[Flashback/Training] First time at the Forge

[Keishan]

76th of Winter, 499 AV

The sound of hammer on steel rung out through the night as the aging smith plied his trade. His arm, hardened from years at work, swung down again and again, smashing against the red hot metal in before him as the steel slowly took it's shape. Into the fire it went again and again, only to be pounded each time it came out. The sparks bit against his skin, but the man was used to it and took no notice. He did, however, notice when a young boy appeared in the doorway to his forgeand stood quietly, watching. Every night the boy came, his nephew Keishan, sent to him by his worthless sister-in-law to be another burden on the smiths time. The boy always watched while he worked, but never did the man let him approach. It'd be just what he needed if the boy got burnt, and he'd never hear the end of it. The smith worked long into the night before finally retiring to bed. As usual the boy dissappeared the moment he stopped working, believing the old man never knew he was there. Every night after his uncle stopped Keishan would lie in bed dreaming of the forge, dreaming of making mighty weapons for the Syliran Knights, and armor fit for a king. The boy would drift off to sleep with the sound of anvils ringing in his mind, and was the happiest he'd ever been.

4th of Spring, 500 AV

Keishan stood in his uncle's shop alone and staring at the forge, still hot from the days work. His uncle retired early that night, and Keishan was tempted by an urge so powerful he could not begin to resist. Slowly, reverently, he approached the forge, staring down at the burning embers. He had watched his uncle night after night; he knew what needed to be done. Keishan slowly reached out and began pumping the bellows, slowly at first but quickly gaining confidence as he saw the fire burn to life. He worked the fire until all the coals were red, then grabbed a chunk of iron from the workbench nearby. Using the pair of tongs sitting on the anvil, Keishan carefully placed the metal into the fire, watching as it slowly began to heat up. Keishan briefly wondered what he would try to make, but quickly settled on the thing he'd seen most recently. When it was white with heat he pulled the block out and began to beat it with a hammer, pushing the metal out and making it longer. The metal cooled faster than he thought it would, so Keishan had to put it back in the fire. When it was ready, he withdrew the metal and began to beat it again.

Upstairs his uncle was sleeping soundly. It had been a rough day, and he went to bed feeling a bit under the weather. He did not immediately wake when he heard the sound of beating metal, but the noise eventually penetrated his dreams and he slowly started to wake. There was silence for a moment, then the sound rang out again and his eyes snapped open. Somebody was using his forge! Somebody had broken into his home and was using his forge! The man jumped out of bed, running to a chest near the door of his room. He fiddled with the lock, jamming the key into the slot, and threw open the chest, revealing a large warhamer. The man grabbed up the hammer and flew down the stairs, bursting into the room and shouting at the top of his lungs, only to immediately fall silent. There was Keishan, his nephew, beating away at a peice of metal that was quickly taking on the shape of a horseshoe. "What in the name of Ivak are you doing in here, boy!?"

Keishan jumped and dropped the hammer on the floor, nearly hitting his foot. "Uncle Koran! I... um.. look what I made!" Keishan grabbed the tongs and showed the still red horseshoe to his uncle, clearly impressed with his work. "Boy! I thought you were a brigand come to steal all our stuff!" The man stormed toward his nephew, rage evident on his face. "And then I find you, a child, in hear playing with my.." Koran stopped short, eyeing the peice of metal his nephew was franticly waving before him. "Would you hold still a minute," the old smith shouted as he examined the horseshoe. "This isn't half bad.. your technique is awful, but for a child this is really good..."

10th of Spring, 500 AV

Keishan leapt out of bed and barely took the time to throw on his clothes before running downstairs and quickly scarfing down the breakfast his uncle had left out for him. The day before they had gone to market to trade for iron, and Keishan would be getting his first official lesson today. After he finished eating he ran out to the forge, his uncle already preparing for the days work. "So what are we making today? A sword? A suit of armor?" Koran laughed and shook his head, "We aren't making anything today. You are going to watch while I make shovels." Keishan's face quickly went from excitement to despair. "Shovels? Shovels! Why on earth would you make shovels? That's so boring."

