22 Glade 121 Steel
Talon sat at his workbench with his tonal fork in hand. He was guiding the arcane pathways within a dragonshard presented to him by the Circle of Spells. It was a common pyrolyth gem but it would be one that he fashioned into a magic wand to be presented to a newly tested Circle graduate. It had become customary for the Circle to approach him in order to fashion for their graduates the artifact that would be presented to them upon completion of their final Test. He was not intimately familiar with the ordeal but he knew that it was an endeavor that changed the life of all who went through it. Before he underwent his Warren March, Talon had contemplated approaching the Circle for an apprenticeship. From what he understood it was either one passed the final Test or they perished in the effort.
His mother and father both had dissuaded him from approaching the Circle for membership, believing it unwise to have him beholden to any faction but his own House. Talon could understand the thought behind it. His father had only become an office in the Sky Guard because he had never expected to be seated upon the throne of Kalzasi. Talon, being his heir, would be better served with his loyalties available to the broader populace. That did not prevent him from establishing an amicable business relationship with those factions however.
Talon tapped the surface of the crystal, working to refine the inner pathways in order to carefully draw out the most potent essence within the dragonshard. As he guided his tonal fork to get a clear idea of the integrity of the existing pathways, Talon grabbed his hammer and chisel. Drawing upon the power of Semblance, he brought the aetheric structure clearly into view so that he could work without interruption. With practiced ease of having worked with countless dragonshards at this point in his life, Talon began etching the surface of the crystal with various symbols. He built new pathways for the flow of aether to follow, paths that were more clearly defined and less prone to shifting in order to clear away some of the corrosion that existed in Warren mined crystals.
Encircling some of the fragmented essence, Talon guided it to an area that he could easily isolate and then break away from the main body of the gemstone. He was in the middle of constructing a new pathway when he heard footsteps behind him.
“Would you like to assist me in making a wand, Velkan?” He had sent Velkan to run a few errands around the Plaza of Jeweled Arches, fetching orders and taking stock of their inventory so that Talon could focus on the contracts that required his forging skills. Coupled with the very large project that was still underway with regard to the Skyforged Cloth, Talon was glad for the assistance that his apprentice provided. While he did not know if he was ready to accept the presence of another pair of largely unskilled hands in his workshop, perhaps when Velkan was more trained and skilled, Talon would look into getting another apprentice.
“I thought wands were merely focusing tools.” Talon looked up from his work as Velkan seated himself just across from him.
“They can be. However, those wands are usually made of simple wood materials and receive the skills of a Scrivener over the enchantments required of a runeforger.” Velkan quirked his head.
“Approaching a Scrivener seems like it would be easier to fashion something like this.” Talon again nodded his head as he returned his gaze back to the crystal he was working on. He set about chiseling a continuum into the surface in order to properly direct the flow of energy within it.
“Yes and no. It takes a truly skilled and knowledgeable scribe to fashion a wand that can grow in skill as the wizard does. As soon the wizard grew more powerful than the wand was made to handle, it would become useless.” He finished the pathway he was working on and then handed the tools to Velkan so that the young man could continue the work of refinement. Velkan slid into place without hesitation. He brought one of the aura glass lenses into place so that he could focus on the work at hand.
“I’m starting to learn that magic is way more complicated than I thought.” Talon laughed. With Velkan taking up the work of the preliminary refinement of materials, that allowed Talon to focus on the completion of another project that needed his attention in that moment. He went to a shelf upon which rest several crystals that were in the process of being refined. One in particular he had been carefully guiding the aetheric pathways of for several weeks in order to get the most heightened form of it. With the work of refining the crystal done, Talon took it down from the shelf in order to bring it over to his jewelers station.
Picking up his tools, he immediately set to work just across from Velkan.
“Talon, are we going to be melting these crystals down into viscerite and forming them after this?” Talon shook his head as Velkan posed his question.
“These are simple artifacts. The commissioners are requesting no alterations to them except to provide guided structure to their techniques and the manifestation of their inherent magical powers. We will provide some rudimentary enhancement to make the gems more sturdy but otherwise, they will be reshaped as opposed to reforged.” He glanced up to see a puzzled expression on Velkan’s face as Talon explained the intent for both of the crystals in their possession.
“I thought that we had to melt things down into viscerite before making true artifacts.” Again, Talon shook his head.
“Not in every instance. When we are making repairs to an arcane artifact, it would be detrimental to the artifact to melt them down completely and then reforge the object. That would destroy the enchantments put in place. Additionally, when we are dealing with objects that already possess magic, we can simply work to refine the powers inherent in what we work with.” Talon finished checking over the structural integrity of the frost crystal in his hands. He then looked over to the fire shard.
“Finished?” Velkan nodded and Talon gestured for him to bring his gem to the anvil. He brought the frost crystal up to the anvil and set it in place.
“I am going to show you how we reshape an object as opposed to reforging it.” Reaching out, Talon touched the tips of his fingers to the surface of the anvil. He tapped into the pictography etched upon the aetherite slab, causing the arcane script all throughout his workshop to illuminate with aetheric power. Talon began channeling his own aether into the anvil in order to prime it. He then stepped back, reaching for his hammer and tongs. Summoning his Semblance, he watched as the anvil gathered the power that it was imbue with, slowly coming to resonate with the frost crystal resting upon it. Once it was clear that things were in proper alignment, Talon struck with his hammer. The first ring echoed in the workshop, sounding high pitched.
Different from the work of building new pathways, Talon simply worked to excite the aether within the existing structure until it was pliable and able to be redirected. He then grabbed his tongs and began pulling and twisting at the crystal in order to bend it into shape. The aetherite surface of the anvil glowed brightly and Talon could feel some of the heat coming off of the surface of the arcane slab. He grabbed his jewelers tools, working to curve and twist the shape of the crystal until it formed a circle. With a file and a pair of forceps, Talon began cutting and filing away at some of the edges of the crystal in order to refine its shape. Every so often, he would set those tools down and pick up his hammer and tongs once more. Striking a hot aetheric pathway and then guiding it into place to follow the new structure of what he desired without breaking it.
When finally Talon had the rudimentary shape of a ring in place, he picked up the crystal with a pair of tongs, bringing it back over to his jeweler’s station. He set the frost gem ring on a runesmith’s stand so that it was still workable before turning back to Velkan.
“We’re heating the object with its own aether and then shaping it like glass.” Talon smiled, nodding at Velkan’s observation.
“Exactly. You excite it enough to make it workable without breaking it down. This is one technique for how we can make repairs or fashion simpler artifact directly from the materials given.” Talon gestured to the fire shard in Velkan’s hands. His apprentice immediately stepped up to the anvil, setting the aether gem in place. Talon handed him the hammer and tongs.
“You remember what I showed you about maintaining good form?” His apprentice straightened his shoulders and rolled his neck before nodding. Talon folded his arms over his chest then nodded to the fire gem on the anvil. Velkan struck the gemstone and Talon watched. He observed for several minutes, offering critique when he saw the need. Once Velkan found his rhythm however, Talon nodded. The shape of this gemstone was rather simple to follow. Once it had been fashioned into a rod, it would be brought back over to the jeweler’s station to be refined with the last parts of the forging process.
