and Xalet had a meeting with a man whom was supposedly going to teach him various important shield techniques. The Knight, Ser Hallock, had supposedly becoming incredibly experienced in the use of nearly any shield completely independent on size or shape. Hallock was a shaggy, dark-haired man with similarly dark beady eyes almost always engaged in a squint. Coarse wrinkles had formed across his face from this consistent level of facial tension, however despite the narrowed eyes his vision was supposedly good enough to strike an opponent with a javelin at a full run from over fifty paces. Once Xalet was in attendance, the stocky Knight began his introduction, "G'day to you son, name's Brian Hallock and I'll be go--what in the name of Lhex's wits happened to your armor?!" He had arrived at a dead stop, walking forward toward the purple skinned Squire, the back of his hand rapping against a formidable dent that had found its way deep into the heart of the Akalak's cuirass. "Yes Ser. Sorry Ser. Got kicked by a mule." Xalet was quick with a response. For all the Squire was known for, exaggeration and deceit was not within his means of communication. "Well, I should damn sure you did! Gads, straight in the heart he got ya eh? Musta been Izurdin's mule, it was. We're going to postpone the shield lesson for the moment and get your chestplate back into service. Follow me, there's an anvil I often use back at the 'works. Workin' steel cold ain't too hard, and it's something you'll need to learn so we can keep what you've got in top shape. Follow me Squire." the man swept his hand in a gesture that beckoned Xalet, which saw the Squire responding promptly as the two headed over toward the Ironworks.

[Xalet]

"Welcome to the forge, m'boy. Every Squire should spend at least a little time here. You young folk get the throw backs when it comes to armor, but that don't mean the stuff is shyke. If you take care of it, armor can last a man's lifetime. In fact the gorget I wear was me fathers, and still works as well as the day it was forged. Step up to the anvil here son, take a gander and listen to me words." said the elder Knight. Once both members of the Knighthood stood before the rough hewn slab of shaped metal that made up the anvil, securely tightly to a massive block, he began pointing out the various parts to the object. "In smithy work t'aint no more valuable a tool than the anvil, cept maybe a man's hammer. May look odd shaped and unwieldy, but the thing be made in such a way so's it can be used for all smithing purposes. Go ahead and take your cuirass off and we'll get to fixin' it." Ser Hallock explained as he pulled up a stool to sit down upon. Xalet did as he was told, unbuckling the sides to his clam-shell style cuirass. With the side peeled open he slipped it up and over his head with ease, leaving the hefty piece of steel to clamor down upon the anvil. Hallock in the meantime was selecting an appropriate hammer for the job. "Now this piece here be the horn..." the man spoke as he wiped a small bead of sweat from his forehead, the overall heat of the nearby forge made the ambient air temperature a fair bit hotter than the coolness of the outside spring climate. Opening the shell of the cuirass fully, the Knight laid the dented portion down upon the curved protrusion on the anvil and prepared his hammer. With a careful eye he seemed to appraise the depth and direction of the curve, but once the estimation was made his hammer came down swiftly and smashed into the cuirass, almost as a weapon would. It was interesting to watch a hammer not damage, but repair that which was meant to protect Xalet's body from the very thing swinging upon it now. "That's the way she goes, look at that right there son, coming along nicely...here take a seat hold the piece here, grab the hammer..." Hallock swapped his seating arrangement with the Squire, handing the tool over to him along with informing him of where to hold his curiass secure as it went through the reshaping process. A bit hesitantly Xalet raised the hammer, unsure of exactly where to strike, but luckily the experienced Knight pointed out his beginning blows with his finger, leaving the Squire to slowly begin to pick up exactly how a shape was made utilizing an anvil. "Right, right see...follow the curve. You know how it should look, you worn it long enough. Now move that cuirass over a bit and continue the curve. Don't be afraid of hitting it, you're moving steel here, you can't be gentle. There ya go m'boy..."

[Xalet]

