Topic: Forging the way

Epona

Date: 2010-09-29 22:03 EST
The forge was situated a bit apart from the other shops and stalls in the market to allow the necessary room for both the proprietor, and also larger customers. The shop is heralded by A large, newly made wooden hanging sign above the door, and painted with the image of two crossed battle axes with a sword centered through.

The door was large much like a barn's, often swung wide to welcome customers.Upon entering the shop The floor was well packed earth, suitable for hooves, but well enough packed as not to stir up dust. The shop itself was large and airy, with windows set high in each wall. The walls were sturdy stone and mortar. On the walls were hung many displays of weapons of all kinds. swords, axes and maces were a few among the many.

The weapons were as varied as the denizens of Rhy'din. Several cases also stood carefully placed throughout the spacious room, filled with the smaller, finer weapons. From bejeweled daggers, to hair peices that hid 'pins' long and strong enough to skewer through flesh and bone. Some of these peices were particularly lovely, and would never incline the beholder to guess they were dangerous had they not been found here.

Dotted here and there, artfully arranged were various suits of armor Suited for humans, horses, and even the more exotic draconics and anthropomorphic creatures. In the east corner roped off by red velvet rope was even a guillotine, and it was obviously in working order. A large plaque on the wall next to it declared. "Exercise caution with all weapons, please, do not lose your head."

The back of the shop had a door, that was much smaller that the entrance, and was posted "Employees only" And there was always a steady heat emanating from that room. It's obvious she forged everything right here in this shop herself. And often hammer blows could be heard ringing out through the market. The blows would stop as customers entered and the sweaty, but smiling pegataur filly would emerge, perhaps with a smudge of soot on her brow.

"Welcome to my forge! Please feel free to take your time and browse. Please, let me know if you need anything, and remember, commissioned orders are always welcome. If you can dream it, I can forge it."

((OOC Information. I am now crafting items that will be displayed in my profile for viewing, and also special request items.

Please note I do ask the cost of the item be covered by any who request items, as it is not free for me to submit. I also ask a 25 crown service fee, as this is a time consuming endeavor.

Any Item I cannot make will be refunded minus 10 crowns for my effort. Purchase five items, get one free!* *Service fee applies))

Dyarhk

Date: 2010-10-14 04:44 EST
It was The Morning. Bright and young and gleaming with health. A castle stood, shined upon by it, lifeless but for its flags dancing in the cool Fall breeze. One could hardly tell a siege came upon it just the night prior, but that would be in-part due to a considerable lack of bloodshed that occurred. A snakelike usurper was the one and only casualty of the raid. And one man was to thank for that.

"Go on, Erendol! Give your steel a test!" a friendly knight wearing the emblems of the castle said, pushing another member of his knighthood into a ring of people cheering. Several squads made up the congregation, squads of both forces which had fought only just last night. Funny enough, such was the basis of their current swordplay "challenge."

Erendol found himself put in a situation. Standing before him was a towering man, a black knight. And brandishing a broadsword to such a polish, it seemed white. His armor was scuffed, but otherwise glamorous. It was presumed, he had taken many challengers since this event's inception, and gone yet without a loss. He examined his next opponent, Erendol, "It's been weeks since I swung a sword. Your army needs work." Havelast's deep and handsomely accented voice growled.

"What?" Are you going to let him get away with calling our army weak"! Get him Erendol!" his surrounding knights cheered.

Erendol grew in competitiveness, "I'll show you the power of our army, black knight. A power you shan't be forgetting."

Cheers.

"Go easy on them, Havelast." Dyarhk called from the grassy hill they were beside.

Havelast Dagger Sasc grinned, armored in white and cloaked in a light blue with a white outline, "They are more deserving than to have my hesitance. Don't worry, I won't cause any irreparable damage." tossing said cloak over one shoulder to give more freedom to his left-arm dominated sword swing. He charged into a clangor of steel.

Cheers.

Dyarhk made silent his breath, and watched the clouds change, seeing them turn from shape to shape. He recalled one that looked like a horse when he was both shaded and blocked of his view of the clouds by a woman standing over him.

Her short choppy red hair obstructed her left eye long enough to dissuade her angry intent. Instead, she was reminded she must cut her hair closer to her head again, and soon. She came back to the present, no thanks to the influential cool breeze that had deterred her. She struck an intimidating pose, or however intimidating one can look in a sundress, and considering who she was, that was pretty intimidating.

