Solo The in of the season.

[Marone]

75th of Fall 514 AV

Marone has had opportunities to come across some interesting things at work. Somehow some of those that supplied raw materials to the Armoury were able to obtain Dhani bones. The bones were said to be Dhani but they came in so many different forms. Unsurprisingly they were all either of the humanoid or snake variety if not a mix of the two. The thing which surprised Marone was their sizes. Some were really big while others were quite small.

The varieties really helped Marone and his peers with his work while providing opportunities to them to add to their repertoire of skills. It was quite a task to match the bones suitabilities to the types of weapons they could make much like Marone would when maledicting some of the items he crafted. While he has been tempted this time, he had no opportunity to try the art on the items he crafted.

There has been just too much demand for Dhani made items which has kept him busy in crafting them. The most he could do was pilfer some of the leftovers for himself as he made his weapons. Once he had more time to himself he would be able to work on them in whatever way he wished to and not be limited to only making them weapons.

The first day was making weapons from the small snakes. Vipers and not Ivyess according to someone. Even churning out small weapons like daggers and ammunition there was just no way for Marone to be able to keep anything for his own use.

Next were the rattlers. Nothing too special either since they were just about big enough to make the same items as the vipers. Even so Marone as he made the items noticed one difference. Their fangs were a lot more bigger. As there were not much use for their heads Marone took his chance and collected a few for himself but really more for chancing on malediction later. He had no idea what to do with them.

Really though these were nothing special. Some of them turned out from time to time even if rarely. They were only more common now because everyone wasn't hunting for dhani. Even the big ones, the constrictors. They were able to get a few. Marone found crafting something out of their bones were easier because they were just so big.

It was only a matter of shaping the bones into the general shape of a weapon like a sword with his carving tools. The saw of course was Marone's best bet and he just kept on cutting large chunks of bone out from the sides. The next part was not that hard either but it was tiring. He just took the file and started rubbing the sides clean until the edges formed.

One really couldn't expect these bone weapons to be that sharp but at least they are effective enough. Being fragile also made them particularly easy too keep Marone with a steady job. Again there was not much a choice for what Marone could take for himself except the constrictor's head which one was enough and a few of the cut away bones discarded from the actual weapons.

He was aware they wouldn't be too effective since his father has already taught him that in Malediction a whole item as a source will bring out a much stronger effect but that wouldn't stop Marone from trying just to see how much weaker his products would be.

A few days into receiving the materials with fresh arrivals every day and Marone finally had his chance to work with what he wanted most. The bones of the Ivyess. The new thing everyone wanted. Because of their popularity Marone didn't have much chance to get anything since the materials were being watched but it didn't stop him from working dilligently. It was still a good chance to get used to the materials.

He had other sources he could use. Less subtle and more costly but they would have to do.

Until then for the ones already in the Armoury. He cut, he filed, he carved and made the usual weapons from them. The Ivyess. They were such the curiosity coming from the deeps and actually trying to be friendly early in the season. The thought was funny but Marone's thoughts were more occupied with what he learned about them last time.

Which was why he already had ideas of what to make of them. So much disappointment that he couldn't get the ones before him.

In between all of that Marone also had to work with the humanoid ones which he had to believe were also Dhani as well as any new arrivals of the assorted vipers, rattlers and constrictors as long as someone else didn't want to. The making of weapons from the humanoid bones were amusing. The irony of the weapons being made from those killed because of the hunt possibly being used to kill other people was not lost on him but it was no different from a person using their own fists.

That and Marone being a maledictor is already used to making items that are more useful when the individuals are dead than if they were alive.

Many different things Marone made from these humanoid Dhani for variety. Bows, sword hilts, knives, tonfas, maces. These he just ran through without having too much interest in them. The Dhani parts. They seemed a lot more exotic and rare to him at this time but that couldn't mean that he wouldn't have been surprised if something actually did turn up.

Like some of the biggest bones he'd ever seen. The best part was being limbs they came in pairs. Marone was left staring at the bones in front of him trying to think if they had not been mistaken as Akalak bones. He had the rare chance to work on some once and these reminded him of them.

