PM to join [Sultros Blades] Sword Fittings (Hadyn)

[Eanos]

9 Fall, 513AV

Eanos had given much thought to the conversation that he’d had with Hadyn regarding her pregnancy and the changes that would follow from it. It had brought his mind to a closer focus than it had been as he examined anew the forge and his role in it.

Shortly after the discussion he had taken on a new commission and it had occupied a great deal of his time since as he attempted to ensure that it was a blade worthy of the new direction that he intended to now follow, though in truth it wasn’t exactly new, rather it was a reinstatement of an older intention. That commission was now largely complete but it still lacked some relatively small yet very important details and it was in the contemplation of how to proceed with these that he had recalled the conversation with Hadyn and realised that it was a type of work which seemed to excel in and certainly seemed to be able to do it at least as well as he, and he was fairly sure, actually better than him. That someone technically junior to him in the trade could be better at something in the trade did not worry him as each had their own skills, the things that either came naturally or had been focused upon in sufficient detail and effort that the end result was outstanding.

Moving through the forge he carefully collected the pieces of his commission and then walked over to where Hadyn was working and waited until he had her attention.

”If you are not too busy I have some work that you might be interested in. The sword commission that I took needs some metalwork done on the hilt and scabbard and I think that it might prove the sort of challenge that you are so good at.” He retained hold of the pieces, waiting to see her response before showing her what he had.

[Hadyn Skellig]

Hadyn sat at her station not focused on weaponsmithing but paperwork. She'd taken it upon herself to make sure the shop was entirely caught up on all manner of documentation. Given she could both read and write the woman was intent on maintaining the archives for Eanos while she was physically deterred from smithing. While others saw it as tedious and unnecessary the brunette was adamant that it never hurt to keep accurate and dated records of the shop's customers, commissions and profits.

This early day of fall found her staring at the parchment before her, quill pen in one hand as she read over her notations. Customers were grouped individually with their weapon, its price and the smith who'd created the piece. Pausing to bite her lower lip and reread the last line of yesterday's record the woman heard Eanos' voice cut through the sonorous sounds of the forge. Their discussion at the start of the season lifted a huge weight off her heart and she was now able to work at a pace more suitable to a pregnant woman. Even still, she spent most of her time in the forge, unable to sit around and wait. Craning her neck to look at him she smiled.

"Not busy," she assured him, setting the quill into its pot as she swiveled in her seat to face him properly. Looking at the proffered then back to him the woman's smile widened, brown eyes keen. "I'd be happy to take it on. Y'know how much I enjoy a challenge."

[Eanos]

Her response drew a smile from him as he had really wanted her to undertake this for him. It would allow him time to work on some other aspects such as the correct polishing of the blade or possibly even the the storage scabbard that he’d intended to make.

”I am really pleased that you have shown interest as I do think that you will do this better than I, and more than that, your hand will add a Syrilas flavour to the work which I think better describes the blade heritage.”

He carefully laid the wrapped sword on the workbench and set the spare hilt next to it. ”This is a sword that I’ve been making for Aoren and it is now approaching completion. The blade is made and ready for polishing and I have made hilt and scabbard but they need both decorating and fittings.”

He decided that it would probably explain what he had been making since this was the closest he had made here to what he’d been taught back in Sultros and likely enough he had never really taken the time to show and explain his thought processes. Now that she was somewhat of a captive audience it seemed a logical thing to be doing.

”Before I left Sultros, I made a study with my Masters of a particular sword design that I hoped would allow me to compensate somewhat for the lack of Isurian steel here. This is the closest I have made so far to it.” He untied the ties on the end of the cloth bag which held the scabbarded sword and slipped it free from the end. He spread the cloth out and laid the sword on it. To his eye the sword was obviously incomplete with its wooden scabbard and hilt but first he wanted to show her the blade.

There was some formality which he was not yet using, in large part because the sword was not yet complete and it felt odd to remove the bag like that. He shook it off and instead held the scabbard and eased the sword out gently for it was a tight fit, using his thumbs to ensure that it did not come out too fast once the tension was released.

