Solo A Helping Hand

[Saraphina Skyglow]

Saraphina Skyglow 13th Day of Summer 514 AV Noonish OOC: continued from here T he elder women of the Farson Home seemed very plesant. Saraphina looked over the woodpile after the caretaker had left and started to work out what she was going to do. The logs were rough and still had the bark attached. If she was going to do anything with the wood, that would have to be the first thing to go. The axe looked very sturdy, it would be useful for splitting the short logs into more workable pieces. But first things first. Grabbing one of the logs, she set the cut end on the ground. The wood was spruce, but surprisingly there was very little sap. The tree must have been harvested during the winter when the evergreen was in hibernation. Standing back up, Saraphina wiggled the axe loose from the stump in had been sunk into. Grabbing the tool near the base of the metal head, she knelt back down by the log she’d set up. Using the sharp blade and both hands, she began to strip the bark from the stump. It was tricky work, spruce bark didn’t peel from the wood in clean strips, but rather fell off in pellet-like pieces. Saraphina had to use most of her upper body to push the axe into the edges of the tough wood. But once she had a good start, she could lever the axe head away from the stump and pry small chunks off it. It left rather uneven gouges down the sides, but it got the job done. The task was labor intensive and tiring, but most things worthwhile were. She would need at least five logs stripped of bark to make a good start on the task she had in mind. After about two bells of striping bark from the stumps, Saraphina rocked back on her heels and wiped the sweat from her brow, surveying her work. She’d done better than she’d expected, managing to successfully clean up seven stumps of wood. The sides were somewhat prism like in appearance with many sharp edges and contours, but a large file would smooth out the rough parts. Some pieces still had areas where spruce bark still stubbornly clung to wood, but that was ok. Saraphina wasn’t a great artist like those she’d learned her meager carving skills from. She was just looking to help out a bit. S etting aside four of the cleaned logs, Saraphina set one of the stumps up on top of the chopping block. Swinging the axe back and forth to get a feel for the weight, she lifted the head up and down over the elevated stump before whipping the axe back. Bringing it down on the stump, the sharp blade sliced cleanly through the wood and the two pieces fell to the ground. Gathering them up, she repositioned the next piece and with a few more swings, she’d split the three remaining logs in half. Now she had six half logs to work with that all had a relatively straight surface on one side. Now came the tricky part. She needed to split the wood once more to make rough planks with two flat sides. But if she missed, she’d ruin the wood. Taking a deep breath, she set up one of the splint pieces on the stump. Rather than swinging the axe down and hoping the wood would split properly, Saraphina instead gripped the axe handle closer to the middle and tapped the top of the wood till the blade found a good hold. With the splint log stuck on the end of the axe, the Kelvic lifted it up and struck it on the splitting block several times. Each hit made the axe head sink further into the wood till a nice groove had been formed about one quarter of the way down the piece. Taking in a deep breath, Saraphina lifted the attached piece of wood up high in the air before bringing it slamming down onto the block. The axe slid through the wood seamlessly, leaving a moderately thick piece of wood that was flat on both side. Smiling and grateful that her technique had worked, she set about trying to mimic it on the other five pieces. After about half a bell of work, she’d managed to only mangle one piece leaving five workable planks. The sixth piece had split too widely at the bottom to be used as a floorboard, though Saraphina hope she could salvage it as a chair or table leg. T o replace the rotting floorboards of the front porch however, the planks would need to be sawed, filed and fitted into place before being nailed in. Dusting off her hands of wood chips and dirt, she headed inside the building to see if any of the other caretakers had tools that she could use to complete the project. After a few minutes she walked back outside armed with a worn wood saw and a fairly sturdy hammer. She still needed nails, a large file and a chisel, but these tools would work for now. Using a few lengths of string one of the young children had been playing with that Saraphina had coaxed away from her with a smile and playful tickle, the Kelvic measured the length and width of the plank on the front porch. Scratching the measurements onto the wood by using the rough teeth of the saw, Saraphina set up two logs to act as a makeshift table. Setting up on plank between the logs, she positioned the saw at the end of the plank and started to raise it up and down. The teeth were rather dull and worn, so every inch through the soft wood was a fight. Her fingers started to cramp from gripping the handle of the saw tightly and the small pile of saw dust under the plank grew steadily as Saraphina gritted her teeth in determination to finish the cut. The good thing about using a saw. Most of the time the cut was relatively straight. After struggling with the job, she finally managed to get the lengthwise cut almost to the end. With only two inches of wood still connected, Saraphina grabbed the two ends and pulled them apart. The crack was a sweet a sound as beautiful harp music and she looked over the fitted plank with satisfaction. It would be hard work to get the other to the same size, but remembering the smiling faces and bright eyes of the children inside the Farson Home, Saraphina knew it would be well worth it in the end. Even though her muscles were going to hate her in the morning.

