Putting the Craft in Warcraft

[Lost Star]

** Note on voting! I prefer you doing 5 lines or less. I write scenes, so try to think of what would be a good scene, and not jam everything you will want to do into a single vote. I'm a forgetful GM. Now minor actions that handle background events are not part of this. **

Spoiler: Picture of Wayland

Your name is Wayland. You like making things. And that's about all you can say about yourself really. I mean, you want to be famous, or spectacular. And many other things really. But ultimately you are just a young boy barely becoming a man. Nothing famous to your name. Nothing spectacularly notable about you in your opinion.

About the only thing you have to say for yourself is that you can make a lot of things. Swords, Shirts, jewelry, and other things. Your village is a tiny thing hidden in the wetlands. Quite literally the only good thing you can say about it is that the people are friendly. Less than a hundred humans live in the place. Well that, and one dwarf.

He's why you've sort of picked up the habit of learning and making things. He sort of settled down around the area and doesn't appear inclined to move. Likes taking in the stuff the hunters bring in, and doing random things with them.

You'd call yourself his apprentice, but the dwarven man barely talks nowadays, and moves even less. Honestly, half the village would think he's dead if the man didn't drink everyone under the table at festival times.

It's a humble life really. Your parents are long since dead. (There are some nasty critters out there) Your life is comfortable at the moment, and you get to do what you like. Which is of course making things for others.

Your most frequent project right now is making iron arrowheads for the hunters, and repairing the various farming implements that people keep breaking. You do some tailoring on the side for others.

Your dwarven mentor Burin Barleyhelm has taught you to do so much more though.

[]Name?
[] Choose two crafts to level past apprentice.
[] Current Plan to get famous! (IE your motivation.)

You currently have a backlog of 5 jobs that will take 10 segments, and give you 2.5 G. You currently have no living expenses.

First post/ 2 / 3 / 4 / 5.Port Town / 6 / 7 / 1 Project / 2 Project / 3 Project / My better half / Lothar / Purple / Bit of building / Spar / Analysis / End Arc, First War / Goblin / Glimmer / Inspiration / Eye / Alexstrasza / 3m / Alexstrasza's Rage / Tears / 1 Y / 2Y / 3Y / Arc 2 end / Interlude: We stand together / Arc 2 Expansion pack / Arc 3 Begin / 1 / Nalice / Experiment / Black Gift / 2 Interludes / Blue / Green / Arcanite / To seek / To find green / To Find Bronze / Two interludes / A quest / Some work / NE / Serenity / Tailoring / Interlude Adventure / Boom / Experiment! / Legendary 1 / Legendary 2 / Successor / 3m After / 6m / Truesteel / NE interlude / B2 / Crown / Armor / Interlude: Tyrygosa / Interlude: Thrall / News / Chen / A good friend / Bronze Prayer / Leon / 2y / 1y / Elune / 1 y left / End Arc 3 / Scourge: Horde intervention / Horde Intervention 2 / Wave 1 end / Wave 2 / Scourge Campaign end / Alliance Campaign / Ring / Aspect / Revive / Light / And Shadows / Last Sunset /
Omakes:
Goblin snip's inspiration/An eye/ Dragon Armor / Retribution / Forsaken Souls / Green Poem / On death / Experimenting /
Quirk / The Ring / Thinking about Truesteel / Red Spear / A knife / One Poem / Two Poem / A Raven / A Cloudy dream / Shimmering Shield / Masemune / A cat / A Wolf / Another eye / Epic Quest p1 / Armor Sword / Water assistant / Divinity / An Old Dragon / Messenger / Magical Metals / Messenger 2 / Messenger3 / Prayer Beads / Liquid Sword / Messenger 4 // Invis cloak / Dreadwater / Arcane omake / Bow / Staff / Shadow staff / Apprentices / Messenger 5 / Invisible Staff / Workaholic / On a boat / Radical Queen / A gathering / Jania in Dragonblight / Going to hunt / Illidan / Dragonblight, gathering forces / Aspect of Blue 1 / Prince Arthas / Battle of Eastpoint 1/2/3

Canon Omake:
The Silver Hand / The Horde /Fall of Deathwing p1 / Fall of Deathwing p2 / Fall of Deathwing p3/ Effects of hope / A Necklace / An adventuring night / Adventure time! / Responsibility / Jania / Spiders / Spiders 2 / Spiders 3 / Meeting in Reverse / Sun Spider / Chen / Words of Iron / Twilight of Honor p1 / p2 /P3 / P4 / ToH Aftermath / Explosions in Dalaran / P2 /

 

[Lost Star]

[X] Wayland
[X] Blacksmithing and Enchanting
[X] To create the most powerful weapons, and the most resilient of armors. The kind which even the greatest heroes would wish to have.

