Solo Practice makes perfect

[Thane]

uggggghhh

33rd day of Fall, 514 AV
The Arms Gallery

The forge's flames stroke a blossoming light, partly glistening small segments of what was covered by the dimness. Thane inched beside a stone-carved work bench, immediately spotting the essential tools lying neatly arranged. He fixed a stare towards them as his thoughts wandered through possibilities--possibilities which might garner something out from his planned attempt. Thane spent a few minutes sinking throughout his thoughts, recalling some of the techniques his mother once used in forging. He remembered a day where she unintentionally produced a scimitar out from the numerously held experiments, though Thane couldn't firmly recall the specific process underwent.

Thane finally came up with something legitimate to work on, though he wasn't quite expecting for it to succeed. He wanted improvements and see how much versatility he could entail in a period of time.

Thane then went to pump the bellows up. The process was slow and steady as he wanted the heat to be conserved moderately. Multitudes of tiny orange sparks strayed around as the flame abruptly rose. Once Thane deemed it to be on the right pressure, he stepped away and grabbed a thin iron rod from under the working bench. He then reached for the tongs to meticulously pick up the rod, placing a measure of its tip through the fire's embrace. Thane kept the rod on hold until the tip flaunted a yellow orange color.

The rod was then pulled out from the fire, its heated tip smearing a wisp of smoke as it was held by the pair of tongs. It was placed on the anvil afterwards with the heated tip situated on the flat surface. Thane released the tong's grip and held the unheated portion with his left, gloved hand. He then scanned the working bench and quickly spotted the hammer. Before he could even start flattening the heated part, Thane examined as to how he would shape up the tip. His eyes sharpened a stare, thinking thoroughly of a decent method he could execute from his formed idea.

[Thane]

uggggghhh

After jolting a final stare, Thane began to work with the hammer. He started off with one gentle strike in order to form indefinite edges along the rod's tip. Afterwards, Thane drew consecutive blows to flatten the tip distinctly. The process was then repeated several times until the rod's tip eventually flattened. Thane ended with a few vigorous batters then lifted the rod to examine it carefully. With what he saw, the tip haven't flattened to his calculated shape yet and went on to place it on the fire once more.

He grabbed the pair of tongs to lift the rod, carefully resting it in the fire for reheating. Once placed, Thane went over to pump the bellows, ensuring to pressure the fire with enough air. Thane took a few steps back as he monitored the rod's tip. He twitched his right shoulder, hurling some lingering aches away. Then after a few minutes, he slowly took the rod out from the fire, seeing its tip blazing a reddish yellow color. Afterwards, the tip was placed against the anvil's horn. Thane examined it again to assure his next attempt. Once he figured something out, he flipped the rod's placement where one of the edges of the flattened tip stuck on the horn's outer face. Thane grabbed the hammer, but the blows he delivered were in utmost caution. He was attempting to form a sharped tip on the heated portion of the rod, though he wasn't quite certain if what he was doing turned out to be right.

Thane halted for a second, recalling some methods used by his associates on forming sharp tips on a rod. The moment he realized something was lacking in the process, Thane immediately dropped his hammer on the work bench. He crept the rod closer for him to survey again thus, angling the heated portion to see what he lacked. To him, there wasn't much that he would consider to be lacking but he assumed that there might be, once he advances to the finishing stage.

[Thane]

uggggghhh

A soft thump thudded from the rod as Thane gently battered the heated part. Once an edge shaped on one side, he titled the rod, moving to the opposite side of the flattened part and resumed working with the hammer. Thane made sure that each strike was carefully executed otherwise, he would gravely worry for misshaping the entire heated portion of the rod. After forming an edge on the opposite side, Thane gently slid the rod to the anvil's heel. Afterwards, he leaned the rod to the other side where the previous edge was shaped. Consecutive strikes were then followed but they were much more careful and calculative than the earlier ones as Thane slowly attempted to sculpt the edge into a slant wherein a sharp tip could be formed. A few thumps after, the bright glow of heat that made the rod malleable weakened into an reddish orange color. Thane immediately grabbed the pair of tongs and held the rod into the fire.

With a few pumps of the bellows following by, the fire scorched, rising in rapidly. Thane realized he mistakenly applied too much pressure but it wasn't troublesome as it seemed. He then stepped back once the rod was placed on the flame's clasp. Streams of sweat paraded from his forehead down to his nose line which was directly dabbed by his tainted glove. Thane waited for a few minutes, monitoring intently until the forged part was blazing with a bright yellowish glow. Thane held the rod with the pair of tongs, removing it from the fire then placing the heated part on the anvil's heel.

He blew few gentle strikes afterwards, cautiously avoiding to create stress on the rod as he wanted his desired edge to shape out properly. A slant was starting to take shape but it wasn't near to what Thane had planned yet. He continued on hammering the heated part of the rod, unaware of the sweat that was dripping from his forehead. After some few final thuds, Thane turned the rod over to the opposite edge, as he clearly would do the same as what he previously applied. However, before he could even start, he stopped for a moment. Thane studied the newly formed slant carefully as he calculated where the sharp tip could possibly be formed. Once he was finished, Thane started to work on a few hammers. He applied the same constant force of hammering but as he continued on, there was a slight uneasy feeling telling him that a big erroneous mistake might come following through.

