A Swing of Steel

by **Clyde Sullins** on February 22nd, 2016, 12:20 am

38 Winter 515

Sitting in his lab, Clyde looked down at the longsword sitting across a table. Giving it a close appraisal, he inspected its worth. From the perspective of someone who didn't use swords, but had enchanted many a weapon, it seemed quite a fine creation.

It was polished, sharp, and without the smallest chink or bit of damage.

A cold iron blade, with a similar hilt wrapped in supple leather. He'd worked with the material before, recalling back the the mace he'd enchanted.

That morning the blade had been delivered to his lab, along with the materials needed for a MC 3 item. Once more it came with a note, giving a general explanation of what was wanted.

Some person, a knight, was being rewarded with a fine blade. Perhaps they'd been promoted, or finished a quest, or some other reason. Clyde didn't know the why, but he knew the how. Him, enchanting the longsword to a finer image of the idea of a sword than any mundane example could be.

With Cha in hand, Clyde willed his aura sight to extend outward from her, grasping on and examining the swords body.

Over the next bell or so Clyde checked over the item, feeling for any issues or problems, any faults or stresses within that might show the item wasn't perfect. Clyde knew how important the base item was in Magecrafting, and he preferred to spend an extra bell now to make sure it wouldn't be a problem than to take a risk. It was the same reason he made such a over the top Glyphing set up, far more than was needed for a low level item. He preferred not to take risks, and to take any reasonable safety measure he could when dealing with magic that if done poorly could leave him as little more than a smudge on a wall.

Working his way down the blade, he started at the tip, the long thrusting blade ending in a point for slipping through and into flesh. Not perhaps as good at thrusting as a shorter blade, such as a dagger which was all about thrusting, but still it appeared with a decent thrusting tip.

Both sides were sharp, ready for slicing and cutting and slashing. Clearly before it had been brought to him the blade had been perfectly honed and readied, a smooth cutting surface all along it.

Down from the blade was the hilt, starting at a crossguard of cold iron shaped in a stylized T form. The two cross bits were rounded at the ends, thinning slightly before becoming straight and flowing inward to meet at the hilt.

Down from that was the hilt itself, with a leather wrapped grip meant for one hand. Clyde had seen some swords with longer hilts, perhaps meant for two hands. This one seemed a bit smaller, clearly meant to be gripped with one hand. Or perhaps it had been custom made for someone with small hands?

Clyde wasn't sure, and all he could tell from his limited smithing skill was that it was a well made weapon.

Done with his examination, Clyde let out a sigh and retracted his aura sight from the blade. He'd looked at the blade, looked inside it, looked at its edges and finish and even the internal makeup of the blade and the hilt. He didn't see any faults, and nothing more than a few minute bits of imperfection which was to be expected from a normally crafted blade. He didn't think though that any of such things would be a problem, small as they were. As far as standard weapons went this was a fine creation.

A perfect start for a work of Magecrafting.

WC: 620

by **Clyde Sullins** on February 22nd, 2016, 4:28 pm

Done checking over the blade, Clyde switched his attention to the pedestal and the glyphing set up surrounding it.

He'd noted a few days prior that some minor wear had occurred, likely from a combination of his prior Magecrafting and time. Glyphs did not last forever, even ones as powerful as his. Taking out his inscribing paint Clyde did some minor repair work, redrawing a few bits of glyph here in there, occasionally redrawing one that had completely vanished. Inspecting the overall set up he could see most of the damage had occurred on the outer glyphs, the outermost protective layer which kept external djed outside of the pedestal. This kept this unwanted djed from interacting and affecting the item during the enchantment.

There were some minor damage and wear to the internal glyphs, the ones that collected the excess djed from the reactions and stopped it from remingling with the enchantment, but very little of this. Most of the damage, and particularly most of the expended glyphs that had to be redrawn, were on these outer glyphs.

The raw volume and density of the set up was the reason he didn't need to redraw the entire thing. There was so much redundancy that many glyphs had never even been touched by djed, let alone been used up.

However as he looked things over, he found it made sense. This wasn't a high level item, and he wasn't dealing with anything volatile such as powerful reagents or catalysts. Most of the threat would come from without.