*Note, it takes 1 segment minimum to make something
Blacksmithing perks
-25 Reduces Bronze crafting time by 1
-50 Gives enhancement Golden Inlaid
-75 Reduces Iron crafting time by 1

Enchanting Perks
-25 Reduces Cost of all enchantments by .5
-50 Allows two enchanments to be done at 8 segments instead of 10
-75 Reduces Cost of all enchantments by 1

PS, 'grinding' skill is a time honored wow tradition, but I can safely say that doing a good, big project would be just as successful here
----

"Wayland! Wayland!" The call makes you look up from the forge. You've been spending the past week slaving away at it. Horrid, and hot work, but you enjoy it quite a bit. Even if you have more than a few singes from the fires.

"Come-on Wayland, you been slavin' away all week." The boy walks in once he notices you done. "Ya'd think the crocks had gotten hold o' scent."

"Not everyon' can play soldier like you Leon." You drawl back as you look up at him.

And you have to look up. You are about average height for your age, but Leon has shot up like a beanpole. Worse, he's broad and strong too. In fact, out of all those in your age group, he's the only one that's actually got a decent look about him. (You are passable apparently. He's handsome.) You'd call him the posterboy for recruitment if he weren't dumb as a box o' rocks, and twice as stubborn.

"Thought you would want to know the Gobby's here." Leon mutters back and peers at your anvil. "Doin' arrowheads again?"

"Yeah, none o' the hunters care ta recover the things, or buy anything more than shitty copper ones." You shrug and set the few you have done down.

They are crappy things really. You use a mold to form them, and then pound them to something like an edge. You could do a lot better, but it's just not needed. The hunters here get by with them, and frankly they aren't paying you enough to do anything fancy. Even though you want to.

You pause as you start to leave and peer at Leon. You know the boy, he doesn't do anything 'nice'. He's a passible friend, but he's not particularly inclined to go out of his way for the most part. So, you are pretty certain he's got another motive for visiting you.

He squirms a bit under your look. "What do ya want? I know you were out in the fields hunting down some sort o' varmit. You wouldn't have seen the Merchant otherwise."

Leon finally nods. "I was wondering if you could make me a sword. Not a cheap one. A fancy one with lot o' trimmings."

You restrain a laugh. "Ya do know that's gonna cost a pretty gold piece right?"

"I got ten gold!" Leon thrusts out his chest in pride. "Been saving for years! I want ta go to the big city and become a soldier! I need a good sword for that."

Considering a good sword would be steel, or better Mithril or Thorium, that's not nearly enough. Adding time costs to that, and well. You would maybe break even, if you did it in your free time.

"I dunno." You don't say no to his face.

"Come on Wayland." The boy pleads just a bit. "I need a good sword. You know what chance I got around here. The best girl around is Shirley, and she's already gonna marry the Mayor's boy. I ain't gonna marry Gracie."

That does make you wince. Gracie is probably the ugliest girl in the village. And her personality is if anything worse. Unfortunately she's also one of the only available girls in your age group.

"Gotta think about it." You finally sigh. "I'll try somethin'."

Leon slaps you hard on the back, and you stagger and glare as the boy trots off.

Grumbling, you head towards the Goblin Merchant. Short and Green, with a massive nose, and a large wagon. Normally you'd call him crazy to go through the swamps alone, but he's got some fancy sort of doodad that makes it possible.

"Ahhh, Wayland! My best customer!" The Merchant rubs his hands together as you walk up. "Got several bits of copper with your name on em. Even got a good chunk of steel if you want to really let loose." Here he pauses and lowers his voice. "I know you've been itching ta do bigger things kid, so if you want I think I got a few special deals for you later."

"Maybe." You know this Goblin would steal the clothes off your back if he could, but he's at least honest in his deals. "Gotta fill up my copper stores at least."

A few bars of copper are immediate pulled out. You check them as normal and nod.

"All right, got any good deals?" You ask conversationally. "I been itching to do bigger things."

"Been hearing some strange rumblings down south." The Goblin states conversationally. "If you got a few cheap hammers, I would give you a fair price since they are in demand. Don't need fancy stuff. Don't really trade in weapons that much though. Pretty jewelry if you can do it. Though I'd need a few show pieces as an example before I agree to anything."

You nod.

[]

You have 1 fate point now! As an example of what you can do with it, you can have the Goblin have somethings special. Maybe a discount (Goblin though, so expect a reason for it) Or perhaps a better rumor?

