A Side Venture: Part 1

by **Clyde Sullins** on August 28th, 2014, 4:07 pm

34 Summer 514

As always, Clyde began his work in Magecrafting in preparations and planning. He never jumped right into it, instead plotting out all he would do, and once he was ready moving on to the actual work.

Making a mental checklist, he figured out all he would need to do. First of course was Glyphing, one always needed a good runic setup to isolate the area from foreign and intruding djed, and to help with stability during the process. This was already done, since he had outfitted this area for a prior Magecrafting project only recently. He had to touch up a few bits, but for the most part it was good as is. He generally used the same setup all the time, as he had more or less perfected the needed layout over the years of his work.

Next was to examine the item, both the item to be Magecrafted, and any other special items or things to be added for some other bit. In this case he was enchanting a cold iron, or depending upon who you asked cold steel, dagger. He wanted of course enhanced durability, but also enhanced movement speed. Two steps in each.

As for unique bits, he was also planning to add in a bit of his own blood. This was not as most often blood was used for, instead it was for a small test, to try out a new idea. Normally one added ones own blood so only yourself could use it... But Clyde theorized that if one thing was possible, so was the inverse, or the subtractive half instead of the additive. If for instance one could make an item weigh less, a step against weight, and one could also make a item more effective against something by using its blood... Then surely that could be combined to use ones blood to make the item less useful against you, or the inverse of the normal usage of blood.

Since he would be taking his own blood, fresh during the process, he did not doubt it would not be of good quality. So no need to examine that. All that needed to be checked was the cold steel dagger itself, before his work began, and before the dagger was placed on the pedestal.

Final to plan was the time. He figured on average he would need two days a step, taking a total of eight days. For integrating the blood, and starting, he would likely take another day. So in total he would be at it nine days. Usually the last day was simply finishing up and cooling off the item, and so was not intensive work. But still, that was a good seven days of straight up Magecrafting.

Holding the dagger across his open palms, he looked down at the blade. As usual with cold iron, it was cold to the touch. Not frigid or painfully cold, but cool as if it had been dipped into icy waters for a time. Odd, since it had been laying out on a table for days. As he looked down upon the blade, an incantation came to mind. Clyde started with a hum, and then broken into the first line.

“Of metal by man you were forged one day. By hammer and tongs your form they did lay. Now your purpose is to cut and slash. A weapon of war, steel to steel will clash.”

As he finished the last line, he felt himself center, and then exuded outward his senses, his aura sight blooming and flowing over the dagger, as he sang to the blade.

“Your secrets I pull, and lay at my feet. For the first time myself and your inner self shall meet.”

As the note vibrated down the blade, a sound reflected back, washing across Clyde. He could feel inside, see it through, as if it was clear. Its surface was cool, but smooth. Its body was strong, and firm. Its blade was sharp and well cut. Honed and prepared by a steady hand. Its tip was solid, for pushing and thrusting. Its sides sharp and crisp, for slashing and cutting. And within... Within it was solid, uniform, hammered evenly as one.

As his song ended, his aura sight slowly faded, and so did his second image overlaying the mundane form of the blade. Clyde let out a slow breath, and prepared to start his work.

by **Clyde Sullins** on October 10th, 2014, 8:08 pm

Taking his first step that could not be undone, Clyde placed the cold iron dagger upon the pedestal. He took half a chime situating it, getting it just right in his mind, before he left the ensconcing wards.

Taken from his own possessions, Clyde drew a normal steel blade, a small dagger, and brought it with him to the edge of the wards. In his other hand he held Cha, from which he exuded a small sampling of his res. The glowing gas rose straight upward, collecting into a vague globe. With a thought the outer layer burst into flames, transmuted. Due to how heavy the wards were, more or less on the level of anti-magic, he would not be able to pass over them with a spell. Which meant he needed to do this before entering, heating the blade so as to clean and purify it, and to abate any risk of infection.

He lowered the burning globe to chest height with a small motion of Cha, a tipping, and then began to bathe the steel blade in the flames. It was not hot enough to damage it, and he did not hold it within them deep enough. It was only meant to clean.

After several chimes, and several passes and holding within the flames, the dagger was clean, starting to take on the slightest of a reddish hue as the metal heated. After another chime the metal had cooled enough, so that when he used it his flesh would not be burnt. Then he made a dual motion, a forward thrusting of Cha, and a backward pulling of the dagger.

With it the magical flames shot forward, aimed at the outer layer of warding, and his res moved inward, back towards himself. He breathed the res back in, reacquiring the core of res that had not been transmuted. At the same time the magical flames struck the invisible point in the air that marked it as crossing the ward.

