[Sultros Blades] The Tail that Bites

by **Edreina** on August 8th, 2013, 3:10 am

78th of Summer, 513 AV
16th Bell
Sultros Blades

To most, the day was of the ordinary sort. Syna shone brightly outside of the fortres walls, the air was dry and clear, everyone seemed to be perfectly intent upon going about their business as usual. That was, of course, save for Edreina. People looked upon her oddly as she sprinted down corridors, leaping and bounding over and around things in her path. Unbound hair flew like a flaming banner behind her, as she ran, only adding to the impression that she was traveling incredibly fast, at least for a Svefra who felt no more at home on land than a fish did. But just as time upon the Anchorage had given Razkar his sea-legs, Edreina now found herself with surprisingly strong land-legs.

But what could get the redhead so worked up, anyway?

A new toy, of course.

When she finally arrived at the blacksmith's - damn name was not marked anywhere and she seemed to forget as soon as the smith spoke it - she was immediately bouncing in place, waiting for the smith to turn and look upon her, to see her ecstatic grin. The instant their eyes finally met, the smith walked wordlessly over to a large rack of weapons which hung over a table littered with kin. As he gathered something up from the table, Edreina rose to her toes in an attempt to see how it had changed, how an heirloom had been transformed into something entirely unique to its new master. Something glinted in the light of the forge; the whip fell upon the countertop before Edreina with a clatter, not a simple thud.

Bounding over to inspect the smith's handiwork, Edreina was, in a word, stunned. In the span of a few days, her little toy, her source of entertainment, had been transformed into a weapon... of sorts. The three tips of the tail had been made all the more painful through the use of affixing thin strips of wire to each end. When swung just right, the whip would not longer bruise and scratch the skins surface, it would now flay skin, slender tips able to create divots in flesh. But, this was only the beginning of the whip's transformation.

Along the last four feet of the seven foot whip, small, serrated teeth had been inserted through the leather so that a sharp point emerged from the other side. The teeth were tiny, obviously meant to create a multitude of shallow gashes, to slice open the palm of any who attempted to catch the whip as it swung. Silently, Edreina began to consider how this added material would affect the way that the whip swung, how she would have to alter her timing in everything.

At the smith's nod, Edreina began to reach for the whip, which brought her to the most obvious change of all. Protruding from the handle was a 6 inch, three sided spike, meant for inflicting irreparable wounds and shattering bone. It also gave her a means to defend herself once the fight got in close. With her hand locked about the familiar handle, despite how everything else seemed to have been modified, Edreina's blue eyes fell thankfully upon the smith. When she had asked him to "Make it a bit more dangerous", she had not expected anything like this. "This is... Magnificent. How much do I owe you?"

At her words, the smith beamed grandly, scratching his jaw as he considered her question. "'S'good you like it. Twas a challenge to make, but I am satisfied with the results. As for the price..." Edreina could all but see the cogs working in his head. "I'll say... 8 Gold-rimmed Mizas. About 2 and a half daggers worth of steel went into this, and the rest is for labor. Also, could I ask that you demonstrate it for me?" At the Svefra's puzzled look, he continued, grinning as he spoke. "I've seen all manner of blade and blunt used to kill, but never this sort, never a whip."

A faint smile touched the redhead's lips as she dug about for the right amount in her coin-purse. Never before in her life had she expected to put on an exhibition for a weaponsmith. After handing over the currency, she looked about the room until she found an area large enough to swing the whip.

Mercifully, the arm with which she wielded the whip was not the same one that had been injured earlier in the season. Though the wound was now closed, she would sometimes be attacked by a blinding spike of pain if she moved it the wrong way or lifted too much. But, it could only get better. Right?

With a sigh, Edreina took a stance, half-facing her imaginary target whip poised and coiled upon the floor behind her. With a sharp exhale, the woman spun forwards, moving the whip in a horizontal figure eight pattern to build its speed before roughly yanking it back the instant it began the pattern again. To her dismay, the tip simply flicked in the air and came hurrying back to meet her, forcing her to jump to the side.

Apparently, the added weight had more of an effect than she had originally expected. At the dismayed sound of the smith some feet away, Edreina felt chagrin color her face. Retaking her stance, Edreina repeated the pattern, letting the whip flow forward a tick longer before whipping it back. This time, the end curled as it should have, but the desired crack was nowhere to be heard. With a quiet growl, she hurled her body into repeating the pattern three more times, adjusting the speed and power she put behind the strokes. Each time, the whip's tip was silent. It appeared as if by altering the whip, she had ruined it. The thought caused the Svefra to purse her lips, eyes narrowing in concentration as she figured her way through the problem.

Finally, with a sigh, Edreina took up the stance once again, face set in an unfamiliar mask of determination. This time, she let the wave of energy continue on for what felt like a full tick but was no more than an instant before putting more force into the whip's direction change than she ever had before. This time, the whip cracked in the air and recoiled over Edreina's shoulder, as it should have.

The smith's satisfied grin was trumped only by that of the redhead.

Finally, she had a weapon - of sorts - of her own.