You currently have a backlog of 5 jobs that will take 10 segments, and give you 2.5 G. You currently have no living expenses.

 

[Lost Star]

[X] Plan Let's get this started V3
-[X] Work this amount of segments in this order until a Story Interupt +3/ (*2,-1) /-3/+3/+2/+2 . A day is in between each "/"
--[X] (+) Means the general work backlog, (*) Means Normal Quality Bronze Hammer (1 segment, 1 gold each), (-) means Normal Quality Silver Jewelery with Gold Enhancement (4 segments,4gold).
-[X] Fate Point: Goblin has a primer on magic that he's selling for 'cheap'
-[X] Find out where people could afford buying better weapons and jewelry and the reasonableness of getting someone to sell on our behalf/ move to someplace new
-[X] Reassure Leon that <a> He's not getting a fancy sword because it's a time waster and a target for thieves, <b> It's a sword that's meant to keep him alive and will be spec for such, gold trimmings won't keep him alive and <c> we'll work on it after we finish our backlog of orders.
--[X] Ask him to give us his money in advance, so we can buy expensive and high-quality materials in order to make it great sword.

"Could get you a few bronze hammers whipped out quick, an' maybe a silver necklace if you want. Would take a few days." You finally state after thinking about it.

The goblin nods. "That will work just fine. A gold for the hammer, and maybe four for the necklace."

"Ya tryin to gyp me again?" You give the goblin a mullish look. "Ya that don't even cover the cost of the materials."

"Heyy, a goblin has to make living." He holds up his hands. "You do good work kid, but you are still learning. And unless you have some hidden talent you've been hiding, I'm gonna have to work to sell em. A gold and two silver for the hammers. And if the necklace is good I will give you four and forty silver."

"Make it a gold three for the hammers, and add another twenty silver for the batch, and you got yourself a deal." You cross your arms.

"Deal." The goblin nods. "I'm going to be here for two days, so if you can get them to me then I'll give the gold. If you can't, you will have to wait till I make the rounds of this area."

You nod and then glance over his wares. The man tends to carry mostly metal when he comes out this way. It's a serious trade good here, and more often than not he's sold out of that by the time he finishes his round and makes a return trip. He picks up a lot of skins from the hunters on the way too, and you see them in back. Right when you are almost done browsing, you see a book peaking out of one of the skin piles.

"What's tha book?" You are curious now.

"Oh that?" The goblin pulls it out. "Almost rubbish really. Can give it to you for a gold. It was supposed to be a magic primer for novices, but whatever numbnut wrote it dithers for half the book, and has the rest of it too technical for beginners."

You look over the thing, and flip through it. And almost immediately wince. You have a fair amount of grounding in magic. That's in Enchanting though. Technically you could pick this up, but it would be a slog. Basic combat magic. Not really your thing, but you suppose it would be interesting to try sometime.

"One gold then. Be back with tha goods later." You flip the goldpiece, and the goblin takes it.

"All right. Glad to be rid of that." He shrugs and pockets the gold. "If you ever want to get out of here let me know kid. You got a good head on your shoulders and are wasted here. I got a good deal where I can get you a solid job, and even better opportunities."

"And a contract for a year." You drawl. "I 'member the paperwork."

You do actually. It's not the worst deal in the world, but it would basically lock you under a goblin merchant's thumb for the duration of the contract. You would get paid a decent amount, and there were several 'safety' clauses, but you aren't certain about the lack of freedom implied. Something to think about though.

"Hey, everyone has start somewhere. You get a year of work, and keep up your skill and you would be set." Is the reply from the goblin, and you laugh just a bit.

Back to your forge though. Time to get back to work. You see Leon waiting nervously at the entrance, and you sigh.

"Listen man." You rub at your forehead. "I've got a decent idea of what I can do fer you on this. But I'm gonna need that gold you have for the base."

Leon nods enthusiastically. "I can do that." He peers at you. "It better be a good sword tho'."

"It's not gonna be pretty." You state flatly. "I aint doing somethin' fancy. I'm doin' something that will stand up to you using it to chop wood like you did wit' that axe your momma had."

"Hey, that was a shitty axe!" Leon scowls at you. "Not my fault it snapped."

"Ya were trying somethin' fancy." You roll your eyes. "Get the money here, and I will see what I can do. Gonna take time though."

Leon nods. "So long as you can get something before the month's up, I'm good for it. I wanna leave 'afore the cold snap starts."

With that you go into your forge, and start to heat it up. You have enough time to finish some of your backlog, and then get those hammers knocked out.

