[Ironworks] Hey I Know You... (Hadrian)

[Marcus Braeden]

15th of Spring, 511 AV

Marcus stepped into the Ironworks and and stored his cloak away, just as any other usual day at work. He had expected it to be a rather normal day at the Ironworks: walk in, create some weapons, leave, maybe go to the Rearing Stallion after work, head home, sleep, repeat. His schedule wasn't the most exciting of routines, but it was simple enough. Marcus grabbed one of the leather aprons off the rack as well as the various tools required to do his job: a chisel, tongs, and a few measuring tools. Marcus' fellow smiths had finally gotten used to his presence again, as he received no glares as he did when he first started work again. Marcus put on his apron and quickly set out to find an open anvil, preferably close to one of the forges. Marcus found one a few paces away from a forge and began to set up shop. He had already grabbed an iron bar and was ready to start crafting, but as usual, he couldn't decide what to make. Almost every day Marcus would walk into the Ironworks without even thinking about what he was going to work on, and this usually lead to him arguing with himself about what to make for around ten minutes, which was unproductive to say the least.

Marcus decided that daggers would be his primary task for the day. They were simple enough in design, assuming Marcus didn't add his own flare to them, and used up less materials than a sword. Marcus started as he usually did, by heating up the iron bar and then bringing it back to his anvil to shape it. With each strike the iron bar began to look more and more like a blade rather than a metal prism. After a few more heatings the blade was shaped fully and ready to be brought to the grinder to add the edge to it. Marcus did this quickly and then began the tempering process which once again did not take long. Marcus decided against creating his own hilt on this occasion. Rather he decided to use one of the hilts that were already made by other smiths. He would be able to produce more daggers this way anyway. Marcus fastened the blade to the hilt, finishing off the first dagger.

[Hadrian]

The Ironworks hadn't seen Hadrian since last Fall, but he hadn't seen Marcus Braeden since the late Summer, and so it was with some surprise that he saw him now, almost as soon as he walked into the place with its fierce, dry heat. He wore little more than an old shirt and britches, knowing he had business within the inferno, but even so he paused to let the faintest sheen of res seep out of his pores, not even enough that the naked eye would see a glow with all the torchlight and the glow of the furnaces and superheated metals. The water he created was as cold as he could manage, an attempt to do the gods one better on the perspiration system in humanity. With that slow and infinitesimal reaction occuring, he walked up to the pale man to see what he was working on. Hadrian was even smiling, which was rare for him, but becoming less so the more time went on of late. He waited for a lull in Marcus' work, of course, not wanting to interrupt him and get him hurt by startling him. "Hullo, Master Braeden," he said. "I thought perhaps you had moved on from metalworking, Syliras, or both. It is good to see you again."

[Marcus Braeden]

Marcus found his work being interrupted by a familiar voice. He paused before looking up, thinking about who it could be, although there were not that many candidates. He was a tad bit lacking in the friends department after all, especially since he had faded from existence and all of a sudden reappeared. Marcus glanced up to find himself looking up at the young man he had met in the late summer, shortly after arriving in Syliras. They had had a short conversation about weapon smithing and magecrafting back when they first met. Marcus smiled, chuckling at the fact that Hadrian had called him master, as he was far from it. It was good to finally see a familiar face, especially after making a fool of himself by rambling like a drunkard in the Rearing Stallion.

Marcus extended is hand "Heh, well sir i am no master yet, maybe one day though. As for my absence, I haven't moved on from either, just taken a short leave from them I suppose. It's a bit complicated. Anyway how have you been, Hadrian? You still risking your life with that magecrafting business?" Marcus said, smiling.

[Hadrian]

"Well, if you're no Master, I'm certainly no Ser." He laughed a little. "I'm in the middle of two projects for the Order at the moment. Similar to the previous, so I suppose I impressed them well enough although there was a certain Knight who shall remain nameless who thought both my work and myself were worth less than the major export of his horse's bowels." His smile was long-suffering, though he hadn't done all that much work for the Syliran Knights. He didn't pry into whatever complications had come into Marcus' life. They weren't exactly friends, and if Marcus wanted his help or advice, he would surely ask for it. "Anyway, I came by to practice a bit at what you'd taught me. Blow off some steam. Do something different from what I have been doing, which is mostly boring. I mean, there's a lot of hurry-up-and-wait that goes into magecrafting, which isn't to say it isn't challenging and interesting, but... I have to learn the smith if I want to make magical weapons, now don't I?"

[Marcus Braeden]

So Hadrian is working with the Syliran Knights now eh? Marcus thought to himself, feeling just a smidge of jealousy. Marcus quickly blinked, No, move on, its in the past.He couldn't help but wonder what Hadrian could possibly be doing for the Order. Probably something scholarly, knowing Hadrian. Marcus managed to bring himself out of his head and return his attention to Hadrian, who stood there explaining his reasoning for coming to the Ironworks.

"The Order huh? Sounds like you you have been busy the last season" Marcus said. He continued "Anyway, I suppose you should probably learn how to smith if you are looking at becoming a magecrafter. And what better way to learn than to work with 'Master Braeden'" He said jokingly using air quotes. "Right now I'm just making simple daggers if you would like to help out. They aren't terribly complex, at least not the ones I'm making" Marcus explained.

Marcus took note of Hadrian not inquiring him about where he had been but did not think too hard on it. It wasn't exactly the story you would go off and tell everyone. Maybe a select few close friends, but he didn't want to be the talk of the town. He heard enough whispering in the streets and the last thing he needed to was to think all the whispers were about him.

