Location Sultros Blades

[Eanos]

Located on the third tier of Stormhold Castle, the forge known as Sultros Blades can often be found by following the noise of hammer on anvil echoing down the passageways around it. No sign is hung upon the open door, but the shortest glance inside reveals a shop in which iron work glints in the subdued light. Stepping inside, the twenty by thirty foot room offers glimpses of the work which can be commissioned here. The centre of the shop stands clear to allow customers to wander freely and to have the space in which to try out the feel of the wares on offer. Half way down the right hand side of the shop the samples of knives and similar could be found displayed on ledges built into the walls. There polished iron with inlays of copper, brass, silver and gold flicker in the light of the lantern which stood at the top of the display. Outside the lantern lit displays the room drops back into shadow and if anything stands there then only the keener sighted or those who are able to see in the gloom such as Isur, are likely to notice. Opposite on the left wall, a fountain made of silver metal flickers and glimmers while the gentle sound of running water acts as counterpoint to the noise of hammer and punch from the workshop off the back of the shop. Blocking off the back of the shop is a counter of white marble, which draws the eye as a bright line in the gloom. Underneath it are glass display cabinets in which a select few objects are displayed but it would be hard to see them for they stood in the shadow of the counter above which hung one more solitary lantern. To the right hand side of the counter were a pair of windows which opened into further darkness, but one sometimes lit by a ruddy glow from the forge. A door leads off into the workshop from behind the counter. The workshop was where most of the finishing work was done and all of the work in progress and raw materials were stored. Once windows had opened up into the courtyard beyond, but these had been blocked up so that the only light came from a lantern hung over the workbench in the centre of the room where Eanos did much of his work. Around the walls were wooden counters and cabinets in which all the tools of his trade and materials were carefully stored. By the blocked up windows was a door out into the courtyard and from which some natural light flooded into the room. A final door in the Eastern wall led into the living quarters. The courtyard was the heart of the shop for here was the forge and anvil. It was a small space but large enough for what was needed by a smith who mostly worked on weaponry and the like. Prices : All work is custom; there are no blades to be bought on the spot. Prices below are examples - in all cases actual prices will depend upon what you want. Other custom weapons are available on enquiry (please refer to the price list for a guide). All prices are for Steel weapons - apply the following factors for other metals: Item Factor Iron Cost /1.5 Gold Cost x 7 Silver Cost x 6 Copper Cost x 4 Item Price Dagger 20 gm Short Sword 30 gm Sword 45 gm Katana 150 gm Wakizashi 100 gm Customisations Price Serrated blade 300 gm Sword handle, custom 100 gm Sword pommel, ornate 150 gm Gnosis blessing (to standard steel) 300 gm

This location is moderated by Eanos

[Hrafn Alaric]

11th Winter 510

Hrafn opened the door, a screeching creek filling the room. Sultros Blades, definitely an Isur smith. A fellow kin - two men bound together by passion, the passion of course being working with metal. Just pray it isn't one of those insane zealots that hold that silly god so highly. The smith - was an ideal Isur. Short, maybe five feet and broad. Strapping and strong, indeed. A seemingly black arm, with strong silver linings. This man seemed to be capable. -"Hello. I am Hrafnir Wulfric Avery Rikardur... Alaric." he finished, a proper title seemed to be fitting for a fellow member of the good race.

-"I will get straight to the point, if I may. I am in dire need of a weapon. When I was in Zeltiva with my father's brother, I saw this beautiful weapon. An Epieu it was called. A comfortable long hilt with a small, prickled double-edged blade. A half-spear, it is usually called. I am a competent blacksmith, but this needs perfect finesse, time and resources. All of those I - sadly - do not possess." Hrafn spoke with each word carefully picked, speaking clearly and only stopped for a short while in between.

-"If you are up for the task, it would require the utmost respect and the work of a gentle, patient man." he glanced at him with jutting eyes, his visage filling the room. Hrafn was taller than the smith, obviously, Hrafn had always been taller than the average Isur.

After a long pause, Hrafn finished.
-"The question is, for the right price, are you up for it?"

