[Ironworks] Hey I Know You... (Hadrian)

[Marcus Braeden]

Marcus repeated the process of heating the metal in the furnace and then shaping it with his hammer several times. It was near impossible to get the blade just right after only one heating. The metal simply cools too much and then becomes impossible to shape, at least, not without cracking or breaking it. Marcus also watched Hadrian's work closely, making sure to point out any flaws and trying to give him some advice. Marcus wasn't the best teacher in the world, especially considering he was often lost in thought when he worked. Smithing was second nature to him so it was simple for him to just let his mind wander. But now he had to keep a close eye on Hadrian, always explaining something to the best of his ability. Not that it was a negative thing; he enjoyed having some company while he worked. Usually it was simply working in solitude with a bit of small talk while waiting for metal to heat up.

Marcus soon finished his blade and turned to look upon Hadrian's creation. He saw flaws of course, but from what he could remember from there last meeting, he had improved a lot. It was obvious he had either practiced or taken lessons somewhere. Marcus gave an approving nod toward his blade and told him to follow him once again. This time they would make there way to the grinder, where they would give their blades the edge required of a dagger. Marcus went first as it would only take him but a few minutes to have a suitable dagger blade.

While he sharpened the dagger blade he decided to strike up a friendly conversation with Hadrian, just to try to get to know him, "So, you got any big plans? Any big adventures coming up with the Order?" He said, smiling.

Marcus sat up from the stool and offered Hadrian the seat, "Just do what I did." As Hadrian took his seat Marcus looked around, noticing other smiths were giving him glares. Likely because he was giving private lessons all of a sudden rather than working. Marcus shrugged them off. Unless Ros Vizerian himself had a problem with it, he wasn't going to end his lesson. Besides it was another person working anyway.

[Hadrian]

Hadrian paid close attention to what he was doing, hammering the iron bar into the general shape of a dagger, everything tapering off into a rough point for the time being. It took many a return to the fire, and he studied the way the iron reacted to the heat fluctuations and the blows of his borrowed hammer. He tried to understand the iron that he might better know when to apply certain parts of an enchantment to such a process, that one day he might fashion magecrafted blades. The last thing he had smithed had been a hook, which was more a tool than a weapon, making this his first real weapon. He hoped it wasn't too awful, but rather a prize of beginner's luck, a good omen for future works. He tried to take all Marcus' advice and corrections into consideration, and soon enough he was watching him at the grinder, awaiting his turn. "Right now I'm just trying to finish the projects I owe them," he said as he watched Marcus grind his blade toward sharpness. "I think Devan Nightshade is taking most of the work, to be honest." He sat when the seat was ceded to him and tried to copy what he had seen. "Am I doing this right?"

[Marcus Braeden]

"Who is Devan Nightshade?'" Marcus inquired, not recognizing the name. He mentally guess that it may have been one of the knights that Hadrian was working for.

Marcus carefully judged Hadrian's progress as he worked the grinder. "Yeah you are doing a decent job with it, just make sure that you get both edges of the blade. Ideally the edges should be symmetrical to one another, assuming you want the weapon to balance properly" Marcus explained.

Eventually both Hadrian and Marcus were finished with sharpening the blade to a point. The hard part was out of the way now and all that was left was hardening and tempering. Hardening was simple: heat the blade up to high temperature, rapidly cool it with the quenching tank, rinse and repeat until brittle. Since brittle swords are undesirable, as they will break under enough stress, tempering is meant to fix it. Instead of heating the blade to an extremely high temperature, it would instead be heated to a much lower temperature and then rapidly cooled, which toughened the metal. Tempering however takes a bit more skill than the hardening process. The smith needs to carefully watch the metal and observe different reactions within the metal to know when to stop. There was always a trade off between ductility and strength, and it was the smith's responsibility to find that balance point.

Marcus lead Hadrian back to the furnace and placed his blade into the fire. This time they would wait much longer for the blade to reach a higher temperature than needed for the forging process.

"So what is Alvadas like. I've only heard rumors?" Marcus asked on a whim.

[Hadrian]

"Devandil Nightshade was a professor of magic at the University of Zeltiva. He's the new Magecrafter for the Order. Symenestra. Brilliant, but a bit creepy." He shrugged. There was respect for the man, but not exactly any warmth. Taking Marcus' correction in stride, he made sure his hammering blows were more equally distributed, and ended up playing a losing game trying to get both sides exactly even, but it was like the mathematical models he frequently prepared before a new enchantment: limits approaching infinity. His dagger's edges were approaching sharpness and balance, but were never going to quite get there. Still, it was good practice. When they put their work in the fire to heat, he kept a close eye on the auras of the blades. An expert now, he would be able to gauge when they were ready to be taken out and cooled. This was one aspect of the process in which he was entirely confident. But if Marcus' greater experience got them at the right time, he wouldn't say anything. Only if his Auristics would actually benefit the work would he openly second guess his teacher. "Alvadas? It's insane. One has to totally let go of one's center and preconceived notions about reality or it wears one down. It did me. I think I might return better prepared, but... yes. It's a challenge. Worth it in many ways. It was wondrous..."

