[Thorin's Forge]Forging an Apprenticeship

by **Crylon Stonecraft** on June 9th, 2018, 1:47 am

17 Summer 515

Crylon hadn't been in Ravok long, but he was ready to get to work. Crafting, making, building, growing, were all a part of the nature of the Isur. Standing still was not even a consideration for a proper Isur, and in this regard Crylon was certainly a proper Isur.

It hadn't taken long asking about places of working metal in Ravok to hear of Thorin's forge. First the Defiled Blade had been brought up, but it didn't seem right as it focused on weapons and armor making. While Crylon planned to one day learn such things, for now he wanted to focus on the somewhat simpler task of smithing items of everyday use rather than tools of combat.

It also didn't hurt that when he arrived he felt a connection to Izurdin of a fellow marked as he entered. He was a bit surprised not to find an Isur though, but a human. At least, Crylon thought as he eyed the man, a human mostly. Looking closer he could see some of the subtler signs of his Isur heritage in some ancestor, something a non-Isur might miss. Not half Isur even he didn't think, but some degree of his traits reminded Crylon of home.

Crylon in turn was greeted with the steely eyed gaze of the proprietor and Izurdin marked. For a moment the man's eyes flicked to Crylon's bare left arm, before returning to glare at him. After a few ticks of some unknown assessment the man set aside the bit of metal he'd been holding and headed over to Crylon.

“You here to make, learn, or buy?”

No preamble, no uncertainty, with a gruff demeanor and short clipped words, this man was clearly a people person if Crylon had ever met one.

With a bit of hesitation at the sudden question, Crylon answered just as simply “I... I'm here to learn.”

After another few moments pause the man extended his right arm, clearly wanting Crylon to do in kind. As the two gripped hands and the man apparently tried to crush every bone in Crylon's more normal hand, Crylon couldn't help thinking that if anyone could do it this burly and toned smith could.

“I'm Thorin. We'll start you off simple, see what you've got. Joe!” A human quickly appeared in response to the yell, once appearing having trouble taking his eyes off Crylon's left arm until Thorin let out a heavy cough. After a few traded words Thorin walked off to return to his earlier task, leaving him with Joe the human.

“Ah, so Thorin wants us to start simple. So I figured we'd begin with some horseshoes. You made any before? Well no matter, I'll take you through it, and if you've any skill at all it should be simple enough to learn.”

by **Crylon Stonecraft** on June 9th, 2018, 2:39 am

Following Joe the human deeper within the structure, Crylon did his best to keep his bearings and to take in as much as he could. It wasn't so easily accomplished Crylon was to find, as all manner of things seemed to be going on. Over where he was led, where the forging was, the din was heavy on the air. Perhaps half a dozen apprentices worked away, forging, striking, cooling, heating, striking some more, a confusing and overwhelming scene of many different people working and crafting and making industry.

To Crylon, it felt like for a moment being home back in his families forge.

“Right, so to begin lets see our tools. For this we'll be using the forge, a hammer, some tongs, a chisel for cutting the indent, and a pritchel for punching the holes. Thats the main stuff. Here, see this one, its a completed horseshoe.”

Crylon took the offered piece of iron, letting his hand run over it. It appeared simple enough, though he'd yet had the need to make one and so hadn't specifically forged the item. A curved U shaped bit of metal, almost though curved a bit more and pointing somewhat inward. There was also an indent on either side, a trough if it'd been in a bigger object, each of which had three holes clean through the metal. “Right, so you learn by doing, get the forge heated, and I'll go and fetch some metal to start with. Then just follow my directions and you'll get through it.”

Crylon headed over to the forge, the anvil just by it within an easy partial turn not requiring a step, and began to work the bellows. A fire had already been lit inside, it just needed feeding and fanning. He added some more wood, and continued to work the bellows until Joe returned with a small cut bar of iron. It'd already been cut to roughly the size needed for the horseshoe, thus avoiding the need for each smith to do so. While horseshoes might not be used within Ravok proper, apparently finished ones were brought to the shore where they would be used.

“Right, so you've got the fire going, lets take the metal and begin heating one end. Thats what the tongs are...” Joe however stopped in mid sentence, as Crylon had already begun to move. At the order to heat the end of the metal he had picked up the bit of iron casually in his left hand, and was sticking it into the fire even as Joe mentioned the tongs. It took Crylon a good half chime to figure out why Joe's mouth was gaping open staring into the forge. “Your... Hand... What the petch.”

Crylon found himself struggling for the words, for once finding his basic understanding of common insufficient.

“Isur arm, special arm, it fine. It save time, yes? No worries.” Crylon fought from finishing the sentence with his thought of Silly human. For an Isur such an act was quite normal, standard with working metal even. For a human... Not so much.

Once the metal was heated properly, Crylon stuck his arm back inside the forge, and withdrew the metal to place it on the anvil. Joe took a moment to comprehend that Crylon was fine and unharmed, before finally getting back to the task at hand. “Right... So... Bending... First we bend the metal, use the horn to bend it into shape, like the first. Also we'll want to upset the ends a bit, to get a nice form we can adjust later.”

