Legend of Ransera

Dakkur made himself two gadgets since he entered Zaichaer, well two, out of four with that link between them? There was something with his designs in gadgetry to keep leading him back to strings and ropes. A bola? A sort of grappling hook? What next? Like them maybe something else with rope and string. As a gadgeteer he appreciated the flexible and handy components which could be used in many ways but as a runesmith he found it lacking as something sturdy and lasting. The bola he made? Only good as long as he hit but would it last once it is around the target? Without proper tools or outside help one would be stuck there until he untangled himself but nowadays everyone had a knife and for this reason Dakkur felt his tool needed a lot of improvements to keep up with the times. The best way to do that? Their common link. While the mechanism worked for his hook, as is it would never truly be at its full potential. Dakkur always had to check back on it to ensure the rope had not deteriorated and the question always, could it bear his weight? Or the force of a person running into it as he made it for? For these two devices, it was undeniable the link between the parts be like rope, flexible, but also sturdy and strong.

No, not chain; too heavy and cumbersome for him to use not to mention, too big to fit into his devices.

However it is fair the extraordinary things he wanted to make would need extraordinary solutions. Runeforging was the ticket but when he inquired, he was laughed out for hours. Why would he want to runesmith string or the rope? That was work reserved for masters, experts if the runesmith was really good with his hands and not because of how troublesome it was to work with as the reason why a craftsmen would demand a higher price- it was like working on any other materials a runesmith would on his anvil or bench which meant the reason it had to be an experienced runesmith working on the material was because like all other projects requiring experience, it was just that difficult. It needed the ear of an experienced runesmith to detect the tiniest difference in resonant frequencies of the thin string and a steady hand with accuracy developed from forging countless items for a runesmith to accurately hammer at the right spot to manipulate the aether flow of the string; then the tongs, the less said about that the better. The size needed to properly work on something as fine as string was just as difficult to find as the people who could use them.

"What about making the string from viscerite and dragonshards and going from there?" Where one door closes, another one would open and runeforging had many doors- the most popular of them through making and working with viscerite although it was the costly and time consuming option Dakkur preferred not to use. Was Dakkur so naive and ignorant that he thought no other runesmiths have considered it already? This inquiry was tiring because it was stupid. Dakkur's forehead was roughly tapped on as the more experienced, very angry runesmith wanted to get this one fact into his head. There! Is! No! Such! Mold! For! The! String! The green runesmiths always overlooked the more mundane aspects of their trade. "But maybe we can make a ne-" The taps came even swifter as Dakkur did not understand such a mold could not be found or made because the desirable qualities of string also made it unsuitable to be made from viscerite. Dakkur wanted to suggest something else but the other man had already left. To illustrate how difficult he thought Dakkur's mission was, he even promised to fund Dakkur's study into a method and eat the shirt off his back if he was able to accomplish it.

Dakkur had no interest in those two promises and they soon were no longer entertained. He had a more important project he was working on and if he was lucky, he would be able to do something these runesmiths could not but, where to begin? He fiddled with the rope, unraveled it and toyed with it like a cat and could get no better understanding of its build and the material used. Like a cat playing with string, this proved to be a waste of time. The other runesmiths had a guffaw and told him to find some other worthwhile project, they would have even let him help with theirs if his own undertaking had not demonstrated his madness- no one wanted to work with him for fear he would end up tainting their projects with impossibilities.

But was it really impossible? He looked towards their array of molds and the one fitting the qualities of string the closest was the mold for flat sheets. This would be really good if he was on other projects because its wide surface area meant more for Dakkur could use his tools on; he could toughen it, he could strengthen it, he could even make it more flexible after but herein lies the problem. After the first two, he would be unable to cut into it! If only he could get strings like that straight out of the vat, or was one of the greats who could work the material himself into something both tough and strong like he wanted. His frustrations kicked in as he realized he could only have one or the other, not both and there was no miracles, no solutions. He was stuck.

His despair was apparent and though his hostess did not know why nor did she want to pry, she suggested a break to relax his mind as it always helped her in a rut and if Dakkur had not known about it yet, there was a carnival in the city. "I know, I've been there twice already. It's pretty fun but I don't think it would help me today, thanks.." Dakkur already having gone to the carnival and twice? That was not something she expected as he never seemed interested but she recommended he make another visit before it was over; tomorrow was its last day unless, that was something he already knew too. Dakkur thanked her for the suggestion and considered it. If it was really the last day, maybe he should go if nothing else but to keep his mind off his project and see off the event which he enjoyed over the last few days; more than his two seasons in Zaichaer.

