68th of Ashan, Arc 719
Morning
Kaelrik was fairly convinced that he was going to wear a hole in the floor with the amount of pacing that he was doing. Before him were strewn about various notes that’s he’d been writing, scratching out and then rewriting. He found himself in a predicament. In his possession were two substances that could potentially be infused together through alchemical processes. The only problem was that Kaelrik wasn’t entirely certain how to go about combining them. Furthermore he wasn’t even sure that any of the ideas that he had in his head would work properly. The Lotharro plopped down into a chair and sighed heavily. He’d been up since shortly before sunrise, unable to get adequate sleep due to all of the ideas running through his head. Reaching across the surface of the table, Kaelrik picked up the vial of purified ether that had been drawn from his blood. He regarded the vial carefully, watching as the shimmering liquid imbued with his Defiance swirled in the glass.
He looked across from him at the purified ingot that he’d expended no small amount of energy creating. The process had been rather taxing but it had at least yielded the result that he wanted. The iron was without blemishes, if still mundane. He looked between the two items before rising to his feet. Tucking the vial and the ingot into a pouch on his hip, Kaelrik left the makeshift workshop that he’d hobbled together. He left the villa and made his way into Miletos proper. Following both the smell and sound of hammers at work, Kaelrik came to the forge. He acknowledged several of the other workers before grabbing an apron, donning it and setting to work.
“His lordship is back again?” Kaelrik was in the middle of helping one of the more senior blacksmith apprentices by striking for them when the gruff voice of the blacksmith drew his attention. He offered the man a smile.
“Would you rather I sit around in a villa and get fat?” A grunt was the only reply. The blacksmith jerked his head indicating that Kaelrik was to follow him. He set the hammer he’d been working with aside giving the more senior apprentice a nod. Following the blacksmith, Kaelrik found himself handed a pair of tongs.
“Grab that.” The blacksmith indicated an object that was being heated in the fore fire. While he could have grabbed it with his bare hand he had already gotten more than a few looks from others for his more arcane displays. Using the tongs, Kaelrik lifted the glowing orange-red object from the forge fire. It was a metal bar that was vaguely tapered on one end. While he didn’t know the purpose of it, the blacksmith motioned for him to lay it on the anvil. As soon as he did, the smith struck in a spot.
“Flip.” Kaelrik did so. It was followed by another stike. “Flip.”
The motions repeated and Kaelrik found himself falling into the rhythm of activity as he intuited some of what the blacksmith was trying to do. Back and forth they continued in relative silence with the work only being interrupted when Kaelrik noted that the metal needed to be reheated. He reached out to the forge fire with his spark, feeling the eagerness of its desire to work and put its heat to use. Kaelrik nudged that eagerness into motion using it to heat the metal more swiftly. He kept a close eye on the color of the metal watching for the telltale sign that it was at proper temperature before drawing it out. Using his kinship with fire, he began holding the heat in the metal stable so that it could be worked with for a longer period of time before needing to be bathed in the flames once more.
With every strike, the metal bar was flattened more on one end with it being shaped to have a broader head. As it became more clear, Kaelrik recognized it more closely as that of a chisel. Exactly how long they worked on the rudimentary chisel, he wasn’t sure but eventually their work came to a stop or at least a pause. It was then that Kaelrik took the opportunity to speak.
“Do you know anything about alchemy?” The blacksmith was in the middle of examining their work. He did not look up from his inspection.
“No. Don’t know a thing about it.” The Lotharro sighed to himself. He ran soot covered fingers through his hair and contemplated his next step. The blacksmith’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “Why do you ask?”
“I’m studying it. Trying to figure out how to blend magic properties into metal.” He reached into the pouch at his hip taking out the purified iron ingot and the vial. The blacksmith reached out taking the vial into his grasp. He examined it carefully.
“How’d you get this?” He quirked a brow. The Lotharro shrugged his shoulders.
“From myself. Through alchemy.” The gruff man rubbed his chin returning the vial to Kaelrik. He grabbed the ingot and for the first time since meeting him, Kaelrik saw him blink in surprise.
“Where’d you come by this? Iron this pure isn’t easy to come by or cheap.” The Defier smiled.
“I made it. Well, I put a bunch of scraps together, heated them in an oven I built and then used alchemy and my magic to purify it. It was a lot bigger when I started but that’s the result.” The man turned it over in his hand. He seemed to consider it for a moment before almost reluctantly handing it back to Kaelrik.
“Can you make more of it?” The Defier saw an opportunity here and chose to go through with it.
“I can.” The blacksmith rubbed his chin and pointed to the vial of ether.
“I can’t do much to help you with magic. But I do know about metal and ore. Metallurgy is something I’m familiar with.” He nodded to the iron ingot. “I’d pay you to refine more of that quality.”
