Seated on the shores of Lake Lovalus, Rharne serves as the home of the Lighting Knights, the Thunder Priestesses, and the Merchant's guild. This beautiful trade city is filled with a happy and contented people who rarely need an excuse to party.
Seira entered the woodworking workshop, and looked around curiously. She knew very little about the craft; so much so that she didn't even know what the things she saw were called, or what they might be used for. Still, to her inexperience eye, they looked like they were good quality. The shelves along the wall were even and straight so that anything put on them would not fall off. The wood itself was smooth to the touch, not filled with splinters for the unwary hand. The same could be said for the work tables. Seira found herself wondering what it would be like to actually work in such a workshop. Of course for that to happen, she would need to understand more about the craft than she did now. With that thought in mind, she quickly got some paper and a pen so she could take notes. Then she pulled the book off the shelf and skimmed through the introduction.
She had already read it a few trials before, but she wanted to take notes on it this time, and see if she had missed anything important. As she did this, she remembered most of the information contained within the introduction well enough. But there was one thing that she had forgotten. One was that hardwoods tend to be denser than softwoods and as such are more durable than the softwoods that are easier to cut. As she wrote this down, she thought about what she had just read. Did that mean that there were some things that needed to be made out of hardwood instead of softwood? Or vice versa? The words "tend to be" caught her attention as well. Did that mean that some softwoods were denser and more durable than some hardwoods? After a few bits she dismissed those thoughts. She figured that she would learn the answers to those questions once she actually started working with wood, and she wanted to learn more before she attempted to do that.
Once she had finished taking notes on the introduction, Seira moved on to the first chapter, and began reading in earnest.
The first stage in any woodworking project is to prepare the wood that is to be used. This involves two things: cutting, and sanding the wood. The first thing you need to do is to cut the wood into the number of pieces that you need for the project at hand. When you cut the wood that is needed for a project, each piece should be slightly larger than what you need. This is because it is possible to trim a piece of wood down as needed while working with it, but if the block of wood you are working with becomes too small while you are shaping it, it will be useless.
One thing to keep in mind when cutting the wood you will be using is to measure twice, and cut once. What this means is that it is very important to be absolutely certain of your measurements before you cut the wood you are using. Once cut, it is impossible to undo it if you make a mistake in the measurements. Any mistakes made here will result in wasted wood.
The second step in preparing wood for a project is sanding the wood. This is done both at the beginning of a project as part of the preparation process, and again at the end as part of the finishing process. Sanding your wood means to rub a sanding block or another suitable abrasive against it in order to smooth it out. Sanding blocks come in a variety of grades. Some are course while others are very fine in texture. The type of sanding block you need is dependent on what you want to accomplish. It is important to sand your wood as part of the preparation process because a coarse sanding will smooth off rough edges and imperfections. This makes the wood easier to work with.
Seira took careful notes on what she had just read. When she was finished, she double checked her notes to make certain she had included all of the important information. Once she was done with that, she flipped through the book to see what other information it contained. It described the tools that were used in woodworking, various techniques, and even taught the reader how to make a variety of things. Seira was quite interested in learning more, but she decided that it was useless to read further until she had the tools she would need, and some wood to practice on. After a few trills, she put the book away, and went to find her twin.
ooc
The things that Seira is looking at in this post were bought when she bought her tier 9 house (as an out of tier level purchase). As such, they are of a much higher quality than she can afford to buy now.
Last edited by Seira Shiryu on Wed Aug 10, 2022 5:14 pm, edited 1 time in total. word count: 826
Seira found Seri by following the sounds of her sister's fiddle. From the sound of it, Seri was playing the beginning measures of a popular ballad that was making its way through Rharne. Seira quickened her steps so that she reached Seri's doorway just as the melody reached the point where the singer was supposed to start singing.
"Oh she was a bright, bonny lass,
gliding across the floor in shoes made of glass.
With an amused smile on perfect rosy lips,
she flirted with the sailors fresh in from their ships." she sang.
Seira grinned at her sister's startled expression when Seri looked at her. She continued to sing the song all the way through as Seri continued to play her fiddle.
"We should perform that song at our next concert if it stays as popular as it is now." Seira said when the song was over.
Seri nodded.
"I think it will be." she replied.
"Did you want something in particular, or were you just hoping to turn my practice session into a sing a long?" Seri continued a trill later.
Seira's grin widened.
"As tempting an offer as that is, we need to make a trip to the market. We're almost out of the food we brought with us when we moved here." Seira told her twin.
"A sing a long sounds like a lot of fun though. Maybe we can have one when we get back from the market?" she suggested.
"That sounds like a plan." Seri agreed with a smile.
Seira watched as Seri carefully placed her fiddle back in its case. Then she headed into the kitchen with Seri following close behind her.
"We should make a list of things we need before we go. That way we won't buy anything we don't need or forget to buy something that we do need." Seira decided out loud.
"Seri, could you make a list of food that we need since you're the one who does the cooking? I'll make a list of the other things that we need."
Seri agreed. Seira got some paper for them both, and they sat down at the table so they could get to work. After some thought, Seira started writing. They had forgotten to bring some cleaning supplies when they made their move, so she added cleaning supplies to the list. They had plenty of toothpaste left, but they were running low on soap, so she added that to the list as well. Pet food was also put on the list. With as many pets as they had, pet food was pretty much a constant need. When Seira thought she had finished her list, she double checked it to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything.
"Are you ready to go?" Seri asked just as Seira had finished checking her list.
She hadn't forgotten anything, so she nodded.