You barely notice when Leon comes by with the money. You do roll your eyes at the pile though. All in copper and silver. Once you have some time you get it organized and counted. You are probably the only one in the villiage that handles money every day, so you know how to get it arranged.

You see your mentor trot in while you are working, but the dwarf doesn't say much, so you keep at it.

Arrowheads first. Pour the copper into the mold, and then pound them into a rough shape. That's the easy one. The next is a harness for one of the oxen. That requires a fair amount of leather-work. Not your strongest point, but something you can handle once you get the proper metal segments retied.

Your mentor walks out while you finish that up, and you realize it's night. So you just crash near the forge after cooling it down.

Up in the morning, and working on the stupid hammers. That's an easy one thankfully. Just get the hammerhead poured out, and then be certain that the shaft is solid. It's fortunate that this doesn't take long, cause you are on a bit of time limit.

It's the necklace that's the big issue. This is delicate work that you can't rush. It has to be pretty too. A bit of gold inlaid, and using your little tools is what's needed.

In retrospect, you realize you need better tools if you want to do better. You know you could do better, but your smallest tool is a pair of pliars that you would use for chains.

Your mentor comes in when you are trying to do some frustrating parts, and finally actually does soemthing aside from shout out advice.

"Here." You see his dirty fingers come into your view, and he casually bends the delicate area into shape. "You ain't gonna get it done with that bludgen."

You frown at the casual way the dwarf ignores the near white hot metal. "Not everyone has stone hands."

That gets a guffaw. "Well, your delicate little human hands can be saved at this point. Go ahead and get the rest I'll hold down the framework."

With him handling the more delicate areas you are able to finish just in time. The resultant gold and silver necklace isn't the most fantastic thing you've seen. It is a solid work though, and pretty enough to sell or gift.

Burin gives a snort as you look it over. "I'd be ashamed to call that dwarven work."

"Thanks." You state sarcastically.

"Tellin' it like it is lad. You still got a long while to go." Burin takes the necklace and grabs your hammer. A few tangs later, and a hissing sound as he adds more gold and cools it. "There, that's tolerable now. You are almost there though. Another year or so, and I could call you a passable craftsman."

You take the necklace back. You swear the dwarf had magic hands if you didn't just watch him do that. It actually looks very pretty now.

"Hah." You chuckle. "All right, I suppose that will get me the gold."

"Better. Otherwise I'll take me hammer to that idiot goblin."

You get to the goblin right before he leaves and make your sale. The necklace gets a bit of a bonus too since he likes what was done with it.
[]

Sold - 2 hammers, 1 necklace.
Backlog now at 4 jobs 7 segments

Gained: Arcane book. Studying will give you the following: -6 segments: Arcane magic -12 segments: Glowing enchantment 16 segments: Glowing enchantment can be enhanced to flame enchantment. 20 segments: Glowing enchantment can be enhanced to frost enchantment.
Gained: 11.5 G total

Added to front page: Current workplace status.

 

[Lost Star]

[X] Finish the bloody sword already V1
-[X] 3a / 2a/ 2a/ 3b/3b/3b/3b/3b/2b/2b/2b/2b/2b
--[X] 13 days total
-[X] a= Backlog work, b= Blue Mythril Sword of Stamina (25 sgmt, 12 gold)
-[X]+30 Fatigue from start to finish for a total of 45
-[X] Make our brand on it. This is something we're proud off
-[X] Tell Leon that once he makes it big pay he should at least buy us a drink/dinner/help landa beautiful girl/ pay the extra cost of the sword/ etc since the thing cost a lot more than 10 GP. We'll leave it at his discretion on how he want's to pay us back
--[X] Also tell Leon to be careful of thieves

You hold the bar of mithril in front of you and examine it. You don't know mithril. You've never had cause to work on it. The stuff was expensive, and rather rare. Your goblin supplier had one bar of it as almost a novelty really. That you bought the thing had actually surprised him. You wouldn't even try to use the stuff, but your mentor had been thorough with his explanation of different materials.

You make plans while you finish off your backlog. Routine stuff barely worth the attention you need to give it. But it's necessary if you want to keep eating, and gives you a bit extra money to play with. You finish that off in three days, and then sleep a long while before the next part.

This sword is going to be good. That thought rings like your hammers on the anvil. You need it to be good.

So you swallow your pride and ask your mentor to assist. The lazy dwarf is snoring like a log when you rouse him, but comes awake far more rapidly than you think possible when you tell him what you want to do.