Crylon nodded, taking the hammer in his right hand, occasionally using his left to adjust the metal and to hold it in place, striking as the human indicated. The ring of hammer on metal soon rung out.

by **Crylon Stonecraft** on June 9th, 2018, 3:02 am

Now that the heavy bit of the smithing was underway, Crylon began to feel more at home and enjoy himself. And after a few more times of seeing him stick his hand and arm intot he forge, Joe even began to take it in stride similar to finding a new if unusual tool for the forge.

Crylon, following Joe's orders, began by striking the end of the part of the metal he'd heated. Compacting it and widening the bit of metal. He didn't do this too much however, next Joe taking him on to the next step of bending. Holding the bit of iron over the horn of the anvil, Crylon would strike as indicated, each hit of the hammer in his right hand bending the heated metal. Slowly he could see it taking shape, finding the finished product he'd seen earlier within the rough unfinished bit of iron. Now, he just needed to take it to that finished state.

A few more strikes, and the one end of the metal was mostly shaped. Another trip to the forge stuck the other end inside for a time to heat it as well. “You always want to heat the metal in bits, just what your working on, alright. Not the whole thing. Makes it easier to work.”

Once the other end was heated, it was back to the horn of the anvil with a small turn to bend the metal the same as the first end. A strike here to compact the end, a hit to bend there, a tap, another strike, and another. Soon it had taken on the same shape as the other end, though both ends were still rough and incomplete.

“Now heat the entire thing. We're going to work the middle, and flatten it all out after all that bending. Thats when we measure.” Joe held up a bit of flat metal with marks on it, meant to measure distance and angles.

Crylon returned the metal to the forge, taking it back to the anvil once it was heated properly. As indicated he continued to bend the horseshoe more, striking here and there at the middle to get the correct shape. Then began the much slower process of flattening and truing up the metal. “All of that banging and such has warped the metal, as it will. So now we need to get it nice and flat and into the proper shape again before continuing.”

Taking it to the flat of the anvil, Crylon began striking along the metal so as to make it flat and straight once more. However he had to be careful, less he ruin the bend and shape he'd made before. This was done by a combination of strikes to bend and flatten properly, and lighter taps on the metal with the hammer.

Slowly, slowly, the horseshoe further became the proper shape. “Now that we've got the proper shape, and its flattened as a surface, we can begin the... I call it the indent, not sure what its actually called.”

The next tool Joe handed Crylon was a hammer, but also a chisel, or perhaps some odd combination of the two. But first it was back to the fire to heat the metal on one end as directed before that could be done.

by **Crylon Stonecraft** on June 9th, 2018, 3:31 am

Now that a nice flat surface had been made, the trough as Crylon thought of it was next. Taking the heated metal out of the fire and returning it to the flat of the anvil as Joe indicated, Crylon took the chisel hammer in his right hand. With the strike of the tool on the half of hot metal similar to striking with the hammer, the small point instead pushed the metal apart. Similar, in a manner, to upsetting the metal, but in reverse Crylon thought.

“This tool doesn't go all the way through, its not as fine as a pritchel, but it indents the metal. You'll have one on each side, excepting the middle and the end tips. Once you get a good line on one side, you can then widen it.”

Crylon took the tool and continued along the vein of the metal, slowing elongating the indention in the metal. Joe had him make a second pass once the one side was done, before then somewhat canting his angle so as to widen it a bit. This was done more by tapping than full strikes. Shortly he had a nice indent along one side, roughly the same size and shape as the original finished product Crylon had been shown.

“Right, so now that you've got the indent done, its more flattening. All that pushing of the metal to make the indent has got it out of shape again, so the sides need to be brought to order and the top and bottom flattened again.”

Nodding and continuing at his work, Crylon worked to flatten the metal before it had to be reheated. While he allowed himself to strike heavier blows when flattening the top and bottom, he was more careful with the sides as he did not want to throw off the former shape but to simply put it back to rights. First he'd strike the top, then a turn and he'd tap the side, another turn and strike the flat of the bottom. Turn, a tap on the other side. He kept this up along the heated half which had been offset by the expanding of the indent, until he'd followed through to make it clean and straight again. This time however he used the indicated metal ruler Joe had shown him, listening and measuring as the human described the correct angle of the bends and length of the sides.

A few more taps and strikes, and one small bend, and he had it more or less sorted.

Then he was back to the fire, pushing the metal back in and heating the non indented but bent side. “Don't forget when heating the metal, to let it get to the right color. White is far to hot, and its about to melt. A dull red and it'll cool to fast before you finish working. You want the right heat and color to work it.”

Crylon smiled and nodded as Joe streamed on a constant speech of this and other such suggestions as he worked, in between giving Crylon orders and directions.

