83rd Winter 515
Alija was interested in developing her skills as a blacksmith. She had reached a high proficiency in the skill, but was always eager to develop and search, discovering new plans and new ideas everyday. Sometimes, she would even try and talk to a monk that knew the skill, to try uncover more knowledge from them, but that never proved effective.
Today, she decided to head to the Tempered Anvil headquarters and hope that she would be allowed inside to read the books they had on offer. Luckily, when she arrived, the only monks in sight included the man she had investigated using auristics with. He smiled at her arrival, letting her in without much protest. Alija was glad for this. It really helped when she knew people on the inside.
She headed straight for the library, knowing exactly where it was. The tomes of books lined the walls, Alija eager to get into them, but first she had to find the right one to study. As the blacksmith walked past the shelves, she scanned the titles, trying to find one most fitting to her purpose. The majority detailed jewelcrafting, something she wished to study but at a later date, or art in general, full of knowledge but not directly about what she wanted to learn.
She completely skipped the section detailing the the monks and their quarter, moving to a bookshelf tucked at the very back of the library. There was a book that stood out to her simple entitled: "Working With Metal." She took it, flipping through the pages. Instructions, details, everything she wanted. Alija took it, moving to one of the small tables dotted around the room.
Careful to choose one far from the monks that gathered there, she placed the book down, placing her own blank book beside it. She had come prepared with ink and a quill as well, eager to copy down all the important information for future reference.
She turned over to a blank page, dipping the quill in ink, before opening the book. The first sentence clearly showed her that she hadn't picked a book on blacksmithing. Never mind. Metalsmithing worked just as well.
She copied the sentences down exactly.
Alija was actually glad that she had found this book rather than one on blacksmithing. She had always wanted to expand her knowledge on other skills to do with metals and this was a perfect chance. She began to read the introduction, jotting down key sentences that she wanted remember.
Flicking then to history, she read the short passage. It didn't hold much detail, only guessing that it started when metal, or rocks containing metal, were heated, either on purpose as experimentation or by accident. The liquid would cool in hard shapes, molding into cracks it came across. Then it spoke of people who mixed molten metals and discovered that they gained different properties.
As she read on, she discovered that many alloys, mixtures of different metals such as tin and copper to make bronze, were lost in the Valterrian, and select groups of adventurers focused entirely on discovering more and documenting them. What she didn't understand was why they just didn't try various combinations of metals to discover what worked, and what didn't.
The next chapter detailed melting metal. Alija herself knew about this lightly, remembering times when she had overheated metal, resulting in a shiny liquid dripping off it. Still, it wouldn't hurt to see what they had to say on the topic.
The first material to burn was wood, something she rarely used. It didn't burn with the same power as coal, and crumbled to ash much quicker as well. It stated so in the book, also saying that the majority of fires would require five hours of burning and an assistant to continue loading the fire.
She wrote down the metals, before adding a note beside aluminium, tin, zinc, and lead that they could be melted on a cooking fire heat.
The material was coal, which could be used for all wood melting metals. It stated that the time it took to start a coal furnace was two days, which must have been from cold. Alija knew that with a wood burning fire, she could quickly turn it to coal and get it ready for use. It had quite an extensive list as well, metals that she had barely heard of, let alone seen.
The final entry on melting metals listen molten magma to heat the metal. Molten magma? If she could remember rightly, molten magma was rocks melted by immense pressure in the heart of Semele. “Only natural forges in Sultros and Wind Reach”, it said. Sultros was a place she knew, home of the blacksmithing Isur, but Wind Reach wasn't exactly. She knew that you could find giant birds there, but that was all. When she returned back, she would have to ask Thegans if he knew anymore. He was the adventurer, after all.
The book also stated that Reimancers could create it, if they were expert and planned for it well. Reimancers were the mages that could create the elements, Alija knew that. But she didn't know that they would be capable of using their magic in combination with metalsmithing, and in extension blacksmithing. It almost made her interested in obtaining the metal for herself, then she remembered how dangerous Auristics was. Reimancy had clearer dangers, much easier to harm herself with. No, she would have to restrain herself.
Turning back to the book, she copied down the metals listed.
She hadn't heard of one, but made a note to research them later. Only Isurian Iron stood out, reminding her of Isurian Steel. Perhaps one day she would have the pleasure of crafting with it. Until then, she was left reading this book on metalsmithing.
Alija was interested in developing her skills as a blacksmith. She had reached a high proficiency in the skill, but was always eager to develop and search, discovering new plans and new ideas everyday. Sometimes, she would even try and talk to a monk that knew the skill, to try uncover more knowledge from them, but that never proved effective.