[Marcus Braeden]

"But you said you almost died there, didn't you? Doesn't sound like the place to go for a family vacation or anything, but still, I can't help but be curious about what lies beyond Syliras and Ravok. Those are the only places I have been, oh, and the middle of the wildlands also" Marcus said.

Marcus took another look at the metal, briefly withdrawing it from the furnace to inspect it. He nodded and told Hadrian to take his out also. Marcus quickly submerged the blade into the cool water of the quenching tank. Steam rose out of the tank and a loud hissing sound was heard as Marcus held the blade under the water. Marcus and Hadrian repeated this process several times, heating the metal up to a high temperature and then quenching the blade. Soon enough the blades were successfully hardened but left brittle, as it should be. It was time to begin tempering, and this is where Marcus and Hadrian needed to watch. This time they would not be leaving the blades in the furnace nearly as long as before. Marcus first inserted his blade and made sure to keep a close eye on it. He watched the metal react with the flames trying to find the optimal point at which he should withdraw. Marcus finally thought he found it and withdrew, quickly drowning the blade in the cool water again, before repeating the process.

[Hadrian]

"A few times," he agreed, "but if I wanted a safe life, I would have followed in my father's footsteps or something. There's a certain amount of risk involved in exploring the world for oneself." He shrugged. "I might end up dead, but at least I will have lived." He paused. "Ravok, hm?" Like most native Sylirans, he held the city of evil to be a place not to go, but he was considering a trip there now in order to help his friends survive. This was not his first time hardening metal, so it did not require his utmost attention at the repetitive process of heating and quick quenching, but he did keep an eye on the little nuances of how Marcus did it, hoping to learn better technique himself. He would have to look in on Eanos before he went on his next excursion from his hometown. The tempering was more delicate business, and this was his first attempt at a weapon, so he stopped talking in order to pay attention, though he would respond if Marcus spoke.

[Marcus Braeden]

"Yup, Ravok" Marcus said. "Was born and raised there, used to think it was nice place, when I was an ignorant kid. Time went on, one bad thing happened after another, I realized Ravok was pretty screwed up, what with the whole crazy ass cult up there, so I left, which is what brought me to this lovely place."

Marcus told Hadrian to keep his blade in the fire a little bit longer than Marcus' for the second time around. Since every blade was hand crafted by different smiths, every blade was different, and therefore had slightly different properties from the next. Marcus repeated the process several more times until he felt that the blade was tough enough to withstand combat. Setting his blade aside, he turned to Hadrian to watch him finish up his blade as well. They wern't done yet, as the hilt still needed to be attached, but thankfully Marcus had made the choice earlier that he wouldn't be creating any brand new hilts. Maybe he would add some engravings though, a little bit of flair never hurt anyone.

[Hadrian]

"Hm. I happen to prefer Syliras myself, but I grew up here. Some friends of mine are bound for Ravok, and I'm considering accompanying them, just to help keep them out of trouble if possible, but the idea of being there is terrifying when one is brought up to think of it as the worst place on the continent." He thoughtfully watched Marcus go at his blade while his own heated up a bit more, then glanced with his Auristics to see how the heat was effecting its energetic structure. When he pulled it out, there was yet more tempering to do, and he repeated the process again and again, even beyond when Marcus seemed to be done for a round or two because he had fallen behind. Glancing askance in Marcus' direction, he waited to see how a handle would be worked, whether they would wrap leather or do some other thing of which he wasn't yet aware. "I wish Izurdin would grace me with his favor," he noted quietly. "It would make all this more... well, more."

[Marcus Braeden]

"Trust me, I'll take Syliras over Ravok any day. The damn place is insane, and ruled by a cult. A cult full asses might I add. Maybe if they were a bit friendlier i might have stayed" Marcus joked. "So you may be heading up there huh? Well let me say your friends have an interesting taste in travel destinations."

Marcus and Hadrian were eventually finished with the blade. The hard work was done and all that was left was attaching the hilt. An easy task considering that they weren't going to be making the hilt. There were different hilts and Marcus tried to find ones that matched the tangs of the blade they had crafted. They didn't exactly want the blades to fly out of the hilt in the middle of a fight or anything. Marcus first slipped his tang into the hilt he had selected and fastened the blade and waited for Hadrian to follow. It was a simple process if you had the right hilt selected. It was much more practical to create the hilt from scratch, since then the blade would be a perfect fit. But Marcus wasn't exactly prepared to teach someone how to make a hilt, it wasn't as straightforward as making a blade.

[Hadrian]

"Oh, I agree... Though one might argue that the Knights are a cult, just a more... well, positively oriented one." He grinned. Taking his blade, Hadrian tried several hilts, just looking for one that fit right. One was close, but not quite, so he had to yank them apart without hurting the tang of his blade or the insides of the hilt. After several tries, he found one that felt like it was right. "Do we do something to keep them from sliding out or... did I just not pick the proper one? Perhaps we could make a hilt next time..." But he didn't want to press his luck with Marcus' generosity.