"Ya serious lad?" He gets up, and starts to follow you to the forge. "Mithril ain't something to play with. You want ta work it, you gotta be real careful." He whistles as you show off the bar.

"Well I'll be damned." He lifts it up. "You out and bought the stuff. Didn't think you were serious about going places." A few taps on it and he nods. "Good quality too. That gobbo actually got the good stuff."

"Ya did teach me how ta check for that." You snort at him. "Now you gonna help or gab?"

"All right, all right. Let this old dwarf teach you one last time eh?" Burin flips the bar and then slaps it down on the anvil. "You probably remember this, but mitril isn't like normal metals. Iron, copper, and tin are all what dwarves call stone metals. They ain't got magic, so they just need to get heated."

"This stuff? I could toss it into the fire, kick it up high, and not a thing would happen." Your mentor nods and steps back. "You makin' a sword right?"

"Leon asked for it. I figure I could use a favor owed, so I'm doin' it right." You drawl out. You are just a bit surprised. The dwarf barely gives a damn most of the time.

"Hah. Dunno if you are goblin or dwarf with that attitude." Burin looks amused at the face you make.

"If I 'member right, you need to get some magic in the fire to make it melt." You nod towards the homely forge you have.

"Yep Mithril's a singing metal, so normal stuff won't melt it! But first, since we are makin' a sword, how big you want it? What sort o' edge?" Burin smiles just a bit. "Sorta like armor. You gotta fit it to the person. Leon's a big lag, but a bit dull. We can't make something big with just one bar o' mithril, but I wouldn't give him one of them anyway. I'd give him a good stabber. Something that can hold up to what he's likely gonna put it through."

"What I thought." You nod.

"So let's get to work then. You're doing the leading, I'll be doin' the watchin'." Burin nods at you. "Let's see if you learned somethin' right or I was wasting my time."

You snort and roll up your sleeves. A few simple sigils are placed around the forge for this very purpose. You've never done it before, but apparently it calls some sort of fire spirit to help. Weak, and barely there, but it's magic enough to get the mithril into something usable.

The time passes in a bit of blur. You push yourself hard. Your mentor pushes you more. Leon comes in to watch every now and again, and seems really entertained. You lose yourself in your work. You dream of your hammer slamming down and you barely remember anything but your work.

It takes shape slowly. Beat out into shape, heated and cooled in countless repetitions. Sharpened, and hilt set. A brand set signifying it's yours.

Then the magic has to be pushed into it. This is the best time to do it, right before the thing is completed. Just recently cooled, and almost ready. Once the sword 'sets' for lack of a better way, the standard enchantments you use can't be placed inside it. Other enchanters would place it over the 'surface', but you've been prepping this sword the entire time for this enchantment.

Burin looks just a bit proud as you finish, and adds a finishing touch just to make it officially done.

"Now that's a good weapon." He holds it out.

It's not a pretty thing. It's a weapon. A very solid one. It is your best work period. You've never done better, and you are actually really proud of it as well.

Leon's ecstatic about it. You'd say a bit to much actually since the slap on the back is enough to make you stagger.

"Trust me, this swordy is gonna get me places, and I'm gonna sleep wit' it if I have to." He smiles wider at your glare. "I owe you a big one fer this too. Why don't you come with me when I head out. We could hit up the big city and get you set under some fancy blacksmith too!"

[]

Gained: 2 G, lost 12G from sword
Blue Sword of stamina and durability crafted.

You've gotten two more mundane orders in. Each will give you .5 g and take 2 segments.

Blacksmithing now at 125. You are considered an expert at it!

-100 Gives enhancement Mithril Inlaid
-125 Steel crafting time reduced by 1


Enchanting at 90.

You get 1 fate point.

Achievement!

"Wake him up!"

 

[Lost Star]

[X] Plan Time to Wrap up
-[X] 0/2b/0/2b/2b/0/2b/2b/2b/2b/2b/2b/2b/0
--[X] End fatigue is 5. (b) is study the Magic book for Basic Combat magic, Glowing enchant, Frost Enchant and Flame Enchant at the end of everything. (0) means do stuff we like, visit other people, have a drink with our Mentor for old times sake, pack up our stuff,etc.
-[X] Agree with Leon's proposal and pack up our stuff incrementally over the two weeks
-[X] Remember to thank our mentor.
-[X] Leave a message for the Goblin that we are moving to the '<insert name> city' that Leon is going to.
----

Well, with the sword out of the way you have a bit of a derth of jobs that are required. Technically you could do the few orders that came in, but you could wait weeks before anyone would even care about it. The village is frankly too laid back to get worked up about most things, and you've been a bit religious about keeping the important stuff taken care of. (You get bored far too easy.)

