Forged in steel

[Ycharley]

"No man is worth the cloths on your back, and you will not be able to convince me other wise. Don't feel sorry for me, feel pity for the helpless damsel's out there who are still looking for that one good one. As my mother once said, the only good men are dead or waiting to be born." Lumina ranted. She finally started to settle down as he brought up animals.

"My horse and dog, Midnight and Kela," She spoke, Kela clearly being a different language. She decided to stop drinking. She was Fae so she could drink more alcohol then a human, but still she was starting to get drunk, and she didn't want to be super intoxicated.

[Dreamwolf]

Fen was no where near drunk anymore, his body recovered too fast. He drank another mug full, feeling painfully sober suddenly, he also noticed the sun starting to peak over the horizon.

"I won't try to convince, I'm as bad as they get. I get a girl's hopes up then move on to another town. My only worth is in my forge and my sword. My magic scares people. Might be, someday I'll have to take that wolf girl up on her offer to become her mate. She might very well find out how bad a man I am by that point." He decided to tell one of his more painful stories, feeling this woman probably understood how it would feel to have done what he did.

"Once, when I was about seventeen, I was came across a family that had been attacked by bandits. The man was forced to watch while his wife and two daughters were raped. I was furious. I didn't even know why, still don't understand it, but I went after those bandits and found their village. There were women and children and dogs and sheep all over. The men hadn't returned from yet another pillage on another caravan. When I came to my senses I was covered in blood and the men were screaming in horror at what had befallen their families. I didn't kill anyone I hurt them then healed them over and over until they lost their minds from the pain."

[Ycharley]

"I have no healing ability, I'm just good at making the torture last a long time with as much pain as I can possibly think of. When I was about five, my mother, yelled at me, reprimanding me for something petty. I got mad, as little children do, the next thing I know I'm in a destroyed building with my mother at my feet, her heart in my hand." Lumina's voice cracked, a clear sign of the pain that story held, and her ability to hold it back, to keep it inside.

"The thing is, I don't even remember why I got in trouble, it was that petty, that unemportant, it would be different if her death had meaning, but it doesn't. Her death was completely empty, meaningless," Lumina said looking down.

[Dreamwolf]

"We are both monsters made by those around us. You by a goddess, me by the humans who feared me enough to try and kill me." He lit his forge once more, letting his body deal with the hangover in its own way. He worked busily on the sword, but kept his ears open for further conversation. The weaving of the metal into the pommel, which would hold the pendant, as more tedious at this point and he worked both of his hands and grew a third to hold the pendant in place. The weapon was developing a subtle beauty in its lines and curves, a beauty that anyone would notice, but only a few would be able to fully appreciate. Making flashy swords was easy, but truly beautiful ones were an art form not a craft. Although he was only a Journeyman smith he had the skill of a Master worked into him from his father. A man he would love till he died.

[Ycharley]

Lumina didn't push any further conversation, just sat there with her head in her hands. She started to doze off, here breathing becoming deep and rhythmic. It was clear she had spent more then one night asleep outside by the way her body didn't start to relax, but held its rigid shape. She didn't know how Fen stayed awake, she could deal with a little sleep deprivation, but not much. It was still surprising that she was able to fall asleep with him there, he was one of a small list of people that she had ever fallen asleep around.

[Dreamwolf]

As Fen finished the hilt and its various components he reached for the folded steel blade and inserted the tang into the slot. When the tang was fully inserted he placed a steel dowel in the each of the three holes he had made in the blades tang and hilt and began hammering them flat on each side. This would ensure that the blade would never come loose or worse, fall out. Most smiths preferred to pack the space between hilt and tang with leather and add a 'noose' to the end of the tang to hold it in place, however Fen never skimped on a blade.

