PM to join [Sultros Blades] A Chance Encounter (Roderick)

[Eanos]

35 Fall, 513AV

Stormhold CItadel made up nearly all of the city of Syrilas, and it was this that made the city attractive to Isur since it was very much like living underground. Eanos could live his entire life in the city without even needing to see the sky. His forge was to be found on the third tier of the castle, above the basement which housed the Great Bazaar, and where most of the other businesses were to be found, along with most of the civilian residences.

It was because of the civilian residences that Eanos had been considering creating a shield across the doorway between shop and forge that would block sound as he preferred to do much of his smithing out of the hours that most businesses worked. That of course meant that some people were trying to sleep whilst the sound of hammer on steel echoed down the corridors, and likely enough it didn't make the smith popular.

Few however had ever ventured inside the shop to complain about the noise, perhaps that was because it was understood that the forge operated for the Knights or perhaps because few wished to venture inside the darkened shop to confront an Isurian smith in his own domain.

One of the things that most would notice about the shop was how dark it was inside, even compared to the lightless corridors which ran throughout the castle. The light levels were comfortable for the Isur but dim for other races and he only increased the light for the benefit of customers and the smiths when they were working there.

This day Eanos sat in the shop which was the front section of the forge, for it was also the cleanest of the rooms, living quarters aside, and he could sketch without the paper becoming dirtied by the soot which permeated the forging areas.

[Roderick]

As always Syliras was stinking. Thanks to the recent rains a foul-smelling musk had come to linger within the pathways of the citadel, mingling in the with the sweat and filth that gathered from the clustered inhabitants of the fortress city. There was a surprising lack of people in this particular area of the city on that day, a rather odd thing given a fair number of people had chosen to stay inside. The weather outside wasn't overly bad, and so the majority of Sylirans had carried on with their daily routines without pause. Taking the weather into account and also the current desire running through his mind, Roderick had decided he would go looking for a very specific shop within the city; a blacksmith. After a few passing words with different people he'd heard that there was a skilled Isurian weaponsmith close to where the hunter was right now. Armed with this information the Zeltivan had set off in the direction he knew the place to be in, checking in with people now and then about where it was so he could be absolutely certain that he was headed in the right direction. When it finally came into sight it looked just as he'd expected, and he walked through the men and women around him and stepped through the doorway, crouching down slightly to avoid hitting his head against the frame. Inside he hunched his shoulders over slightly as he peered through the darkness at the various displays of weaponry available, strolling between various tables strewn with all manner of merchandie. Running his fingers along a nice longsword laid out on a table, he spoke casually, "Better see to me quickly, smith; I fiddle with things when I'm bored, and when I fiddle with things they usually break." He eyed a morningstar decorated with vicious spikes, grimacing slightly at the idea of it smashing someone head in as he took in the scant few details he could see through the gloom. "Nice place you have here, blacksmith. Roof could do with being a bit higher." He lifted a knife up and narrowed his eyes at it, "And a little more light would be nice." Setting the weapon down on the table again he continued his walking.

[Eanos]

It had always struck Eanos that keeping a watch on customers was a useful thing to be doing. Not so much as to avoid problems with those of a larcenous bent, since the Knights were rather keen on stamping out that side of things and few lasted long who were tempted to steal goods which would be hard to pass on and were reasonably valuable to boot. It didn't prevent all of course, but that wasn't in any case the reason, rather it gave him some insight as to what they might be interested in.

There weren't that many who browsed the shop, not in the sense that it was bustling for this was not a shop where people would walk in and purchase random metalwork, so keeping a track on them was somewhat easier.

Curious, what the label that he applied to the latest visitor, not merely from the way he browsed around but also because of his manner, which in itself was slightly unusual.

"If anything in this shop breaks from your fiddling then it wasn't very well made in the first place," he grunted in reply and pushed aside his current sketching. He turned to give the man his full attention rather than just glances from the corner of his eye.

"Roof suits me just fine, and I'm not wasting perfectly good lamp oil just because you can't open your eyes properly." He grinned to himself though whether or not Roderick would be able to see that was quite a separate question.

"So, what is it that I can do for you before you break the stock in my shop?" He raised an eyebrow and waited for an answer.

