Tools of the Trade [Torin]

[Kala Leukos]

Cintamani Pavilion
85 Searing 121

It was a lovely day, but Kala was in a room with no windows.

The little workshop was sufficient for her needs. There were more extensive facilities back at Starfall, of course, but it seemed as though she would not be able to visit until Ash. It would have to be early, of course, if she was to take Torin to some of the places she wanted him to see, but it was more important that he focus on setting up his forge at this point. It was a delicate moment and she would assist as she could. In fact, her assistance was why he ought to arrive at any moment.

A servant was leading him—and perhaps Timon—to this internal room. It was small for a workshop, perhaps, but the room was large enough. The bookshelf was locked, but she had already perused the various sources inside for what she needed. She had looked elsewhere, as well. Everything was gathered in a notebook that she was reviewing right then while standing at a work station.

In the flurry of notes passing back and forth between them, she had apologized and let him know that aether forge preparation was a masterwork of scrivening and, as yet, beyond her skill. But she had invited him to bring anything portable to her home and she could empower his tools to runecraft as well as smith metals. Hammers, chisels, tuning forks—she now had the research and practice to turn them into magical tools, and that was exciting for her. She hadn't practiced on an actual too, but she had laid out the pictographs on paper.

Her notebook was tidy, at least when she flipped to the pages that were less brainstorming doodles and more finished product. Assuming all went well and Torin reported successful work with the finished products, she would later take greater care in transcribing her work into a proper grimoire to add to the collection on the bookshelf.

She looked up at the muffled sounds from the other side of the door.

If Timon had come, Kaus had likely swept him up for some shenanigans. He was good with children, and it seemed as though he and Timon got along swimmingly. He was going to follow Torin to his new forge, as well, so he would be part of the Leukos zaibatsu family.

[Torin Kilvin]

The young runesmith had taken the Lady Kala's offer to assist him in the creation of the tools he would need seriously, and in seriousness, he had prepared. They had planned together what materials he would use and set dates that they could work together.

Dipping into his carefully saved store of gold, the work of twelve years working as an apprentice and holding on to every penny that need not be spent, he went with his current teacher when the man went to purchase supplies for his smithy and bought forty pounds of good ash steel. The expense seemed large to a lad who had barely bought himself new clothes until he was bursting out of his old ones. His master had raised a brow at the use of the more expensive mental, but the money had been saved for this purpose, to set him up with a new life that belonged to him alone and he didn't want tools that would wear out or break.

The elder runesmith did not question his purchase aloud, the man knew Torin would be leaving come the change of the season and tools would be needed. Some men would have bought them but Torin felt that if he, as a blacksmith, could not forge them himself then what was the point of all his training? So, he'd spent his free time, and those free moments that working in a forge allowed as things heated, cooled, or rested, crafting at work for himself. His master did not mind this, so long as his quality of work did not slip in what he was being paid to do.

The more delicate tools needed for setting up a runeforge were made thus, since Kala would need them to enchant with her own world magic. A set of chisels, three sizes of tongs, and a tonal fork he was able to create on his own. The three sizes of basins he'd decided to start with had to be poured and he'd borrowed his teacher's molds for the task. The anvil base had required Torin to push himself out of his comfort zone to beg the runesmith master's assistance. He knew how to heat the large ingots to glowing orange but the work to keep them hot and the many hours of swinging a massive hammer were more than he could accomplish on his own. The man had seemed surprised, since Torin had accepted all his instruction but never put himself out to ask for help before. Perhaps the older man had been pleased that, after using Torin to teach the younger boys so often it was finally his turn to be the pupil.

The work had taken weeks of on and off time, culminating in a whole day spent with his teacher heating and pounding away at the many pounds of fine metal it took to shape the base for his anvil.