"It's looking...quite a bit dented still Ser..." Xalet commented as his hand continued to raise the hammer up and slam it down onto the slowly shapening metal. Each strike from the hammer left small markings, which clearly was the 'dents' the Squire was alluding to. In fact, for all Xalet knew of armor, its construction was something he knew nothing about. How exactly DID armor become so smooth and flawless he wondered? The answer was forthcoming. "Ye doubt your Knight, m'boy? It's all part of the process, looky here. When something gets shaped, you'll get the markings of the shaping process upon the metal. That's what we call an armor that be 'rough', or 'rough from the hammer'. To finish a piece you need a file 'an wire brush. You file her down until it's smooth, then brush it out for a shine. The shine ain't just for looks. You notice when armor gets wet an' mucked up it gets all rusted? It'd be far worse if the armor wasn't finished. Rust collects on unfinished piece, but not as much on a mirror shine. Some wicked magic in the air I suspect." whether it was true or not, the Knight seemed satisfied enough with his answer. A lifetime of dealing with metal, rust, and moisture had taught him that somehow they effected one another, he just wasn't exactly sure how. Xalet was starting to become more comfortable with his hammer blows, but his complacency started causing the strikes to become more solid than was needed, the Knight was quick to point out this fault, "Not too hard now! Just enough to make the metal move, don't need much more. Not only will it overdo the process but yur hands will pay the price in the future, believe that. Now go back over the shaping, I see a few flat spots, we want to ensure the whole piece has the proper curve." the keen eyes of the squinted Knight were quick to notice areas of hammering inconsistencies. Areas that Xalet had to replace upon the horn and take extra care in hammering the second time around. "Let me get something here while you work on that..." started Hallock, digging through some various tools until he finally pulled forth what appeared to be a blunted chisel. He kept it in hand until it appeared Xalet had progressed with his shaping far enough to warrant prepping the cuirass for the next step, "Fluting armor is what we do to make yur piece stronger, and to deflect blows more adequately. That curiass there had a fluting down it's middle, but it's all banged out from reshaping the breast plate. We'll need to chisel it back into place, and yur gonna do it with this. Now take care, I'll show you where to hit, and what to hit on, but you'll need to understand how hard to hit. Ya start light see, then get harder until you figure out what you need to make the metal move."

[Xalet]

Just behind the horn of the anvil lie a special block utilized for chiseling. Although the Knight had no intention of having Xalet hit hard enough to split metal, the man in his wisdom felt it best to teach the Squire where to utilize the anvil correctly should he utilize a chisel in the future. Gripping the cuirass in his hand, Hallock split open the interior fully so just the chest made contact with the block. Preparing the very start of the fluting upon the block, Hallock handed the Squire the blunted chisel and prepared to hold the chestplate squarely in place with only his hands. "With hammer an' chisel you're going to start at the beginning of the flute that's left here, see? Start soft and slow, the metal will move. We wants that groove back as it was, but not too deep. Having it around will make the plate fit upon yur chest all the better as well m'boy. Give it a few thwacks." his head tilted forward in a nod as Xalet moved in to place the chisel down upon the groove. Taking a moment to line the hammer up squarely with the flat, squared top of the chisel, he brought it down and sent a quick pingi into the metal. "Little harder." commanded the Knight, recognizing more force was necessary. Xalet continued to apply pressure until the third strike, when the groove began to come back into being. As the flute lengthened the Knight shifted the plate so Xalet could continue, "See now we move the plate. Move the metal when you can, this way you can continue striking in the same spot instead of moving the hammer all over creation." he suggested, watching as a few times the hammer came down, ricocheted against the top of the chisel and spiked the side of Xalet's hand. The large Akalak seemed to give pause, but didn't cry out save for a mild grunt. The Knight assumed a few years of training had given him a higher threshold for pain. "Keep the pressure, right where it is now, not too hard see. We're gonna keep it up to the rolls. Good, good...and stop it right there." he finally halted Xalet's progress, pulling the plate out from the block in order to get a better eye upon the surface. Closing one of his beady peepers, the other gauged the depth of the fluting. There were some inconstant strikes, but it was serviceable enough for a first attempt. "Well, it's a chestplate, it should be fine. Don't worry son, ya did well enough for your first go. Now lets look into finishing it up..."

[Xalet]