”Always draw hold scabbard this way round,” he cautioned her, turning it so that the edge of the blade was uppermost. ”so as draw the spine only runs against the mouth of the scabbard.” He grinned and his smile remained though for he enjoyed this part of the work immensely. ”Blade not yet polished but care when removing avoids scratches on blade if mouth of scabbard dirty.”

There were a couple of tools that he had also place down on the workbench and now used one of them to press out the wooden pin which secured the hilt in place, and removed the tapered pin from the other side. He glanced up to ensure that she had taken note of the process then lifted the hilt up so that the blade pointed up at the ceiling and struck the hand which was holding the hilt with his other hand a firm blow. As he did so the blade loosened in the hilt and jumped slightly upwards.

Gripping the top of the polished metal collar which wrapped around the blade where the handle fitted and indeed fitted over it, he slipped the hilt free and set it aside then slipped the collar free too and set that aside leaving just the sword blade. When the blade was polished much more care would be needed, but for now he took a clean cloth and wiped up from the tang along the back of the single sided blade to remove the light coating of oil then laid it too on the cloth.

He tapped the tang with his fingers. ”Simple construction, but effective. Soft steel core, hard steel skin.” He ran the fingers of his left hand just above the bevel of the blade which could be seen to be just faintly milky in colour though not much of the grain in the steel was yet apparent and would not properly appear until it was polished. ”Edge and point hardened.” He had nothing to fear from the blades edge with that hand even had it been sharpened but trained habit kept his fingers away regardless. ”Hardening done like sea, like puzzle, interlocks with skin and core. If chipped, crack only run short way then stop at edge of hardening. Interlocking stop crack running and stop hardened edge from peeling off from core.”

He waved his hand at scabbard and hilt. ”In life of sword, make many hilt and scabbard, so we make first.” Taking up the sword collar he slipped it back up the tang to demonstrate how it fitted against the small step down from blade to the slightly narrower tang. ”Collar wedge against hilt. Collar seats sword central in scabbard mouth, sword blade not touch inside scabbard, collar wedge sword tight into scabbard so not fall out, no dirt or water get inside scabbard.” Now the came to the parts that were missing, and for this he pulled in the handle which he had wrapped in braid leaving diamonds unwrapped.

He tapped the end of the hilt. ”Metal cap here, tied on by braid.” He pointed at the other end where the blade would fit. ”Collar here too then sword guard, we trim wooden hilt little to make room. You note that always can take apart sword, part of design. If want use in battle one day, change everything, use on parade ground next day.” He pointed at the diamond shaped gaps in the the braid on the handle which revealed some heavy fish skin under the braid. ”Here normal small metal decoration bound under braid. Sometimes animal, sometimes insect or something else.”

He laid aside the hilt and picked up the scabbard. ”End caps like hilt, but no braid here. Scabbard put through belt not worn on hanger. If hanger, need different shape of blade. Instead need two fittings on scabbard.” He took the scabbard and slipped it though his belt to demonstrate, careful to push it through so that the blade edge would sit uppermost. ”Hook at bottom, hook against belt so when draw, hook stops scabbard pulling up through belt. Tie at top, ties scabbard to belt so need eye on scabbard to thread braid through.”

He smiled, aware that he had rambled on without leaving her much chance to interject or question him. Had he been human he might have blushed but since he was Isur he almost did so, the change less obvious. ”But you must forgive me. Did you have any questions so far as I have not given you chance to ask.” He pulled the scabbard free and laid it on the worktop.

[Hadyn Skellig]

The woman watched and listened, brown eyes sweeping over the weapon as he spoke. It was a finely crafted piece, the would-be owner's name striking only a distant recollection in her mind. Nodding here and there to indicate comprehension the brunette cast an assessing eye to the hilt, adopting a thoughtful visage. Bringing a hand to her lips fingers curled she bit occasionally on a thumbnail - a habit she adopted while in concentration as she watched Eanos handle the weapon.

Her eye caught the braiding, intrigued by the simple yet sturdy plaits. It was a delicate design but one bearing excellent craftsmanship. Among her favorite trappings to encapsulate a hilt the weaponsmith gaze lingered a moment longer upon it, even as Eanos set it down to display the scabbard. She nodded when he cautioned the purpose of the hanger and gave a small mhm after he finished. Raising her eyes when he paused to inquire Hadyn returned his smile.

