65th of Ymiden
The Pointy End smithy
”Is it done?” Aeon asked with a serious tone and an even more serious face as he held his hands in his pockets and his feet a foot or so apart from one another. It was the trial, this one, he would finally get a new sword. He couldn’t be happier about it, although his face didn’t seem to agree with that. A sword to a swordsman was like an arm, and losing his sword, it was like losing his arm all over again. Sure, he could conjure up a billion wooden swords if he wanted to with his magical hand, but those couldn’t compare to a real blade, made of steel, or in this case, some other metal.
”Master Ki’Lozdara, what my companion meant was, we were hoping the product would be complete by now, can we see it?” Foxface said in his usual, not-so-charming tone and stance as he stood next to Aeon, seriously looking at the smithmaster and shadowdancer. It was a serious topic, this sword, it wouldn’t be like any other sword the boy had ever wielded before, he was sure of it.
To a swordsman, every sword was unique, every one felt different to the hand, and yet, compared to what he was hoping to receive totrial, every other sword he’d ever wielded would be the same, dull blade. It had taken a lot of negotiating from both him and foxface to get this sword made, and it better be worth it, he thought as he trailed with his hand through his hair. He could remember the conversation quite clearly in his head, as he looked back to the time.
”You understand what you’re asking for? I have very little of that metal in stock, and more probably won’t arrive from Sirothelle in seasons. Are you sure you don’t want something simpler, like terrendyte, or beryllium? He could remember the smithmaster say perfectly well. He was sceptical about the boy’s skill before, he wasn’t now. Hopefully at least. But no, Aeon didn’t want a light metal that could cut perfectly but be destroyed just as easily, which was beryllium, nor one that he would need two hands to wield properly, which was terrendyte, he needed a perfectly made, adamantite sword that would fit his hand like a glove.
”Of course it is, my gentlemen. But I must warn you, temporary blindness may ensue after seeing this masterpiece. It is the greatest longsword I have made in my lifetime, and probably the greatest longsword Uthaldria has seen in centuries.” The smithmaster said, bragging about his own skill compared to the beauty and perfection of the material that was adamantite. Aeon had read all about it, and about its famous users. Apparently, a combination of a legendary smith and a legendary warrior was what was needed for it to shine properly, and if anyone else tried to shape it or wield it, it would crack like an ordinary rock.
My good sir, the boy you see isn’t just a boy. He’s most probably the greatest swordsman alive at this very moment. I believe he is worthy of the material you have. He will also pay handsomely for it. Aeon could remember foxface saying. He was very good at complimenting people, but the boy doubted the smithmaster believed even for a trill that he was what he claimed he was. Money was money, he assumed the biqaj was thinking.
”Follow me.” Keanu Ki’Lozdara said as he exited through a door of half-splintered wood into a room in the back. He kept his most prized weapons in the back, Aeon had noted when he was previously there. It was what any smith would do, he wasn’t supposed to just have them stolen from the front room during his work breaks. Also, he probably enjoyed looking at them for inspiration while he made more of the same quality weapons, Aeon assumed.
Very well, show me then, the shadowdancer said in the past as he threw a longsword in Aeon’s direction. It was nowhere near the quality of his previous, or his future one, but it would do in a simple fight versus a spear user. The blades of the two weapons then clashed endlessly, for what seemed like breaks but was only bits, and the pair stood exhausted and beaten down at the end of it, Aeon as the victor. Not many people had beaten Keanu, he assumed, since he gave him a grin of satisfaction and immediately went on to start working on his project.
In the present, however, they were in a room with a dark fire burning near the corner, and many different weapons hanged from the walls and stood on a table. The adamantite was nowhere to be seen though.
”I called a favour from a friend only so I could make this weapon perfect. Adamantite needs a fire as hot as a volcano to be made perfectly, many smiths don’t know this and they go on attempting to forge it with their measly forges.” So there was magic involved in the making of his new sword, he noted. It was good, the more powerful it was the better, since he wasn’t planning on doing anything measly with it. Its name would suggest the same, once they got to it. Oh yes, Aeon had already picked out a perfect name for it.
You truly are a legend, Aeon of no clan. Keanu said in the past as they finished, the boy's blade nearly at his throat while his spear stood lying on the ground, almost as if he had dropped it. Aeon won fair and square, even though he still was recovering from previous injuries, which meant his skill was proven to the older biqaj. His blade would be made, his wish granted, and his mission achieved.
”An elementalist?” Foxface asked in the present. Aeon didn’t understand how that specific magic worked, since apparently you could manipulate elements with it, but Robin didn’t do that, he just talked to them instead. Perhaps there were several different kinds of magic, Aeon thought, one that let you talk to the elements and one that let you manipulate them? Who knew, who cared, as long as he got what he wanted.