[Saraphina Skyglow]

T he effort of sawing the remaining planks was back breaking work. Really if she wanted to do a proper job she should have brought a sharper saw, but her experience with woodworking was limited so Saraphina continued to fight with the worn tool. Gritting her teeth and squaring her shoulders, she measured out the remaining planks. After a good bell of work, she had managed to cut down the rough planks to the right size. It was a good start, but she would need to pry off the rotting boards and hammer the new pieces into place before filing them level. And that would require more than what the children’s home could provide. Needing a break from the hard work, Saraphina found a small metal cup filled with water suddenly thrust towards her. Blinking in surprise, she looked down to a curly haired blond girl that looked to be about 6 years old. The child grinned at the Kelvic in pure innocence and piped up in a cheerful voice, “You looked thirsty so I brought you some water. Thank you for helping out the Old Bear, she looks scary sometimes, but I love her.” Saraphina accepted the cup an drained the cool liquid inside gratefully before returning it to the pale haired girl with a smile, “And thank you for helping me with my dry mouth. Miss Thea is very lucky to have such a thoughtful young women as yourself staying here. I need to step out and pick up a few more things. I’ll be back, don’t worry.” The young child had looked very woebegone when Saraphina had mentioned she was leaving but immediately brighten at her last sentence. Chirping out a happy, “Okay!”, the energetic blond raced off around the corner of the building. Smiling and feeling much better, even though her body was starting to hurt from the intensive labor, she dusted off her hands and heading towards West Street. B y the time Saraphina had weaved her way through the crowded business section of Zeltiva to the popular General Store it was getting to be late in the afternoon. She frowned to herself as she entered the store. Clearly her efforts in helping the Farson Home with repairs was something that would need to happen over a few days, she did not pretend to think she could finish her intended projects in a single setting. Browsing over the wares under the watchful eye of the shop keep, she picked up a small carving axe, a curved azde, a large rough file, a wide chisel and a pound of nails. Taking her purchases to the shopkeeper, she exchanged 3GM to the elder man and walked back outside. Returning to the orphanage with her items, Saraphina set down the tool by the woodpile, giving a small wave to the curious blood child that peeked around the corner, grinning wide to the Kelvic. Saraphina noted that the young girl was missing her two front teeth which made her appearance so much more adorable to the red head. Turning back to the job at hand, she picked up the hammer and walked back around to the front porch. Using the forked tong on the back of the hammers head, she jammed the flattened points under the rotting floorboards and began prying them from the studs. The fragile wood came away easily, many pieces broke apart and left the nails still embedded in the frame. After pulling off all the damaged planks, she used the hammers prongs to wiggle loose the nails that had been left behind. Most were still useable, some bent at awkward angles but some beating with the hammer straightened them out. Brushing off the cleaned areas, Saraphina glanced around and hoped that no running children would fall through the holes before she was done with the project. T urning around, she quickly gathered up the planks she’d made. Carrying them back to the porch, she fit the sawed pieces into place. Most fit well enough, there was one or two that had a larger gap between the boards than she would have liked, but it wasn’t so big that someone’s foot would fall through, so she choose to leave it as is. Grabbing the metal nails and the hammer, she placed the pointed ends of the nails between her lips. Climbing up onto the new planks she’d made, Saraphina positioned her knees so her body weight held the loose plank in place. Removing a nail from her mouth, she set the pointed end on the wood and tapped the flat head carefully to try and seed the nail into place. Being unfamiliar with woodworking, Saraphina kept tapping the nail gently and was unhappy when the metal started to bend halfway through. She had to use the hammer to tap the side of the nail to straighten it several times before she managed to get it snuck the full way into the wood. But she could already feel how much more secure the plank under her knees felt, so she kept going. After hammering in about five nails, Saraphina came to understand that if she hit the nail harder, the nail would sink into the wood further and had less chance of bending. Pleased by this, she managed to nail the rest of the planks in place and only hurt herself once. When positioning one of the nails and tapping it in place, she misjudged the directions of her swing and accidently nicked her thumb with the hammer head. There was a sharp pinching pain and she yelped sharply, pulling her hand back and sending the nail flying into the grass. She hadn’t hurt her thumb badly, but it made her respect the hammer a bit more. Nailing the last plank in place, Saraphina sat back and surveyed the work. The planks were secure and solid, but still uneven. It would need a bit more work.

