The Purest Metal

Part 2

Written by Vistariman

Angveir stared at his finished piece of work, a steel short sword of good quality, however, it was not for the mysterious customer, he had to finish his other orders first of course. After placing the burning blade in the water, the Nord looked at the sack of the glittery gold left for him. He honestly did not know what to do, for the warrior-woman did not even have her measurements taken, let alone her metal composition preferences. He decided to look in the bag again to see how much really was in there, and much to his surprise, under a few pure gold septims, there was a letter most likely meant for him. After ripping open the envelope, he began to the text.

Dear Reader,

If you have this message, then you have been given both the gold and the task from myself. I heard you follow an old and rarely used form of ore refinery and crafting. I will not go into detail of this, for you know it quite well I assume. I wish for the composition to be pure ebony, however, I know the cost of the ore these days so a shipment should arrive in a day of so from yours truly. I hope all goes well for you smith, and my measurements list is below. I measured myself for I do not wished to be touched so much for simple measurements.

Your Customer,

Anonymous


He chuckled at the last part, "A real Nord of class this woman is!" he laughed heartily,
"Hates being touched just for measurements, AND she can afford ebony by the pound!"

After writing the measurements down and helping himself to a late dinner, Angveir walked over to his bed for an oddly sleepless night. He thought mostly of why she wanted to have her armor crafted in such a way. He was good at making armor like that, even better than he did with the normal process sure, but what significance does that pose to him? His thoughts eventually dragged on to exhaustion, and he succumbed to sleep.

The following morning Angveir felt strangely invigorated for once, and when the shipment of ebony awaited him at his snowy doorstep, he once again forced himself to hum to repress his urge to sing.
The bright red fires of the furnace beckoned to him, and he answered the call with hammer in hand.
He knew he had only one chance per ore he used for It was likely that it would become to brittle to use after the heating, and knowing the risks he began to heat the blackened gold, as he so often calls it.

He did anything he could to pass away the time before the ebony was malleable. He even tried to find something to read to pass the time.

"Lets see," the smith muttered, running his finger down the spines, "Sir Fersin and the Saints of Four, is just rubbish. Mankar Camoran's Commentaries of the Mysterium Xarxes, the Complete Collection, who reads this foolish stuff anyway?"


After scanning through endless books he comes across something that interested him. The title was what really caught his eye.

Blood-Smithing
Understanding the Ancient Arts
Part 2

He has read the first part, it taught him how to make the armor, and he could easily remember the steps:

Step 1: Be sure to have pure metal to smith with.

Step 2: Put all of your heart and effort into the creation of the product.

Step 3: When you fist melt the metal, put five drops of blood into the liquified ore whilst making an oath of good will.

Step 4: Create what you wish, as long you correctly perform the previous steps.


"Part one," Angveir muttered to himself, " taught me how to make the purest metal in the first place."
The thoughtful smith pondered quickly for a moment, and then thought out loud, "Then part two must tell me of the significance of the tasks done to make it."

He felt the presence of the now furious fire, and he arose from the stool he sat upon, and he pulled out his dagger from the shelf beside the doorway. He then pricked his finger, letting four drops fall from the tip. From outside of the log cabin home, you could hear his voice as he let the final drop of blood fall in the fiery hot ebony.


"I now pass on my blood and soul,
to the one who needs it most.
I now pay the burdening toll,
to the one's metal as the host."

He pauses as the blood glows its crimson tint.

"May my skill and spirit guide you,
throughout your troubled days.
As my blood stays in reddened hue,
I shall guide you through the haze."



End of Part 2

I hope for once that this can be considered an improvement Part one helped me find mistakes that are known mainly in the internet form of fan-fiction. If you are wondering what the story mentioned "Sir Fersin and the Saints of Four" was, it is my first fan-fiction here. It was an inside joke for me mostly, the main character calling it pure rubbish and all that.
Please I would like some criticism to help me improve as I always ask. It would be very much appreciated. Good day everyone.

Hi Vistariman,

I was meaning to read part 1, but never had the time. So I went and read this one instead. All in all I liked it. I especially liked the spell incantation at the end. That was very nicely done.

A few nitpicks.



That should be a lowercase "it".


The other thing is about smithing in the Medieval and Classical eras. Metal was not liquefied by smiths (at least not in Europe, although in India it was to make wootz steel), as they could not achieve the heat necessary in their furnaces. They used a technique called pattern welding. Basically they would gather up bits of metal ore, heat them, then pound them together. If they were making a sword they would beat it into a number of straight rods. They would put some into charcoal so that they would pick up carbon from it and become steel, and leave some just as plain iron. They would then twist them around themselves into a single cylinder, mixing the hard steel and softer iron together. If it were a helmet or other piece of armour they would go with whatever other shape was appropriate for the piece they were working on. Then they would pound it out flat, fold it back over onto itself, and pound it out flat again. They would do this pounding down over and over. This actually causes striations in the molecules that bind them together more tightly than you would see if you did liquefy the metal and poured it into a mold. Because of this long and involved process, smithcraft was not only a science, but an art form.

Thanks for telling me about that typo, SubRosa, it really helps me out. I know about the smithing process you spoke of, but I half-heartedly decided to change the way of refining ore for this story. He has to melt the metal, cut his fingers and give blood to the liquefied metal. He could then cast out the ebony into shaping molds(like a rectangular piece for a blade etc.), but he must keep them at least red hot to shape it, by letting the liquid form cool before hammering the pieces together. I knew it would be contradictory to use a melting and casting process just to refine the ore for the intended blood blacksmithing. I did, however, try to keep true to the actual form of craft by instead of casting it into armor, it was instead cast into shapes to be hammered together. It was an idea that would be unrealistic for the time, and it may not fit well with the medieval
like setting for the elder scrolls series. I am sorry to make it like this, but at the time, it did seem pretty neat.

Ah, you got around your own flaws most eloquently. :thumbsup:


Great sentence. Very poetic. :goodjob:


Was this a spoiler, perhaps? :hubbahubba:


Wow. That's one dedicated smith. :rock:

About the technique proposed by SubRosa: you could say he uses magic to heat up the metal enough to be liquid. This is Elder Scrolls universe, after all.

I see a definite improvement, Vistariman. Do continue.

Thanks for the the reply Peleus, and I do wish to continue with part three probably next week. After that I already had a concept ready for the next fan-fiction. I even decided to add illustrations.(as the arts of paper and pencil are my preferred style )

Thanks for the support evereyone