Solo Snake Charm

[Marone]

9th Fall 514 AV

In an unlikely event after his tussle with the snake he faced the previous day Marone recovered from the affliction it left him with (which was all in his head.) However it still affected him greatly. Marone was a lot more wary about the snakes, dhani and mundane snakes included which he knew he was going to have to deal with all this season. In any case with the dead snake and rat still in his workspace where he left them after running out in a panic Marone felt there was no reason to waste them and to work on them as he planned to.

As much as he would rather not Marone was going to need to prepare his materials first before he could even get started on crafting his items. The only good thing he had going for him was Marone only needed the bones. Everything else was negligible although he is plenty aware those things would be worth some money to the right buyers. Unfamiliar with the market for those items Marone chose to ignore it and only consider them after he was finished.

Grabbing his tools Marone started to get rid of the meat from the rat. The main item he wanted to make. With no regard to anything else except the bones Marone had no second thoughts in cutting into the rat stopping only when he has hit the bone. Repeating over and over again Marone kept cutting into the rat making headway into the rat's carcass.

Finished with laying down the groundwork Marone started using those entry points he made to take out large chunks from the rat. As the black colours the rat had on it slowly turned into a mixture of pink and white until it was finally mostly white from only having bone left the pile of messily cut meat and other assorted innards started to accumulate beside Marone. Something he will decide on its use next time.

Because right now Marone had to clean out the bone from any left overs.

Marone cleaned up the blade he was using and picked up a smaller yet finer one as its replacement. He didn't want to waste damaging the bone before his work even began. This was the item he wanted to make. The item that might earn him some extra mizas. With the care and precision he employed in making his maledicted items he started separating the leftover meat from the skeleton. A very clean skeleton he would add after he gives it a second look over to really make sure there was nothing left on it.

Then Marone started looking at the skeleton again putting a mental image over it for the item he expected it to be. A charm would be the likeliest fit because the skeleton would not suit a weapon or a weapon anyone would use over their own. It was also long decided that he would keep the skeleton whole if possible when he saw the snake trying to swallow the rat whole. In between the canvas of his two fingers more circles started to form over the rat's skeleton allowing Marone to confirm a whole skeleton with maledicted circles all over was the way to go for him.

Putting away he tools he just used in taking apart the rat and bringing out the ones he used for maledicting bones Marone was ready to begin.

[Marone]

With his chisel in hand Marone prepared himself to start maledicting the skeleton. One hand grasping firmly on the rat's skull while the next had the chisel hovering above it he tried to calm himself from the thoughts of the potential money he would be able to make if this item turns out as a success and began his usual ritual in maledicting to keep him mentally set on it.

"A circle. A circle. A circle" he started reciting as he pushed the chisel into the bone and started chipping away.

While he continued to press the the chisel deep into the bone until it found purchase he kept to his reciting "everything comes into a full circle. From start to end everything comes to a full circle."

"Everything will be shown to all. A circle. A circle. A circle.." he said before repeating his recital from start to finish as he continued to dig into the bone to bring the form of a circle into the skull.

With a few breaks in between for his arm which was starting to get tired to rest and to get a drink of water to wet his throat from his reciting Marone finally finished making the circle which went around the rat's skull from top to bottom. The only difficulty he felt so far was in making sure the chisel doesn't continue down and accidentally hit him especially with the uneven skull.

After a quick examination to make sure the circle was whole without any breaks that would ruin the entire thing Marone put the rat skeleton in front of him and started to review his plan earlier in case he needed to change them. Deciding that it is alright he continued. Should he screw up with the skull now at least the other few circles he planned to make could make up for it.

Eventhough the possibility of failure was in his mind Marone couldn't help but smile a little when he picked up the chisel when he remembered what the snake did to this rat. Somehow the snake was able to fit the rat's entire head into its mouth before it even started swallowing it whole. As horrific as it was the image of the rat struggling to get free while its head was already in the snake was to Marone very funny.