[Saraphina Skyglow]

L ooking over the newly placed planks, she smiled in satisfaction. Now came the part she was actually slightly good at and had some experience in. Shaving down the higher parts to make them even with the rest of the boards on the porch would be a bit easier. Grabbing the wood chisel she placed the bevel againist a high portion of the wood. Taking the hammer she’d used to whack the nails in, she gently tapped the end of the handle. The chisel bit into the plank soundly and with each hit of the hammer, the wood curled up into a small circle. A thin layer of curling shavings came off the plank after a few chimes of hitting on the chisel. Blowing softly on the area she’d smoothed out, she used the flat side of the chisel to measure how much more of a depth she needed to shave off. It was still a ways off, more work was needed. She kept working with the chisel, humming softly to herself as she worked. Saraphina remembered fondly how the Vathian artists of Avanthal taught her about carving. That shaping and molding the material was not only about bringing forth a shape, but was also about breathing life into the structure. The work was supposed to come from the heart and soul, not just to please the eye or put coin in your pocket. Tapping with the sharp chisel made easy work of leveling out the plank, except around where she’d nailed the ends. Saraphina frowned as she used the corners of the chisel to try and equal out the ends while not popped or bending the nails. A fter struggling and failing to work around the nail heads, she put the chisel aside. A new tactic was needed to finish the job. Picking up the large file, Saraphina grabbed the handle and the top. Putting the rough edge onto the wood, she moved the file back and forth across the raised wood over the nails. Fine, whitish sawdust formed under the movements, most of it blowing away in the wind. She adjusted her grip on the file when she went to work on the very end. Using both hands on the handle, Saraphina angled the file towards the ground. After working on the edge and pausing from time to time to wipe the fine wood dust from her face and hands, the sharp, splintered edge was smooth. The heads of the nails were more exposed now that the wood had been filed away around them, but a few good hits with the hammer seeded them back into place. Using the file along the length of the plank and making quite the mess with flying dust, she used her arms strength to make the wood smooth. The file was well made, it rasped over the wood and jiggled in her hand when splinters and knots got in the way. One particular stubborn knot of wood on a plank and she growled at the wood. Setting the file on the porch, she picked up the small carving axe. T his part was going to be tricky. Saraphina was going to have to try to cut the knot down without damaging the wood underneath. Not easy given that she could tell that this particular knot went all the way through the wood. Sighing, she looked at the axe and wondered if she should just grit he teeth and file through the knot instead. If she slipped while doing this, all the work she put in could be wasted. But it would cut down on a lot time if she did it right. Decisions, decisions. Finally deciding, she gripped the axe in one hand. Drawing back, Saraphina carefully aimed the axes blade along the top of the knot and thrust it forward. The small head sank into the knot and formed a tiny notch. Being very careful to try and hit the same notch again, she drew the axe back a second time. By some miracle she manage to nail it dead on and the notch grew slightly deeper. But she was afraid that hitting it with the axe too much more would crack the wood. Pausing, she sighed and studied the knot in frustration. Finally grabbing the chisel again, she jammed the bevel into the notch the axe had made. Lowering the chisel so the handle was almost touching the plank, she tapped the handle tip with the hammer with slow but hard hit. After the third hit, Saraphina heard a beautiful sound. The telltale cracking of wood. One final hit with the hammer and the knot broke away but left the plank intact. Grinning in victory, the Kelvic finished filing the spot to smoothness. After she was finished, Saraphina used the edge of her sleeve to brush off the wood dust from the porch. Stepping back to survey her work, she felt a surge of pride. The porch didn’t look brand new, but it certainly looked improved and much sturdier now. And as she looked up at the sky, she mentally calculated the time. Now that she had the right tools, she might be able to make a few table and chair legs before having to leave.

[Saraphina Skyglow]