It of course did not continue far, the flames going around and burning out as it met the solid curving run of barrier glyphs. The glyphs on their part did nothing, just sitting their watching, not even strained by the repulsion of magic. But it was as good a test as any to test his wards, and to make sure all was in perfect condition. Even had it not, and had the barrier failed, one of the other redundant layers of warding would have stopped it. But their was no need, as the first layer did the job.

Putting down Cha, Clyde picked up a small pot of mineral powder, and headed inside the wards. He carefully set the pot just off the pedestal, and then took up a pinch of it. Moving his thumb and forefinger, he sprinkled the powder, peppering it across the cold iron blade and its hilt. With the small bit of excess, he rubbed it in, taking careful attention to get a good layer across the side of the cold iron, buffing out the sheen till it was obscured. The dagger was then turned, and the process was repeated on the other side, once more peppering it with powder, and then rubbing the powder in.

After that Clyde returned the pot of powder to its place, and took one of the hammers he had charged earlier. With hammer in one hand, and steel dagger in the other, he stood over the cold iron dagger. With a careful motion Clyde cut into the flesh of his left forearm, a shallow cut that only just brought blood. He'd done such things before, for other magics, and so was quite practiced at leaking his own bodily fluids.

Holding his arm a few inches over the dagger on the pedestal, Clyde bled, a drop, a few more, pumping his arm a few times to get a bit more bloodflow, and to speed up the process. After a chime or two, a good enough bit of the blood had gotten onto the dagger and its blade.

As he worked he hummed to himself, and occasionally spoke, singing to the blade to be enchanted as he Magecrafted.

“Take my blood, we are now kin. We are bonded by blood, even if not both men. I shall not harm you, nor shall you me. Let bygones be bygones, let each other be. We are now friends, through the tick of time. You'll cut me no more, now that I've sang this rhyme.”

As he spoke the last word of Rhyme, Clyde struck downward, giving the cold iron blade a good tap. As he did, he could feel a surge of magic, felt as it reverberated back into him and across his aura. Felt as the magic surged forth from the hammer clutched in his fingers, down and out into the awaiting vessel of the blade of cold steel.

And thus the enchantment was begun, and the blade was imbibed with his blood, with the purpose of not hurting that which the blood belonged to.

by **Clyde Sullins** on October 10th, 2014, 10:46 pm

35 Summer 514

As was common with enchanting, a good bit of time was spent simply recharging hammers. Another good bit was in preparation, and the actual enchantment process, and in waiting, but it always seemed in the doing that an inordinate amount of time was spent on the repetitive process of recharging hammers.

Before Clyde was arrayed a range of hammers, going from tiny to large. The smallest could likely be wielded by a pycon, and for a human needed only a few fingers. Clyde usually clutched it like a toothpick. The largest took a good hand grip, and recalled Clyde of the hammers commonly used in blacksmithing, a forge hammer. Of course, other larger hammers were used in traditional smithing, but in Magesmithing, size did not usually directly impact the crafting process.

For ingredients, another range of items were before him. An oddly colored stone, or gemstone, depending upon how one defined it. The skull, or Clyde assumed it was a skull, of some monstrous beast. An odd clump of vines, strangely colored, with a small hard mass at their center... As Clyde assessed the things before him, it once more struck him as odd that he knew so little of these common ingredients and basic reagents as used in his craft. Of course, due to their variety, and the mass use of so many, it did make a bit of sense. He simply knew they did as they did, and used their inherent djeds to empower his hammers.

He then took that power, and injected it and guided the flow of said djed into the item to be enchanted. Taking up a hammer, he prepared himself, and then brought it down upon the gemstone/rock like object. As he did he felt the small tingle of djed, a tingle against the back of his neck as the magics were pulled in, and the radiant effect brushed against his aura. Afterward the stone was left... Diminished. He could not say exactly how, but it had been altered. Lessened, dulled, weakened. As a man brought to his knees by a blow to his manly parts, it lay prostrate before him.

Next was a smaller hammer, and the skull/boney thing. As he looked a bit closer, he noticed a small bit of blood, or some kind of fluid. Surely not blood, as it was green. Of course, he did not know the origin of the bone, so perhaps it did come from something that bled green. Surely odder things happened. Another strike, a pulse of power gulped down by the hammer and stored within. The bones also seemed lessened. More brittle. Like if he picked it up, it would break or crumble to dust. Surely just his imagination.