The gouger he just took up almost slipped off the skull from the stifled laughter when he was about to continue his work forcing Marone to calm himself down by taking a few deep breaths until his hands were still.

Then he got to work.

Like when he was making the circle he dug the gouger into the bone as he started to make jagged lines that came from the birder of the circle. In his mind's eye they were like the teeth of the snake creeping along the rat as it tried to swallow its prey. Two quick lines with the gouger was all it took to make a teeth and following a simple rhythm Marone was able to make good time with less effort compared to the circle.

Gouge. Gouge. Pause. Gouge. Gouge. Pause. Gouge. Gouge. Pause. Gouge. Gouge. Pause..

To fit with the image he had Marone used the gouger to carve a few lines on the side opposite where the teeth were located as the snakes eyes with a quick Gouge. Gouge. Pause followed by one final Gouge. Gouge. Pause.

A little bit more rest and Marone was finally ready to put the finishing touches to the piece and this he felt was just as important as the malediction circle. The details after all will be what defines the end item. At the center of the row of teeth in the middle of the skull he carved in these two words.

'Snake prey.'

Because as the snake had displayed to him the previous day it didn't take much coercion for it to get started on devouring its prey as soon as Marone left the rat right out for it.

[Marone]

Before taking a much needed break Marone looked over his work having adjustments where necessary in order to make the piece more accurate. Only then Marone allowed himself to have his lunch. A satisfactory meal of heavily seasoned meat which pushed the thoughts of the rat he was butchering earlier out of his head. It was maybe an hour or so later when Marone got back to work.

This time he was going to work on the rat's body.

Marone rolled the skeleton around trying to locate the biggest and flattest exposed space he could carve on before settling on the rat's back. His finger slid along the surface to locate the inclines of the bone until the back joined the rest of the body. As his finger traced along the body he could see how the maledicted circle would be when he completed his work and keeping it in mind took up the chisel again.

Then he started his ritual. The same ritual. "A circle. A circle. A circle. Everything comes to a full circle. From start to end everything comes to a full circle. Everything will be shown to all. A circle. A circle. A circle.." he said. His chisel religiously chipping away at the skeleton to carve a circle into it. A circle which spread all over the rat's back right until it reached along the edges making a suitable canvas Marone is able to use.

Despite the common design of this circle to the one now on the head Marone knew it was no less important. The circles, all the circles will come together to display the full event of the rat and the snake thereby bringing out the effect. It was for that reason and that reason alone that Marone put all the attention on the snake despite the malediction being done on the remains on the rat. The rat's existence only went as far as one thing of importance. Its one brief interaction with the snake to be food. More precisely bait to get at the snake.

With no proper visual guide to help see the circle's design like when he watched the snake devouring the rat Marone decided to make this maledicted circle simple but to the point of the charm as a whole. With the circle as big as it was Marone believed he would have no problem putting every element into it as the chisel started striking into the bone to put in his words. When he was done chipping away the skeleton read:

'Bait rat' which was the reason for the entire enterprise.

'Attract snake' being the rat which was suppose to be bait and hopefully how the charm would work when it was finished.

And finally 'until caught' which was the end for both rat and snake when the snake had its prey in its mouth for entirely different reasons. The snake and Marone.

Unfortunately Marone felt the finished product was a little off when he finally laid eyes on it The three pair of words wouldn't make sense except to him because he was there to witness the event he brought about. Malediction being a random art that required precision was something that no one but those learned in the art would understand and because of it Marone believed he was going to need to add something that would narrow the scope of the event.

He decided to use a visual aid to the circle like the one before it to be suitable where he found words to be inadequate to express the whole thing.

Marone took a finer tool and started digging into the bone alongside the border of the circle. It went half the length of the circle and a little further before another similar line was made alongside it and both being connected at each end. Then he took a quick glance to the side to look at the snake he killed the previous day or more specifically the pattern on it. With the pattern in mind Marone started digging deeper into the carving of the snake with newly made spots coinciding with the snake's pattern as best as he could follow it.