D usting off her hands and gathered up her tools, she was about to head back to the woodpile when the little blond girl that had been tailing her all day poked her head out the front door, “Wow! The porch looks great! Thank missy, now I won’t have to worry about stubbing my toes anymore. We’re all ready to sit down and have some snacks. You want some?” Saraphina smiled at the child and nodded, putting her newly purchased tools in her backpack. Slinging it onto her shoulders, she offered her hand to the toothless child. A small, soft palm curled around her fingers and the Kelvic felt a surge protectiveness fill her. An unfamiliar ache filled her belly as she looked down at the happy child. She was confused for a few moments. What was this odd feeling? This sensation of emptiness and longing? Saraphina placed a hand on her lower belly, frowning as she let the little bundle of energy lead her into an open room where a series of long tables and chairs were set up. The loud noise of arguing voices, cheerful laughter and the occasional crying cleared her head. Looking around, she briefly managed to count around forty squirming, jumping running children. One of the caretakers cracked a wooden spoon onto the table and the loud noise seemed to calm the racing horde as the young children scrambled about and each managed to find a chair. The ginger frowned as she noticed several seats wobble precariously or had folded pieces of paper jammed under the legs to balance them. But the adorable blond child tugged on Saraphina’s hand and guided the Kelvic towards a table. T aking a seat, she looked over the meager meal. It was simple and plain. Bread, fish, some watery soup with a few vegetables floating in it and some white pastries. Saraphina was handed a slice of bread and some fish before the tray was passed further down the table. The Kelvic smiled down at the young child and asked softly, “I never did get your name Little One. I am Saraphina.” The respond was more delayed as the child was currently chewing greedily on a chunk of bread. Saraphina gently took the bread from her and dipped the stale slice into the small bowl holding the warm soup. Handing it back to her, now moist and soft from the liquid, the child grinned happily and answered around mouthfuls of food, “I’m Tamika. I’ve been here for about,” Tamika counted out on her fingers and held up three soggy bread covered digits, “this many years.” Saraphina managed to smile despite the pang in her heart. That this happy child shouldn't be left alone in the world. She’d grown up with the welcoming, loving touch of her Mother. Though she knew the caretakers loved and treated each child as precious, there was nothing quite the same as a parents touch. The red head resisted the urge to ask what had happened to Tamika’s parents, if the small child hadn’t offered it freely it was likely something she didn’t want brought up. Saraphina tickled Tamika's side playfully, making the youngster giggle and laugh. One of the caretakers caught her eye and smiled at the Kelvic, giving a grateful nod. Happiness and joy were rampant in this house…..but so was loneliness and sorrow. Saraphina wished she could erase it from this place, draw each child close and comfort them as her Mother had done for her. But for now, all she could do was try to make a better home for them. And she intended to do just that. Finishing the meal and giving a grateful nod to the caretaker, she ruffled Tamika’s hair and pulled away from the table. B y this time, most of the other children had finished their meal and ran off. Saraphina started by testing some of the empty chairs. Several had loose, worn or broken legs on them. Grabbing two, she took them out to the woodpile before heading back in for more. A few chimes later, a small row of chairs sat outside, waiting patiently to be worked on. Flipping the closest one up on end so the legs were pointed towards the sky, Saraphina used the remaining plank of wood she’d split unevenly to measure the length of the legs. Marking the wood with the tip of the carving axe, she used the smaller, sharp axe to split the plank lengthwise into two blocky pieces of wood. The chair she was working on only had one leg that was bad, the others were in decent enough shape. Taking up the curved azde, she started to whittle away the boxy edges of the wood pieces. Curling pieces of wood chips fell on the ground as she worked the carving tool around the wood. Saraphina was careful to keep the upper part of the wood chuck untouched as that would be wear she attached the piece to the chair, but the lower half should be more round and if nothing else, smooth to avoid splinters getting into fingers and toes. S he managed to get a good amount of the wood rounded off, but it was still rough. Putting the tool aside, Saraphina picked up the file and started to smooth out the wood. She had to blow on it several times to dislodge clinging sawdust and on occasion a larger wood splinter would be rasped off. But after a bit of work, she could run her had up and down the leg and not feel any nicks that might catch a chuck of flesh. Now came the other part. Using the hammer, she wiggled the prongs under the gap between the leg of the chair and the seat. After a hard twist and a grunt of effort, she heard a satisfying CRACK and the leg fell off. Some nails were pried out of the empty space and she worked the chisel into the space. Tapping on the handle, she refreshed the wood, digging out some of the old chair legs wood. The new legs needed some adjustment on the top to fit it into the groove, but the azde worked beautiful to work the wood into a snug fit. It was a bit large, but the worn wood saw cut through the small piece with minimal effort. Fitting it into the groove, Saraphina placed a nail against the loose leg and with a few good whacks of the hammer, the chair had a new limb. A quick measurement on the bottom and a few saws later, it was a chair with four equal legs that no longer wobble on the ground.