[Hadrian]

"Busy, sure. I 'crafted for them in the Fall, then went to Alvadas on a whim, nearly died, and came back to the more quiet work in Syliras. Though, you know, I think I still have a bit of the wanderlust, because I'm already considering moving again. I don't know... We'll see what Lhex wills, won't we?" He wasn't exactly blasphemous, but his smile at the mention of the god of fate was rather whimsical. In reality, if Cathan and Kendall, and possibly Sondra, insisted upon traveling to Ravok, he felt he would have to accompany them, to help keep them safe. Whether Vizyous would follow to help was anyone's guess. The Symenestra had been rather quiet since coming to Syliras; he wondered if the experiences in Alvadas had damaged him in some way. "Anyway, if you wouldn't mind me playing apprentice again, I would appreciate it. Even if that means I just make vaguely pointy metal things and a bit of a mess around the forge." He chuckled, but of course between Marcus and Eanos, Hadrian had a healthy respect for the forge if not a great deal of experience and skill with it. Time would help. "You can tell me more of what you've been up to." And, of course, he chose not to pry because Marcus had given him no indication that they were intimates who would share such things. While on the topic of what Hadrian was doing, it seemed natural for Marcus to share if he would. "What do you say?"

[Marcus Braeden]

Marcus chuckled, "So i guess that sums up what you've been up to in a nut shell." Marcus continued, "As for me, well lets just say we have something in common, considering i also nearly died" trying to keep a slight smile on his face but struggling to hold it. Being kidnapped and beaten on a nearly daily basis isn't exactly something you can talk about in good humor. But Marcus tried, he didn't want to kill the mood or anything. Marcus tried to shift his mind from that subject to what had happened before the whole incident. But no matter what it always drifted back to the winter of 510 AV. In fact, some of his memories had begun to return and, well, they wern't happy ones.

"But before that near death experience, I had been continuing my work here, but also was planning on joining the Order. I had found a sponsor and had a meeting scheduled in early winter. But then that near death experience happened. Since then, my goals have somewhat shifted a bit." Marcus explained. "Anyway i would be glad to apprentice you. Let me go grab a second set of tools, you might learn more if you copy my actions, and i still need to make daggers because i don't want to be fired" he said with a slight chuckle.

Marcus returned with a leather apron, and the same tools that Marcus had taken when he walked in. He handed them to Hadrian and said "Alright, shall we begin?"

[Hadrian]

"Well, I'm glad it was only a near death experience rather than a full-death one," he offered. He was glad his old, indulgent teacher had survived to teach him another day. Perhaps he would offer to buy him a pint after and they might actually get to know one another, and recently Hadrian seemed to have acquired the knack of making friends that had evaded him his whole life prior to this Spring. It was, in many ways, a new beginning. "And plans certainly change, although if yours change back, I know a few highly placed knights who might," he stressed, not wanting it to sound like he was important, because he wasn't, "be inclined to take a closer look at you for squiring material." He shrugged when Marcus went off for tools, rolling up his sleeves and mentally preparing himself for what was to come. "Let's please," he said, smiling. It was easier suddenly to smile at people, be easier with them. "If I can make a passable dagger, I'll be able to magecraft a passable dagger..."

[Marcus Braeden]

'Well thanks for leaving that option open for me. Maybe someday I will take you up on that offer, but for now, I have other...err...business to take care of" Marcus said trying to keep his plans a secret. He was out for a bit of revenge and he feared that if people knew that they would try to stop him. But on the other side of the coin, he wasn't going to be able to carry out his plans on his own. It was a double edged sword, but it was too early to be thinking about such things. Right now Marcus simply wanted to get back on his feet and readjust to his old life.

Marcus pointed at the small iron bar he had retrieved for Hadrian. He also had one and he waved at Hadrian to follow him, signaling to put the iron into the forge. Marcus carefully inserted the metal into the flames and told Hadrian to do the same. Marcus watched him as he did, using his own tongs to adjust the metal as needed. Soon enough, the metal was heated to the proper temperature and Marcus retrieved his iron and told Hadrian to grab his as well.

"Alright, just watch me carefully and do what I do. I will keep my eye on you and help you if you need it." He quickly explained.

Marcus began to strike the iron with enough just force to shape the metal. He watched Hadrian carefully as he attempted to replicate the work that Marcus was doing.

[Hadrian]

Hadrian merely nodded and let the subject rest. Pulling on a leather apron and leather gloves, he prepared to get to work. It took only a moment to concentrate on the steady trickle of res through his pores, augmenting his sweat in keeping him cool amid the continuous blast of heat. It was a good thing he had drunk so much water before coming, because the sweat and the res would eventually take a deal of water out of him. But that expenditure also kept him from overheating, which was equally dire. Smiling faintly, he took the iron bar in hand, observing it with a critical eye and that greater Sense he got from his Auristics. He could See the strengths and flaws of the metal much more accurately now than he could the previous times he had attempted this, and he set the first one aside before finding one that seemed the best quality iron among the lot of them. He thrust it into the fire beside Marcus' and watched the djed within them speed up, glow a brighter white than normal eyes could see. When they pulled them out again, he nodded to Marcus, set his glowing iron rod on the anvil and began to strike it with his hammer, searching for that rhythm he had found before under Eanos' critical eye. It was important, he thought, to find that.