Solo [ED]A Return a Repair

[Crylon Stonecraft]

30 Summer 520 Rising early for another day, Crylon made his way among the Demesne. Time had been odd of late, passing in spurts and waves, different from how he felt time passed back in Sultros. Crylon could only assume this was in part due to the time he spent around humans. Before in Sultros much of time was the same, working on the same things and slowly improving. There was no rush, no need to act now, in truth there was more need to think things over and fully consider them before anything was done. Heading out from his room Crylon pondered on this, and felt that this was likely due to the the speed at which humans lived. They were always in a rush, though admittedly not as much here away from the city. They did not live as long as Isur, and so wanted to get things done now rather than later. This gave Crylon a push to get things done now, rather than putting them off. Heading to the smithy, Crylon thought back about what he had done of late. Working about and within the Demesne, heading to the outpost for a bit, he had moved around a lot but also felt like he had done little. At least little of substance he could put his hands on and say - I did this! Working in a forge though, that was another matter entirely. Working metal awakened something deeply Isurian in him, something he felt every time he worked the substance. Iron, and more recently steel, such were ways he could help. The uses of a forge and the metal worked on it were endless, something he never tired of. Looking about the smithy Crylon noticed a few things. The forge was low, and needed its fire tended. Someone, likely from the mill, had supplied wood cut and stacked for fuel. But the fire itself had gone down and was barely going. Not enough to work a forge by. Smiling Crylon knew what he would have to do, something that would likely take bells. Get the fire going, warm it up, build it from nothing through the strength of his arm, the sweat of his brow, and his own labor. First though he checked his equipment. Running his hands over the forge and surrounding systems, being careful to only touch his special arm to anything hot, Crylon worked his way methodically along. Sweeping fingers along the forge he felt the chimney, checking the integrity of the bricks. Making sure it was stable, not about ready to fall over. That done he began feeling a few bricks at the mortar, making sure they were still together. Maintenance work was important, and anything he caught early would mean an easier repair than if he waited until it broke. And so he kept at it, slowly working his way from the top down, checking each layer of the bricks and their mortar for weakening. This took time and patience, this was admittedly tedious, but Crylon knew things of import where not always glamorous or fancy. Sometimes things just needed doing, and that meant he was the one to do them. WC: 527

[Crylon Stonecraft]

Once he reached the base of the chimney Crylon got down to the forge itself. This he had to take with more care, since he could only use his one hand. Even mostly banked, he did not want to risk burning his other hand from hot stone. And so a bit more slowly Crylon made his way around the forge, starting at one side of the opening and feeling along the stone and mortar. He worked his way down the levels and kept at it, moving to the right and heading around to the side. Then he moved to the back, feeling each layer to check the integrity of the mortar. Moving around the back he swept to the other side, keeping at it till he was at the other side of the forges opening. That done Crylon moved down from the forge to the base, making his way around and down till he got to the ground of the forge stack. Stone met floor, and ended, the bricks the forge was made of porous to his touch. Porous, granular, as was the nature of the brick, but not weak. He felt no openings, no cracks, no places where heat or smoke would escape, and was therefore satisfied with the forge itself. Next in his maintenance tour Crylon moved to the anvil, just a half step from the forge for easy access. Such that one did not need to step away from one to get to the other, more so they just turned. Starting on the top Crylon felt across the anvil, checking for nicks or blemishes. The solid anvil was heavy, unwilling to move, uncompromising. But it was not immune to damage, and if not handled properly or if metal was worked on it wrong, damage could be done. Like with the stone the anvil if damaged would start out relatively easy to fix, but if not addressed it would get harder. Better to fix a small problem than let it build. As he swept around the edge of the anvil Crylon felt a nick, a bit of damage where something had struck wrong. He noted this mentally now, to remember for later. In the meantime until it could be repair he would need to watch out for and avoid this spot, to avoid it affecting work he was doing. Eventually he would need to fix it. Perhaps welding the spot, to even it out. The alternative was grinding the area down, smoothing it out, but he preferred additive repair or restoration than reductive repair. That meant less of the anvil, and doing so did not make much sense for such a small problem. Not as if the anvil was going to crack or break from the small damage. The issue there was in heating the anvil properly for such work, since it was not easy to move, let alone get into the forge to heat the proper areas. For a moment Crylon wondered if perhaps it could be done with magic, heating just the single spot, but he did not think he had the skills to do such. Letting out a sigh Crylon noted the spot and moved on. WC: 531

[Crylon Stonecraft]

Continuing on from there Crylon felt the rest of the anvil, checking for damage. Luckily the rest of the flat of the face, along with its edges, where smooth and without damage. As was the horn, running his hand along it. Those were the most important places, and the only ones he really worried about. After that he took a cursory examination of the rest of the anvil, but he did not much worry about that. As long as there were no cracks or such serious problems most anything on the rest of the anvil was simply aesthetic. It did not matter and would not affect the working of the anvil for smithing. Forge and anvil looked over, Crylon next went over his tools. There were the bellows on the fire, which Crylon worked to check for issues. He did not notice any spot with air rushing out, any other such issues, and so felt that was working as intended. Next was his more literal tools, each one Crylon picked up one by one to check over. Hammers, several of different sizes, where inspected on their head and handles. He saw a few with some wear on their handles from use, but nothing enough to mean the wood needed replacing. There were also tongs, several that Crylon picked up and worked. First he checked the mechanism, the motion, opening and closing each one to make sure there was no rust or wear. Once that was done he checked the handles, and the head itself along with the part at the end that pinched and grabbed. Crylon also had his attachments, parts one added to the anvil for various bits of work. A wedge for cutting, slipped into the hole on the anvil for such additions. A vice, for use when one needed both hands and or had to hold something in place and not let it move. This was also useful for bending or such metal, though was not used as much by Crylon since he could hold hot metal with his one hand. Crylon could do it with his hand, not needing a vice really, but he knew anyone else working the forge would need it. After this was the files, each one rough and used for getting the harsh raspy bit off the end of worked metal. Once it was heated such was left, and the surface was not smooth, and so many different types of files where needed to adjust this. Otherwise the smith would end up producing something rough, ragged, and with little bits sticking out in danger of nicking someone holding or using the item. Not a good idea. And so Crylon worked his way through these as well, one by one, checking for cracks or any other issue meaning one needed replacing. WC: 468