All that was left was the rat. The other element. Moving along the circle a little bit forward of what should be the snake's head Marone started carving again. A circle was dug in and then a smaller circle in front of it with two short lines sticking out. From its rear a wavy line ran behind it towards the carving of the snake.

Enough to represent a rat being chased by a snake he hopes. Now there was only one last circle planned by Marone before his charm was completed.

[Marone]

The front. The middle. Now it was time for the back. Marone had some difficulty in deciding where he wanted the new maledicted circle to be because he had a choice between two things each for their own reasons. The hindlegs for the obvious reason of signifying the chase the rat led the snake on and then the rear because the rear was bigger and wider. Not like the back of the rat he finished carving on earlier but big enough to make a significant difference compared to the choice of the hindlegs.

He could use the easy way or the hard way. Risking all the work he has put into the skeleton so far to finish it quicker or to add more details to increase the precision of the charm. Gods knew Marone hated making these sort of decisions. He lost track of time pondering over them. The pros and the cons. Deciding he finally made it this far Marone decided to go all the way. While he was the curious sort which liked crafting these items mizas were still another good motivator to him.

If anyone asked him professionally though Marone would instead declare he chose the hindlegs because he couldn't think of anything else to carve on the rear.

Both hindlegs will mirror one another and both will contain the same thing because both came in a pair and would work best together. While each leg was done seperately Marone made the circles in both while chanting his usual ritual. A full circle from start to end showing everything it needed to draw out the power of the rat's remains.

Circles.

Two circles.

Two circles wrapped around each leg in a ring.

Two circles Marone could carve into as soon as he figured out what he was going to carve.

And so he sat waiting by the bones. Words running through his head. None able to express what has already been done so far. A second by second review of how the rat accomplished its role of being prey to the snake. Of the chase between the two animals around his workplace. How Marone finally ended the whole scene. Nothing.

Nothing came to mind.

"Everything comes to a full circle" he found himself repeating and the thought came to his head. Why not?

Marone flipped the mouse front and back a few times trying to decide where it will go. If he was going to follow what was on the head the new carvings should be going down towards the tip of the legs but this was a chase and the carvings were going to have to follow the rat. The carvings were going to have to be a mirror of what was already on the head. Marone took up the gouger he used earlier.

Gouge. Gouge. Pause. Gouge. Gouge. Pause. Gouge. Gouge. Pause. Gouge. Gouge. Pause.. for one leg.

Gouge. Gouge. Pause. Gouge. Gouge. Pause. Gouge. Gouge. Pause. Gouge. Gouge. Pause.. for the other.

And a set of Gouge. Gouge. Pause located opposite of the markings in each leg to complete the circle. While there was no snake swallowing up the rat for this Marone felt he captured the part of the snake chasing the rat at the heels but while he looked at the piece he couldn't feel but he missed out on something. Of course he was staring right at it and that was the circle lacked any words like the others. It was as if he was already breaking the predetermined pattern.

A pattern easily completed. To finish off the pair of circles Marone the fine carving tool again and wrote inside each circle the words that would bring the maledicted charm into full circle before poking his finger to spill the blood that was needed to bring out the power in the item.

'Snake prey.'

[Marone]

With so many people hunting for dhani and the bounty Marone thought it would be easy for him to find someone that would pay him for the charm but he only found out the difficulty in his plan a few days after his search. With anyone being able to cash in on the bounty there was no stopping everyone from hunting the dhani as long as they were able to hold a weapon or believed they were capable enough. The latter group's belief Marone felt was more akin to stupidity.

Marone was feeling so good about selling the charm that the first day after completing it he immediately started inquiring about bounty hunters after he left one of the tunnels which led to the Sun's Birth. As the day went by Marone got more and more disappointed. From the people that thought he wanted to join up in a group to split the bounty to people that looked like they were in for the hunt because they wanted to get out of being the bottom of the barrel in Sunberth. Obviously unable to pay for the charm he was selling.

