90th Glade
Returning to his bunk, it was late, probably only a few hours short of the blue that preceded dawn. The apprentice had spent his day working, showing a technique to the other apprentices while their master looked on to ensure he made no mistakes that might be passed on. It had been a new experience, being expected to lead and teach. His master had added only the occasional grunt or nod so he could only assume he had done well enough.
After the evening meal when he'd been free to do as he willed he found his way back into the part of the forge he considered his workspace. He had recently obtained two small Aetherite shards on his own. They were his; paid for with his work translated into coin, and used to purchase the stones. He removed the stones from the box he'd placed them in and examined them under the aura glass, watching for long minutes as though enchanted. The magic inherent in the stones moved and twined and the boy waited until the part of him that connected with the essence of raw material came to exist inside his understanding. It happened with magic, but with mundane material as well, metal and stone spoke to him, leather called and wood hummed in his hands, given enough time and attention. When he was working on something difficult or delicate he would take the time to get to know his material. His first master had not questioned the way he sat, seemingly doing nothing with his materials before beginning to use them. His current runesmith master gave him odd looks but had come to realize the difference in his work when he was allowed the time it took to get to know his materials as opposed to the times he was not.
This was his own time though, and he could do as he pleased. He pleased to become acquainted with the little aetherstones. Over time he learned what made them what they were, what they, in as much as an unconscious item could, thought of themselves. They were power, powerful; in their own souls that was how they existed. He nudged at them, accepted them, suggested what they might be, and let them answer him in rejection and acceptance until he felt they were in agreement.
The idea of what the two stones would eventually become was still a mere inkling, the shadow of an idea. But he kept them together, let them become acquainted and then connected, encouraged them to be so in the odd way that didn't seem to be a part of his mind.
Now he lay back in bed and let his mind wander through the things he had learned without any direction. He did not possess any runes of his own and often wondered if he did have one if he would be able to understand the things he did when he let himself stop thinking and just connect to his work. Understand them better, at least. He would bring it up the next time he was with Aurin. Not receiving a rune, but asking him questions about how his perception of magic had changed after he'd had them inscribed onto his skin.
Spring was coming to an end, the air was becoming warm enough that he didn't need to pull his coat on when he moved between the forge and the main building the housed and fed the apprentices. Between being promoted in his work and all the new responsibilities that had placed on his shoulders the season had seemed to fly. He had learned how to negotiate with the suppliers in the city, learned which suppliers were worth negotiating with. How to identify a serious customer from those who simply wanted to waste your time and not pay when the work was done.
Neither of those had been things he could have learned in his home village. Suppliers had been traveling merchants and anyone who tried to get work for free or not pay the due was your neighbor and could be dealt with inside small-town politics. There was so much more to learn about running a business inside Kalzasi than there had been in his youth. He had been sent to collect and inspect shipments, to deliver finished pieces, to handle customers. He now understood the process from introduction to handing over the item and everything between. He was even beginning to be able to tell the worth of dragonshards by sight. He wasn't particularly good at the subtleties of it yet, but he could at least tell the difference between a drained stone and a live one.
He had done enough piecework over the season that he was sure he could have made a hundred of his own projects if given the time to himself. He knew what the runesmith was doing though, making sure there were no gaps in his education in either blacksmithing or runesmithing. The drudgery had given the boy time to dream, to think about himself in terms of the future in a way he never had back home.
The shape of his life was beginning to form in his mind. He wanted a forge of his own, just enough to work and provide for himself. Maybe he could get a little house with a shop on the ground floor and his forge in the back. He could very contentedly live in a room or two upstairs. He could invite Aurin over to him then instead of always going to the cottage behind the Cabaret. The idea of being able to provide for other people was also new, had only come to him as the seasons had turned from fall into winter that year. Aurin gave him so many things that not giving back would be wrong on a fundamental level that caused his heart to rebel. He knew that some runesmiths made exceptional amounts of money doing jobs for the nobility or large commissions for the army and while, occasionally, he entertained the idea of being famous and rich it didn't really appeal to him. He liked his privacy and the ability to disappear too much. The knowledge that there were times when no living soul was thinking about him at all was a comfort.