"Those bones? Apparently they got it after killing the bloke after he transformed from one of the biggest Dhani they ever seen. Went crazy after he was ousted by a Dhani but that worked out well" one of the higher ups in the Armoury said after Marone asked if they weren't Akalak bones.

Putting two and two together Marone could guess that these bones from the big dhani probably belonged to a constrictor but not knowing what the actually different between all the varieties of Dhani that was as far as he knew it. That didn't exactly stop him from trying his luck though.

Marone took an arm bone and a leg bone from each pair and set them somewhere in the workshop. Not exactly hidden but somewhere the bones would be overlooked if no one was particularly searching for them. If at the end of the workday they were still there, he would sneak them back to his home.

Until then he would have to continue his work. The other arm and leg he had to work on were promptly hacked apart by his saw before being filed into the sharp shapes of a pair of shortswords. Not all that bad in a day's work.

[Marone]

While it took a few days of hard work using whatever spare time and will Marone was able to scrape up he was able to finish it. His pièce de résistance for this season so to speak. As a craftsman he would always have to do something like this regularly to keep his skills up and he was thankful that the Dhani were able to provide him the opportunity to do just that.

Eventhough they were one of the reasons he felt so sapped of energy lately. As soon as the stores reopened everyone went straight to buying everything they missed out on. Food, clothes, weapons. Especially the weapons. Better to be prepared in case more violence erupts and brings back the same problems and there was no other way to assure oneself about being prepared in Sunberth than a good weapon.

And Marone? He believed that the weapons he had just made on his own were just that. Not just one weapon but two. So far. They were just test weapons for what he could eventually do with the Dhani bones but given the availability of time and desire to make something of them he was able to make something better than the garbage he mass produced for the rabble.

Marone had already the base of the weapons. The cut away bones he salvaged while making weapons from the constrictors were good enough to use foe his test weapons. Even when he was able to get so many none were suitable to used except the two already so close to the shape of daggers. In the days which went by they began to look more and more like the weapons they should be.

By that time Marone already knew the value of Dhani made items in the market which only made him want to make the daggers more collectible. It was not enough to just make daggers which could stab and cut. He also needed to make it something that someone would want to display to others like a trophy to justify its price.

Because if just being weapons was all it took Marone would have finished it within days.

Instead Marone used a few days filing both daggers. The first few was used to make the bottom halves which were the hilts. Those were the easy parts as he shaved off the edges and smoothed the sides to fit nicely into the hands of whoever used them.

The last few, the days which really took the time was the top halves. The blades. Slowly but surely Marone brought the sides together into a sharp edge. Vigorously and repetitively Marone continued each day with his work until he was tired out. Proof of his work remaining where he worked as he no longer had energy to clear out the bone dust until the end.

Then for the finishing touches which Marone wasn't even quite sure of himself. Marone put a circle around the base of the hilt. Even if it was a real thin chisel he still moved slowly to not damage his previous work.

"A circle. A circle. A circle. Everything comes to full circle" as the old chant went.

Marone made something of a similar source to a Dhani before. A snake. He wasn't making this for malediction but to get some extra mizas. More importantly he also wanted to test if he was able to maledict something sentient right. The only failures in malediction after all were the pieces that don't even work.

He continued on. Everything will be shown to all. Everything. But the only thing he knew about snakes was how horrified he was of their bites. Not knowing about the difference between constrictors and the poisonous Dhani Marone carved in a few points inside the circle around the bottom of the hilt making it look like the inside of some jaw.

But malediction didn't mean that Marone only had to make one circle. And he still needed to make the daggers look pretty.

On the side of the hilt Marone began carving in another circle. One that would stretch from end to end when looked at from the side. It wasn't a perfectly round circle but as long as it looked like a circle he believed it would work out. It was the same as the one at the bottom. Slow and steady. More importantly it was profitable.

"A circle. A circle. A circle."

That circle was the most important part to malediction. A gap or it not looking like a circle, the item probably wouldn't work. Marone could blame the failing of his item on that probably. The circle didn't matter for the price though. No. The contents of the circle was important now. More specifically how it looked like. That was probably going to help with the price of the item.