[Roderick]

From somewhere in the dark gloom of the shop a man's voice called out to him, in a matter-of-fact tone; he grunted as he said it, but all the same Roderick felt a slight smirk forming on his lips as he continued walking between the tables, trying to pick out where the owner was exactly. The next words that came from the smith's mouth were just as unfriendly as the first; the roof was just the right height for him, and he wasn't spending money on lamp oil, regardless of the poor visibility of the room. It was at that point that the archer managed to roughly determine where the man was exactly; he walked in the direction the voice had come from, running his hand along things as he walked past - not because he was interested in them, but as a casual way of making sure he wouldn't walk into anything. An outline in the shape of a small man appeared to him out of the gloom, hidden away behind a desk. Drawing near to the man he was asked what he wanted. Stopping in front of the smith, the hunter bent his back and leaned down to the man's height, placing his hands on the wooden table and staring him straight in the face. "I'm looking for someone to make something for me - a sword to be specific. The people around here told me you're a good smith - that seems a fair thing to say, judging from what you've got in here. You're the expert here's so you'll know about all the things involved with that - I'm just the man with your money." OOCI was going to make it longer, but ideas are a little sparse right now and I feel like I'd have just been putting in awful filler text to make it look like I've written a lot.

[Eanos]

Eanos regarded the man who now stood before him and then reached out to turn up the lamp that stood beside him on the table, shifting it so that the brightness spilled out in front of him and didn't shine into his own eyes. That part of the room brightened and around them there were some gleams of revealed metalwork lurking on shelves. He tilted his head to look up into the newly revealed features of his guest and studied the face carefully.

"A sword?" He repeated the request softly and nodded, his features relaxing and becoming more interested. "Well then, why did you not say so? Forget the fripperies out there," he waved his hand at the wares which Roderick had seen. "A price I pay for taking apprentices from the Ironworks is that they tediously reproduce the same tat that you can buy there." He smiled and tilted his head slightly. "Some of them are however starting to see beyond that."

"But a sword you say? Why don't you take a seat on that stool there and you can tell me all about what it is that you were thinking about?" He waved his hand at a wooden stool which sat beside the table.

[Roderick]

There was utter silence for a few tics as the smith regarded the question carefully. After what seemed an eternity the other man moved a hand out towards a nearby lamp, setting it blazing and turning it around so it shone in the hunter's face; studying his customer the smith - an Isur, Roderick could see now - repeated the desired object that had just been requested of him. He waved a hand dismissively at the merchandise on sale while Roderick reached out and shifted the lamp slightly so it wasn't burning his eyes. "Glad to hear your apprentices are improving." When the offer arose the hunter set himself down on the proffered stool and unbuckled his sword belt, laying the weapon with all its trappings down on the solid wood of the table. "I want a bastard sword. This one's decent, but it's a standard off-the-rack thing." He reached beneath his vest and pulled out a piece of parchment, which he unfolded and spread out across the table, spinning it around so it faced the smith. Initially he'd planned on describing the weapon he wanted to the smith, but then he'd run into an artist he'd met one night at the Rearing Stallion and instead had them draw something up. It had a few guidelines that the weaponmaker could put to use - the length of the blade, certain features that would be involved, such as a sculpted grip and fuller down the length of the blade. Otherwise it was just a visual representation of the end result; the Isur would be the one to put in the work and decide on the techniques that would be involved. "Not much to go on, but it should help a little."

[Eanos]

Now things were becoming much more interesting to Eanos, for the discussion had moved from the mere chance of discussing something serious to actually doing so.

With a cant of his head for permission Eanos reached over and took hold of the sword which had been placed there, leaving the drawing for the moment. ”Let me look at this first,” he said, inspecting the sword as it was in its scabbard and took note of how the scabbard attached to the belt, how the sword would hang by the mans side and thus how he was used to drawing it. He then carefully drew the sword, noting the way that the blade slipped free, and laid it aside for a more careful study of the scabbard, his fingers running along its surface and then tapping the fingers of his left hand upon it so that the echoes revealed it’s inner secrets.

After a moment he laid that aside and picked up the sword. He held it out at arms length by the handle and twisted it around to get a feel for the point of balance. He then pulled it in for a closer inspection of the blade and hilt, paying particular attention to the marks left in the sharpening of it by the owner and once he was satisfied that he had extracted the maximum amount of information about the whole he resheathed the sword and laid it aside.