"..." Corea stared at him.

"...Is there a problem?" Dyarhk asked, fingers laced behind his head.

"You've had a long night, we all have. We ended the night with....surprisingly minimal casualties. We've risen the mens' morale. Made friends with a nation Jessica said we would war, and cured the young king of a poisoning advisor. But why we linger here, I do not know." Corea glared at him.

Dyarhk smiled, "You're always in too much of a hurry. Take a LOAD off every now and then." sweeping her legs at the exact moment he said "load." She hit on her bottom and looked none too happy about the trip. All at once she had crawled over him, seizing his shirt tightly in her fists and drawing him close to her pissed off face.

"Listen!- " she began, just as his hand placed over one of her tightened fists. But both their gazes were drawn to Havelast, claiming victory with two swords, having seized his opponent's.

"Your heart is the weapon! The blade is the extension." flipping the smaller sword to hold the blade in hand, and offer the hilt back to its owner.

"Amazing. Is there no one who can beat you?" Erendol asked.

"No on-" Havelast began but was cut off.

"I can." Dyarhk plain, yet loudly said.

Many of the knights gave him a look, but none harder than Havelast. He tried to consider it, but then laughed when things began to not add up.

"Ha! ...but you have no sword?" he called in to question.

"You mean I have no spear on a handle. I do wield a blade." Dyarhk rose and pushed Corea off him, landing on her derriere for the second time and trying to keep her knees together, a surprised look on her face.

"You cannot be serious, Palliator." Havelast's smile grew.

"I will show you knights, how much a burden a mammoth sword is." he walked to the ring, hands upon armored shoulders in navigating through as he did so.

As he reached the opening where the knights had been fighting, he undressed his lentil green coat and exposed his brandished black rhino-headed knife. Drawing it at such a slowness as though it were something to be reckoned with was laughable amongst the knights; curious by Corea and Havelast's faces.

"I do hope that is not valuable. I should hate to break it." Havelast said. The many men laughed.

"Ready yourself!" Dyarhk shut him up. A smirk on Havelast's face, he swung his sword back to a pre-swing pose.

Things became tensely silent.

Dyarhk approached in a slow and fluid stalk, backing and strafing when Havelast moved his arms. Invisible lines crossing where he walked. Dyarhk soon knew where they were as well with his testing. Dancing his knife at him, he lunged in a vertical swipe Havelast had backed out of. 'Oooohs' flew from the crowd at the closeness.

A gamble next. He penetrated the range of Havelast's big sword and suddenly in close quarters he lunged for Havelast's chest with an arm guided away by the black knight's own. This put the knife on a track around in a half circle over their heads and down to the ground where he steered it. Swinging his big sword down upon it, the knife splintered, and the two had retreated from one another.

Corea and the men looked worried for Dyarhk, holding his hand aggressively. Havelast knew, it was a tremor from the shock of his swing.

"Dammit, Havelast! That was a special knife!" he yelled.

The giant knight did his best to feign feeling bad for his laughing. "Well I did warn you. Here." sticking the point of his sword into the ground and flinging the black rhino hilt up at him, clapping into Dyarhk's catch. "Well, I need a new blade now." he mumbled.

"I'm glad to see the sword is still has a place somewhere on Tirraru." a young voice, a distinct voice. Everyone looked, and everyone bowed; except Corea, Havelast, and Dyarhk.

"Your Highness." Dyarhk said. Havelast watched him approach with his royal guards. They were not much better than the knights surrounding him, save for one. The one he combated during the siege, Terelus. Havelast noted he was an exceptional swordfighter.

Corea remained silent. Present for the raid, she was the only one who claimed a human life that night. A necessary loss, and a necessary killer. She put a hand over the beautifully dressed horse beside her and watched.

"Rise." he told his men and with a hand gesture. "Enjoy the day....for it is far more beautiful than a day in our kingdom has been for a long, long time."

"They call you the Palliator" I call you the savior. The savior of the future. I hate to think of the future that would have seen life. Life which would have seen death. A man's brave assault, not for bloodshed, but for change, saw the hope in us all for a kingdom known for its days of light, not prolonged night and fiery catapults. I thank you all. You will always be welcome here." The King, in a most gracious act, tipped his head. His men bowed to them now.