Kaelrik shook his head.
“I have a better offer. You teach me what you know about metallurgy and provide the raw material. I’ll refine more of this grade of iron for you from the leftovers of your work here in the shop. In exchange, I get free use of your forge to practice my alchemical techniques. Sound like a deal?” The man considered the offer. He eyed the iron ingot for a moment before nodding. Extending a hand, Kaelrik took it and shook it firmly.
“Deal. You can start on that tomorrow. For now, I’m sure there’s more help needed around the shop.” Kaelrik smiled. He nodded. It wasn’t altogether what he had wanted but it was a compromise and a deal that was worth taking. It allowed him to further his goals at the very least. While he didn’t come out richer in terms of monetary wealth, he would certainly grow in his experiences as a result. Returning to his tasks around the forge he tried not to get ahead of himself in both his excitement and his plans. He had a lot to learn before he could be considered anything close to accomplished. This was, however, a step in the right direction. When the work for the day was finished he returned home to the villa, washing up and making his way back to the makeshift workshop that he’d set up in one of the studies. Picking up his journal he began reviewing the notes he’d taken on the process of purifying the iron from scraps.
There was room for improvement. He saw areas where he could implement controls on maintaining the pressure needed to exert on the metals. He could control the heat easily enough with his Defiance but that was not a long-term solution. Relying solely on his magic to perform what could be achieved naturally was not sustainable and required he be actively tending to the oven, unable to move on to other tasks until that single one was finished. Coupled with the problem of managing both pressure and temperature, Kaelrik still didn’t know how he was going to weave together the properties of the ether and the metal. He tapped his fingers. As he thought, the smells of food cooking wafted to his nose from the kitchens and he was struck with an idea.
Pots used lids to keep in the steam made from the contents being cooked. If he could affix a lid to the oven that he’d built and fashion a means to keep it from exploding, his problem would be solved. Quickly, Kaelrik jotted down a few ideas. He would have to approach the blacksmith about how to properly fashion an oven that could handle the temperatures and pressure he would need. If the man didn’t know, then perhaps he could point Kaelrik in the right direction. If he could achieve his goal of at least building the right tool, he might then have a shot of melting down the components and then forging something useful from what came out of it. If that turned out not to be the case, he would simply have to rethink his approach. The Lotharro sighed and rubbed his face. He closed his journal, rising from the desk. He would find his answers but at that moment, he would first find himself something pleasant to eat.
Morning
Kaelrik was fairly convinced that he was going to wear a hole in the floor with the amount of pacing that he was doing. Before him were strewn about various notes that’s he’d been writing, scratching out and then rewriting. He found himself in a predicament. In his possession were two substances that could potentially be infused together through alchemical processes. The only problem was that Kaelrik wasn’t entirely certain how to go about combining them. Furthermore he wasn’t even sure that any of the ideas that he had in his head would work properly. The Lotharro plopped down into a chair and sighed heavily. He’d been up since shortly before sunrise, unable to get adequate sleep due to all of the ideas running through his head. Reaching across the surface of the table, Kaelrik picked up the vial of purified ether that had been drawn from his blood. He regarded the vial carefully, watching as the shimmering liquid imbued with his Defiance swirled in the glass.
He looked across from him at the purified ingot that he’d expended no small amount of energy creating. The process had been rather taxing but it had at least yielded the result that he wanted. The iron was without blemishes, if still mundane. He looked between the two items before rising to his feet. Tucking the vial and the ingot into a pouch on his hip, Kaelrik left the makeshift workshop that he’d hobbled together. He left the villa and made his way into Miletos proper. Following both the smell and sound of hammers at work, Kaelrik came to the forge. He acknowledged several of the other workers before grabbing an apron, donning it and setting to work.
“His lordship is back again?” Kaelrik was in the middle of helping one of the more senior blacksmith apprentices by striking for them when the gruff voice of the blacksmith drew his attention. He offered the man a smile.
“Would you rather I sit around in a villa and get fat?” A grunt was the only reply. The blacksmith jerked his head indicating that Kaelrik was to follow him. He set the hammer he’d been working with aside giving the more senior apprentice a nod. Following the blacksmith, Kaelrik found himself handed a pair of tongs.
“Grab that.” The blacksmith indicated an object that was being heated in the fore fire. While he could have grabbed it with his bare hand he had already gotten more than a few looks from others for his more arcane displays. Using the tongs, Kaelrik lifted the glowing orange-red object from the forge fire. It was a metal bar that was vaguely tapered on one end. While he didn’t know the purpose of it, the blacksmith motioned for him to lay it on the anvil. As soon as he did, the smith struck in a spot.
“Flip.” Kaelrik did so. It was followed by another stike. “Flip.”