"When yur looking to do yur finishin', ye will be doing something called planishing first. For this, a hammer with a smooth, circular face is needed. This be the most tedious part m'boy, so keep a careful eye whilst I show you a bit." said Hallock with a nod, fishing up a hammer with an extremely wide, flat, mushroom like head. Taking both the armor and the hammer with him, he moved toward an important piece of smithy equipment utilized for shaping and planishing form fitted pieces, the ball stake. The ball stake did, as its name would imply, look like nothing more than a thick bar of steel with a rounded ball of metal at the end. Hallock seemed to give the entire piece a once over as he set it down upon the stake and prepared the hammer. "These'll be yur lightest strikes. Smooth and steady, ye shalt hit each an' every inch of the piece when you finish one, but since we're just banging out the dents, it'll just need to be the place we repaired. It'll be good practice for you. When that's done you can file away any gouges in the metal, and then buff it with a brush and polish. Watch me here..." the Knight waited until Xalet was in close proximity, the Squire's eyes watching dutifully from over the elder man's shoulders. Once he was certain the young Akalak's attention was fully encompassed, he began striking the metal with effort somewhere between a tap and a strike. The hit itself was far less than the effort utilized for reshaping the metal, but was by no means dainty. Slowly it appeared the flat, polished surface of the hammer was transitioning that same uniformity onto the armor. "You've got to hit in the middle now, not the side! A hit with the side will leave a whole mess of marks. C'mon down here, this is for your benefit after all, only fair you do the heavy liftin'." Xalet only seemed slightly hesitant. With a quick "Yes Ser." he swapped seats with the man, barely catching the almost finished cuirass before it clamored to the ground, netting him a quiet glare from the Knight. Replacing the cuirass securely onto the ball stake, Xalet was handed the hammer and raised it up, attempting to measure the proper distance he had watched the Knight utilize. Down came the first hit. "Too hard!" said the man, followed by a comment of, ""Too soft! In the middle m'boy. Gotta get it just right." Luckily before Xalet could undo all of the work the squinty eyed Patron had completed, it seemed he had managed to at the very least begin to understand the level of physical strength required for the task. "That's the way, now we're getting there. These techniques aren't just for shaping armor you know. Many a smith has made many useful items, like buckets and cups with the same methods. Just different scales of size, different weights of hammer, and different thicknesses of metals. The idea is the same though Squire. Maybe one o' these days I'll have ye pound out your own piece of metal. Somethin' simple. Wouldn't have ye do a helm or somesuch, too difficult. Maybe some knee cops or shoulder lames..." he began to go through the catalog of possible items and their different levels of competancy required, all while Xalet continued to focus intently in an attempt to keep the planishing process moving smoothly along. It wasn't picture perfect, but slowly the end result was becoming more and more apparent.

[Xalet]

The time it took for an appropriately planishing took noticeably longer than nearly every other part of the repair process. Supposedly, as per Ser Hallock, it was also the portion of the product that deserved the most praise and separated novice smiths from skilled craftsmen. Not only time was saved during the transition of pure skill into the piece, but the mirror like finish that could be attained served as a reminder of just how visibly different the levels in skill were. Xalet couldn't hope to produce something like that, not yet, but at the very least with some dedication and extra time he could make the piece look close to the way it was. As a hand-me-down it had already lost most of its original luster, years and years of tarnish and wear had taken its toll. "Doesn't look half bad Squire. Ain't nothing I'd sell in a store, but it's a damn sight better than what we was lookin' at, eh? Ain't no gouges so we got no reason to file, but grab the brush and some polish and we'll make it shine right." his words as well as his hand upon the Squire's shoulder pulled Xalet away to grab the final bits of resources needed. The Knight took hold of the cuirass upon the stake and made a few adjustments to enhance some of the work that Xalet had already performed. Once the young Akalak returned, he explained one other key piece of smithy information, "If ye wants to see how uniform your strikes be, tilt the piece in the light. Watch the light reflect off the dishing, and you'll see some inconsistencies. See? One here...and here...won't affect yur plate much right now, just something to consider. Let’s rub it up and buff it." Now polishing armor was something Xalet at least had some experience in. Putting some of the lard-like polish upon the metal he retrieved control of it from the Knight and began to scrub back and forth with quick strokes of the brush. After a few passes the natural shine of the metal began to show through, bringing back some of the original chrome finish the armor once had for some Knight passing his trials before being used, beaten, outgrown, killed in, or somehow otherwise forgotten. "That's the way, put that elbow into it, that brush ain't gonna hurt the metal. Then we oil it up and put it on." a decided nod came from the man, along with the rough sound of his fingers scratching along the underside of his leathery neck. Soon enough Xalet was left to fit the piece back onto his body. Slipping the shell across his chest and back, the Knight helped him ease into the armor and aided in strapping the buckles across his sides securely. Stepping back, the look on the man's face told Xalet if nothing else, he must have felt like he accomplished something. "Mighty fine. Now ye don't look like ye took Yahal's fist to the chest. Judging by the sun though, we better get to the real work. f I don't have you doin' shield drills, the Sarge will have me head, no doubt. Outside then Squire, lets get too it."

[Accolade]

Xalet

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Blacksmithing	+ 4 XP
Armorsmithing	+ 4 XP
Observation	+ 3 XP

Lores

•	Lore Earned
•	Smithing and armoring techniques-planishing
•	Smithing and armoring techniques - dishing
•	Smithing and armoring techniques - fluting
•	Knowlege of blacksmithing tools- anvil, ball stake, and hammer

Note :

Nice training thread, quick and to the point. I think I got everything, let me know if I missed anything.

The Sylir has spoken

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can figure it out.