Pulling the drawing now to him, he examined it with the same professional interest as he had the sword. ”Not a bad weapon for what it is,” was his summary of the sword and now he ran his finger along the lines that the artist had drawn, nodding as he noted the changes between this and the current sword.

Pushing to one side the drawing so that he could see sword and drawing still, he pulled in his own paper and with a pencil made a few notes before looking up to Roderick. ”So tell me, what is it about your current sword that you think could be better? I see the changes on the drawing that you’ve made, but it would help me if you tell me why it is those changes that you wish made, and if you can tell me a little about your style that will help too, in particular whether you favour one or two handed style.”

He could make a sword from the diagram easily enough, but he was as interested in the owner as the sword. ”Your diagram tells me much but it does not tell me what is the most suitable steel to be used nor how best the steel should be tempered.” He didn’t consider it to be a particularly good sword design, but he also knew that for a trained swordsman it was better to use a style of sword that he was used to than it was to risk throwing away years of trained reflexes in the short term in order to adapt to a new fighting style. It was also true that Eanos was not the best to judge what the best style was anyway so he would always refrain from suggesting unless his expertise was requested. Unless he knew otherwise he would always assume that anyone requesting a custom sword actually knew what they were asking for and had excellent reasons for the asking.

[Roderick]

The Isur seemed to perk up as their conversation moved on towards the exact details of what he would be making for the hunter. Ignoring the diagram on the table he instead reached forwards and lifted the bastard sword Roderick had laid out for him to see, looking over it with the critical eye of a trained weaponsmith. First he looked at how the scabbard sat and the way the sword was sheathed inside, then drew the blade free and looked at the scabbard more closely, tapping his fingers against it and searching for some hidden depths. While he had no real idea of what the man was doing, the archer decided to leave him to his work; this was his specialty, after all. When he had extracted all the knowledge he could from the sheath Eanos turned his opinion towards the sword, weighing it in his hands and inspecting all of its details. Finished with his inspection he summarized it as "Not bad for what it is." Setting the sword down he looked at the image the artist had drawn, giving careful attention to the differences in the two weapons. The next thing he did was to draw out a pencil and paper and begin taking notes, while asking a series of increasingly difficult questions. Thinking over the first one he took his time in answering. "The current sword I have has some good balance, but I like to use a shield most times so it can be a little too heavy for the longer fights. I want it to be light enough to hold in one hand easily, but with some good heft behind it. That answers the second question; I like to use a shield with the sword, but I picked the hand and a half sword because I can switch between having defense or power whenever I want." He called the blade by its more formal name just to seem a little more knowledgeable. "Just to make things easy we'll balance it towards one-handed fighting, mm?" He drummed his fingers together for a few tics in thought, glancing at some of the other weapons around the shop as he did so. "The idea behind the sculpted grip would be to give me a better hold on the blade - and the fuller would take away some of the weight without ruining its strength." He was fast running out of things he could say about blade-making; he knew how to stick someone with it, but the art of actually making a sword was completely foreign to him. "I thought maybe a bit of weight in the pommel could even out the balance, but it might just make matters worse." Roderick sounded confident when he spoke, hiding the uncertainty that was now rising inside; chances the Isur would expect him to know certain things which he didn't have a clue about. While he'd expected to be questioned on what he wanted, the sheer volume of answers he needed to provide was proving rather daunting. Now Eanos wanted to know about the type of steel to be used, and the tempering techniques. "I actually didn't have any specific ideas on that - I figured you would know the best things to use, and that anything I came up with wouldn't work right." He tried to word it so that it was more to do with him not giving it much thought, rather than not having a clue about what had just been said. "Let's say for all intents and purposes that you can have all the leeway you need to make this a good sword." It was at that point that Roderick stopped caring about beating around the bush and simply told the smith what he was thinking at that moment in time, saying it straight to his face without being overly subtle about it. "I don't care about the metal you use or how you temper the thing. Asking me about things like that won't get us anywhere; I'm a hunter, you're a weaponsmith. You need me to kill an animal for you, I can do that. I need a sword - the fact you can make one is the only reason I came here." An idea struck him then, so he turned and started moving around the shop again, this time aided by the light from the Isur's lamp. Lifting certain bastard swords when he saw them, he continued speaking. "I gave you the picture as a little guide towards what I was thinking of, but you'll be the one that makes it. If I could make a blade on my own I would, but since I can't I'll just leave the details to you." He lifted one sword and found it to be too heavy towards the tip, while another felt unwieldy overall to him. The third weapon he found had a good balance to it, and was considerably lighter in his hand, but he didn't like the look of it. Setting it down he continued wandering the shop. "What I want is..." Without the Isur there to interrogate him things felt a little easier. "Something fairly light and balanced, but which packs a punch. I use a bow most often so I'm at long range, but I need something that could help me if someone gets too close. The bastard's versatile, so I can use it with one or both hands, depending on what I need." He found a blade which he felt was a good fit for what he was thinking of - it's hilt was long enough for him to use with both hands, but its fuller and overall balance was done so that holding it in one hand was still comfortable. The guard was made of metal that seemed to have been twisted about, giving it the appearance of corkscrewed root rather than hammer-forged metal. Holding the grip in one hand while he ran along the underside of the weapon, Roderick marveled at the craftsmanship that had been put into the sword; if this was a run-of-the-mill piece of work then the Isur's products must have been truly remarkable. That reminded him of something he had heard about the Isur, and since he had already been quite brusque so far he supposed he couldn't do anything else to offend him. "I remember hearing that Isur can bless swords and the like with their mark." He inspected the sword in his hands as he spoke. "What exactly can you do with it? They say it stops the blade from rusting, chipping or breaking and that it cuts through steel like butter - but people like to exaggerate. I want to hear the truth from you." He looked over at the Isur. "What can you do with your mark, and would you do it for my weapon? One or two people out there say it's expensive, but if I wanted a cheap weapon I wouldn't be here." While he awaited the Isur's answer he slowly started making his way forwards, listening to all that was said and occasionally looking down at the sword in his hands, or over to some interesting item that was on display on one of the many tables in the room. After a few chimes he was back in front of the Isur, where he rested the blade on the table and then took his seat again, looking down at him even after he had done so.