Dyarhk was speechless.

"Thank you, your Majesty." Havelast held his sword under his arm and tipped his head to the king calmly.

Corea softly nodded.

"I have tremendous faith in your abilities, your Highness. Your rule will be a good one. Now, if I may borrow some horses. We must be on our way." Dyarhk said.

"Of course. Our stables are somewhat depleted as of now, but we can offer you two steeds." the king said.

Dyarhk looked to Havelast who shook his head. He then looked back to Corea who shook her head, but to her he smiled. "Two is just fine."



RhyDin. The weather was different, yet the same somehow. Walking the road in the ever-bustling market, Havelast and Dyarhk walked side by side, one with a broken dagger in his hand, the other with a funnel cake. They stopped before a simple yet inviting forge by Dyarhk's eyes.

"What, here" There is a much better shop back where we came in at." Havelast asked.

"Never judge a book by its cover, Havelast. Come on."

And into the forge they went together, steadily dispersing once the expanse of cutlery showed itself. A discerning eye from the knight, but Dyarhk was wowing to almost every piece he saw, especially the bejeweled swords. A fetching gift for a king, he thought.

When the pegasaur would eventually reveal herself with introduction, Dyarhk made sure he was the first one to greet her.

"You must not be busy enough working with steel and remain as lovely as you are." he chose for his very first words to her. A confident and honest smile. And no matter Epona's appearance, working hard and showing it covered in soot or not; Epona was Epona, and he would have worded it the same, either way. "My name is Dyarhk, and I am convinced you can craft me with one of the finest swords in all of RhyDin." holding his elbows at the counter while the knight behind him furrowed his brows, surprised to have heard that.

Dyarhk

Date: 2010-11-15 18:18 EST
What is a Family' Caring and Devoted Hearts.

As fate would have it, a mere instrument of death was not all Epona would find herself contracted to. It was not all Dyarhk would find himself contracted to. Meeting Epona was something of an unexpected, fearsome, yet pleasant experience. He had rode the dice on his flirty and complimenting introduction, and paid scornfully for it, that it would not fly. It crashed and burned in magnificent flames, in-fact. But tragedy he was prepared for. By his mind, a pretty woman or girl was always deserving of the reminder that they are their gender, they are doing things right, that they don't look silly in that dress, or makeup; that someone could love them, for who they are, and not something else. But Epona was a warrior, and she wanted to be respected as one. Her being a girl had nothing to do with it, just like it had nothing to do with anything.

"Okay! Okay. I'as just starting up morning conversation." he grinned, heavily, to one side. "I was right about one thing, you have been working hard." he ran her up and down again, surveying her uncleanliness of work, but more so, her lower more stallion form. He had never seen a winged horse, and only very briefly seen centaur, and even briefer warrior women, so the mass combination of the three was enough to akin his registry to "gawking."

He had the conversational advantage on Epona, because he knew about her, through Brian. But she did nae the vice-versa. But it wasn't a card he was willing to play, right away anyway, or save less she goes on the attack of them out the door for a misstepped word. He would have to tread carefully.

"I cannot tell a lie, save she does in-fact look fat in that dress, that these are the finest swords I have ever seen." walking to the wall where her presumably 'shinier" efforts were put on display, "and I have seen the stock at the other end of the market." paying tribute to the, more "known" armoury Havelast mentioned outside. But Epona was very much to business. If he was going to compliment her work, she was going to ask what he wanted, if anything, so he could leave.

"Gosh, you really want me to get back to my desk of torment, don't you?" he asked sadly, going back over to her reception center. He took a deep breath, disappointed in some way, in himself, but no matter. It was time to drop a heavy. "We should get along better. After all, we have a mutual relative: Brian Ravenlock." his eyes focused for the serious.

Havelast the dark therapy knight was about done browsing, and about fed up with it, too, when he paid a glance over to Dyarhk discussing with the swordsmith. The exchange seemed to be very exclamatory with bold hand gestures; clearly Dyarhk was telling a story. Soon enough, he had given Epona the wait finger, as he came over to Havelast.

"What ya doing?" Dyarhk asked, starting conversation.

"Waiting." an aggravated, serious, get-on-with-it tone.

"I'm going to need you to wait outside for a second." he requested.

