Solo [Sultros Blades] To Forge a Sword

[Eanos]

Fall 2, 513AV Wakazashi

Darkness was far advanced and the sunlight had long since left the castle walls yet Eanos was unaware it it for sunlight did not penetrate into the depths of the forge where he was working.

Scraps of parchment littered the workbench beside him, most of them discarded and even now he sanded out a line and redrew it so that the curve ran correctly. This was to be an important sword for him as it would mark the decision which he’d made to concentrate on the making of this type, the design of which he’d first come across in the depths of the Silver Tower in Sultros. Until then he’d not paid a great deal of attention to swords and why it was there in the first place he was still unsure, though it could have been a prop or the failed subject of some mages attention.

It was the elegance and the efficiency of the single bladed design that had attracted the smith in him to it, that and the care which went into the steel which was quite unlike the run of the mill swords. His blacksmith teacher was well aware of the design when shown and after Eanos had seen them in numerous places around the city.

He had taken a number of measurements from Aoren in order to make the blade. Some of them were strictly unnecessary but if the man ever came back for the complete set that they had discussed then Eanos would not need to take new measurements, though he would still review them based upon how the man had adapted to the very different design and use of the sword.

The steel he had for he had checked the stock room, as he had for the charcoal, straw, clay and other materials for it’s construction. He’d checked the tools and now with the design complete it was time to start with the making of it.

Not all of the tools and materials were those that could be found in the average smiths shop, not even in the average weapon smiths shop for some related to the way that the weapon was to be finished. At this point in time he had two attributes that he had in mind to reinforce the steel. In theory such was unnecessary and he had yet to make up his mind if that was the way that the would finish the weapon.

[Eanos]

For this project a part of the preparation was with the forge and for once Eanos had replaced the coals and coke that normally were found there with charcoal, and even here the charcoal had taken special preparation. The charcoal had been prepared from the mountain pines which produced a clean and hot flame but more than this the charcoal was soft and aided in keeping the steel hard because of its high carbon content.

The charcoal had been cut into squares and sorted, the larger pieces now were in the forge, the smaller put aside for the later more delicate work when precision mattered more while the dust and pieces had been removed. It was dusty and dirty work like this that contributed to the ash and dust that sometimes turned the forge area into black and white.

To one side was the new steel that he’d selected based on his previous work and beside it was some scrap steel. Both would form the sword and while some might raise an eyebrow at incorporating old steel into something new, it likely would be among those who had not the ability to see into the structure of the steel. He knew what he wanted and the forging process was one where he would adjust the quality of the steel. If it contained too much carbon then it would be too hard and brittle so could crack, but if it didn’t contain enough then it might bend. To make life harder every time that the steel went into the flame then more carbon would burn out of the steel leaving it softer, so he had constantly to look ahead into the process. This was before any forging techniques were applied to harden the steel for a low carbon steel would not harden properly regardless of the techniques that were applied.

With the charcoal lit he watched the heat carefully and when he judged it ready he slipped the first new steel bar into the heat, working the bellows carefully until it went beyond red heat then he took it out and used the hot cut chisel to take the first sections off so that he had squares of new steel. Finally he hammered out the end of the bar so that it formed a small plate with the remainder of the bar as the handle. These he all set apart to cool whilst he started to add the scrap steel in to melt. As it softened he reached in and amalgamated it until he could bring it out and use the hammer on it to consolidate it into plate form.

He returned it to the heat and while it heated he splashed water on the face of the anvil and dipped the hammer. Brought back out the yellow hot steel exploded the water off, taking with it the dirt, scale and rust it had picked up. He moved it to and from the anvil until it had been hammered into a rough plate and then he broke it up into smaller pieces.

Now was the time to bring together the old and the new steel so using the plate of new steel with handle he built a stack of steel plates, alternating old and new steel. It was this mix which would produce the grain along the sword which was both decorative and gave the best mix of strength and flexibility.

[Eanos]

With the pile of steel packed as tightly as he could, Eanos covered it with a slurry of clay and straw ashes. The steel would have a long process of working and every time it entered the heat more carbon would be lost so it was important that he protected it as much as he could, the djed flows within the steel would show him when it reached critical levels but that would require him to use his auristic vision and to do so for relatively simple smithing like this was a recipe for a massive overgiving attack.

With the steel prepared it was put into the forge and heated. Now Eanos watched it carefully, judging just where it was in the process not only by the colour but by the sounds that the heating metal made. Soon he judged that it was hot enough and pulled it out and gently hammered it into a single mass of steel.

With the initial welding done he replaced it in the forge and now brought the temperature up so that the lightly welded pieced now melted and fused together. The mass now edged into white and sparks flew as the exposed outside edges of the steel started to burn. This was dangerous to the steel so he took it back out and hammered it again, this time improving the welding of the individual pieces. Coating the steel with straw ashes he returned it to the heat.

The process was repeated, the work heavy and even for an Isur hot for he stood close to the forge and the sparks showered around him as the white hot steel handle was gripped in his left hand. His right hand worked the hammer relentlessly, aiming simply for the centre of the anvil whilst his left moved the steel into position for the next strike.

[Eanos]

With the steel now fused into one mass it was time to start working the mass to create the layers that would feature as grain in the steel when it was polished at the end of the process. The steel was placed back into the forge to heat once more and when it was up to a working temperature he took it out and hammered it out longways until it was about double the length that it had been before.

He shifted the still hot mass onto the hot cut chisel that was mounted in the hardy hole and scored the steel halfway along its length and then folded it over. It was returned to the forge to heat whilst he took something of a break from the heavy and continuous work of hammering the hot metal. Taking it out once more he forged it with the hammer, this time spreading it sideways to ensure that there were no parts in the edges of the steel that might miss being worked properly. Again when it was twice as wide he scored it and folded it before returning it to the forge. This process was repeated another four times so that it had been folded into sixty four layers, but the starting point was already in layers so effectively that doubled the number once more.

The foundation stage was complete and after scoring the steel once more he laid it aside so that the crystals would have chance to relax. Once cool the steel was broken apart at the score mark and then put together as two layers and returned to the forge to heat once more. The working temperature for this process was towards the upper end of the heating scale for steel and he had to judge the heat carefully in order to avoid it burning but the extended heating process at least allowed him time to recover his strength. He continued with the heating and folding until he judged from close inspection of the steel as was chiselled and folded that the steel was properly mixed and that there were no unworked parts which might weaken the steel. As he worked he continued to apply the clay slurry and straw before heating to counter the loss of carbon which would otherwise be especially prevalent at such high temperatures.

For this sword Eanos would be using two different types of steel, one relatively hard which would be the skin of the sword and the other which was softer and would be the inner core which would act to absorb the shocks of a sword in battle that would otherwise shatter the brittle harder edges. The softer core was lower in carbon and as the forging had progressed had separated the steel into the two types and worked them accordingly. For all the work that would follow and make the sword what it was, this stage could not be underestimated for the steel was the very heart of the sword and allowed it to become what it was in the final form.

[Taylani]

XP Award!

Eanos:

XP Award:

• +4 weapon smith
• +1 Math
• +3 blacksmithing

Lore:

• Sword Smith: A signature sword type
• Charcoal: dusty and dirty

Notes:Feel free to PM me with any concerns about your grade. Don’t forget to edit/delete your grade request. Thanks!

TAYLANI