[Thane]

uggggghhh

As the hammering went on, the edge of the rod finally took a slanted form. Few strikes after, Thane stopped hammering its shape and went to analyze back. As what he could see, the slant on both edges haven't yet formed a sharp enough tip based on his calculations. The slants were also uneven in tone and seeing it made Thane wonder what he missed during the process. To him, the upsetting he fixed after flattening the metal was a clear, distinctive sign that enabled a correct pattern to follow by. What his thoughts told him was slightly precise but he wouldn't actually consider it as a big erroneous mistake. It was just a simple inaccuracy, but still he wondered what he lacked.

Moving on, Thane turned to one side of the rod's edge where the uneven part resided. He realized then that his hammering was not quite enough to form the proper shape and thus, went back with several strikes. He made sure that every strike of the hammer lined the slant, making it intersect to the other where in it would meet a sharp point. After another wave of batters, the slant finally evened. Thane could now see the sharp, pointed tip forming by the two edges. Thane felt relieved and wiped the excess sweat out from his forehead. He smiled slyly as he looked at the small achievement.

Thane gave a couple of hammering before he could proceed to the finishing touches. He constantly turned the rod with one single strike on one edge accounting to every turn. Afterwards, he laid the rod atop the anvil, seeing that its heated glow was turning into a reddish orange color, slowly losing the dullness. He then went to the forge to strengthen the fire as it gradually exhausted its bright ambiance. It would be another process to harden the metal rod, tiring in general but Thane wanted to see how much he could accomplish by working alone. He glanced at his work before following up to pump the bellows.

[Thane]

uggggghhh

Thane grabbed the rod and left it in the fire. While waiting for the forged portion of the metal to re-heat, he prepared a ceramic bowl, grabbing a pitch of water just beside the work bench and pouring it afterwards. As the forge sparked with tiny particles of flame, Thane went back to pick up the rod using the pair of tongs. He then carefully held it at its midsection, slowly carrying it to where the bowl of water was. Once done, he gently placed the heated portion of the rod into the water. At an instant, the water roasted. Hissing wisps of smoke rose from the heated rod and Thane quickly stepped away to avoid its contact.

Thane left the metal rod to sink for a few minutes. While he did the waiting, he swept some of the used tools back to where he picked them, then eased the fire by sprinkling a few drops of water. After that, he veered back to his work, seeing if the steaming water finally calmed. As he looked over, considering that the water finally soothed, Thane grabbed the rod. He placed it in the anvil to examine further. Oddly enough, the shape of the edge formed by the hammering wasn't perfectly executed. However, it was decent enough for Thane to think through as an accomplishment.

He continued to scan, turning the rod at different angles. He then noticed that the sharp edge wasn't pointy enough. Of course it was bound to happen since the edge wasn't perfectly formed. Then again, Thane would still feel contented of the end results since the purpose of him working alone was for mere improvement. Thane breathed for relief. He placed the rod on top of the anvil before taking his gloves off. Sweat was then mopped by his hands, hurling a few drips away. He heaved a sigh again, realizing that it was time for the actual work as the eleventh bell rung.

[Zhol]

GRADE AWARDED!

Thane

 

Rewards

Experience

• +1 Planning
• +5 Weaponsmithing
• +2 Blacksmithing
• +2 Observation
• +1 Endurance
• +1 Body Building

Lores

• Blacksmithing: Using the forge
• Blacksmithing: Knowing your tools
• Blacksmithing: Reheating the metal when it begins to cool
• Blacksmithing: Hardening hot metal with cold water
• Weaponsmithing: Hammering a point
• Weaponsmithing: Hammering an edge
• Novice Mistake: Things not quite lining up
• Novice Mistake: Poor hammer technique leaves uneven surfaces

Other Rewards

• None

 

Consequences

Injuries

• None (phew!)

Expenses

• None

 

Comments

Feedback
Since this is the first opportunity I've had to grade for you, I just wanted to compliment you on what you've done with Thane so far. He's a really interesting character, and I really enjoy the slightly different way he thinks about things, and how his reaction doesn't always come out the way you expect.

As for the thread, your description of the techniques you were using was great, and I've given you a bunch of lores because clearly put the work in and read up on the subject. I've also given some little extra skills for Thane planning/thinking about what he was going to do, showing that the heat/effort was having an effect on him, etc. Keep that up!

Only criticism: because they're so similar (same techniques, etc), it wasn't entirely clear whether Thane was practicing his weaponsmithing or blacksmithing. You mentioned the scimitar at the beginning, and were talking about points and edges, so I have assumed it was probably weapon-related, but you could also have been making a scythe for a farmer, or half of a giant pair of scissors. I've given you a smidge of blacksmithing anyway, just for general technique/forge usage stuff, but it'd be a big help to me next time to know which one you're after, even if it's just a quick note in the grade request thread.

Please delete/edit your grade request, and don't hesitate to PM me if you have any questions about your grade!