Outside of that the boy, taking his first steady steps into manhood, had gone to the stone supplier suggested by the more experienced wisdom of his teacher and spent more of his wages on fine soapstone. One piece a long slab, four feet long and two wide, almost two solid inches thick. A second one as a solid block which he paid to have shaped into a large kiln. He went to check on the carving work whenever he had a spare half hour, often forgoing his lunches to assuage his anxiety. It was on one of these visits that he remember to ask if a mortar and pestle could be made of the leftover chunks of the same stone, feeling that it would be more right, somehow, to have all his tools of the same piece of earth.

At last, the work was done and he had the three stone pieces of what would become the tools of his trade sent directly to Cintamani Pavilion, into the care of the Kala Leukos, accompanied by a lengthy letter about their creation in case it might matter to the application of her Scrivener's pen.

When the base of his anvil had cooled, a process that took more than a whole day, he'd had that loaded into a cart with the basins and sent over as well.

The smaller tools he brought himself, on the appointed day, wrapped in a leather carrying case he had tooled for them himself, held tightly under one arm. When he arrived, somewhat paler and even quieter than he usually was he could only nod to the head servant, who he now recognized easily, and follow as he was led deeper into the beautiful fortress than he had yet been invited.

When the door was opened for him and he stepped into the well-appointed workplace it took some of his anxiety away. Partly because Kala had a calming presence all her own, and partly because the room looked appropriately filled with arcane secrets and mystical knowledge beyond Torin's ken.

"Morning," He managed, trying to steady himself, "Kala."

His instincts still shouted at him to bow to her, which he did in a small way, trying and failing to not seem off-balance. Stepping forward carefully he set the leather case onto an empty space on her workbench. "I thought we'd start with the small pieces? Or we can do the larger ones first, I don't really know what's easier. Or if you'd rather start with the harder bits..."

He trailed off, looking at the diminutive woman's face expectant and worried as a new mother.

[Kala Leukos]

"Good morning, Torin," she said with a smile. Whether because of the look on his face or because she was a good host, she indicated a side table where a tray held raw almonds, fruit, and such, as well as a ewer of water and two glasses, one already used. "There are refreshments so we don't lose focus while working. A servant will remind us when luncheon is ready. If you are free for a week starting the 90th, we could go to Starfall. I..." She paused and laughed at herself.

"I apologize. I am eager to do this work and all sorts of thoughts have been tumbling about in my head. For instance, I could sculpt the soapstone if there are any imperfections you would like to fix... Also, I have all these schema drawn up for your tools." She paused again, a rueful look on her face. But he was asking questions, as well. They were both a bit awkward at the beginning of this endeavor, it seemed.

She gestured him over so he could look at what she had prepared.

"From what I have gathered, most of your tools are meant to be runeforged themselves. So what I have found and what I have plotted out are all schema to help you. I'm not certain if your master has taught you anything of scrivening or if he uses it himself... It will be a learning experience for both of us, I think, to collaborate. I will try to explain clearly what I plan to do, and you can ask questions or correct me. But I think it will be important for you to understand fully what I am doing so you can make the best of the help.

"There are difficult bits in all of them, so I suppose we ought to start with what you will want to be done first. Perhaps the kiln...? It's large enough that you should be able to observe what I'm doing with greater ease. As opposed to the tonal fork, which I will have to look at through a magnifying lens, and you will have to look through both the lens and an aura glass."

[Torin Kilvin]

Her laugh made him grin, almost laughing himself. It was so easy to be easy around Kala.

"No, please, I am eager too, only... nervous. Not about visiting Starfall! Just..." He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck and took a deep breath, letting it out in an exaggerated way.

"I'm building something. I'm sure you've built businesses and homes before but this is all, very, new to me. I feel like I'm making adult decisions for the first time and I'm... nervous." He finished as he'd began, laughing now at how awkward he was. If she laughed with him he knew it would be with him and he wouldn't mind

Stepping forward when she indicated the schematics he looked them over. Scrivening was beyond his knowledge but her placements of the magical script over the tools, and especially the workbench were lovely.