As he finished up the last bit of glyph work, Clyde let out a sigh and scanned the ingredients he had been given. Along with the large amounts of base materials used in Magecrafting, there were also a few items set aside.

The first thing the knights had wanted was durability. With that in mind a tiny diamond sat by itself, the source of behavior for the durability enhancement. Along with that was something a bit more unusual. A scale of some sort, though odd in its coloration. It was almost clear, as clear as the diamond had been. He wasn't quite sure what that was, but he'd asked for a bit of something to imbue speed, a bit of something from a creature known for speed and fast movement.

Apparently then this was that component. Clyde puzzled over the clear scale for a moment, before he recalled a prior work of Magecrafting. He'd used a pair of glassbeak feet as both a behavior source and catalyst. He'd summoned the creature, and killed it, its feet the only bit that had survived their fight. He'd meant to keep more, but it hadn't gone quite as planned, and he'd been forced to use more force than he'd expected.

Part of glassbeaks had feathers, large plumage. Other parts were covered in scales. This was apparently one such scale from a glassbeak. By instinct he reached out through Cha with his aura sight, feeling at the items aura.

He felt no strong djed about it, no power. It seemed it was likely a mundane glassbeak scale, taken off a once living creature from on world. A bit of remains. It wasn't from one which had been summoned, and so wouldn't be of use as a catalyst. In hindsight it made sense, since the knight's didn't really practice summoning. Also he imagined them taking on a glassbeak, and it didn't seem so odd. Clearly they'd fought and killed one at some point, and harvested the remains.

Setting aside the clear scale and the tiny diamond, he picked up the longsword. Handling it carefully, Clyde brought it over to the pedestal, and set it down in the middle with a sense of finality. He was ready to begin.

WC: 629

by **Clyde Sullins** on February 22nd, 2016, 8:43 pm

Now that he had inspected both the relevant items and his glyphs, Clyde began his actual work.

Lining up his charging hammers, Clyde began to load them one by one. Each one was used upon a bit of the common reagents, capturing its djed within. Once he began he'd release the djed bit by bit into the longsword, enhancing the item as he guided and purposed the djed to the needed change.

Charging hammers was one of the more tedious aspects of his work, something he'd done so many times over his many enchantment's he'd lost interest.

The real interesting bit to him was infusing the djed, guiding it like a vine at a vineyard, pruned and controlled and led into its correct fashion.

The focal mechanism was of course the most tricky, getting the change going and started. He pictured this in his mind similar to carving or engraving, getting in the first good cut. Once he had that purchase however, the rest of the djed just applied more force to same cut, the same change or alteration, thus deepening and expanding it. Strengthening it and giving it permanence.

Last was to infuse the essence of the diamond into a hammer, using it as the source of behavior. It was hard, strong, and quite durable. It did not give, did not mark of allow itself to be marred. Just as he intended for the sword.

Holding up a hammer above the tiny diamond, he brought its head down upon the gem with a quick stroke, slowing it to a gentle tap just before it struck. As the hammer struck diamond he heard a peal upon the air, shivering along Cha's spine and down into him. It wasn't a true sound, nothing audible was made, but it was the sound audible within his aura sight of djed being broken and shifted.

A bit of the essence of the diamond was leeched into the hammer, held in his hand. Heading over to the pedestal carefully, Clyde looked down at the longsword, inspecting it. Now that he had begun he would be continuously inspecting the items aura, checking for irregularities or issues arising. From it he could enhance his instinctual understanding of how to craft the enchantment, enhancing his skill beyond that of a Magecrafter alone. He could likely do it simply by feel, simply by what he expected as a Magecrafter, but the Aura reading gave solidity to his actions, gave direction and intelligence confirming and helping to enhance the precision.

Holding up the hammer, Clyde focused on the image of diamond in his mind, on the adamant nature of it, ungiving, unyeilding, and willed this essence to be carried into the sword.

With a stroke of the hammer he smited the sword with a gentle tap. The contact was enough, and the djed discharged into the sword, led and guided by the direction he gave it. The first bit of the diamond's hardy essence was imbued into the sword now.