Heated, Crylon turned to the other half of the horseshoe to repeat the process he'd worked on the first half.

by **Crylon Stonecraft** on June 9th, 2018, 4:07 am

Having done it once, the second indent went much more quickly completed on the freshly heated metal. Crylon took the hammer tipped with a chisel type tool, and began to pound out an indent. He lengthened this along the bend of the horseshoe, following the metal along its bend. Once this was done he returned to expand the indent, widening it along with the earlier lengthening. Then he was back to hammering and tapping, each side and flat in turn to bring the half of the bit of iron back into proper shape.

A tap a strike, a tap, a strike, turning the metal as he did. Then Crylon move along the bend, completing this process inch by inch till he'd finished the half that had been heated. Then as Joe reminded him back to the measuring, checking the dimensions of the length and angle of the bend. Then some more strikes and taps to bring it into the correct dimensions that Joe indicated.

“Good, good. Now on to the next step, punching the holes. Now we'll use the pritchel, and the pritchel hole so we don't damage the anvil. Heat the metal, and do each side in turn, three holes in the bottom of each indent spaced out evenly.”

Crylon with a nod followed the orders, returning the metal to the forge. By now Joe didn't react at all to him sticking his bare arm into the fire to deposit the metal or to retrieve the metal once it was heated. The tongs lay forgotten off to the side, not moved since Joe had deposited them there.

Placing the proper spot on the horseshoe over the pritchel hole, Crylon took a hammer in one hand and the chisel in his left, and held it over the proper spot of the horseshoe with the pritchel hole underneath. With a strike the pritchel struck the flat at the bottom of the indent, though as he hadn't struck with enough force it only made a dent and did not properly punch through. Another strike, this time harder, and the end of the pritchel cut clean through to poke out the bottom of the pritchel hole on the anvil. Now with a better understanding of the force required, Crylon made a tap and then a strike in each of the other two spots one by one, punching the second and third holes through it. A few more strikes of the hammer flattened these bits back out around the newly made holes, albeit somewhat roughly.

Turning to the other side, Crylon returned to the fire and placed the metal within, this time while waiting also feeding the fire a bit and working the flames again with the bellows to bring up the heat. Then it as more waiting and watching as the colors in the metal changed, going from a dull red to a deeper red, and other colors besides. Joe called out once the metal was properly colored, and Crylon pulled out the metal to return it to the anvil. All that was left of the forming was to punch the holes on the other newly heated side, and then on to finishing.

by **Crylon Stonecraft** on June 9th, 2018, 4:58 am

Moving the almost formed metal over the pritchel hole, Crylon lined up the first hole and prepared the tools just over where the hole lay. A tap of the pritchel with the hammer, then a strike, and the solid metal implement punched through the heated metal. Another adjustment to shift the spot underneath which the pritchel hole lay to further up in the indent, and Crylon prepared again for another strike. A light tap, then a hit and the metal pierced through again, and likewise with the third hole once the tools and pritchell hole were properly maneuvered.

Then as before it was more adjustments to offset for the newly opened holes and the pushing outward of the metal this has caused. Crylon tapped and struck, forcing the newly moved bits into a somewhat flatter and more correct shape.

“Allright, thats most of it. Now we just need to do the finishing. Heat the entire thing, and you'll need to do the finishing strikes to bend and shape it into the final proper form like you saw with the finished one.”

Putting the metal into the hammer, this time sticking the entire thing in, Crylon waited till the coloring was right, this time pulling it out based on the correct coloring just as Joe went to order him to do so.

As he set the almost finished horseshoe down, Crylon made a brief under his breath prayer to Izurdin, simply saying “Izurdin thank you for my strength” before beginning his work. Joe began to speak once more, pointing out small issues and differences with the metal from the desired end result. Crylon would hammer, tap, or strike the metal into the correct shape focusing on each problem spot one by one as they became evident. A more skilled or practiced craftsman could no doubt do all of the same work much more quickly, but while Crylon had smithed before he'd not made this specific item.

Each blow of the hammer brought the metal that much closer to the finished image Crylon saw within it. It was the potential, Crylon understood, already there as he brought it to the surface. A few small taps on the horn to correct some bends, strikes on the flat to straighten and flatten, and it appeared done. And yet, looking closer Crylon could see it wasn't quite the same yet.

“Right, lastly is the finishing without hammers. Files to grind down, remove burs, and things. Once thats done you simply cool it, and your finished.”

Taking the offered file Crylon worked the still hot but cooling metal, grinding down the indents in spots where they had bits sticking off. The main work for this was needed where the metal had been punched through to make the holes. A bit more grinding, filing, and that was done as well, and Crylon stuck the horseshoe as directed by Joe into a bucket of water.

“Good, one down. Now let make another eleven, for an even dozen, and we'll call you proficient. I
ll help on the next one, but after that your own your own, see if you can finish the rest without direction.”

Crylon let out a small sigh, let a small smile of satisfaction and contentment cross his lips, and then reached for the next piece of unworked metal ready to be made into a horseshoe.