[Eanos]

When he'd been brought up in Sultros, he'd often been told that the all the Isur lived there and only a few renegades and criminals lived elsewhere. But as with many things that he'd accepted as gospel in his early youth, this was a truth which appeared to be lacking in substance. He'd come to accept though that this city of all cities was likely to attract others of his race, some of them perhaps for the same reason as he'd been attracted here. All however were welcome here, and whilst he had still to shed his disdain for the other races, a customer was a customer no matter what his race. "Hello and welcome to my shop Hrafn of the Alaric," he was a little puzzled by the lack of clan but he passed over it for now. "Eanos Swifthand Pitreus, at your service." He listened to the request, taking the time as he listened to size up the man and wonder at the strangeness of an Isur who clearly bore none of the sounds of his home, and also of his height, though he wasn't the tallest that Eanos had known. "An Epieu?" The blade was not familiar to him, but he was always open to the possibilities of learning something new. The challenge made him smile though and he nodded. "I am not familiar with it, yet I would judge that you can recall it well enough for us to to reproduce it." The Isur claimed to be a blacksmith and from the cut of his muscles and the way he held himself, Eanos judged it to be true. "If you come through to the workshop and sketch it out for me then we can talk more about it." There was much to be discussed and the price, well that would be something that they would come to when the time came.

[Hrafn Alaric]

As the men began to walk, Hrafn tried to summarize the weapon. -"It is very elegant. It's reach is about half a man's arm and is supposed to be easy to deflect blows with and light as a feather. It is double-edged and has a upwards tilted hilt." Hrafn finished as they stopped.

He examined the room, it seemed to be of excellent standards. The smith himself, Eanos, was probably raised in the vicinity of Sultros. He bore all the distinctive qualities, the accent, the red hair and tying it back of course. The Sultros Isur disliked hair in their way, that was common knowledge. He grabbed piece of paper nearby and found a pencil aswell. He carefully sketched the weapon, including the finest details. He drew each line with elegance and calculated the size of the weapon as well. He included small annotations about the final draft.

He turned back to Eanos, lines forming on his forehead as he raised his brows. -"This should suffice I reckon." Hrafn peered at the man, trying to read out any sort of reaction. Maybe he knew the design, maybe he was going to cheat himself to an unfair price.

-"Well, Pitreus?" Hrafn asked with a delightful cheer in his voice, hoping the smith could achieve perfection with this weapon.

[Eanos]

The mans easy way in the workshop and the facility with which he drew an accurate sketch, incorporating as he did so the things which were important to a smith, confirmed the thoughts that Eanos had that here indeed was a good smith and a man who could doubtless produce some excellent work. "An interesting weapon, and one that I can certainly make for you" he replied studying the sketches. "Could you tell me more about how it is used? In particular where you would like the balance to lie?" For a normal blade such questions would still have been asked, for that was the point in getting a custom weapon made after all, but this one was interesting and it was clear from the design that its use was not at all obvious and so assumptions would be dangerous if he were to produce the weapon that the smith wanted. "I will also need to know what you would wish this to be made from. Iron is of course what most people use, though it might be possible for me to obtain steel for this. The Knights though restrict the supply so I would not want you to assume that we can use it. Regardless of that though, the main cost will be in the blade." It made it easier to be talking to a fellow expert. "What properties would you like in the blade?" There were many ways of making a blade, but surely Hrafn would know what he wanted.

[Hrafn Alaric]

Hrafn examined the man as he went over the sketch. He seemed to be responsive and ready to undertake the task. Hrafn carefully listened to the man's questions, trying to answer them as best he could. It felt comforting to know that the smith was going to use such gentleness and carefulness with the crafting. -"I have seen this weapon being switched to two parts. One of which is the hilt-heavy Epieu. That is when the blade is more balanced and easy to control. Then you are mainly focusing on stabs and cuts. The other one, often called the Arc-Epieu is when the blade itself is heavier than the hilt and is swung down in mighty arcs on enemies." Hrafn replied, trying to include details. -"I would personally want an Arc-Epieu, although they are harder to create as the blade itself must be shorter than the hilt itself and of course, go down into a prickled tip."

-"I am sure this will be a difficult task, but I say you are the only one in Syliras who could undertake this task with delicacy. If you can't, I doubt anyone can. I've been drifting around Syliras in search of someone..."Hrafn paused and made eye-contact with the Isur. -"... Worthy."