[Crylon Stonecraft]

Done with the tools, the next step was to start up the forge properly. Heading over to the wood Crylon grabbed a handful and threw it into the forge. The he gently applied air from the bellows, careful however not to add to much. the extra air forced into the forge fed the flames, giving it more energy and accelerating the burn. This helped with increasing the heat, but he knew that to get it to proper forging heat it would take time. Someone had made a pile of damaged metal objects, mostly nails, which needed repair. Usually a few extra were kept about while some where waiting to be fixed, but only so many. Enough that losing the use of one nail did not mean reheating the forge and getting it blasting, but not so many he could let it sit forever without being addressed. Waiting for a few chimes Crylon watched the flames within, letting them build and grow. Once they had fed decently, and the newly added wood was burning well, Crylon headed back to the stack for more. This time he only added a few in, instead beginning to pump the bellows, letting the flames hungrily lick at the wood for a bit and catch the substance. As it started to spread Crylon grabbed the other bits he had brought over and threw them in as well, before working the bellows again. Crylon pumped his arm, feeling the strain, at least in one, as he kept at the labor. His muscles bulged and strained, sweat increasing on his body from the labor and the heat slowly growing off the forge. Crylon kept at this for awhile, thinking as he did how like life rebuilding a forge could be. A lot of the same ting, over and over, a lot of maintenance and just keeping things alive. And then in between that eternal maintenance, the real interesting things happened that everyone remembered. No one remembered the third soup of the week for the third week in a row. But people remembered feasts and fancy dinners, the people one met and talked to over the shared meal. Crylon did not recall all the times he had maintained the forge, all of the times he spent watching over it and rebuilding the fire in the forge for himself an others to use. But still it had happened, and still he kept at it. Not for the boring bits in the middle, the third soup of the third weak, but the amazing things in between. Forging a blade for the first time, like the one he had made for Kelski. working steel for the first time, once he felt he was proficient enough. Such newness did not happen often enough, but when they did Crylon was sure to remember those days above all others. WC: 474

[Crylon Stonecraft]

After bells of work, finally the forge was up to a good forging temperature. To check this Crylon started out with something simple, taking up an iron nail and tossing it into the flames. He waited, letting the heat sink in, watching the metal change color. Once it appeared of the proper hue Crylon grabbed it up with his Isurian arm and set it on the anvil. Steering clear of course of the rough spot with the nick. The nail had been int he pile because it had been bent, and bent enough one could not just unbend it without ruining it. Taking up a hammer Crylon began smashing said hammer on the nail, quickly straightening it out with a series of blows. Grabbing the end of the nai he made a pinch on the hot metal, hammering a few blows to straighten it out. That one done Crylon checked it over, and then dropped it into the water bucket to cool. Taking up another two nails Crylon dropped them in the fire, and then waited, pumping the bellows a few times to keep the heat up. Then he waited again, watching, letting the color change and the metal heat. Grabbing them out again Crylon grabbed up the nails and dropped them on the anvil. Then it was more hammer, more blows on the metal to straighten and correct. Crylon knew each nail had a story, a tale behind how it was used, something he could imagine in his mind. And like in rebirth each of these nails was reforged, remade, refreshed, to be used again in some other thing. A new thing ready again for the world. Used in doors. Used in walls. Used to hold up a painting, or to nail down a shingle. Used to make a doghouse, or a birdhouse, or an actual house. Crylon had no idea what next each would be used for, what each nail would do in its next life, but knew it would be used all the same. After that Crylon slowly worked his way through the pile of torn, misused, or damaged metal objects. More nails, quite a few of those. A few at a time were fed into the flames. Wait, watch, add to the anvil. A hammering of blows, straightening out the metal, and then a few more blows and pinches. And then dropped in the bucket of water to cool. And then repeated. Hammer, pull, drop, water, heat, cool, hammer, straighten, fix. Once all of the nails were done, easiest to break up the tasks and do the same ones all at once, Crylon was left with a few odd metal shapes. These Crylon had more trouble identifying, unsure what they were at first. Eying one Crylon realized one was a metal ring, either for a drawer or a chest. A pull ring, used as a handhold to open or close something. Interesting. Looking over it Crylon pondered on both how it was broken, as well as how to best fix it. Letting out a sigh Crylon moved to take a break, his first in bells. He would mull the problem over as he rested, got a drink, a small bite to eat, and other simple ablutions. He smiled, knowing that now that he had done the maintenance, the more interesting items were left. WC: 557

[Alric Lysane]

Your Grades Crylon Stonecraft Skills Blacksmithing – 4 Philosophy – 1 Planning – 1 Lores Blacksmithing: Importance of Maintenance Blacksmithing: Signs Of Degradation Blacksmithing: Standard Smithy Checks Blacksmithing: Tools And Their Uses Time: It’s Relative