He'd made sure to make it so that the Pendant could be removed and used as a necklace again, even using a silver chain he'd kept for another project to make the chain of the pendant look like it was part of the decoration. The only thing one had to do to take the pendant out was push up and twist and it would unlock. This way it wouldn't fall out by accident, or be knocked out by someone trying to steal it. He placed several charms on it as well to prevent any theft of the sword. The one he used most, and used in this case, was the Blood Boil curse. If stolen the one who stole the sword and anyone receiving the sword would get a constant fever until the weapon was returned to its owner. It could prove deadly if not returned in a timely manner.

[Ycharley]

The hammering woke Lumina up. She rubbed her temples, waking up with a slight hang over.
"Could you possibly hammer a little quieter. You might be able to heal yourself and process alcohol, but I can't," She said, only half joking. She opened her eyes slightly, trying to looking at her nearly finished sword. She smiled in satisfaction with the work she saw. Lumina stood, stretching, her joints popping loudly as she did.

"Would you happen to have some Ale? I wasn't planning on staying all night so I didn't bring anything extra," she walked over to her horse, starting to brush its coat until it was perfectly shiny.

[Dreamwolf]

Fen looked up as she questioned the hammering. When asked about ale he wordlessly stood and retrieved a mug of it from a keg he kept in his cart. When their hands touched as he passed it to her he healed her hangover.

"I can do it for others too. I have to drink strong and fast if I want to get drunk, my body purifies itself so quickly I can never get drunk enough to forget things and hangovers last less than a few seconds if they happen at all. Being almost immortal is not as fun as some people thing it would be."

[Ycharley]

"To never have a hang over seems like a gift to me, I would sure as hell love to have the ability. I might just have to start finding you and drinking with you so when I have a hang over you can just fix it," Lumina said as she finished brushing Midnight.

"So do you have any pets, or do you like animals at all?" She asked turning to face him, starting to watch him finish her sword. "How would you like to do about twenty swords?" She questioned, falling in love with the craftsmanship of the sword.

[Dreamwolf]

Fen paused at the question and after a moment, let out a whistle, at which the Fire Fox Tunis poked her head out of the cart, her fur ruffled and rumpled from sleeping in his bed cloths. The small animal looked out through sleep bleary eyes at the two before letting out a tiny growl of annoyance and going back to sleep, turning and exposing the missing right forelimb as she did so.

"That's Tunis (Too-Niece). Found her in the Thunderbacks with half the leg gone and a massive infection spreading through her body. I had to remove the rest of the leg to save her life. She's been with me since, been almost two years now. Every n ow and then I pick up another animal. They don't judge me like humans do so I prefer them and their company."

He stopped at the mention twenty swords. It was a big commission, and even factoring the guilds deal on ordering five swords at a time he was still looking at a large profit. "I'd do it. Twenty swords would be a task and I don't carry that kind of supply on me I could make ten with what I have, and that's short swords. If you get me the supplies I'll forge as many swords as you want."

[Ycharley]

Lumina chuckled with a mischievous  smile. "Supplies is no problem with me, write a list of what you need I'll have it with in a week, of course it would be more convenient if you came closer to my estate," Lumina said smiling at the sight of the fox, finding the animal irresistibly cute.

"I don't get to find random animal too often, I did find my dog though, he is the best thing I have ever found. Someone set him out with he was just a pup, I found him on a ride of my property, I had to nurse him back to health," She explained, smiling with the memory of her dog.

[Dreamwolf]

Fen nodded. "Being closer to your estate would be good. I don't have anything planned for now anyhow. Besides, a long project like this will pay for supplies for my next stop."

He started packing up his forge and cart, preparing for the trip. Tunis at several points made noise of complaint and hunger before trotting off to hunt.


((sorry, museless atm. Check out the description of Tunis' species in my Character Catalog!))

[Ycharley]

"How much do you think you will charge for the labor, and as I said, I'll need a list of the supplies you need as soon as possible if I am to get them on time," Lumina said with a sigh.

"Also would you like a room or are you just going to stay in your cart?" She continued after a slight pause.