Finally was the odd mass of plant, and the tiniest of hammers. Carefully with thumb and forefinger, he prepared it above the mass of plant life. Clyde canted it, prepared to strike, settling upon the hard mass in the middle of the vines. As he looked at it, it seemed oddly withered, as if it had been dried out over some amount of time. Picking up the hammer, Clyde prepared, and aimed a strike right at the middle of the hard mass.

This one did not go quite as quietly, and Clyde took a step back after his latest strike, letting out a cursed “petch!”

When he moved to strike this last object, he swore it had moved. Moved BEFORE he struck it! Although as he thought back, he could not be certain if it had moved before, or after. But still, the way those vines had reached out, twisted, surely that had not been normal...

Clyde quickly convinced himself it had just been his imagination, that it had not moved, ignoring the fact that the djed drawn from this last object had been much stronger than the other two, perhaps even combined... But viney bits, they did not just move on their own. Looking at the odd thing, he noticed the vines coming from it were not really from it, more so about it. So the odd hard mass was not the core from which the vines sprouted, more like the hard thing was stuck amongst the vines. But he was certain it had not looked as such before.

Shaking his head, Clyde let out a sigh, glad to be done once more with this tedious aspect of Magecrafting. Still, he took one last look at the vines, before moving off with the prepped hammers.

by **Clyde Sullins** on October 10th, 2014, 11:50 pm

The first bit of enhancement, as planned, was an increase in durability. Clyde usually started with this, as it was important to lay down a firm foundation within the object, before moving on to other parts. In part it was simply for the mental symbolism of it, he doubted if the order truly mattered.

Of light he had been experimenting with verbal work during his smithing. Carrying on with incantations if nothing else helped with his Aura reading, but perhaps it also helped to keep his mind focused, and himself focused upon the desired end result effect he wanted to imbue into the object.

For that reason he usually kept his rhymes related to what he was doing, carrying on with a theme. Smithsinging? Songsmithing? He had not yet named the new foray into methods of enchanting, but perhaps if this time went well, he would keep with it. After all, he had already for some time been focusing on reverberations and sound in his work. Sound issued from himself was a simple step along the same path.

With a set of charged hammers at the ready, Clyde cleared his mind, and worked up another set of lines to speak. Within the ensconcing wards, he felt out for the item, examining its layout, structure, and the various infusion points of djed over the process before now. Working it all together into a map, he found where to insert the djed next, what part was in need of a new thrust of djed, and what part needed a good nudge in the right direction.

“Of stone and steel your bones resound. I fill you with might, pound by pound. Through battle and blood you keep your form. Hardened by djed, you'll keep this norm.”

As each line concluded, Clyde struck with a charged hammer. Each outflow of djed resounded back against him, out of the dagger, deep within where the djed slowly altered the facets and soul of the weapon. He could feel the pulse within his aura sight, a echo slowly fading away.

Each new strike was a new sound, a new resounding wave of djed, rippling and altering as it swept through the stream of djed, cold yet burning away the lines and curves, to leave behind a strong streamlined essence.

“Time will move, inexorably on. Untouched, you'll stand, long after those who've forged you have gone. Steadfast and stout, you'll bend not break. Blood and bone, you'll earn your take.”

Hammer by hammer, Clyde did his work. Line by line, he sung to the dagger, as it was made a lie, and its essence reworked. A slight slant of the hammer this way. A leaning of the force in this direction. An infusion of djed to level off here, and to even out the excess here.

Clyde could feel it deep within the blade, a deep rumble within, growing firmer, more solid, and washing back outward as a echo, to be caught and tumbled within the inner swirly bits of the ward, design to take in and catch the excess, and trap it within.

by **Clyde Sullins** on October 11th, 2014, 1:53 am

39 Summer 514

Done with the two steps of durability enhancement, now Clyde was beginning the first of the two steps to enhance the movement speed, or the swing speed, of the dagger. Since the first two steps were an alteration to its physical structure, and these two steps were an alteration to the daggers innate behavior, that of how it moved/swung, no additional catalyst was needed to stabilize it.

While Clyde wasn't certain of the exact effect that increasing the inherent speed of the dagger, he did not doubt it would be useful. In particular with such a small light item, it should be able to glide through the air quite fast, dive behind defenses, and take many a foe by surprise.

And perhaps if this attempt worked well, he could try similar enchantments on other items. In that way, this enchantment was not just about making funds for further projects, it was also a chance to test out several theories. First was the Anti-Anti-blood, and second was this of the movement speed. And with two steps of enhancement to the daggers inherent speed, there should be a quite clear and noticeable speed increase to it over a mundane dagger.

Holding a newly charged hammer, Clyde stepped within the wards, and prepared to initiate the next step. He glanced over the wards once, just to make sure they were intact, but saw little deterioration since he had begun. He would likely need to repair them once he was done, and would eventually need to replace them, but not yet, not warding work of his level.