"Not yet," she answered with a grin. Readjusting herself in the seat the woman stared at the pieces before her, tilting her head to observe them. After a tick her brown eyes found the Isur's face once more. "I admit I'm rather intrigued by this project."

[Eanos]

Her response made him grin because he now realised that he had barely paused to catch his breath in the long speech that he had just given, carried away as he had been by his enthusiasm.

He rested his hands on the bench and stared at the weapon for a moment seriously before his grin reappeared.

”Ah, you must forgive me. I underestimated how long the sword would take to make here. Though there is nothing especially new in what I’ve done, it was the first time that I’ve put it all together here and all of the small parts accumulated to use up all the free time and more that I’d allowed for. So I’ve been working longer hours and now the sense of urgency has got me carried away.”

He deliberately moved back from the sword and eyed Hadyn more carefully, looking at her now properly for the first time instead of just allowing all of his attention to be focused on the sword.

”I meant what I said,” he continued with a nod. ”The blade, scabbard and hilt are all made to a style more common in Sultros than here, though they are not unknown here. I wanted a weapon which would draw the eye, not because it was flashy or gaudy but because it was different and distinctive. Equally though I don’t want it to look foreign as it were.”

His expression relaxed a little, ”so I’m happy to leave the final designs for the decoration to you. But what of yourself? Here I am dumping a new project on your bench and I have not asked after you. It has been most of the season since we had our last proper discussion. Are you happy with the way that things are working? Do you need my help with anything or would you like to change the way that anything is being done?”

He raised an eyebrow as he asked and waited for an answer to that if she was willing to make one. As far as he was concerned it was time for her to open her wings a little and to fly and he was quite sure that whilst she had managed things very nicely without him for quite some time now, there might well be places where she was going tippy toe around him because she might think that certain things he had put in place were ones that he might think were sacrosanct, when in fact he might well be open for discussion on the matter in hand.

[Hadyn Skellig]

Hadyn smiled with an amicable shrug, accepting his apology with a nod of her head. Her gaze went from the weapon, which she'd been studying carefully, to Eanos. He appeared to be watching her with eyes accustomed to inspecting weapons and apparently assessing her in a similar manner.

She allowed her appreciation to show as she smiled again. It was an honor for him to think her craftsmanship was required for the commission. It felt silly to be happy for such a minute thing but Hadyn reveled in happiness when she could find it these days, beaming as he continued. Eyebrows rose, however, when the conversation took an unexpected turn. Eanos inquired after her, gaze trained on her face. The woman stared back blankly before grinning.

"Yes," she replied after a moment. "I've been enjoying focusing my skills on projects like these," she waved a hand toward the sword-in-progress. "I like the artistry that comes with it an' the challenge as far as space and materials. An' workin' with the apprentices has gone well enough. Can't say I'm much of a teacher. But they've been progressin'."

She glanced at the small sheaf of papers on her desk. She hadn't asked him permission to keep a log of clients, but she rarely saw him and when she did both were caught up in their own worlds that talking wasn't always an option. Looking back to the Isur Hadyn nodded to the papers.

"Been tryin' to keep better records for the shop. Forgive me for not runnin' it by you first." She pushed the sheaf a little closer to him should he like to take a look. "I have some idle time now an' it seemed a useful project."

[Eanos]

The pause and redirection of the conversation had oddly made him feel more comfortable and the slight awkwardness he had felt when he realised that he'd once more ignored what was considered acceptable manners here in this odd world of humans.

What pleased him most of all however was the knowledge that she had not been idle and allowing things to drift along at their own pace. He raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly in an attempt to not appear critical before he had heard what the proposals were going to be. Whilst he on the one hand liked things the way that they were he also knew that it was probably not the best way and he was always open to new ideas.

"Better records are never a bad thing and if I were to admit that keeping them is never close to my mind then you'd hardly be surprised."

He was curious as to what she thought that she had improved upon. "Teaching is an art and not one that is easily learnt, but tell me then what you've come up with and how it improves things?" He was aware that there was a slight challenge in the question but he had little doubt of her ability to rise to it.







oocApologies for the extremely delayed response