"..." Havelast paid a look over his shoulder to assess the combative skills of the pegataur. Muscular legs to put most race horses to shame, a feminine torso but not without muscle and impressionable armor. And her wings, however explainable, were articulately bladed. Havelast showed a sign of worry, not for himself, but for the man before him. "Dyarhk, if I'm outside, and you're inside, I won't be able to protect you."

"Protect-shmotect, I'll be fine. We're just gonna have a private chat." he waved off the knight. But Havelast leaned in closer, seizing his shoulder.

"You dig your own grave. That's fine. But a kick in the right place, by even a common steed, has been known to render a man infertile."

A heavy subject.

"...I'll be fine." Dyarhk said, ushering the hulking knight out into the market. And alone, finally, he approached the warrior pegataur.

"I've heard a lot about you, Epona..." Dyarhk began, and the majority of their conversation went on without the black knight's ears, or any others for that matter. Family names and business details that go better on unknown and by the people they concern. When a quarter of an hour went by, Havelast decided it was time to check in on his friend.

Opening the large stable doors with each a Herculean grip, he gazed upon his friend tattered with cuts from his brow to his thigh, and recovering from what must have been a very funny joke. And Epona, whom Havelast assumed must have gotten fed up with his pointless babble, was not shy of a grin herself.

"Oh, Havelast! Has something happened in the market that might excuse this intrusion?"" Dyarhk questioned jokingly. But the black knight was not one for games.

"What is going on here. Are you being held against your will?" Havelast questioned.

"No, no, no. This was my idea. I wanted to see what the steel here was all about, and just how tough our four-legged friend really is. And since I told her I wasn't up on my swordplay, why, well a friendly competition was the obvious answer." Dyarhk explained, using a now-sheathed sword for cane-like purposes in his chair. "Boy, did I get schooled." he laughed, "Then one thing led to another, and next thing I knew it we were shootin' the breeze. Havelast, did you know our blacksmith here survived a garden gnome invasion?"

"—I was not aware." Havelast said distastefully.

"Hahaha! She's family, alright!" Dyarhk recovered from his fit of laughter, coming to a stand now. "Ahh, you've got yourself a contract, Epona. I'll see you first thing, three days from now. At dawn, look to my coming from the west—" but the look he received was not a favorable one, from either party.

"Alright. Take care, Epona." shooting a flirty glare. But it was different this time, now, that he knew what she was capable of. And still he risked an ass-kicking playing the game which naught be played" A statement of the romantic he forever was. "I look forward to seeing your work! And good luck mending that old junker 'mine. I have faith that after you're done with it, it won't break again.? pocketing his hands as he made for the door with his knightly escort.

Dyarhk

Date: 2010-11-15 18:26 EST
Once outside, he began wiping away at his facial cuts. Not dropping his smile or any "front' that was up, but now, out of her sight, he could dress his wounds. For so long as he was in-front of her, they were her wounds, and he believed she deserved that.

"Three days" What the devil were you going on about?" Havelast questioned, walking alongside him.

"Got a job." he said, wiping his eyebrow cut with different parts of his wrist to ascertain that blood still flowed. It did. Havelast all at once mushed his funnel cake wrapper over the cut and put Dyarhk's hand over it. "Hold it there. Hard."

Dyarhk looked at him with a squinted eye, the wrapper scrunching, "Thanks..."

"So what do you mean, 'got a job"' You going to be hammering sparks now?"

"Hardly. I never claimed to have an artistic bone, black knight. But she did inform me she's the only one working there, and an extra hand around the shop wouldn't hurt anything. And as you can see, I could use the swordplay." trashing the gunky blood-red wrapper to the trashcan with a weighted sound. A mother of two sons walked by, holding her boys' heads to her skirt while looking worried by the blood. "What' It was a candy apple..."

"You know I understand your love for people....but I also understand the position you're in," Havelast began, putting a large jack-boot up on side of the fountain. "...so I hope your new friend won't take it to heart when your work on Tirraru takes precedence over your man hours."

Dyarhk knew this fountain, he knew it very well. Brian made his return to RhyDin beside this wishing well, out of a nightmare of hopelessness that many saw no awakening from. Dyarhk put a boot up, as well. "Don't you worry about that. I'm not exactly going to be putting in forty hours a week. It's just a healthy job on the side. And you know me—" he grinned out at the distance. "I'm always looking for excuses to come back to RhyDin.?