“You slip and dive and weave through the air. Skin and bone you will easily pare. Light and fast you skate in my hand. With a quick dart, their defenses will not stand.”

Once more he concluded a line with a hammer strike, infusing djed into the makeup and pathways of the dagger, slowly rewriting its story, making it a lie, and altering its djed. Or one of dozens of other explanations or analogies for explaining his work in enchanting.

With his words he kept his thoughts clear, the incantation focusing his intent for the aura reading, and also his intent and purpose within his casting. With that in mind he subtly made his alterations, his strikes, and his infusions of djed.

“Fast as a snake, you dart and strike. Small enough to be held by the youngest tyke. As a blur you swing and spin. Steel on steel, a resounding din.”

As Clyde worked, he felt out with his aura, brushing against that of the dagger. All through the enchantment, he attuned to it, delving into the magics at work and entering into it. With a constant flow of words, of the incantations and songsmithing, it was much easier to work the reading. The sound of djed reverberating and moving became a common sound to reach him, even if it was not one that would ever be heard audibly.

As he finished for the day, something suddenly occurred to Clyde... He'd been thinking of it as songsmithing, but that would be the making of songs, literally smithing or making the song. Which once more left him unclear on what he should call what he was doing. Songmagic? No... Spellsinging? Closer.

by **Clyde Sullins** on October 11th, 2014, 2:32 am

42 Summer 514

Today was the last day of Clyde's work. He had been at it for days now, and had little left to do. As he looked down at the dagger before him, it nearly pulsed outward a audible sound. A sound that thrummed and rang and responded back from within him. Of course, most of this sound was only visible to Clyde due to his expanded Aura sight, which was enveloping the dagger.

Clyde simply grinned, thinking such things out, and how odd it was that such contradictory sensations lost their contradictory nature when dealing with Auristics. With that you could see sounds, and and images could have a odd tang, or could smell strong. And sound could brush against the back of your neck, and make your teeth shiver. Even Clyde's own term for inspecting something with Auristics, his Aura sight, was not truly limited to sight. It was several senses at once, mostly sight and sound, but occasionally others.

All that was left was to finish off the last bit of the movement speed enhancement step, to smooth the "rough" edges, and finalize the overall enchantment. As he worked he sang, continuing a trend he'd been testing for most of the enchantment. A line sung, then a hammer strike. Another line, another strike.

“With my words I shape and bind. A better enchanter you'd be hard to find. My song is nearly over and done. But you've yet to see the start of the fun. You'll dance and you'll slash and you'll spill much blood. Your victories a ocean, your attacks a flood. As I listen to your last words and sound. Know that by blood we shall ever be bound.”

With that the final strike was made, and Clyde finished his enchantment. The last note was sung, the last strike was made. He took in a deep breath, and looked at the liquid djed of the dagger before him. It pulsed and sang and flowed. Now it needed to be cooled, calmed, and solidified.

Over across the room, a small basin for just such a purpose lay. Making a simple glyph with a bit more mineral powder left over, he drew in a few loosely. They vaguely looked like a circle with a line bisecting it, and some other kind of wavy line about it. A subtle mention to something else, not that many would get the reference should they have seen it. He placed one on the bottom, and three more spaced out about the sides.

Then he took up a barrel of clean water, and slowly poured it in, filling the basin to a line a bit below the rim. It was one of the smaller ones, as he did not really need a large one for such a small item. As the water flowed in, the glyphs were erased, the mineral powder mixing and melting into the waters, flowing weakly throughout.

It did not take much though, just a bit, enough to let the cool water cross into the pores of the dagger, and let the cooling flow within into the djeds it held.

Back to the pedestal, Clyde took one last inspection, and then took up the dagger with an act of finality. Slowly he crossed the wards which had been protecting and ensconcing the dagger and the pedestal it was on. With a splish and a splash, the dagger dropped, struck the water, and sank to the bottom. Next was a steaming, sloshing, bubbling, as the waters began to do their work.

It would be bells till the dagger cooled down, till the enchantment was finalized and made permanent, and the effects would become active. Till then, all Clyde had to do was clean up a bit, check over his Glyphs and wards, and then rest. His work was done, and he had nothing more to do till then.

by **Clyde Sullins** on October 11th, 2014, 3:09 am

It was much later in the day, when the item finished its cooling. The bubbling had stopped, the water had stilled. There was nothing to mark the dagger as anything but a normal blade, sitting in a tub of water.