"I'd be happy to let you work the stone if you wanted to, I just had the carver get the basic shape. I trust you. I'll have the wooden base made for it once you're fully finished so whatever designs you would enjoy making I'll love." Her effort would make him love them entirely aside from the fact that he was growing to realize her tastes were of the simplistically beautiful style he would never think to ask for but felt good to him.

Nodding and settling as they began to speak of the work itself he opened his pack to show her some pieces he had runeforges himself.

"These are done, I believe. I got some help from my teacher and worked my way through." The metal tools were all neatly laid out in the leather case he'd made for them himself as well. Most were complete, after weeks of labor, with only a few needing the help of Kala's arcane pen, but Torin had thought she might want or need to see all of them. The idea felt a little silly now but it was done so he showed his work.
"I would appreciate learning what I can, though I trust you in your craft." She had shown her trust in him concerning his. It seemed right that they should begin their collaborative work with trust.

"Having the kiln finished would help, and be easier for me to observe than the smaller tools." Moving around to the large stone structure he ran a rand over its surface as he spoke,

"I put down the gold to purchase my forge yesterday. I was wondering if you know a reputable house carpenter? I need to have some repairs done to the house before I'll be comfortable moving Timon and myself into it." Aurin could find him someone, he was sure, but if Kala already knew one, or had one working for her House that Torin could pay for the work, he would be more comfortable than with, even a highly recommended, stranger.

[Kala Leukos]

"I appreciate your faith, but in this it is misplaced." She smiled. "I'm only nineteen, and much of the zaibatsu was dropped into my lap fully formed. Helping you start your own business is a way to live vicariously through you." Kala gave a little shrug. "I haven't built something from the ground up; I'm only hoping to help you build your own creation. And these creations."

She carefully perused those things he had prepared for her, and fell silent as she compared what she saw to what she had studied and what she had prepared on her own. Magic of this caliber was a delicate affair, and as much as she had studied for this day, it would still be a first. She didn't want to disappoint Torin, though she knew the House accounts could reimburse him if she ruined anything of value. That safety net was there, but not something she wanted to have to utilize.

"The magic is sharp and clear," she murmured half to herself and half to him, perusing one of the tools that was actually complete without the need of subsequent scrivening. "Fresh and virgin." Turning a tool over in her hands, she considered. When she set it down, she nodded and stepped over to the soapstone slab that was going to be a kiln.

"I'll make sure that when you leave, you have the contact information for the carpenter we use to keep things up here at the Pavilion," she promised. "I don't know if he's selective about his clients, but I will be sure to send word so you are expected. One of the benefits of working with us is you get to throw the name of House Leukos around when you need someone to pay attention to you. At least until the name Kilvin carries the weight it deserves.

She smiled and handed him an aura glass so he could observe what she was about. Spreading a page of notes on top of the kiln where she wouldn't need to work, she placed her hands upon the surface of the soapstone and engaged what she thought of as her stone-sense. The shape was well made, but she took parts of the stone that weren't necessary and shifted the extra mass into the parts of the stone's structure that would benefit most from a sturdier structure. The pictographs on the page began to appear on the surfaces of the kiln as well, appearing as if etched by some invisible tool. She scrived with no tool but her elementalism, urging the stone to conform to her needs, and the aether they affected began to shift and coalesce according to the new order she was applying thereupon.

[Torin Kilvin]

The statement of Kala's age seemed to make perfect sense to one part of Torin while being a surprise to another part. The first was the one that had felt an almost instant kinship with her and knew, somehow, that they were the same in many ways. The second was the part of him that saw all nobility, particularly those he respected, as older and wiser than himself.

"I turned nineteen last month." He wasn't sure why he felt like he needed to tell her, it felt like a leftover product of the way children emphasize age and closeness but he let himself say it anyway.

Nodding his gratitude and understanding when she offered the use of the carpenter he made a mental note to call on the man as soon as possible, perhaps even later that day if he left before the sun had set.