[Dreamwolf]

"I'll need steel rods, as many as swords you want made, unless you'd rather I use another metal. I've all the Fire Stones I'll need from Tunis, so my forge will not go cold. I might need a New hammer, but I'll factor that into my cost. As for the actual price, we'll negotiate that when I'm done, I never accept payment or even talk price until the work is done to the client's satisfaction. Which I might add is almost always the first time." Fen hefted the heavy forge, setting into his cart.

"A room would be nice, if you've one to spare. I hope no one minds if Tunis sleeps in the room with me. Most inns refuse animals. She's a smart one and will use the latrine if she needs to go at all."

[Ycharley]

"Its my house, and I don't care as long as you clean up after her and she doesn't bother Kela," Lumina said stretching. "I can lead you if your ready to go, its not too far from here," Lumina stated as she started to saddle up her rather large horse. Her horse stood there, clearly well trained. Its black coat gleamed in the sun's rays, showing how well groomed it was. Both the blankets and saddle were fancy and embroiderer, proving that Lumina wasn't wealthy and was scared of spending her money.

[Dreamwolf]

Fen nodded. Whistling to his stallion, a loaner from the guild to replace his pregnant mare, he hopped up into the front. Tunis came out from the woods, a few droplets of blood still on her face from her meal. She also hopped into the cart, making a growling, crooning noise that let all who heard know of her annoyance at having her meal cut short.

"Quiet down Tunis. We've work that'll get us to your homeland where we can find you a male to breed with. You'll settle down after that." He spoke quietly, but with a touch of humor. He truly doted on the little fox, who did not judge him for his appearance or magic.

[Ycharley]

"If only humans were that simple, a quick breeding and everyone just simply settle down," Lumina said sarcastically, then chuckled at her own sense of dry humor. Lumina gently nudged her horse into a slow trot. She seemed very natural and relaxed riding, it was clear she spent a lot of time doing it. Lumina leaned down, whispering something to Midnight before leaning back up and guided her horse to face Fen.

"Ready?" She asked simply.

[Dreamwolf]

"When you live with an underbred Fire Fox you learn that breeding is a wonderful thing. The females get grouchy without kits to calm them." Fen spoke to his stallion aloud. "Ah-ight Jessup lets move."

The stallion pulled the heavy cart without a sound, his powerful shoulder taking the load without much more strain than a normal horse suffered when carrying a rider. Coming from a long line of Draft and War Horses his ancestors had not only pulled heavy stumps from the earth, but also carried fully armored knights across the battle field. The fact the horse was pulling carts was a testament to his temperament. He couldn't stand being sat upon and would throw all but a few people from the saddle. Too expensive to simply geld like others with his mindset the stallion was given jobs he liked, which included working with the smith he knew to be generous with apples and sugar cubes.

[Ycharley]

"I would think kids would wined you up, but I wouldn't know," Lumina replied with a shrug. She led them in silence, glad that Midnight wasn't in heat. She started to mentally add up the cost of the material and possible labor charges for each sword. She also started to mentally design what type of sword she would want her guard to have. Her thoughts then moved to what room did she want to put Fen in, should she even put him in the same wing that she was in. She sighed deeply, there was too much going on in her head for any good and or rational answer to be found.

[Dreamwolf]

Fen chuckled. "One of the reasons I'd rather get her bred is because when she goes into heat she releases a pheromone that acts as a potent aphrodisiac. It bothers me to have it stinking the cart up because it drives both men and women crazy with lust. Once she gets bred though, the cycle ends and the pheromone goes away. Besides, if you've never seen a baby Fire Fox, you've never seen a truely adorable animal."

His stallion, Jessup snorted derisively. "Oh hush Jessup, I didn't you." Fen was good-natured about it but he swore the horse understood human language. The Stallion was also the sire of the foal his mare, Crea, was carrying. He'd already been offered a large sum for the offspring by the Guild, but he wanted to raise it himself, as a second horse for his cart. Having a second horse would be helpful since he'd be able to go for a ride ahead of the cart. to check out the road.

"Do you know of any younglings in your land that have an interest in smithing? I've begun thinking of taking on an apprentice lately, boy or girl doesn't much matter skill is skill no matter what the gender."