Slowly Clyde drew it out, carefully holding the dagger by its hilt. The blade was still cool to the touch, as was normal with cold steel. Besides that though, it did not seem any different from a normal dagger. Clyde recalled back to holding the dagger the other day, when he used it to shed his own blood upon this very blade. An important thing in his attempt to make it Anti-Anti-Clyde.

First test, a rather scientific one, Clyde waved the dagger about like a child would. He make a quick forward thrust at an imaginary foe, stabbing it in the chest. Then a slash through the air, warding off a forward thrust blade, knocking it to the side.

It was no lighter than before, but it certainly moved like it was. Even Clyde with his unskilled use of a dagger could see the difference. Hear it too, as he could almost swear that as he swung the blade, and it cut through the air, it made a audible sound as a much larger sword might.

A grin split Clyde's face, a rare expression, but a apt one. Happiness. His experiment was a success. He had achieved his goal number two, made the dagger able to move faster, made its innate movement speed faster and speedier than a normal such mundane dagger would have been.

With a grin Clyde leaped forward, making a downward striking motion as if he was chopping downward with an axe. That however did not work quite as well as Clyde would have envisaged. For while he was enjoying his newly enchanted dagger, he had forgotten one key thing... Drying it off. His poor skill in using a dagger, combined with a wet blade and hilt, added to the downward axe strike, turning into a throw, an unintended one. Once more Clyde let out a “petch!” in surprise, as the dagger seemingly leaped from his fingers.

Of course, with its inherent speed enhancement, it did not take much to launch it flying at a good speed. With a sound not unlike that of an arrow flying through the air, a VVT sound, the dagger flew out of Clyde's hand.

It took Clyde a moment to realize what had happened, and to go after the dagger. When he did find it, it was not lying on the ground, but stuck in one of the stone walls of the lab, point first. Clyde let out another “petch!” as he looked at it. It had imbedded itself into the stone of the lab wall, the point stuck about as far in as the length of his fingernail. He did not need to pull hard to yank it out. With a sigh, he saw that the blade was unharmed, praising Rhysol for durability enhancements. In fact, its tip was not even dulled.

Using his robes, Clyde dried off the blade and the hilt, before handling it again.

This time with both a dry hand, and a dry blade, he managed to keep from losing it. Though he could not help wondering about the other bit. Of the Anti-anti-Clyde effect. Would the blade still cut him? Carefully Clyde used the tip, and poked himself in the finger. Unfortunately, a bead of blood appeared, and Clyde had to suck on the finger as the blades cut stung.

Clearly he would need to work more on this Anti-Anti- effect more, as he did not fully understand it. But still, that was reasonable, seeing as it was a new optional effect he was trying out. Though he would need to test it out with another item, as he would not be keeping this one.

Clyde let out a sigh, and then headed off to the synchograph office with the newly enchanted dagger. Songforged? Clyde shook his head as he walked off. He'd need to work on the name for his new process.

Synchograph Office Forms :

OOC: Alright, since this occurred last season, I am putting the synchograph office forms in this post. Since it is a MC 4 item, which costs 5,000 gm for base ingredients, it would normally sell for 15,000 gm. Since Sahova usually cuts off the top 20%, that would mean at a full 80% Clyde would receive 12,000 gm, less whatever Jenkins skims.

I am also adding in the request for new ingredients, which will be used in his second such thread, which Clyde would send off once the proceeds from this endeavor are received. Since its only about 9k in ingredients, should have more than enough from the proceeds of this item sale.

If any issues or questions, feel free to pm.

by **Ink** on October 31st, 2014, 2:36 am

Let me see what you have done with your ink.

PC One

Skills

Planning 1
Observation 1
Composition 4
Auristics 2
Singing 4
Magecrafting 4
Weapon: Dagger 1

Lores

Magecraft: Using One’s Own Blood
Magecrafting: Songforging?

Notes

Alright I am approving the purchase and sale for this item.
-5000 GM from Clyde’s Ledger
+12,000 GM to Clyde’s Ledger

As for the second purchase I will approve it if you still want it, but be aware the Syncrographo’s office will not purchase the item back from him to sell. A extreme make-over is occurring in the Synch office during the next few days which will remove the option to sell many items through it. If you want to still make the purchases that will still be offered by the Office, and so you may remove the GMs from your ledger. If on the other hand you change your mind, please edit out the request.

Thank you,
Ink

Between Black and White

If there are any concerns or problems with my grading please feel free to toss me a PM. I am more than happy to explain my reasons or reevaluate them if you feel I've been unfair. Also please remember to edit your grade request as graded or delete it if possible.

Thank you,
Ink

Solo A Side Venture: Part 1