Stepping closer he positioned himself where he could see what she was looking at, one of his finished tools. He pointed out where some of the magic was laid down to help shape future aether lines into his work. Torin did not know if Kala would understand what he was talking about, but imagined, in his ignorance, that laying down Scrivening magic might be similar, in concept at least.
Taking the aura glass when it was offered he kept quiet but watched intently, his care for the tools they were creating doing nothing to dampen his insatiable curiosity. A gasp left him as he saw her little hands channeling magic that reshaped the stone itself. Perhaps having it carved into the correct shape had been entirely unnecessary. As lines of elegant, curving script began to appear, before both his human eyes and the magic sight the aura glass offered him he tilted his head and concentrated. It felt like watching the dance the glow-wings cast as they came out of their flower beds during the Searing dusks in the forest. The tiny, moon-colored insects wove light through the air in ways he had been sure, as a child, that he could learn to read if he tried hard enough.

The use of multiple magical talents at once hadn't been expected but he could now see that it should have been. What more perfect way to write into the stone than by shaping the stone itself? Some of the magical script was familiar to him by dint of having been around a good deal of it throughout his life and he could identify the things he'd seen on other kilns, even the magic was familiar to him, though it had Kala's own personal look to it.

Torin mentioned the fact, speaking in a quiet, even tone that felt similar to the way the magic being cast felt. He would not have been able to explain why he felt the tone and cadence of his words could be set to match her casting and Scrivening so as not to disturb it, but he did. The things he spoke of were abstract, flowing out of him easier while he was at once so distracted by what he was seeing and connecting to it on a level deeper than what he saw. He told about the other kilns he had used, seen under the aura glass simply by working with them so often that his familiarity became intimate. When she finished the work more time had passed than he had made note of in the windowless room and it took him a moment to come out of the trance-like state he went into when concentrating on the forming of new magic.

[Kala Leukos]

She smiled at mention of his birthday.

"Then I'm slightly older than you," she said, and that sort of felt right. She was slightly older than Kaus, as well, and it was pleasant to think that the first artisan she was able to patronize would be of her generation. It felt like a thing fitting into its proper place. "Next year, you'll have to let us have a little party for you."

Torin might argue, but he would probably accede to her wishes.

Kala found she didn't mind him watching her work. He was another set of eyes, and while he didn't know scrivening, he knew another, equally complicated discipline of magic. If her work looked right to both of them, then it was less likely a mistake would get past them. A flaw here could mean flawed work in the future, and she didn't want to be responsible for making his work more difficult. She was here to help.

She nodded along to his words, but it wasn't until she was done that she could form a cohesive response. There was a sheen of perspiration upon her brow. The work she was doing wasn't flashy, but it was precise and that required intense concentration. It was here that she was better than her twin: he grew in power, but she learned finer control to do more with what she had. And the power would come.

"I think the Archmagic of old Sol'Valen was like that," she mused. "I don't know, of course, but I imagine the Sundering helped shatter magic into such distinct disciplines. But they overlap. They recall each other." She paused. She smiled at him. "At least, it seems as though the magic I scrive might follow similar patterns as your runeforging, especially if our minds are akin to each other."

Patting the kiln, she said, "Unless you saw some flaw—which I can rectify—I think this much is complete. I could probably sink a dragonshard into it and that would fuel a similar sort of enchantment, but I think it best you just do what you would do, and channel some aether into the patterns I've drawn into the stone."

[Torin Kilvin]

Torin realized, just as Kala did, that he could argue if he wanted to but she would get her way in the end. Blushing and ducking his head in a way that gave away his peasant upbringing he murmured something about 'no need', but didn't try to insist or really even argue.

He was confused at first, not knowing much of history above the common ken of village folk, but when she spoke of magic overlapping he began to nod. He needed scrivening to runeforge. Many of the disciplines seemed to need each other to function, or at least to be at their best. Scrivening was in much of the other world, but alchemy, runeforging, all the of world magic that Torin was personally involved with seemed to connect.

Runic magic too could be interwoven, was often required to be interwoven, into the others, and where it was not necessary it was often very useful. Such as a runesmith using Semblance. He knew nothing of how the runes might work together but assumed they did. Trusting in their budding friendship that he wouldn't be overstepping himself he said,

"Is it... bad? Getting a rune?"