"Because, boy, I am being paid to. Aiden needs shovels for his workers for some big landscaping project, and we get to make them. Did you think it'd be all swords and grand adventures? A blacksmiths life is hard work, and besides I leave the weapons and armor to the weaponsmith. I make the tools needed to get things done around here. Might not be as fancy as a sword, but its important work." After some grumbling and complaining, Keishan finally helped his uncle finish setting up and sat back to watch and learn. He was dissappointed he wasn't actually going to get to make something, but as his uncle informed him earlier, he knew best.

"Alright, now listen closely. You have to heat the fire up to the right temperature. To high and you'll ruin the metal, to low and you wont be able to do anything. Usually you just want to make sure the coals are nice and red. After you get some experience you'll just know when its ready," Koran explained as he began to heat up the coals. When they were nice and hot he pointed to the tongs on his workbench. "Now, hand me those and a block of iron. Making shovels isn't complicated work, but you still have to do things right." The smith took the tongs and metal and shoved it into the fire, waiting until the metal was nice and red.

"Now, first thing to do is flatten it out. This part is easy, but it still requires some technique. You want to flatten it out, but you want to shape it while you're at it," Koran explained as he began beating the metal. "You want to hit the metal in the direction you need it to go. If you just hit it dead on you'll have a nice sheet of metal, but no shovel. And remember, keep the metal hot." Koran put the fire back into the metal for a moment before removing it and continuing his work. After several repetitions of heating the metal, beating it and shaping it, and heating it again he explained further. "Now, we're not making flat shovels, so at some point you need to start bending the metal. This part isn't too hard. Put it on the edge of the anvil and tap it down into the curve you want."

Once the shovel was nearly complete he started to talk again, "Now for the tricky part. We have to fashion something to put the haft of the shovel into. That's why I left this peice here unfinish. We have to shape it into a tube, something you can shove a stick into, and once that's done we'll have the shovel head ready." After about an hour the shovel is complete, and Koran held the finished product up in front of his nephew. "All that's left is to add the handle and we'll be good to go. I'll let you take care of that part. Grab those sticks over there and use these tongs to squeeze the metal tight around the wood. Once you're done I'll check your work."

Keishan quicly attached the handle to the shovel then showed it to his uncle, who inspected the thing as if it were a complex peice of machinery. "Good job, boy. Next time make it a little tighter, we don't want it coming off during use." Keishan stared at his uncle dumbfounded, "Uncle.. it's a shovel. Who cares?" Koran frowned and shook his head. "Everything you make should be perfect. A defect in your craftmanship, whether its a shovel or a suit of armor, is a sign of a bad smith. As a blacksmith your reputation is everything. Don't forget that. Now... lets make the rest of them."

Four hours and ten shovels later his uncle stopped and looked at Keishan, a smile on his face. "You ready for a try at it? I've got enough iron for one more. We'll give it to them as a freebie." Keishan lept out of his seat, so excited he was, and ran to his uncle's side. "Really!? You'll let me work the forge?" His uncle laughed heartily and patted the child on the back. "I'm not that cruel, boy. I figure you've watched long enough." Shaking with excitement, Keishan picked up the last peice of metal and shoved it into the fire. Moments later he began beating away, shaping the metal into the blade of a shovel. Before long he was done, and held up the finished product for his uncle to inspect. The man stared at the shovel, clearly impressed with the work his nephew had done. "Boy... you have a gift." Keishan laughed, "Uncle, it's just a shovel." The old smith shook his head and put the shovel down next to the others. "It may be just a shovel, but to shape it that quickly having never done it before. You're a natural. Before long you'll be forging with the best of us..."

[Hatter]

Awards for You! Character: Keishan Awarded XP: +2 Blacksmithing Awarded Lores: Blacksmithing 101 - How/what a Blacksmith really makes and the basic designs of those items. Observations of a Mad Man: Heya! Nice first thread. I know how boring writing about Blacksmithing can be, my main PC is a smith too, so congrats on managing to actually churn out a coherent post. So far as my grading is concerned, there was a lot of introduction, but not a whole lot of actual detail in Keishan actually working the tools so much as being told what to do. If you have any complaints or you feel I shorted you, you can pm me and I'll look into your argument immediately!