He thought about the money he had made over the winter, what he would be paid for the spring, and tried to calculate how much it might be to set himself up. He knew the prices of blacksmith and runesmith equipment, of supplies to get started. He did not know the prices of land or buildings in the city in even the vaguest way. Another thing to ask Aurin about when they were able to see each other again. The business of the spring orders would soon be passed. There would still be plenty to do but those who had wanted armor, weapons, or equipment for campaigns in the warmth of the year would be gone from the city to pursue their goals. There would still be plenty to do but most of it would be easier and the mad rush wouldn't be present. His master had talked about giving him more of the complex projects now that the man was sure Torin wasn't missing any of the fundamentals.
Seeing how differently his current master worked than his old one had made Torin want to find and speak to more masters of his craft. There must be things that each would know that others didn't or knew differently. There wouldn't be such a thing as a runesmiths' tavern as there were for many other professions that were often performed as a single man or woman working alone, but perhaps he could find other runesmiths and offer to pay for an evening of drinks if he was allowed to pick their professional brains.
The sky was less than an hour from lightening when his busy mind finally cataloged all the information he'd gained from the dragonshards and allowed his own thoughts to wind down toward sleep. The apprentices would be called to the morning meal in three hours, but, for the moment the boy would dip below consciousness and take what rest he could. He might be tired in the morning but his body was young and would absorb the lost hours to take them out of him another time.
The future stretched out ahead of him in a series of days that he could have explained every minute of, at least, for a time. The past lay behind him like a mantle. It billowed sometimes, changing as he grew to understand the things that had happened with the mind of a man. His boyhood was reaching its end, stretching away at his back. He still felt unsure of whether that made him a man or not, but he wasn't afraid anymore of the prospect. He did not seem to want many of the things that his peers did, but that did not have to mean he could not be himself and also be respected. Plenty of men never married, though society always made it seem as though it was only a matter of time until they did, it was now becoming obvious that some men simply weren't interested. The city had taught him, more than it had anything else, that many kinds of people existed who wanted numerous things. That, perhaps, no two people really wanted the exact same things and that if there was a place for Aurin, and Arvalyn, for Sivan then there was one to be carved out for Torin.
Returning to his bunk, it was late, probably only a few hours short of the blue that preceded dawn. The apprentice had spent his day working, showing a technique to the other apprentices while their master looked on to ensure he made no mistakes that might be passed on. It had been a new experience, being expected to lead and teach. His master had added only the occasional grunt or nod so he could only assume he had done well enough.
After the evening meal when he'd been free to do as he willed he found his way back into the part of the forge he considered his workspace. He had recently obtained two small Aetherite shards on his own. They were his; paid for with his work translated into coin, and used to purchase the stones. He removed the stones from the box he'd placed them in and examined them under the aura glass, watching for long minutes as though enchanted. The magic inherent in the stones moved and twined and the boy waited until the part of him that connected with the essence of raw material came to exist inside his understanding. It happened with magic, but with mundane material as well, metal and stone spoke to him, leather called and wood hummed in his hands, given enough time and attention. When he was working on something difficult or delicate he would take the time to get to know his material. His first master had not questioned the way he sat, seemingly doing nothing with his materials before beginning to use them. His current runesmith master gave him odd looks but had come to realize the difference in his work when he was allowed the time it took to get to know his materials as opposed to the times he was not.
This was his own time though, and he could do as he pleased. He pleased to become acquainted with the little aetherstones. Over time he learned what made them what they were, what they, in as much as an unconscious item could, thought of themselves. They were power, powerful; in their own souls that was how they existed. He nudged at them, accepted them, suggested what they might be, and let them answer him in rejection and acceptance until he felt they were in agreement.
The idea of what the two stones would eventually become was still a mere inkling, the shadow of an idea. But he kept them together, let them become acquainted and then connected, encouraged them to be so in the odd way that didn't seem to be a part of his mind.
Now he lay back in bed and let his mind wander through the things he had learned without any direction. He did not possess any runes of his own and often wondered if he did have one if he would be able to understand the things he did when he let himself stop thinking and just connect to his work. Understand them better, at least. He would bring it up the next time he was with Aurin. Not receiving a rune, but asking him questions about how his perception of magic had changed after he'd had them inscribed onto his skin.