Dyarhk

Date: 2010-11-15 18:39 EST
Not Making the Cut

<The Following takes place some odd days after the events of Havelast and Dyarhk's visit to Epona's Forge.>



"I still can't believe we're here. PERSONALLY." Corea fidgeted in her leather burgundy coat, a brand new, gleaming badge clipped to her lapel.

"I appreciate your coming. This world is still largely unscouted, let alone Telo Kale Yukon." Havelast said, hipping his hands after pushing his suit jacket back with them, beginning to get fed up with how many times now he had rung this doorbell. They stood on the porch of a bricked Victorian home terraced in a nursery of them just off the road. The sidewalk and steps were still bold colors of their originals, thanks to the heavy rain that had been going on recently.

"We're gonna have to breach." Havelast sighed vehemently. Corea, however, gave a different sigh altogether. "It's about time." pulling her Wong Service Magnum. Havelast did the same, and stepped back just as she began her pacing to the door. A loud bang sang out to the neighboring houses, but it was not a gunshot, but the kicked-in door.

Side-by-side in the foyer, pistols out, Corea scanned the dining room just as a sound was given from upstairs. "Second floor." she said, prompting Havelast, the closer of the two, to charge up first.

Pistols up alongside them, they moved down the hall upstairs, aiming at bedrooms as they passed them. Procedure, mainly, because they knew the room that held their suspect: the closed one. Kicking it open easily, Havelast aimed out at the man, who was on his knees with his hands up. "DON'T SHOOT."

Havelast gave him a stern look of distrust. "You too good to answer your door for police officers, pal?" checking the closet and bed before holstering his gun and patting him down.

"You think I'd go to the door, period, with the crap that's going on right now" There's a revolt going on. The chain of command is switching, and all of us that had a halfway-decent setup is getting hauled in now. I guess it's my turn." the man had a skip in his voice, his heartbeat was racing.

"You guessed right. All your friends on the BOM are at the precinct, just waiting to keep you company." Corea said, keeping watch on the hall.

"You understand you are being arrested for crimes against your city and abuse of power?" Havelast asked.

"Huh' What' I didn't even see your badge..." the man said.

"You didn't see my badge?" Havelast asked, disgusted with the games of the scoundrel, pulling his suit jacket back just enough to expose it. "Here's my badge scumbag—" "GAAAH!" the man roared to life suddenly, taking Havelast to his back and producing a stubby knife from the inside of his shoe. Driving it down fast but only briefly, as Corea put two in his chest, tossing her hair out of her eyesight to distinguish his level of threat on the hardwood floor of his bedroom. It was minimal.

Havelast sat up, feeling for his badge and hurling it powerfully into the wall and around the room various places it bounced. Corea stepped into the room. "Maybe you should wear it in the open. Like mine, so that's not a problem." she suggested.

"No." he turned her way, not looking at her. "It's not that.? he got up, reluctantly retrieving his badge and walking past Corea, back down the stairs while she checked for the man's pulse. He was gone.

Dyarhk

Date: 2010-11-15 18:47 EST
Time for a Sword

Late that night, in the 18th District Telo Kale Yukon City Police Department, main floor, Corruption Unit, Dyarhk worked busily on paperwork to a rich wood desk adorned with a cute green-shaded lamp. He seemed distracted.

"He was just out of options, Havelast. It's nothing you haven't seen on any battlefield. People get desperate, they do things they wouldn't normally do. Don't take it so seriously." Dyarhk said, reaching for his seal and clamping it easily onto the bottom of the document and placing it on the top bunk of his plastic multi-tiered file holder, the 'done" bin.

Havelast sat opposite him, in Corea's desk, leaning forward deep in thought with his hands laced together. "No. I've been thinking. I know what you're prepared to do to bring this city, this planet, back to a healthy state. I became prepared to do it when I signed on here as an officer. But these crooks....they're not AFRAID of me!" he slammed his fist down on the desk. "—and they should be."

Dyarhk stopped writing, looking up to his eyebrows at him.

"So what are you saying?"

"...I'm a knight, Dark. I always have been. And I was respected, and feared for it."

"....."

"So I'm going to get that back. I'm going to revisit our friend in the marketplace." Havelast looked over the desks at him.

"Huh' RhyDin" You're going to RhyDin?" Dyarhk questioned, opening his pen hand all of a sudden.