Today, she decided to head to the Tempered Anvil headquarters and hope that she would be allowed inside to read the books they had on offer. Luckily, when she arrived, the only monks in sight included the man she had investigated using auristics with. He smiled at her arrival, letting her in without much protest. Alija was glad for this. It really helped when she knew people on the inside.
She headed straight for the library, knowing exactly where it was. The tomes of books lined the walls, Alija eager to get into them, but first she had to find the right one to study. As the blacksmith walked past the shelves, she scanned the titles, trying to find one most fitting to her purpose. The majority detailed jewelcrafting, something she wished to study but at a later date, or art in general, full of knowledge but not directly about what she wanted to learn.
She completely skipped the section detailing the the monks and their quarter, moving to a bookshelf tucked at the very back of the library. There was a book that stood out to her simple entitled: "Working With Metal." She took it, flipping through the pages. Instructions, details, everything she wanted. Alija took it, moving to one of the small tables dotted around the room.
Careful to choose one far from the monks that gathered there, she placed the book down, placing her own blank book beside it. She had come prepared with ink and a quill as well, eager to copy down all the important information for future reference.
She turned over to a blank page, dipping the quill in ink, before opening the book. The first sentence clearly showed her that she hadn't picked a book on blacksmithing. Never mind. Metalsmithing worked just as well.
She copied the sentences down exactly.
Metalsmithing s the crafting of metal objects and understanding of different metal properties. It involves creating alloys and casting metal into a final shape by pouring the alloy.
Alija was actually glad that she had found this book rather than one on blacksmithing. She had always wanted to expand her knowledge on other skills to do with metals and this was a perfect chance. She began to read the introduction, jotting down key sentences that she wanted remember.
Flicking then to history, she read the short passage. It didn't hold much detail, only guessing that it started when metal, or rocks containing metal, were heated, either on purpose as experimentation or by accident. The liquid would cool in hard shapes, molding into cracks it came across. Then it spoke of people who mixed molten metals and discovered that they gained different properties.
As she read on, she discovered that many alloys, mixtures of different metals such as tin and copper to make bronze, were lost in the Valterrian, and select groups of adventurers focused entirely on discovering more and documenting them. What she didn't understand was why they just didn't try various combinations of metals to discover what worked, and what didn't.
The next chapter detailed melting metal. Alija herself knew about this lightly, remembering times when she had overheated metal, resulting in a shiny liquid dripping off it. Still, it wouldn't hurt to see what they had to say on the topic.
The first material to burn was wood, something she rarely used. It didn't burn with the same power as coal, and crumbled to ash much quicker as well. It stated so in the book, also saying that the majority of fires would require five hours of burning and an assistant to continue loading the fire.
Wood:
Aluminium
Copper
Gold
Lead
Sliver
Tin
Zinc
She wrote down the metals, before adding a note beside aluminium, tin, zinc, and lead that they could be melted on a cooking fire heat.
The material was coal, which could be used for all wood melting metals. It stated that the time it took to start a coal furnace was two days, which must have been from cold. Alija knew that with a wood burning fire, she could quickly turn it to coal and get it ready for use. It had quite an extensive list as well, metals that she had barely heard of, let alone seen.
Coal :
Cobalt
Iron
Nickel
Platinum
Steel
Titanium
The final entry on melting metals listen molten magma to heat the metal. Molten magma? If she could remember rightly, molten magma was rocks melted by immense pressure in the heart of Semele. “Only natural forges in Sultros and Wind Reach”, it said. Sultros was a place she knew, home of the blacksmithing Isur, but Wind Reach wasn't exactly. She knew that you could find giant birds there, but that was all. When she returned back, she would have to ask Thegans if he knew anymore. He was the adventurer, after all.
The book also stated that Reimancers could create it, if they were expert and planned for it well. Reimancers were the mages that could create the elements, Alija knew that. But she didn't know that they would be capable of using their magic in combination with metalsmithing, and in extension blacksmithing. It almost made her interested in obtaining the metal for herself, then she remembered how dangerous Auristics was. Reimancy had clearer dangers, much easier to harm herself with. No, she would have to restrain herself.
Turning back to the book, she copied down the metals listed.
Molten magma:
Chromium
Isurian Iron
Molybdenum
Tungsten
She hadn't heard of one, but made a note to research them later. Only Isurian Iron stood out, reminding her of Isurian Steel. Perhaps one day she would have the pleasure of crafting with it. Until then, she was left reading this book on metalsmithing.