Spring was coming to an end, the air was becoming warm enough that he didn't need to pull his coat on when he moved between the forge and the main building the housed and fed the apprentices. Between being promoted in his work and all the new responsibilities that had placed on his shoulders the season had seemed to fly. He had learned how to negotiate with the suppliers in the city, learned which suppliers were worth negotiating with. How to identify a serious customer from those who simply wanted to waste your time and not pay when the work was done.
Neither of those had been things he could have learned in his home village. Suppliers had been traveling merchants and anyone who tried to get work for free or not pay the due was your neighbor and could be dealt with inside small-town politics. There was so much more to learn about running a business inside Kalzasi than there had been in his youth. He had been sent to collect and inspect shipments, to deliver finished pieces, to handle customers. He now understood the process from introduction to handing over the item and everything between. He was even beginning to be able to tell the worth of dragonshards by sight. He wasn't particularly good at the subtleties of it yet, but he could at least tell the difference between a drained stone and a live one.
He had done enough piecework over the season that he was sure he could have made a hundred of his own projects if given the time to himself. He knew what the runesmith was doing though, making sure there were no gaps in his education in either blacksmithing or runesmithing. The drudgery had given the boy time to dream, to think about himself in terms of the future in a way he never had back home.
The shape of his life was beginning to form in his mind. He wanted a forge of his own, just enough to work and provide for himself. Maybe he could get a little house with a shop on the ground floor and his forge in the back. He could very contentedly live in a room or two upstairs. He could invite Aurin over to him then instead of always going to the cottage behind the Cabaret. The idea of being able to provide for other people was also new, had only come to him as the seasons had turned from fall into winter that year. Aurin gave him so many things that not giving back would be wrong on a fundamental level that caused his heart to rebel. He knew that some runesmiths made exceptional amounts of money doing jobs for the nobility or large commissions for the army and while, occasionally, he entertained the idea of being famous and rich it didn't really appeal to him. He liked his privacy and the ability to disappear too much. The knowledge that there were times when no living soul was thinking about him at all was a comfort.
He thought about the money he had made over the winter, what he would be paid for the spring, and tried to calculate how much it might be to set himself up. He knew the prices of blacksmith and runesmith equipment, of supplies to get started. He did not know the prices of land or buildings in the city in even the vaguest way. Another thing to ask Aurin about when they were able to see each other again. The business of the spring orders would soon be passed. There would still be plenty to do but those who had wanted armor, weapons, or equipment for campaigns in the warmth of the year would be gone from the city to pursue their goals. There would still be plenty to do but most of it would be easier and the mad rush wouldn't be present. His master had talked about giving him more of the complex projects now that the man was sure Torin wasn't missing any of the fundamentals.
Seeing how differently his current master worked than his old one had made Torin want to find and speak to more masters of his craft. There must be things that each would know that others didn't or knew differently. There wouldn't be such a thing as a runesmiths' tavern as there were for many other professions that were often performed as a single man or woman working alone, but perhaps he could find other runesmiths and offer to pay for an evening of drinks if he was allowed to pick their professional brains.
The sky was less than an hour from lightening when his busy mind finally cataloged all the information he'd gained from the dragonshards and allowed his own thoughts to wind down toward sleep. The apprentices would be called to the morning meal in three hours, but, for the moment the boy would dip below consciousness and take what rest he could. He might be tired in the morning but his body was young and would absorb the lost hours to take them out of him another time.
The future stretched out ahead of him in a series of days that he could have explained every minute of, at least, for a time. The past lay behind him like a mantle. It billowed sometimes, changing as he grew to understand the things that had happened with the mind of a man. His boyhood was reaching its end, stretching away at his back. He still felt unsure of whether that made him a man or not, but he wasn't afraid anymore of the prospect. He did not seem to want many of the things that his peers did, but that did not have to mean he could not be himself and also be respected. Plenty of men never married, though society always made it seem as though it was only a matter of time until they did, it was now becoming obvious that some men simply weren't interested. The city had taught him, more than it had anything else, that many kinds of people existed who wanted numerous things. That, perhaps, no two people really wanted the exact same things and that if there was a place for Aurin, and Arvalyn, for Sivan then there was one to be carved out for Torin.