Inside the circle Marone started carving again. A quick line and then over and over. Deeper and deeper. Harder and harder. As time went the shape started taking form. A snake. All coiled around in the circle continuously. Didn't take much to actually explain what the item was from. A Dhani. One of the hottest things in the Sunberth markets today.

Then Marone put in his signature on his daggers in blood. To activate any latent powers in the item he might be able to bring out.

[Marone]

Making the item was easy for Marone. Selling it was going to be something else outside his field of expertise. He could try using the Armoury but he didn't want them to have an inkling of him taking some materials for himself to turn a profit but that was not an issue. He already had an idea of where he wanted to sell his items.

The marketplace by the bay. He would be able to get some other things for himself as well.

By the time he reached the bay it was midday and it looks like things were already picking up with how busy it was. Not needing a stall for himself with only a few items Marone instead started looking around for one which would buy his items off him. At the same time he would look for items which he himself would want.

Many stalls were talking about their fine Dhani items. Those were the ones which Marone cared to keep an ear out for and ignored the others. At each he presented his daggers but with not much luck. They were either undervalued or some of the stall owners didn't quite believe they were made from Dhani parts as Marone himself didn't want to reveal his source.

"You sure you aren't interested in these daggers?"

"Why? Whats so special about them?"

"They are made from Dhani bones obviously."

"Thats what everyone says. Most of the time its bull."

"Or that is what you want to say so you can get a cheaper price. How can I be sure that these things you are selling me are really from Dhani too?"

"Because. I'm the one with the stall."

"And that makes me believe you so much."

"Yes. Because I know what I'm selling."

"If that's true then you would've known these were made from Dhani"

"Or I would know you are lying. I'm not forcing you to take my price and you are holding up the other customers. Paying customers I might add."

"Which might want a pair of nice Dhani daggers you'd say? Maybe I should ask them."

"You shouldn't if you want to keep your throat."

"Fine. I'll try my luck with some other seller."

"Don't take too long. I might decide your daggers are not worth the money."

And the negotiations with that stall was considered one of the better ones for Marone. But his luck changed when he eventually reached one of the stalls. Like all others it was claiming to sell Dhani items as well but there were a lot more things than the usual items with a Dhani flair like Dhani meat that would strengthen a man's muscles, Dhani blood which will give the more energy, Dhani teeth charms for the ladies and a whole slew of other oddities.

But this stall had even more than that. Curiosities of all shapes and sizes which Marone couldn't even use to give him a clue of them. As he was looking at them dumbfounded for some time the woman finally spoke up in a rather raspy voice. Marone himself almost missed what the woman said.

"You have a good eye. Everything you see here was from those Dhani."

"Everything? Dhani?" Marone repeated unsure if he heard her right.

"Yes everything you see in front of you and some at the bottom. Others behind me or stored elsewhere." she said before waving he hands over in presentation.

"Even that? And that? Or that?" Marone asked pointing at a small chest, some sort of a sphere and a long wooden stick.

"Yes" the woman confirmed proudly.

"They don't look like they are made from the Dhani" Marone said almost preparing to leave before he was stopped by what the woman said next.

"I can see you believe that and you should since you made those nice daggers you're showing everyone from Dhani bones no? But these other items aren't made from Dhani. They are the items brought by the Dhani from the water."

The woman could've just as easily overheard Marone at the other stalls but he was at the bay when the Dhani arrived from the water and saw it too. Them bringing strange items from the water. And it was not beyond the woman familiarizing herself with Dhani bones just as Marone had with other bones while carving them into weapons or maledicted trinkets to get a rough idea of what they were from.

Looking wishful Marone started taking up the items he pointed to to examine them. He couldn't open the chest no matter how hard he tried guessing it was probably locked. The sphere in his hands had no apparent use except being very smooth and cool to the touch. It was so comfortable and Marone almost didn't want to let it go. The long wooden stick came as a surprise to Marone because if it as the woman said it should have rotted out a long time ago.