”A friend of the elements, he calls himself.” Keanu said with a smirk on his face as he opened one of the larger chests in the room. Inside, however, there weren’t that many things. Only two items, both covered with cloth. ”I don’t know what he is, to be honest, but he makes the fire burn hot, and that’s all that mattered for this baby.” He said as he raised the bigger cloth-covered item in the air. That was it.
Finally, the man handed the cloth-ed item to Aeon, and the boy removed the cover, throwing it onto the ash-stained floor immediately, to reveal a masterpiece, a truly beautiful example of true art. It was a longsword, but not a longsword, it was something more, something far greater. The hilt, even though it was not important, was made from the finest wood Western Idalos had to offer, made extra durable with some magical thing or the other, slowly turning into a ruby-like color of the metal that went several feet long. Aeon held it in his wooden hand for a moment, passing his finger made of flesh only barely alongside the weapon. It cut him so easily, as if he was only air. He then proceeded to strike the said air several times before finally deciding it was enough, and looking up at the smithmaster with a proud smile on his scarred face.
”Forged in the fire greater than a dragon’s, made of one of the greatest metals known to mortals, and may I say, by one of the greatest smiths of this continent. It is truly awe-inspiring. Such a weapon deserves a name, doesn’t it?” Aeon smiled even harder at this. He knew what he had to do with it, and he knew what name fit its mission perfectly. The boy looked around the room once, and then towards foxface, and back at Keanu, making sure everything was still real.
”Godslayer.” Aeon said. Whether Keanu or foxface got what he was trying to say with the name or not didn’t alarm him, he simply looked at his weapon once more with a meaningful look. He would end them all, and he would do it swiftly, with no mercy in his eye. They caused all of the pain, not to himself alone, but to everyone and everything. There would be peace once they were all gone. He knew it.
”And...the other one. Venom, as you called it. It is also ready.” The smithmaster said as he uncovered another blade from the chest, this time the colour of green and much, much smaller. It was a dagger made just as well as the longsword, only from beryllium emerald and with less precision. It would still do its job though. Aeon didn’t know much about daggers, but that they were tools for assassins. Was that what he aspired to be? An assassin? Perhaps. Some might call him that, others may call him saviour. What he was, it was truly not important.
The Pointy End smithy
”Is it done?” Aeon asked with a serious tone and an even more serious face as he held his hands in his pockets and his feet a foot or so apart from one another. It was the trial, this one, he would finally get a new sword. He couldn’t be happier about it, although his face didn’t seem to agree with that. A sword to a swordsman was like an arm, and losing his sword, it was like losing his arm all over again. Sure, he could conjure up a billion wooden swords if he wanted to with his magical hand, but those couldn’t compare to a real blade, made of steel, or in this case, some other metal.
”Master Ki’Lozdara, what my companion meant was, we were hoping the product would be complete by now, can we see it?” Foxface said in his usual, not-so-charming tone and stance as he stood next to Aeon, seriously looking at the smithmaster and shadowdancer. It was a serious topic, this sword, it wouldn’t be like any other sword the boy had ever wielded before, he was sure of it.
To a swordsman, every sword was unique, every one felt different to the hand, and yet, compared to what he was hoping to receive totrial, every other sword he’d ever wielded would be the same, dull blade. It had taken a lot of negotiating from both him and foxface to get this sword made, and it better be worth it, he thought as he trailed with his hand through his hair. He could remember the conversation quite clearly in his head, as he looked back to the time.
”You understand what you’re asking for? I have very little of that metal in stock, and more probably won’t arrive from Sirothelle in seasons. Are you sure you don’t want something simpler, like terrendyte, or beryllium? He could remember the smithmaster say perfectly well. He was sceptical about the boy’s skill before, he wasn’t now. Hopefully at least. But no, Aeon didn’t want a light metal that could cut perfectly but be destroyed just as easily, which was beryllium, nor one that he would need two hands to wield properly, which was terrendyte, he needed a perfectly made, adamantite sword that would fit his hand like a glove.
”Of course it is, my gentlemen. But I must warn you, temporary blindness may ensue after seeing this masterpiece. It is the greatest longsword I have made in my lifetime, and probably the greatest longsword Uthaldria has seen in centuries.” The smithmaster said, bragging about his own skill compared to the beauty and perfection of the material that was adamantite. Aeon had read all about it, and about its famous users. Apparently, a combination of a legendary smith and a legendary warrior was what was needed for it to shine properly, and if anyone else tried to shape it or wield it, it would crack like an ordinary rock.
My good sir, the boy you see isn’t just a boy. He’s most probably the greatest swordsman alive at this very moment. I believe he is worthy of the material you have. He will also pay handsomely for it. Aeon could remember foxface saying. He was very good at complimenting people, but the boy doubted the smithmaster believed even for a trill that he was what he claimed he was. Money was money, he assumed the biqaj was thinking.