[Saraphina Skyglow]

S etting aside the newly completed chair, Saraphina dusted off her hands. Standing and picking up on of the stumps she’d cleaned of bark earlier she set it on the chopping block. Wiggling the large axe loose once more, she proceeded to split the log in half with a well-placed swing. The Kelvic winced hard as she finished, the muscles in her back and upper arms protesting the abuse. Resting the axe on the ground, she massaged her shoulders briefly, cracking her neck to try and relive the tension. It didn’t work, the pinching tightness stubbornly remained. Sighing in irritation, she moved the two halves of wood she’d just chopped and kept going. Soon she had eight, barkless split pieces of wood. Sinking the chopping axe back into the worn stump she’d been abusing as a target, the red head inspected the remaining chairs. Wobbly and worn legs graced most of the pieces of furniture and one had a large split in the seat. Once more flipping the chairs up so the leg were pointed upward, she began the tedious job of prying off the damaged legs. N ow that she’d bought a few extra tools, the job of making new posts for the chairs should go much easier. The logs already had a partial curve to them, so Saraphina used the larger axe to split of kindling sized pieces of wood from the corners of the halves she’d made. The long twig wood chucks would take less work as she didn’t have to carve the leg into a fully round shape. Moving through the wood halves she’d made several partial kindling pieces to replace the legs she’d removed. Her muscles still augured with her over each movement, but she pushed it to the back of her mind. She needed to finish this today, she wanted to finish it. For Tamika and the other children. If she could give them just a few improvements, bring some happiness to them, she would work till her body gave out. Pulling up the chair she’d just repaired, Saraphina sat down and picked up her adze. Going through the same motions, she whittled away at the pieces she’d made. The curling wood chips gathered in scattered piles around her feet. Working away the sharper portions of the pieces was a bit too much for the curved blade of the tool, so Saraphina was forced to grab for her shorter carving axe. Resting the wood on her lap, she carefully aimed the blade away from her body and chopped away the pointed sections. In some places she accidently took out larger chucks than she intended, but it was nothing a good amount of filing won’t fix. O nce all the pieces had been rounded out, she smooth each with the rough file before measuring and sawing. Nailing the newly carved legs into place, she equalled out the bottoms and stood up. Looking proudly at the now level set of seven chairs complete with new legs, Saraphina also noticed the creeping shadows forming along the sides of the Farson’s Home. Turning her face up to the sky, the ginger felt a pang of regret. The sun was waning low in the sky, showing that night would soon be approaching. Running her hands over the chair with the broken bottom, she knew that she would have enough light remaining to finish the project. She was going to have to come back another day. Gathering up the repaired chairs, she started the job of hauling them back into the orphanage. On her last trip in, with her backpack slung on her sore shoulders and her tools put away, one of the caretakers came by. Saraphina set down the chairs and handed the bag of nails she’d bought to the human along with the tool she’d borrowed, “Ill need these for when I come back. Take care of everyone here and thank you for the meal.” Saraphina gave a polite nod to the caretaker before heading towards the front door. On the way she crossed paths with Thea once again. The elder women smiled brightly at the Kelvic, eyes shining with thanks. Fishing into her pouch, Saraphina withdrew 2GM and gently placed them in the head mistresses hand. When the human women opened her mouth, likely to thank the Kelvic, she held up her hand to stop the words and said simply, “I need no thanks Miss Thea….you do what you do for the children….I do the same. That is all I need.” Saraphina was rather surprised when Thea glanced around the hallway briefly before stepping forward and giving her a brief hug. The red head blinked….then smile and gently returned the embrace. It lasted for only a second before the two parted. Nodding in understanding, Saraphina stepped past the matriarch of the Farson’s Home and out the front door, heading into the city and back to her own place of rest.

[Perplexity]

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Saraphina :

Skills:

• Woodcarving | +4 EXP
  Woodcutting | +3 EXP
  Carpentry | +5 EXP
  Planning | +4 EXP
  Singing | +1 EXP
  Childcare | +1 EXP

Loot:

• Woodworking Tools
• -5 GM for Purchases and Donation

Lores:

• Woodcarving: Stripping Bark Using Axe Blade
  Woodcarving: Chiseling With Precision
  Woodcutting: Splitting Logs With An Axe
  Woodcutting: Using A Dull Saw Effectively
  Carpentry: The Different Woodworking Tools
  Carpentry: Measuring Wood Planks
  Carpentry Plan: Table Leg
  Carpentry Plan: Floorboards
  Carpentry: A Healthy Respect For Hammers
  Miss Thea: Head Caretaker At Farson’s Home
  Tamika: Orphan At Farson’s Home
  Tamika: Blonde, Bubbly, Adorable

Comments :

Thank you, Saraphina. This was wonderfully written and rather moving in its own way. If you have questions or concerns feel free to contact me at your earliest convenience.