[Eanos]

It quickly became clear to Eanos as he listened to the answer that he should have kept his questions shorter and to the point, leading on from the answers to then probe further, but he could not reset time so he carried on listening, a faint smile on his face, his fingers twitching as he made notes regardless. Eventually it came to the point where he needed to answer which he did with a nod to the man.

”When I mentioned steep and tempering I did not intend to suggest that you would be the one to tell me about that.” The thought was amusing but he kept the emotion from his voice and expression, instead he shook his head, no, not indeed. Those are choices that I will make but I cannot make them unless I understand how it is that you wish to use the blade.” He considered what else the man had had to say an in particular he had ket a careful eye on the blades he had picked up and how he had held them.

The final words though were a challenge and it amused him as much as it pleased him that the mystery surrounding the Isur was as strong as it had ever been. He kept in his seat and matched the man eye for eye.

”Many things are possible in steel,” he answered, ”and not all of them require the blessing of Izurdan unless you consider that he created the race of the greatest smiths that have ever lived. If your pockets are deep enough then all of the things that you mention are possible but to do all of them would take a good deal of time and I doubt there are many in this city who would wish to meet the bill.”

He smiled softly and leant forward slightly. ”A rustless blade is interesting but I have no particular interest in making blades for swordsmen who cannot be bothered to look after the blade that will keep them alive. In Sultros there are blades that have survived since the Valterrian and none of them are rustless, yet they carry no rust for all that they have passed from father to son and to their sons, generation after generation.”

”However, for sake of argument, yes it could be done. No sword that is properly forged should break in battle, though anything can be broken if you put your mind to it. Any blade will chip, the trick of a good smith is to make sure that the chip does not become a crack which will cause the blade to break. Again both of those can be overcome with the blessing of Izurdin.” It seemed the time to show that his words held meaning so he reached to the back of the workbench and pulled forth a thin strip of steel and laid it on the top.

”Cutting steel like butter?” He walked over to a shelf at the back which was hidden in shadows, his hand disappearing into the gloom and coming back with what could be a short sword or a long knife depending on your view of things. With his thumbs he loosened off the sheath and then drew the blade. Light glinted softly from it as he returned to the bench, where he paused for a moment before raising it and driving it point down through the steel plate and deep into the bench below, the tip splintering its way free from the bottom of the thick planks. The handle quivered for a moment as Eanos released the grip. ”It helps if you have the strength of an Isur,” he commented then gripped the hilt once more and slowly levered the blade back out of the bench, sawing it back and forwards until it came free.