”Follow me.” Keanu Ki’Lozdara said as he exited through a door of half-splintered wood into a room in the back. He kept his most prized weapons in the back, Aeon had noted when he was previously there. It was what any smith would do, he wasn’t supposed to just have them stolen from the front room during his work breaks. Also, he probably enjoyed looking at them for inspiration while he made more of the same quality weapons, Aeon assumed.
Very well, show me then, the shadowdancer said in the past as he threw a longsword in Aeon’s direction. It was nowhere near the quality of his previous, or his future one, but it would do in a simple fight versus a spear user. The blades of the two weapons then clashed endlessly, for what seemed like breaks but was only bits, and the pair stood exhausted and beaten down at the end of it, Aeon as the victor. Not many people had beaten Keanu, he assumed, since he gave him a grin of satisfaction and immediately went on to start working on his project.
In the present, however, they were in a room with a dark fire burning near the corner, and many different weapons hanged from the walls and stood on a table. The adamantite was nowhere to be seen though.
”I called a favour from a friend only so I could make this weapon perfect. Adamantite needs a fire as hot as a volcano to be made perfectly, many smiths don’t know this and they go on attempting to forge it with their measly forges.” So there was magic involved in the making of his new sword, he noted. It was good, the more powerful it was the better, since he wasn’t planning on doing anything measly with it. Its name would suggest the same, once they got to it. Oh yes, Aeon had already picked out a perfect name for it.
You truly are a legend, Aeon of no clan. Keanu said in the past as they finished, the boy's blade nearly at his throat while his spear stood lying on the ground, almost as if he had dropped it. Aeon won fair and square, even though he still was recovering from previous injuries, which meant his skill was proven to the older biqaj. His blade would be made, his wish granted, and his mission achieved.
”An elementalist?” Foxface asked in the present. Aeon didn’t understand how that specific magic worked, since apparently you could manipulate elements with it, but Robin didn’t do that, he just talked to them instead. Perhaps there were several different kinds of magic, Aeon thought, one that let you talk to the elements and one that let you manipulate them? Who knew, who cared, as long as he got what he wanted.
”A friend of the elements, he calls himself.” Keanu said with a smirk on his face as he opened one of the larger chests in the room. Inside, however, there weren’t that many things. Only two items, both covered with cloth. ”I don’t know what he is, to be honest, but he makes the fire burn hot, and that’s all that mattered for this baby.” He said as he raised the bigger cloth-covered item in the air. That was it.
Finally, the man handed the cloth-ed item to Aeon, and the boy removed the cover, throwing it onto the ash-stained floor immediately, to reveal a masterpiece, a truly beautiful example of true art. It was a longsword, but not a longsword, it was something more, something far greater. The hilt, even though it was not important, was made from the finest wood Western Idalos had to offer, made extra durable with some magical thing or the other, slowly turning into a ruby-like color of the metal that went several feet long. Aeon held it in his wooden hand for a moment, passing his finger made of flesh only barely alongside the weapon. It cut him so easily, as if he was only air. He then proceeded to strike the said air several times before finally deciding it was enough, and looking up at the smithmaster with a proud smile on his scarred face.
”Forged in the fire greater than a dragon’s, made of one of the greatest metals known to mortals, and may I say, by one of the greatest smiths of this continent. It is truly awe-inspiring. Such a weapon deserves a name, doesn’t it?” Aeon smiled even harder at this. He knew what he had to do with it, and he knew what name fit its mission perfectly. The boy looked around the room once, and then towards foxface, and back at Keanu, making sure everything was still real.
”Godslayer.” Aeon said. Whether Keanu or foxface got what he was trying to say with the name or not didn’t alarm him, he simply looked at his weapon once more with a meaningful look. He would end them all, and he would do it swiftly, with no mercy in his eye. They caused all of the pain, not to himself alone, but to everyone and everything. There would be peace once they were all gone. He knew it.
”And...the other one. Venom, as you called it. It is also ready.” The smithmaster said as he uncovered another blade from the chest, this time the colour of green and much, much smaller. It was a dagger made just as well as the longsword, only from beryllium emerald and with less precision. It would still do its job though. Aeon didn’t know much about daggers, but that they were tools for assassins. Was that what he aspired to be? An assassin? Perhaps. Some might call him that, others may call him saviour. What he was, it was truly not important.
Off Topic
Deduction Total: 931gn
Masterwork Adamantite Longsword: 25gn x 8 x 3 = 600gn (cost approved by Incubus)
Masterwork Beryllium Emerald dagger: 3gn x 8 x 3 = 81gn
Other purchases: "Strain" poison 100gn + Roggelond glands 150gn = 250gn
Masterwork Adamantite Longsword: 25gn x 8 x 3 = 600gn (cost approved by Incubus)
Masterwork Beryllium Emerald dagger: 3gn x 8 x 3 = 81gn
Other purchases: "Strain" poison 100gn + Roggelond glands 150gn = 250gn