The day after didn't fare any better either. What Marone encountered could easily be summarized by a few lines from someone he thought would've bought the charm.

"You're asking me if I'm hunting for dhani?"

"Yes."

"Why the hell should I tell you anything about that? Are you one of them dhani supporters? Are you going to try and stop me to get the bounty for yourself?"

It was a stupid idea to suggest and in the middle of the street Marone said louder than he should have "no! I'm just asking becau-"

"You better shut your face before I punch it in. Actually I better do it now before you can stop me"

With his fist raised Marone didn't have before he started running. He ran down the street and took a quick glance back to see if the man was following before he turned down another and continued on. At the end he turned again one more time before ducking into the first alley he saw and allowed himself to rest taking in quick breaths. After he was able to make sure he was safe Marone continued on back to the Sun's Birth to get on with his day job in the Armoury as if nothing had happened.

Realizing the risks in directly inquiring about the bounty hunters Marone decided to be more covert in his efforts. Each day exiting the Sun's Birth from a different area Marone would head to a crowded spot. After identifying the characteristics of the spot Marone would get to a place he deemed suitable to hide and observe the crowd which normally is high, dark, concealed, a place he won't be noticed like a queue of people or all of them.

And then he waits. Looking out for people until some of them notices him that he has to act ignorant or leaves.

And then he waits. Hiding in the shadows where no one can see as quiet as possible until his body and mind cannot take the stiff atmosphere anymore.

And then he waits. Acting like just another member of the crowd until someone questions him about it or tries to make conversation.

Everything ended in failure. All of it. Marone's attempts in trying to find a proper buyer and Marone's attempts in being stealthy about it. The people of Sunberth are either too suspicious or too inquisitive about the nature of the item and how Marone came to it as they should be. Marone gave up after that and felt that maybe he should try to hunt the dhani himself or maybe give in and join one of those groups and split the bounty but somehow he got his chance maybe a week after the item was crafted.

[Marone]

With the escaped snakes and gang stalemate broken Marone was drafted into making better weapons for the Knight's Armoury to provide the Sun's Birth with. None of his disposable and crude bone weapons for now. The raiders needed metal weapons. Ones that could cut, stab and slash. Because Marone was not too reliable with the metal weapons his boss left him with simple instructions.

"Keep the fire burning like this. Don't let it die down or burn out. The coal is over there so don't be shy in using it. Do a good job and next time you'll be allowed to work on the metal."

That was what Marone was always told but he never argued with it. As the weapons were being made he made himself remember the heat in the smith through his body. Ignoring the discomfort the sweat was causing him to feel. Ignoring how thirsty he was getting and only allowing himself to get a drink when he was allowed to have a break or relieved by another smith. Ignoring just how useless he felt doing this job when he could be making weapons himself.

A few times he forgot about the heat he was supposed to keep the furnace in and allowed the heat to drop before someone had to come and fix his mistake. It was not as bad as that one time the coal ran out and he in a panic started to use wood instead of asking someone else for more. Ruining the weapon that was being made. That one mistake with the wood should be the only problem but his boss was having none of that. Each screw up came with a similar telling off.

"I'm telling you if you can't even do something as basic as keeping the heat leveled how can we even let you work on the forge? No that is not a question. If you can't keep the fire properly you have no reason to be at the forge so keep up."

Marone tried to keep up after that but the stress of constantly keeping the fire fed in that hot room to make sure it doesn't cool down was getting to him. At first to make up for it Marone just kept feeding the fire with coal at increasingly faster intervals until it reached to a point he could tell it was becoming a little too red to be right. Even his skin which was getting used to the previous heat was starting to feel uncomfortable again.

Which made his next break the one he was really waiting for.