He examined the tip and the cutting edge closely and then shrugged tossing it lightly onto the bench in front of Roderick. ”Properly forged and blessed by Izurdin a blade will not break in normal use nor will the edge dull. But the more you ask of it the longer it would take to make and the greater the cost of it.”

There were still limits to the skill of the Isur, but he knew the next step and how to make it happen, but the cost as things stood would be very high indeed.

[Roderick]

The smith seemed to find a certain level of humour in the actions of the hunter, who had felt for a moment that he would probably anger the smith with the way he was acting. Secure in the knowledge that things were still quite amiable between the two, he carried on with his inspections of the various blades he came across, calling over the Isur now and then as he spoke before lapsing back into silence. When it came time for Eanos to speak he did so, saying that he didn’t expect the Zeltivan to choose the steel and tempering techniques – a good sign for him, since he wouldn’t have known which was the best. While he made comments now and then he had gone silent as he found a sword he liked, and then began asking about the process the smith could do to the finished product to enhance it. Staring one another down, they maintained eye contact all throughout their next conversation, each feeling confident in themselves and their abilities – the hunter’s for his natural attitude, the Isur because this was where he spent much of his time. As the smith replied to the question of his mark he spoke of there being numerous things that one could do with steel – with many not needing Izurdin’s blessing. That alone made a series of interesting images float to the surface of the would-be customer’s mind, intriguing him at what exactly someone could do with all the different techniques there were for making weapons. Another good thing was that everything he had mentioned was entirely possible – if he had enough money. “Give me a little rundown on the kind of money it’d take for these things – for the base sword, then parts like the fuller, down to marking the blade.” There was no doubt in his mind it would be expensive, but he was quite determined about getting this weapon; he’d gone this far, and he sure as petch wasn’t going to pull out now just because he’d be spending a bunch of coins. Money wouldn’t stop a sword going through his heart. Now they went onto the idea of a rustless blade – entirely possible, but the smith had no interest in making something for someone who couldn’t be bothered looking after it. That his words had been misinterpreted was mildly annoying, but not enough for it to cling to him. “If you got the idea I would leave this thing to crumble in an old box somewhere you’re wrong – if I pay someone a big bag of gold for something I’ll make sure I get my money’s worth out of it.” Ancient swords in Sultros had apparently lasted since the Valterrian – just the idea peaked Roderick’s interest. He enjoyed history – especially when it came to the martial side of things. Knights and warriors had always been something that had interested in, even if he’d never aspired towards becoming one. ”However, for sake of argument, yes it could be done. No sword that is properly forged should break in battle, though anything can be broken if you put your mind to it. Any blade will chip, the trick of a good smith is to make sure that the chip does not become a crack which will cause the blade to break. Again both of those can be overcome with the blessing of Izurdin.” After these words the Isur collected a piece of metal from behind his workbench, laying it down on the table. Repeating Roderick's earlier words about steel being cut like butter, he reached behind him, collecting from the gloom some form of long knife or short sword. Sliding it free of its trappings he let the light of the room glint against its blade, before he drove it straight through the metal plate - and right through the bench. Raising an eye brow Roderick bent over slightly to make certain he wasn't seeing things. Straightening - and nearly hitting his head in the process - he set down the sword he'd been looking at and collected the dagger the smith had been using, looking it over himself. As he'd expected it was devoid of any scratches or marks, despite having been forcibly driven through strong steel and solid wood. "I'm half tempted to buy this while I'm here..." Having something like this would be very useful for him, but for now he let the matter lie and instead, setting the weapon down, he listened to what the smith had to say. The cost and time needed would be greater, but it would all result in a better weapon - and besides, if he was going to be paying all this money, then he might as well make sure he was getting a fine weapon while he was doing it. "Seems we're making progress, then. You've an idea of what I want, and I've an idea of what you can do. So all that's left is the price - unless you need to know anything else?" If the smith required anything the hunter would do his best to help out, though if it involved smithing he doubted he would have any luck in giving accurate insight into it.