WC: 500

by **Clyde Sullins** on February 22nd, 2016, 9:08 pm

The diamond essence now imbued into the sword, Clyde turned to his next hammer, desiring a deepening of the step. The diamond essence was the first cut, one that needed to be intensified. Now it was but a ghost of an idea, a small alteration etched just so into the items soul.

Except, he reminded himself, with Magecrafting it was less of an etching and more of a building. Metaphors while perhaps being useful in magic to focus ones mind and to harness intent, didn't carry on forever. He still had to accept the practicalities of how the magic worked, and bear that in mind in his work.

Perhaps it was more akin to finding a sandy hill, cutting out a hole, and filling that hole with strong stone, building up what was pressed into the flesh of the land to something stronger. Except with Magecrafting it wasn't even that, wasn't taking things away, not physically at least. It was a deepening of the djed pathways, an extension of the story that was the item.

Clyde focused on this as he struck with another hammer, injecting the djed into the pathway begun by the hardy diamond, giving it more force and deepening it. He pictured the sword in his mind as a page on a book, filled with words. He pictured in his mind that as the hammer struck, another word appeared, a small change but there all the same.

Over time those words would build up, until the sword told a new story. Until when the world read its story, it acted newly, acted beyond what is mundane brethren displayed.

Heading back over to the diamond, Clyde used the hammer that had struck the sword before, and used it again on it. The remnants of the djed within pulled on the stone, taking away the property that made it so special. He could feel the alteration upon the stone. Feel it becoming less of its former ideal. No more was it hard, ungiving, unmarred. As the hammer pulled back after having the last of its essence taken, the light tap of the blow hit the stone. Without its hardened properties left, its adamant nature leeched, it gave way. The once ungiving stone gave, crumbling and falling apart into a pile of dust and ash.

“You do not fail for nothing. You fail to give birth to something. You give so another may be as you were. Everything takes so that it can survive. Magic is no different...”

Striding back to the pedestal and sword, Clyde prepared the hammer, giving another soft blow struck on its length. The last hardy essence was delivered into the sword, the end of the use for that reagent.

Now he would continue on for the rest of the day, along with the next, deepening the idea impressed upon the sword, its ungiving and hardy nature.

Taking up the next hammer Clyde felt out from Cha with his aura sight, feeling for the items aura. Within it he could feel the buzz of fresh djed, added with each hammer strike. He could feel it, and combining with his Magecrafting skill understand it. Understand the story it told, and what alteration to make next. Feeling out, Clyde canted his hammer just so, imbuing his will with the hardiness of diamond, before striking at just such an angle.

The injection of djed was released, flowing and surging and rebounding in the item and upon it, adding to its tale.

WC: 582

by **Clyde Sullins** on February 22nd, 2016, 10:28 pm

The rest of the day was a dance of djed. Clyde returned repeatedly to the table laid out with hammers he had charged earlier, returning one by one to carefully inject its held djed into the item.

Through the course of the enchantment more and more of the materials would be used up, their special essence taken out and drained away bit by bit. Some of the stones lots their stiffness. Some of the metals lost their luster. Plants dried and flaked away to little more than dried out dust. Mineral powders and soil lost its glimmer.

The more mundane djed used in much greater quantities and found in the various common reagents were just that, common. They were words tacked onto the story of the item, bit by bit enhancing and growing.

Clyde wasn't dealing in an enchantment potent enough to need the more refined djed of a catalyst. With two steps to structural changes, and one step to behavioral, there wasn't enough of a change focused in one area to necessitate it. Three steps in one area was the magic number for that.

Hammer blow by hammer blow, Clyde worked away at the item. Through the course of the day he viewed it within his aura sight, watching as the fresh djed grew thick upon it.

Some of the earlier bits were flowing within, intermingling and growing into new pathways of djed. Other bits was still fresh, working their way into a new pattern.

The end result though would be an alteration to the item.

By the end of the day Clyde was exhausted, if not from his aura reading then from the level of sustained concentration on his task.

Having expended the last of the hammers he'd charged, Clyde let out a sigh and turned in for the day, knowing he'd be up early the next day at it again.

WC: 313

by **Baelin Holt** on April 19th, 2016, 7:32 am

Clyde Sullins :

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