"I'll be back. Corea can work my case while I'm out. She spends too much time talking to you in the mornings, anyway." Havelast said, getting up, and eliciting a smile out of Dyarhk.

"I'll have you know we're discussing work, you filthy swordsman." he said, following the knight around their offices, grabbing various things. Slipping a warm jacket on, and heavy blocks under his arms, he made for the exit. "Swordsman, is right."

Dyarhk

Date: 2010-11-15 18:50 EST
Makings of Greatness

In RhyDin, Havelast stopped by the forge, alerting the staff's attention by dropping his heavy blocks the short distance from centimeters above the front counter, to the counter itself. When Epona came out to greet him, he gave his order, and its specific details.

A block of rich gold, a badge plate, folded notes and specs, and a few other materials.

The seasoned knight applied his reading glasses, and leaned to the counter and pointed out some details for the smith. "I have a most unique order."

Dyarhk

Date: 2010-11-15 19:04 EST
The Sword of the Law

9 days, the knight did make his return to RhyDin. Stepping into the forge in suited attire, and a new-smelling, empty swordcase under his arm. Epona came out, looking as busy as usual, but lit up at seeing the knight. Probably because she could showcase the fruits of her efforts now to someone who understood the hard work that went into making these tools. And his was no simple project. It required strong hands to forge, and articulate fingers to detail. So coming out from the back holding a white-clothed wrapped object just over 4 feet in the outline of a sword, both seemed excited to unwrap it. Handing it to the knight, he gripped where he knew was the blade, and unraveled suddenly the hilt of the blade, glistening to their eyes a bright gold all at once.

On down the weapon posed beautifully for them. But what caught his eye, was his order priority. His police badge. It was a glorious shield of gold. Hard-flamed, baked glass enamel applied over the engraved lettering of the badge, stoned flush with the badge itself. "Havelast Dagger Sasc" written in bold black, and "Telo Kale City POLICE" in a most colorful police blue. All over-top of the city's emblem of justice. ALL, magnificently embedded facing the tip at the beginning of a white-polished steel sword, just above the solid gold hilt, thus using the entirety of the golden block.

The space between the badge and hilt was noteworthy, and had in handsome detail, an excerpt from the Talo Kale Yukon lawbook, in letters of gold: "The people will always need the sword, so long as he willing to swing it for them does so with just and fairness".

The C"te-d'Or esque gold finish on the badge particularly shined through, and with such a thickness in the coating he knew he had supplied enough gold. The sack of crowns he had brought as payment was suggestive enough of the resources poured into this 'symbol" of justice. The crowns softly sank onto the counter. "I hope this will be sufficient. It more than pays for the gold and steel, and other resources, but I'm afraid a price cannot be put on your workmanship." Havelast said, "feel free, even, to charge any remainder out of your new employee's pay."

He took the sword in other hand, testing its maneuverability before being all too well convinced it was no less than "perfect." He wrapped it back, snugly, in its white drapery and placed it into the case. At a precise 4'4" long, it fit exactly to the specs of the case, which meant it was constructed exactly as requested. Epona got a glance from the knight, that he was wrong in doubting this forge from the get-go. "Miss Epona. It's been a pleasure doing business with you." he shook her hand firmly for apology's sake, and began his rushed departure.

He next returned to Tirraru, in Telo Kale Yukon's Police Department early in the morning for work, carrying a swordcase. When he stepped into his unit's department, he of course saw Dyarhk and Corea talking at their desks, and back behind them, Detectives Finder and Cohen crossing their arms in-front of a whiteboard.

"Oh, Havelast." Dyarhk said, still smiling while Corea wiped hers off her face. "Get your new badge, did you?" he asked.

"You were right, Dark. That woman makes a damn good sword." he said, walking past them, and going to his desk, the closest to the private offices, such as the captain's, whose has very long and flat-faced blinds. Such privacy comes with rank.

Dyarhk flipped out his newly reforged black rhinoceros bowie, famously from the same forge"You don't have to tell me...? giving a sharp stare to his reflection in it.

Epona

Date: 2010-11-27 19:43 EST
She'd been pleased at how well her work had gone over with Havelast and Dyarhk, despite the reluctance of the one. It didn't matter, it was hard work and razor honed skill that had won out the day and she had gained hard-won respect from Havelast, who by all appearances upon first meeting she had thought a snob and a fop. She had looked at him critically that first day wondering if he knew what the hell real work was, and the broken knife they'd presented her, was almost a joke. She'd fixed it, and improved it, and in so doing won a greater prize then gold.