So instead you take a break and start to puzzle out the book. And get some needed rest. You've been pushing yourself a bit. Blacksmithing is not easy work.

You sleep a fair amount. Get a drink or two at the watering hole. Chat with a few of the hunters. You couldn't call any of em friends really. Leon's the only one that you would do that. You parents dying, and your devotion to your craft has made you a bit of an outsider. You can't say you regret it, but it's a bit difficult at times when you aren't working.

The lack of anger about your leaving does surprise you though. In fact, you get quite a few well wishes. Most of the people aren't surprised at you leaving. It does warm your heart just a tad.

When you finally get around to the book though, that fuzzy feeling plummets. You know why the goblin let it go so easily. It's an ego trip. Whatever idiot wrote it had more air in his brain than actual thoughts.

The entire first half of it is supposed to be 'ethics and theories' of magic. Instead it's almost insulting how it talks about humans and magic. Worse, there is actual good information in there, so you can't just skip it. You feel just a bit dirty after reading it, and quite a bit angry.

Leon finds it hilarious when he sees your face, and your mentor falls to the ground laughing something about 'prissy elves.'

Despite this, you slog through it. And are certain to write out actual notes instead of dealing with idiocy in the book. Then you get to the second half of the book, and you have to refrain from throwing the book in the fire.

You know magic. Sort of. Enchanting is 'building with magic' eventually. It's sort of like you know how to make a sword, but you don't know how to wield it really.

Fortunately you are smart, and enchanting concepts share just enough similarities for you to work out how to do a few very basic magic spells. Unfortunately, that exhausts the books usefulness. You take great glee in burning it once you are done, and curse the writer a few times for good measure. It's barely worth the gold you spent on it.

You can do a very weak frostbolt now. A firebolt too, and a small arcane light that sort of tickles. It's nothing really to be proud of in your opinion, but it's something. And you know how to improve it. Might be good for self defense, but to be really honest you would just smack someone with a hammer if you needed it. Your muscles are like cords of iron, and you could probably break a man's head clean open.

More aligned with your interest is the fact that you've managed to get the basics of Arcane magic. And how it aligns with Enchanting. You have a few plans for enchantments now.

Basically what it would do is first 'charge' the enchantment. This is just a glow, and nothing really special. But with that charge you can force other patterns of arcane magic. Either give it a cold aura (Like the weapon was made of ice) or a heat aura (Just barely enough to light things on fire.) In time, you can probably improve this too.

So you aren't totally displeased with your study results.

Leon's not been idle either. He disappeared one day, and came back a few days later dragging along a crockalisk. Covered in blood, he brandished his new sword triumphantly, and gave it the name "Crock-sticker."

You think you want to cry a bit at that. At least it shows the idiot can't break your gift. He lodged the thing inside the head and it came out pristine aside from the blood.

Finally though, it's time to leave. You leave a note for the goblin, and give your mentor your thanks. He tears up just a bit as you leave, but then chugs the drink he's somehow picked up, and passes out before you finish packing.

You have your tools. Your enchanting rod, your hammer and tongs. A variety of needles and awls, and more than a few other odds and ends you use for your work. All of it is handmedowns, but it's better than borrowing someone else's. When you have time, you can probably make some more.

Leon meets you at the entrance to your village, and you both leave as the sun comes up.

To the big city!

Which is a very long way to walk. A full days journey and then some on foot. With the cold snap coming though, you don't run into any trouble. Even manage to get a roaring campfire setup for the night.

You and Leon don't talk much. Despite your fitness, it's still a bit of a slog, so you both sleep on the ground dead to the world.

Then wake up, and get on the road again.

You see the city before noon. Lot of buildings of wood and stone. More than a few dwarves are moving around the place, and you catch sight of human soldiers walking around too.

It's a bit dissapointing actually. As a city goes, you expected something bigger. You also didn't expect Leon to do what he did next.

"Hey, I'ma be a soldier like you. Where I gotta go?" The man walks straight up to one of the humans in blue.

The man looks rather non-pulsed at the blunt introduction. "Stormwind recruitment is right on the main road. You can see the banner."

"Thanks!" Leon waves and begins to walk down the indicated road.

"Really?" You rush to catch up with the boy.

"Gonna be a soldier, so gotta ask." Leon slaps your back and you stagger.

"I'm gonna smack you one if you keep doin' that." You mutter, and he laughs.

Fortunately it's really easy to see the banner indicated. It's the prettiest building in the place. Actual white stone and everything. One of the new there.