He was glad he decided to attend as the celebrations were bigger than ever. Lots of noise, lots of people, and of course, lots of fanfare. He participated in the closing events he missed out on in the other two days he attended. His mind was so far off his project or so he thought, until he saw a seating arrangements for some red carpet event. It was neither the seats nor guests which had his interest, he would not have recognized any anyway but the rope used to cordon off the area. Undeterred Dakkur went right for it and had it around with his hands. He was right in his assumptions when he had spotted it. It was made differently from those he was used to- maybe this could work? However a member of the Corps spotted him and mistook his intentions. Guests and authorized personnel only, sir. Not wanting to cause a scene, he apologized and watched the rest of the events before he returned to the forge.

There was already enough rest thanks to the carnival so there was no reason for him to retire to his home.

He could not help but be satisfied with the realization he found the door he was looking for. And they said it could not be done... actually he still had to test it so the door was only was enough for a peep but what was that about green runesmiths like him overlooking aspects of the trade? It could not get any more mundane than this! Dakkur collected some aetherite. Though he considered aqualyth more suited for the process, it was more prudent to not add any more variables until he could be sure it could work because with that quality of water; no telling what could happen. Thusly in the most uneventful part of his work, at least until he makes a mistake, Dakkur smelted the aetherite which would take him the entire night as he needed sheets of viscerite crystal made. The most taxing too as it proved as he could do nothing but watch the viscerite being made through his glasses- time passed too slowly for him with only that one thing to keep him occupied. Oh wait now it was two things as enough of the dragonshards melted down for him to use the mold. Now he could watch the sheet dry too. Hooray for choices!

Hours later and he finally had five sheets; he could have gone for more but he was already tired despite the benefits of being made from the same batch, under the same conditions and, same mold that even their thickness and dimensions would be the same. Dakkur examined them one by one under the glasses. They looked the same there too but when he checked on their resonant frequencies though the tonal fork, there were observable minute differences between them. Were they one item or multiple of the same? He thought he could be able to save time by repeating the processes of one sheet exactly on the others but it seemed that would not do- that was until he accidentally hit the tonal fork on the neat little stack over on the side. Curious, now the vibrational frequencies were one and the same. Now he was a little unhappy about this despite the discovery. He should have insisted on a demonstration the last time someone tried to explain the process of joining items together.

He worked on the stack as one but found it a lot more difficult than expected because the reverbing resonance which moved about them collectively would shift the sheets around and take them apart, threatening his work because shift in the wrong moment such as he was just about to hammer on to the stack meant that he could touch the wrong aetheric pathways and would have to undo everything and start from scratch. Fiddling with the tools while he took a break, he thought maybe he should wait until daylight and have some help. Oh wait that's right, he had tongs to use like the one in his hand. Using them to pinch the sheets of viscerite in spots where he determined the tongs would not touch any of the more important aetheric pathways, Dakkur continued his work, hammering away without restraint while pulling apart and joining together the aether with another set of tongs.

It took him the entire night but he had made them tougher, next he was going to make them stronger.

But he could not keep such a project under wraps and was found out when the forge opened. Dakkur apologized but pointed out as a man of the craft may have made something new. The bossman demanded to see his progress immediately the tired Dakkur, who was not thinking properly anymore, mirrored the promise he made the other day. He would repay the forge for the dragonshards he had used, at market price, and would eat the shirt off of his back. Fortunate that he decided to make his item from the most common of stock. On the next day he continued, unimpeded because everyone else had learnt of the wager and wanting to see someone eat the shirt, did not want to give Dakkur the excuse of getting out of it because he had been distracted at the worst of times or some other excuse however, as they truly had no money in his success, also decided to avoid offering him or accepting any request for help

Then came the anticipated final day that some smiths even finished their work early just to see. Dakkur put his finishing touches to the stack making them flexible, like string. It was ugly, maybe he should have invested another day into making it look an appealing product but to delay the reveal now that everyone had gathered would only be seen as an excuse to get out of his bond. The moment of truth, Dakkur twisted and wrapped the stack of viscerite around. It may not have looked like it, or was even as flexible, Dakkur should have spent more days to reinforce the flexibility of the viscerite but this proved his idea worked. Everyone was disappointed being unable to see a shirt eaten and none would dare to ask the bossman especially when he had a valid excuse to get out of it himself. Dakkur had said he would make a product like rope, not prove through a product he could make rope in the future. However as a man of his word while he would not eat his own shirt, he would fund Dakkur's study and naturally as the forge had invested into it that way, it would become a product of the forge, Dakkur maintaining some of his interests in the item of course. It was only fair.

Fair? All the other smiths in the forge saw the scam for what it was but if Dakkur would not voice out against the unfairness of it... It was not like he was scared to speak out against it, he just did not care about it. As a person who had studied the advancements of the world, he was aware progress in its very nature would spread around on its own and this was a surety. Why go against the inevitable? He may as well get ahead of it and score some benefits from it like his negotiations with the boss. This would be a good reason, if only Dakkur would be allowed to create more of the rope when he wanted and was allowed more freedom to deliver more projects of his own vision.