When she asked about the work he stood and walked around the kiln, inspecting it through the magic sight aura glass granted, searching for any flaw in the script. He couldn't read the writing, nor would have known if things were written or spelled badly, he just looked for things the felt off. He found none. The magic sang to him, a soft hum that spoke of brand new power coming to life with a quiet undertone of eagerness to work. He smiled,

"It looks perfect to me." Nodding again at her suggested he said, a little shyly, "I would prefer to pour the aether into it myself. I am very grateful for your help, it's only, there is a difference in how a tool feels when you've brought it into existence yourself." His eyes searched her's, looking for a recognition of the idea. It felt like something she would know, felt like a way in which their minds were akin.

[Kala Leukos]

"Oh, good," she said with visible relief. Kala normally comported herself with self-assurance and aplomb, but she was only as old as Torin. They were both of them still learning things and this was a new endeavor for both of them. She had prepared as best she could and so far, nothing had gone terribly wrong. Nodding, she poured herself a glass of water.

"Of course, you should complete the enchantments. I have only laid some groundwork to help the aether move more efficiently, I think."

As she sipped, she considered how to answer his previous questions. They hadn't offended, but she had needed to focus on what she was doing and now she could think how best to answer him.

"For me, the inscription of my runes wasn't painful." She paused. "The threshold sickness differs depending on which rune, and it can be mild or it can be, in some cases, fatal. Magic always carries a cost. Elementalism gave Kaus a cough. It was like a summer cold for him. They said it augured well for his element, though. Respiratory illness does seem to have some correlation with an affinity for Air. But mine was worse, and inconclusive. I went back and forth between fevers and chills. Pneumonia and the worst aches in my very bones. I don't think I was ever in real danger, but I was certainly miserable for weeks.

"The semblance, though, came easily to me. It is one of the safer runes, they say. I hallucinated, but I knew I was hallucinating. There are some drugs that have the sort of effects I described, so I suppose I was just under magically similar influences for a few days. But I have heard stories of people suffering from waking dreams so real that they suffered real trauma. I haven't the knowledge or the power yet to inscribe anyone with my runes. I would want to know how to mitigate the risks and care for my student through the sickness."

Then she paused. "Kiln complete. What next?"

[Torin Kilvin]

Listening to Kala describe her experience with threshold sickness was as worrisome as it was interesting. Torin didn't want her to have experienced it but he assumed it had been her own choice. Suddenly he wanted to know.

"I'm sorry, that sounds awful. You chose your runes though? Right? I've heard that some noble houses give them to their children when they aren't really old enough to make a choice. I doubt your house would, I mean, if they are like you." He felt suddenly wildly out of his depths. Nobility often thought so fundamentally differently to common folk that such a question might be considered judgment and offensive. He shied back a little, unconsciously distancing himself in case his thoughtlessness turned her affection cold. Trying to change the subject without changing it so much that it was obvious he said,

"I've been considering having Semblance inscribed on me. Many runesmiths say it changes how they work, making it easier and their understanding more fundamental. I think it would be worth it but..."
He sighed, knowing his fear made him look weak. "Maybe I can have myself tied to my bed so I don't go walking about, just in case."

Trying to turn the fear into something more lighthearted was the best he could do to weaken its power. Aurin would be with him for the sickness, he was sure. The man would need to sleep and, if it went on for more than a day or two, see to his own business as well. Perhaps he could get Sivan to come by and check on him. The alchemist's apprentice was quite busy himself and while Torin loved Destynreal he wasn't sure what the diminutive Fae would be able to do if Torin went mad in his dreams and tried to do harm.

Happy to turn his thoughts back to the work he looked about and said,

"Workbench, I think? Get the two largest pieces out of the way and then we can sit and keep working side by side, if you like? We can do smaller ones instead if you need to recover." Her level of concentration over the kiln had been impressive, perhaps also exhausting.