Leon walks right in, and you groan just a bit as you follow.

There is a big table right in front, and a rather stern looking man at the desk. "More recruits?" He booms, and you wince.

"I want to be recruited. I got a sword and everything, so you gotta let me in!" Leon shows off the weapon.

He probably doesn't see the look of exasperation that flashes across the man's face, but you do. And frankly you sort of understand. Then the look sharpens.

"Where did you get a mithril weapon?" The recruiter stands and holds out his hand.

Leon smiles and hands over the sword to be examined. "Wayland made it." A pointed finger at you. "He's the best blacksmith back home!"

"I hear that a lot." The recruiter smiles just a bit fakely, and then seriously looks at the weapon. "But in this case, I could actually believe it. You don't mistake this sort of work. It's dwarven. How'd a hick from the boonies learned dwarven crafting is beyond me." The last part is muttered.

Leon's looking a bit antsy, so the recruiter rolls his eyes and hands back the sword. "So I get in?" The teen asks.

"We need bodies since the new threat from the swamps." The recruiter sits at the desk. "However, if you think you can handle it, with that sword I can fast track you to the elites."

Leon whoops, and you roll your eyes.

"But there is a contingency." The recruiter's smile is just a bit sharp for your liking. "We need skilled crafters too. If your friend would sign up, I can get you both on the next ship out. Of course, if you can't I'm going to have to have you wait. Orders are that I can't ship out with a set number."

You give him a look. You aren't buying that.

"Hey lad, I don't make the orders." The recruiter holds out his hands. "Craftsmen get access to the royal commissions, and trust me when I say it's a pretty penny. Even get you a few days with the master craftsmen we have. They aren't easy to get ahold of, and I'm certain you would like that."

You grumble just a bit.

[]

 

[Lost Star]

[X] Take your time to decide for now
-[X] Ask how likely are royal commisions and how do we get them outside the obvious like joining the Stormwind.
-[X] Ask to see the contract we'll be signing and Leon's too for good measure
-[X] Then pointedly ask what kind of work load are we expected to do and the benefit's we're getting.
-[X] Ask about the conditions for Leon to join the Elite Training program, what are they expected during and after the program and etc.
-[X] Then once your done excuse yourself and go out and scout for some more information on blacksmithing and to confirm the Recruiter's words.
--[X] At Lost Star feel free to summarise the above results in an after the fact post.
---

No fool you, you get the contracts for both you and Leon before you sign. The recruiter is surprisingly upfront with it, so you are pretty certain that this isn't where he's holding the trick.

The contract is actually fairly standard stuff once you get past the tricky wording. Employment for three years, and monthly payments. Leon's is substantially different than yours though, and you start to see the few issues.

Leon's will have him sent directly to the training faculties in Stormwind. Further employment hinges directly on him managing to finish the training. Elite probably means it's damned tough. Leon doesn't give a damn obviously, but you wrangle a few details from the recruiter, and wonder a bit. Despite this, it IS a good deal for him. If he manages to get through the six month training, then he's placed into the 'Elite forces' and given a fairly hefty salary of ten gold a month. You don't know what this elite force is, so you can't speculate more.

Yours does something different. You will be sent to the royal foundry, and given a starting salary of five gold a month. Room and board are not provided, but you will have access to the foundry at all times, and there is a note that discounts are available for royal craftsmen. The contract is sparse on the details though, and the recruiter doesn't particularly know more than what's in it.

You are tempted to go out and scout for more information, but the city is fairly large. There is no real way of tracking down a blacksmith, and even guarenting that they know about it. Plus, depending on the skill level, each blacksmith can pull in something different.

You dither for a bit, and finally the recruiter sighs. "Listen, I know you are suspicious. I'm going to be frank with you." He lowers his voice. "I give your friend a fifty fifty chance of getting through that course. He's strong, but I can already see problem points. I wouldn't be offering it if I didn't think he had a chance though. But what we really need are good craftsmen. A blacksmith that can work mithril? That puts you into a must have. If it will put your mind at ease, I think there is one who took a contract like yours that came over on the latest ship. Stay the night, and I'll get him in the morning."

Well, a free room and board does sound good, so you agree. You get to take a bath, and get some fairly tasty bread and butter as a dinner.

Bright and early, you get to meet the craftsman. He's a big man. Almost as large as Leon. Which is a bit annoying really, is everyone going to be larger than you? You hope you hit another growth spurt too.

"So you are the one who made that sword?" He asks you with a suspicious look.

"Already saw it huh?" You drawl out and cross your arms. "Can't believe I made it?"