The motions repeated and Kaelrik found himself falling into the rhythm of activity as he intuited some of what the blacksmith was trying to do. Back and forth they continued in relative silence with the work only being interrupted when Kaelrik noted that the metal needed to be reheated. He reached out to the forge fire with his spark, feeling the eagerness of its desire to work and put its heat to use. Kaelrik nudged that eagerness into motion using it to heat the metal more swiftly. He kept a close eye on the color of the metal watching for the telltale sign that it was at proper temperature before drawing it out. Using his kinship with fire, he began holding the heat in the metal stable so that it could be worked with for a longer period of time before needing to be bathed in the flames once more.
With every strike, the metal bar was flattened more on one end with it being shaped to have a broader head. As it became more clear, Kaelrik recognized it more closely as that of a chisel. Exactly how long they worked on the rudimentary chisel, he wasn’t sure but eventually their work came to a stop or at least a pause. It was then that Kaelrik took the opportunity to speak.
“Do you know anything about alchemy?” The blacksmith was in the middle of examining their work. He did not look up from his inspection.
“No. Don’t know a thing about it.” The Lotharro sighed to himself. He ran soot covered fingers through his hair and contemplated his next step. The blacksmith’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “Why do you ask?”
“I’m studying it. Trying to figure out how to blend magic properties into metal.” He reached into the pouch at his hip taking out the purified iron ingot and the vial. The blacksmith reached out taking the vial into his grasp. He examined it carefully.
“How’d you get this?” He quirked a brow. The Lotharro shrugged his shoulders.
“From myself. Through alchemy.” The gruff man rubbed his chin returning the vial to Kaelrik. He grabbed the ingot and for the first time since meeting him, Kaelrik saw him blink in surprise.
“Where’d you come by this? Iron this pure isn’t easy to come by or cheap.” The Defier smiled.
“I made it. Well, I put a bunch of scraps together, heated them in an oven I built and then used alchemy and my magic to purify it. It was a lot bigger when I started but that’s the result.” The man turned it over in his hand. He seemed to consider it for a moment before almost reluctantly handing it back to Kaelrik.
“Can you make more of it?” The Defier saw an opportunity here and chose to go through with it.
“I can.” The blacksmith rubbed his chin and pointed to the vial of ether.
“I can’t do much to help you with magic. But I do know about metal and ore. Metallurgy is something I’m familiar with.” He nodded to the iron ingot. “I’d pay you to refine more of that quality.”
Kaelrik shook his head.
“I have a better offer. You teach me what you know about metallurgy and provide the raw material. I’ll refine more of this grade of iron for you from the leftovers of your work here in the shop. In exchange, I get free use of your forge to practice my alchemical techniques. Sound like a deal?” The man considered the offer. He eyed the iron ingot for a moment before nodding. Extending a hand, Kaelrik took it and shook it firmly.
“Deal. You can start on that tomorrow. For now, I’m sure there’s more help needed around the shop.” Kaelrik smiled. He nodded. It wasn’t altogether what he had wanted but it was a compromise and a deal that was worth taking. It allowed him to further his goals at the very least. While he didn’t come out richer in terms of monetary wealth, he would certainly grow in his experiences as a result. Returning to his tasks around the forge he tried not to get ahead of himself in both his excitement and his plans. He had a lot to learn before he could be considered anything close to accomplished. This was, however, a step in the right direction. When the work for the day was finished he returned home to the villa, washing up and making his way back to the makeshift workshop that he’d set up in one of the studies. Picking up his journal he began reviewing the notes he’d taken on the process of purifying the iron from scraps.
There was room for improvement. He saw areas where he could implement controls on maintaining the pressure needed to exert on the metals. He could control the heat easily enough with his Defiance but that was not a long-term solution. Relying solely on his magic to perform what could be achieved naturally was not sustainable and required he be actively tending to the oven, unable to move on to other tasks until that single one was finished. Coupled with the problem of managing both pressure and temperature, Kaelrik still didn’t know how he was going to weave together the properties of the ether and the metal. He tapped his fingers. As he thought, the smells of food cooking wafted to his nose from the kitchens and he was struck with an idea.
Pots used lids to keep in the steam made from the contents being cooked. If he could affix a lid to the oven that he’d built and fashion a means to keep it from exploding, his problem would be solved. Quickly, Kaelrik jotted down a few ideas. He would have to approach the blacksmith about how to properly fashion an oven that could handle the temperatures and pressure he would need. If the man didn’t know, then perhaps he could point Kaelrik in the right direction. If he could achieve his goal of at least building the right tool, he might then have a shot of melting down the components and then forging something useful from what came out of it. If that turned out not to be the case, he would simply have to rethink his approach. The Lotharro sighed and rubbed his face. He closed his journal, rising from the desk. He would find his answers but at that moment, he would first find himself something pleasant to eat.