-"I want the blade to be double-edged and very sharp. It is required that it has to be kept in maintenance, needing repair and sharpening every now and then. I want the hilt to have comfortable feel for it and adapting to my hand. Maybe leather-bound and custom-carved. It also needs to have a sheath following it, so you would have to find a fitting way to store it on my back or on my belt. I would prefer steel over iron, but if I had to get iron I would like cold iron. Always seems to do the trick!"

-"I hope that is enough information, alas, it is all I can give. Shall we discuss the price?"

[Eanos]

Eanos was not a warrior, nor had he trained as one, so there were doubtless tricks to the fashion in which a weapon could be handled which were still unknown to him and to the detriment of his craft. Still though whilst he could not master the intricate manoeuvres of using the blade he had needed to understand early on in his training about the point of balance and so the explanations between the two types was obvious enough to him. He nodded slowly, reflecting on the results of the eye contact and the praise which was hard to ignore. Perhaps when he was older and more used to flattery then he might have been able to shrug it off, but as it was, it reinforced his pride and caused him to lower his guard a little more. It seemed to him that the dimensions of the hilt would prove easier to manage than those of a sword since the grip was more flexible, but nothing in the requested specification seemed to be a problem. "There should be no problem with creating the weapon as you desire it. I take it that you will be remaining in Syrilas for a short while? Once the weapon has been forged then you can come back for an initial fitting, where I can find out if there are any adjustments needed, or if that is not convenient then you can simply wait for me to finish it, the choice is yours." Now, for the price, that will depend on what metal I can obtain for you and the degree of finish that you desire. The blade is simple enough in form but as with all things, you get what you pay for. In iron for a man who wanted just a blade to learn then ten crowns would suffice for the blade alone, but that would be something you could have made yourself not to need to come to me." He paused and considered for pricing was ever a tricky thing, especially for something like this that he hadn't made before and which like as not would take several attempts to make. "To be made as I think you would wish then in Iron with Izurdins blessing then the price would be forty five including the sheath. For steel we would add another ten crowns and cold iron another thirty." The price was high, but not extortionate and he considered it not unreasonable for the work involved, but he'd dealt with customers before and so waited with some amusement for the reaction which in his experience varied in a very unpredictable fashion.

[Hrafn Alaric]

-"Hrrm. Yes. I will be staying in Syliras for the time being, although I am supposed to be meeting two men later on today. I have enough coin for any of those prices, so we don't have to worry about that." Hrafn hesitated, maybe he shouldn't have mentioned that. Now the smith has leverage over him. Now he know he has a lot of coin. Hrafn cursed silently under his breath, with his eyes hovering the smith.

-"So. You should get working straightaway and send word for me when you need me." Hrafn walked out of the workshop and into the busy street of Syliras.

[Eanos]

20th Summer 512 The forge fires were banked so the rear of the shop was now only lit with a dim red glow and there was just the occasional ping of hot metal as the sword blade cooled atop the anvil. The Isurian smith carefully took the Magecrafting tome from the shelf and turned to the page he had left marked. He immersed himself in the text with just an occasional glance upwards as a random sound drifted in from the front of the shop.

[Tallen]

Tallen Summer, 513 Tallen wanders towards the shop, she had passed it a few times even peeked in. The sounds of metal being stricken was always enough to draw her attention, but she never went in. Oddly she doesn't hear the striking, taking a break perhaps. She can't imagine many come along to commision a weapon when the Ironworks are around, so a break wasn't unheard of. Perhaps this is a better place to seek a teacher and employment. She wanted to learn to make weapons like her father used to, she was educated enough to make things from metal, but not how to form even a simple weapon. This could be her chance. She walks into the shop and looks around at the works. She had seen many of these weapon types before, but couldn't put a name on most of them. She spotted the Isur, the owner, not a good sign. She knows of the introverted nature of the Isur. She's just some human whose shoulders are wide for a female; and whose androgyny doesn't quite make her stand out. Her jaw clenches, she'll just press her luck, the worst he could do was refuse. "Excuse me, I have a request." She says, her voice is raspy and low. She stood straight feigning confidence to her bes abilities. If this Isur was like most her was definitely going to deny her. Worse yet, if he recognises her it will turn into an embarrassing refusal. She know her father just stopped working, in the middle of a few requests, at the ironworks and began drowning himself in alcohol. He had fallen in depression and just left his work as a burden to others. Still even if it's embarrassing, the worst he can do is refuse her.