He waited outside in the cool air just standing and taking it all in when a large mountain of muscle walked into the Armoury. Marone didn't feel too alarmed as this man was one he was used to. Always coming in for some new weapon. Sometimes he even came bought some of Marone's bone weapons eventhough Marone knew that the metal ones would be something a seasoned looking fighter like him would prefer. If the weapons Marone made ever had one of those special effects he was never told and Marone never bothered to ask so he wouldn't end up dropping any hints of the other things he does in crafting his weapons.

Instead of the usual weapons Marone saw the man picking up one of the mancatchers before heading to the counter. Picking up the word capture and dhani not long after that his ears stood in attention to listen in to the rest of the conversation. Not too much eavesdropping but overheard since the spot he was resting at was close enough to the counter and he didn't have to make the effort. Even so Marone sat as still as possible without making a sound so the attention wouldn't shift to him.

After the deal was done Marone followed after the man with a spring in his step still trying to remain quiet so no one in the Armoury would notice him until he was out. Light steps continued until he spoke up to the man from behind which gave him a bit of a shock he soon recovered from while offering a good piece of advice.

"Don't do that again. If I didn't know who you were I would have cut you already."

"Sorry" Marone said softly before getting to the point. "I heard you were going to go after the dhani bounty?"

"I am. What is it to you?" he asked impatiently.

"Just wondering if you want a charm to help bring them to you. I would use it myself but I'm not capable to fight anything even if they come to me."

"Supposing you are right and I'll bite a man's still going to wonder where you got such an item from."

"Does it matter as long as it works? How about we talk price."

"I don't know if it works but I can give you thirty."

Shaking his head in disagreement Marone said "thirty isn't enough. At least a hundred. Thats the price of one dhani so it should be fair and I know you are more than capable of catching more" he added hoping the man's pride would be satisfied.

"And if I can't catch more?"

"And if you do?" Marone said which ended in a short pause between the men. "Look" he said trying to break the pause "I know you've had some of my work and they are satisfactory to you or you wouldn't have bought more. I'm not even asking for anymore if you do catch more dhani which I'm sure you would."

"Unless you want to" Marone injected into the conversation softly.

The man thought on it for a while and looked like he was struggling with it until he finally agreed and took the charm with him. Marone relieved that his work has finally paid off was able to get back into the forge a lot more enthusiastic about his work and in the mood to make a lot less mistakes.

[Avarice]

Greetings! Salutations! Hello! *inserts all other greetings in ze world*

I am Avarice, your lovely AS of Sunberth; and I am here to inform you that there is something wonderful coming your way...A Grade! Yes. You've finished a thread and it was wonderful so below you'll find your hard-earned XP and Lores. Any questions? PM me! (Don't be shy, I don't bite...I promise!) Also, please be sure to edit your post in the request thread to reflect your having received a grade!

 

Marone

XP

• Butchery +1
• Housekeeping +1
• Planning +2
• Malediction +3
• Carving +1I have withheld the majority of your Carving XP for this thread. The reason being, you played above your level quite considerably in the carving of the Rat's skeleton. As the bones are tiny and your PC's experience level is novice, it is implausible for you to succeed in making several circles without so much as cracking or breaking a bone. In the future, please be mindful of your level and what your PC is capable of achieving with it.
• Observation +2

LORES

• A Logical Wariness of Snakes
• Butchery: De-Boning a Rat
• Everything Comes to a Full Circle
• A Charm Born of a Serpent's Prey
• The Anatomy of a Rat's Skeleton

MISCELLANEOUS

• "Serpentine Attraction"
  .
  Created from the bones of a rat, this Charm bears the sad tale of the animal's demise as a serpent's dinner within its circles. Having been crafted from the efforts of a Novice Legate, the effects drawn forth by the Charm's circles are entirely negative...though if applied creatively, one could create interesting hunting opportunities. Upon being worn, the individual becomes "snake bait" so to speak; for they instantly begin to attract snakes and Dhani alike within a thirty foot radius. Those attracted become hungry and ravenous around the wearer; and therefore the risk of being devoured, constricted, or poisoned is immense.

Yours Truly,
Avarice <3