"We should take Taerin with us when we go. She hasn't had a walk yet totrial." Seira told her sister.
As soon as she finished speaking, she went to get Taerin's leash while Seri called for their dog. Taerin came running and she jumped up on Seira happily, making Seira laugh at her antics. It didn't take long for her to fasten the leash to Taerin's collar. With that done, and their lists in hand, it was time to go.
Last edited by Seira Shiryu on Wed Aug 10, 2022 4:35 am, edited 1 time in total. word count: 573
Seira held Taerin's leash tightly as they made their way to the Earth Market at a leisurely pace. They stopped often to allow Taerin to explore something of interest or to do her business as needed. And as they walked, they talked.
"One of the books I bought a while back is about working with wood. I've been reading through some of it, and it seems really interesting. One of the things I want to buy totrial is a set of tools that someone who works with wood would use." Seri told her sister.
"If you think you will enjoy it, then I think you should give it a try." Seri responded.
Seira smiled at her before continuing.
"One of the things that I read was that building houses and ships were considered to be working with wood just as carving bowls or figurines would be. Did you know that?" she asked.
Seri's eyes widened a bit in surprise as she shook her head.
"I didn't either. It makes you think though. And I can't help but wonder..." Seira began.
"Wonder what?" Seri asked curiously.
"Well, there are people who are still homeless in the Dust Quarter. I can see why they would resent someone just giving them a new house. They wouldn't be able to pay that person back, and that's an awfully big debt to carry, even if the person giving them the house didn't intend it to be such. But what if someone was willing to teach them how to build their own house? And offered to help them do it? Especially if they asked for help with something in exchange to make it more even? Or maybe not that, but..."
Seira frowned as she trailed off, thinking about ways that such an offer wouldn't make someone feel as if they owed the person making it.
"Or maybe if they ask them to pay the favor forward to someone else in need in the future? Something like that." Seira finished after a few trills.
It was something to consider at least. Of course if Seira wanted to actually do something like that, she would need to not only learn how to work with wood, but to do so well enough to make something respectable and to be able to teach others how to do it too. Still. It was worth thinking about.
"Something like that might work." Seri said carefully.
When they arrived at the market, they split up to do their shopping. Seira kept Taerin with her as she made her way towards the stalls that sold soaps and cleaning products while Seri headed towards the food stalls. It didn't take Seira long to make her purchases. Once she was finished buying the necessities, she made her way over to the craft stalls. Seira browsed through stalls that sold quilts, and paintings, and a number of other things before she found one that sold a variety of things that had been made out of wood. She admired some of the figurines while she waited for the merchant to finish up with another customer.
"Do you sell any tools?" she asked once the merchant approached her with a polite smile.
The middle aged man nodded.
"What are you looking for specifically?" he asked politely.
Seira hesitated.
"I don't know, really. I've just started getting interested in working with wood, and I really don't know what I need yet. Just...something basic. Maybe the tools that an apprentice woodworker might need?" she asked.
"I think I can help you find what you need."
The merchant showed her a variety of tools, and pointed out the ones that an apprentice would need. He named each one as he pointed them out. There were several of each kind of tool. Seira could see a difference in the quality of the tools. Some were quite beautiful; almost works of art as much as tools with ornately painted handles. Others were quite plain, and still others looked old and worn.
"There is a considerable difference in price in these tools, of course. The better quality ones cost more but they will need less work to keep them from breaking on you. The cheaper ones will need a lot of work, and even with that will likely need to be replaced often."
When she asked, the man told her the prices of each tool. Seira nodded as she considered the tools in front of her. She didn't know if she would like working with wood, or if she would stick with it for long. And it wasn't as if she planned to do it for a living or anything. For those reasons, she decided to go with a set of the cheaper tools that were available. Not the very cheapest, but far from the best quality ones as well. If she found that she enjoyed working with wood and wanted to stick with it, she could get a better quality set in the future.
Having made her decision, Seira paid for her tool kit and left to go meet up with Seri.
ooc
The woodworking skill kit is a tier level purchase, so no WP will be deducted from my UCP
This was an interesting slice-of-life story; although it was basically Seira and Seri going to buy some stuff, you kept the pace going with interesting things like the dog and the sing a long. The interaction between the twins was nice, and you made sure that Seira was the focus of the story, which really comes across.
However, I have not awarded you all the knowledge you requested. I gave you two out of the five you asked for. In these two threads that I've reviewed, you've requested 10 knowledges for woodworking without doing any - and that is just not reasonable. I understand that Seira has read an introduction and one chapter of a woodworking book - but that does not make her practically a competent woodworker. This kind of knowledge grind isn't going to work and I would suggest that you use this information Seira has read to help her get started. If you think of it from a realism point of view, people who are competent woodworkers are able to run businesses etc. You're 1 knowledge away from that without ever once having done any wood working. Of course, having read it, she now has that information - but that isn't knowledge in the skill sense - that's going to require her to actually, at some point, do some wood working.
A minor note but if you look at your review request for this thread, you're not listing your level. So - rather than {skill=Detection} just put {skill=Detection (level)} that's all you need. I hope you enjoy your rewards here, and I'm looking forward to seeing how Seira manages life living independently.
Points & Knowledge
XP: 10
Knowledges:
Woodworking: Preparation; measure twice, and cut once
Woodworking: Preparation; sanding your wood means to rub a sanding block or another suitable abrasive against it in order to smooth it out
Loot
1 x Tier 3 Woodworking Skill Kit.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this review - drop me a PM.