A request. that next piece had been one of her finest works and it had been well received as well. Something she took no light pleasure in. Despite the light flirtations of Dyarhk (Which had along the way earned him many bruises) She was beginning to have a bit of respect for the man. For his ability to take punishment if not for being particularly bright. No matter how many time's she'd put him back in line for an offhanded remark about gender or the fairer sex she reminded him (sometimes brutally) she was in no way inferior.

Grudgingly though she'd come to like the man. Perhaps it was is spirit, or perhaps it was pure stubbornness. She was starting to look forward to his visits. even though he often left with a fresh bruise, she often had work to keep her busy. She'd begun contemplated however that perhaps it might be too easy for her to keep him in check as she did and it would be to his great surprise the day he'd come in wanting to know about a new set of throwing daggers when she'd made her offer.

"You know," Casually. "I have been spending quite a bit of time in the forge. I could use some fresh air to stretch my legs. How would you feel about a friendly spar?" Dyarhk had been taken aback, not having expected this warrior female to want to associate with him out side of a business relationship, and here she was offering to spar. He'd accepted and accompanied her to the glen where they squared off. "No weapons..I don't want to kill you, now." She was confident as she stripped herself of her weapons and watched him do the same. "You promise not to kill me?" He asked eyeing her critically.

The filly was after all quite large and powerfully built. She was all muscle and battled hardened confidence. She nodded. "I promise." But she hadn't promised not to hand his ass to him and she did so over the course of forty minutes. By the time she was through with him she was sporting maybe three bruises and one good cut, while he looked like he'd gotten caught in a stampede of pissed of wild oxen. But she was friendly as she helped him up, offering a strong hand to him.

She watched as he gathered up his weapons, pride not letting him succumb to the agony she knew he must be in. She chuckled softly. "Not bad for being out of shape. Come on, I'll give you a lift to the local healer, maybe they can patch you up, that is if there's enough of you left." Dyarhk frowned a moment, before sighing and accepting. Pride dictated he mount on his own however and he had waved away her offer of help. She had to hand it to him, he was pretty damn tough after what she'd done and he was still -walking-. She carried him at a slow walk toward town and medical attention. "We should do this again." He said as he winced with her gait. It wasn't exactly a smooth ride after all.

She laughed. "Lets get you patched up first then we'll see. Though the practice certainly can't hurt." Somehow, there was a new, unspoken respect that had formed between the two from spilling one another's blood. The heat of battle it seemed had forged a friendship.

Epona

Date: 2010-12-16 18:44 EST
Dyarhk had done as she requested and dropped off his breastplate early in the morning. It was not yet light when he arrived at Epona's forge. "Morning, Dyarhk." Pleasantly enough. "Lets see that hunk of scrap you've been parading around in, eh?" Dyarhk scowled, though it was not in anger. "That hunk of scrap kept me from getting killed, i'll have you know." As he offered up his trusty old breastplate. "You planning on re-enforcing it?" "Something along those lines, yeah." She flicked her tail and took the plate. It had a good heft to it and was thick, but it was bulky and cumbersome.

"You want a cup of coffee or something before I get started?" Tilting her head toward the forge where one could already feel the heat radiating, even in the bitter cold of winter morning. "..Noo...I prefer my skin tender rather than crispy, but thanks. Besides, I have errands in town I should get out of the way. Want anything while I'm out?" She shook her head in negation. "No. I have all I need for now. I'll send a runner when I'm done, alright?" She slung his old breastplate up on her shoulder easily and smiled at him. "Be careful, it's slick and there's a lot of ice." He nodded. "Yeah well I think I'll make it. Don't go setting those pretty wings of yours on fire, 'kay?" "Yeah yeah."

She flicked his back side with her tail as she turned and trotted into the inferno she called a forge as he laughed and headed into town. She began immediately taking measurement and dismantling it. She had no intention of repairing it. She picked up the over sized pliers and used them to handle the large sheet of mystic silver she'd already had heating just for the occasion. It was moved to the anvil and her iron hammer taken up. The resounding clang of hammer falls rang out in the still morning waking birds from their roosts obscenely early. Metal was shaped, folded, hammered. Cooled measured, heated and the process repeated.

This she did countless times. She was creating a masterpiece. Hours slipped by, and she was sweating but she never stopped. She had endurance and this certainly called for it as surely as any battle had.

*CLANG*

*CLANG*

*CLANG*

All day long and late into the night. the shoppe was closed and she took no customers. She worked on this alone. It was nearly morning the next day when she was satisfied. An intricate breast piece with several deep wells strategically placed. She took it reverently to her work table where sat a small package. She opened it, unwrapping the leather and twine to reveal an iron box with a hinge-top lid. this she opened and withdrew five velvet-wrapped objects each roughly the size of half her fist.

She gingerly unwrapped each one. Sparkling gems. Not just decoration, but amulets. Each was imbued with protective magic. The first, a blood red ruby was placed in the center, and carefully set with molten mystic silver that was carefully poured around the edges, creating a seal. The second, a deep purple amethyst, set in the right pectoral plate just below the shoulder and sealed as the first had been. A sapphire, darker blue than ordinarily found was set between the shoulder and center below the collar and sealed, before a forest green emerald was set in a mirror image position and sealed. A topaz was set mirrored to the amethyst.

Each amulet was enchanted with charms to increase endurance, strength, agility, speed and dexterity. She had thought long and hard when she'd commissioned these to be made, and payed a hefty price. 300 gold and five of her finest swords. But it was well worth it when the metal had cooled and she beheld her finished work. It was feather-light flexible and harder than any breastplate likely to be found in Rhy'din for a damn long time. She placed it gingerly upon the stand she'd readied for it and admired her work for a moment.

But she wasn't done

Epona

Date: 2010-12-17 23:13 EST
Leather was never her favorite medium, but she could cut it as well as the next smith. She'd lifted one of Dyahrk's old bracers from a discarded weaponry pile when he'd had his back turned. She needed it for a measurement. She'd taken it back to the forge and set it aside just as Dyarhk had some to give her his old breastplate, unknowing he's be getting a far superior one in it's stead.

Now the breastplate was completed and it was glorious. She now concentrated on the new braces she intended to gift him with. Leathers was painstakingly cut and stitched. Holes were punched with and awl and grommets pounded in with a mallet. Thick leather ties than had been worked until they were supple were threaded through. She had her start. Soft suede on the inside would prevent chafing, and the outer part was tough and thick. A good place to begin.

She turned to her forge, after setting the leather parts aside, and with large tongs carefully withdrew an elongated sheet of the same mystic silver she had crafted the breastplate from. Gingerly it was placed on the anvil and the took up the iron hammer in her free hand. The metal was shaped around the nose of the anvil, pounded mercilessly into the desired form. Folded, pounded re-heated and worked.

*CLANG*

*CLANG*

*CLANG*

A familiar sound by now. Passerby occasionally stopped at the closed forge wondering what she was working on. Epona's forge was never closed during the day. They talked and whispered amongst themselves, speculating what fabulous thing it was she crafted. It must be important indeed, to close her doors.

The first sheet of metal had finally been shaped to her satisfaction and she plunged it into a barrel of water to cool it. Next it was attached to one of the leather bracers giving it a powerful defense. It would take a battle axe wielded by a maniac to damage this bracer. The first one finished she returned to her inferno and withdrew the second red hot sheet of metal.

In the same way it was shaped, bent to her unrelenting will. After hours of working the metal she was satisfied. It was perfect. She plunged the second shaped piece into the cooling barrel and took it to the work table, fastening it to the second bracer. But was she done" Oh no. She took a soft cloth and set about buffing all of her creations until they shone like the sun. celestial bodies plucked from the heavens and wrought to armor. The bracers she wrapped in a piece of fleece, and the breast plate, she covered with a drop cloth.

She was well pleased. "Derrik!" The first words spoken in days. The runner who had been bored waiting was quick to respond. "Yes, Miss Epona?" She frowned. "Stop calling me miss. And," She paused smiling again as she wiped sweat from her soot blackened brow. "Run and fetch Dyarhk. Tell him it's..urgent" She chuckled and watched as Derrik Nodded. "Yes, mi..erm, Yes, Epona!" with that he pushed through the door glad to have something to do and ran as fast as his legs could carry him, to find Epona's esteemed rider.