"Mithril is a unpleasant metal to work with. Almost as bad as Thorium. Color me skeptical." The man crosses his arms as well and looks down.

You roll your eyes. "Mithril an' Thorium are singing metals. Ya' think I don't know how to use em? Mithril's more flexible, and good fer weapons. Thorium's good fer armor if you manage to wrangle it into shape, but ya wanna pad it, cause it doesn't flex. Good for a surface defense. Plus it don't like being in small pieces. Tends to lose some sing if you do."

That gets you a raised eyebrow. "Singing metals? That's an old dwarven term. Plus good evaluation. How are you with armor?"

"Never got tha chance to make it." You have to admit. "Got the way ta do so, just not much call for it."

"Something to note down then." The man nods and uncrosses his arms. He pulls out binder of paper, and writes something. "If you want to take the contract, it's considered a commission. You would be set down as a royal craftsman. Since you have a decent amount of training, and a fair grasp of the basics, I'm going to recommend you get assigned to the experimental division. You will likely have a choice thanks to this." He hands you a note.

You blink as you look it over. Seems like a letter of introduction.

"Standard contract with you would place you in the royal foundry, and set you at the novice level. Hard, routine work where you would be on for ten hours, and then off for the rest of the day. Practically you would be working half the day. After a year of that, you would have been bumped up and been in charge of a division should you work at it. This letter will give you a small workshop of your own, and a requirement to submit a project update once a week. You know some basic dwarven techniques, and that's actually very damned rare for a human."

That's a lot better than what you thought you were gonna get too. "What's the catch."

"Experimental. You have to do something novel." The man gives a grim grin. "It's harder than it sounds, and aside from the conjurers, we are a fair bit behind the other races in tech. Be glad that our mages and soldiers are the best in the world though. You will have a lot of paperwork to do as well, so don't expect things to be easy."

You nod. "Sounds interesting at least."

[]

 

[Lost Star]

[X] Accept it (experimental division)

Ultimately, you really don't have a reason to turn down the contract. So you sign, and are immediately on a ship to Stormwind. You don't remember much of the trip aside from that honestly. You apparently get horribly seasick, and spend the entire trip feeling like you were dying. It's only when you are on dry land at your destination that you are able to recover and actually look around.

Stormwind is a big city that puts the little port town you were in to shame. It's just a bit intimidating, and you spend a few moments just looking around at everything.

Thus you almost miss Leon being lead off. The idiot reorients your attention with a hearty backslap though.

"I'll look ya up Wayland later." He states cheerily. "Get real famous so it's easy!"

"Soldier you aren't being paid to lollygag around!" The yell of a sergeant makes you both look. "Get your ass in line before I align it with my foot!"

You watch as your friend happily trots to stand with a half dozen other recruits, and smile stupidly at the sergeant. The resulting screaming fit from the man is almost epic to watch. Leon just stands there and nods. Eventually the smile goes away, and you are about to turn away when you catch the sergeant slamming his fist into Leon's stomach.

You wince just a bit. The result is about as you expect. Leon looking confused, and the sergeant looking even more confused. You restrain from smiling and look around for your contact. Leon's built like a stone wall, the sergent probably hurt his hand more than the teen.

You are found soon after Leon starts running to his place with the rest of the recruits.

"You are Wayland?" A stern looking woman looks at you over her glasses. "Bit young I see. You're slated to get into the experimental division."

"Yes'em." You stand at a sloppy sort of attention. She's a bit old, but you'd already call her more attractive than most of the others back home.

"You may refer to me as Ma'am." Her eyes flash, and you straighten just a bit more.

"Yes Ma'am." You have to refrain from mimicking the salutes you are seeing up and down the port.

"Better. I am officer Harding. You will be reporting to me." The woman turns and starts to walk, and you hurry to catch up. "Any issues, or setbacks will be reported to me immediately. The experimental division has a fair amount of latitude, but you are expected to keep me updated at all times."

You move to her side and nod. "Yes Ma'am."

"Now it says here you know how to work Mithril in dwarven techniques. I will therefore place you in workshop thirteen. It's currently empty, and has not been in use. You are one of four blacksmiths we have working. One is working on thorium processing, another standard enchantments, and the third is attempting to find better ways of processing our current resources." Officer Harding doesn't waste any time you see.

"You want me to work on mithril then?" You ask casually. "Gonna need a lot o' it."

"What I want is immaterial. It's what stormwind needs. We are still facing the orc threat from the swamps. Fell resistance is likely our best option, but that's a long term goal. You have a week to setup." Officer Harding pauses and looks you up and down. "You will be issues a set of uniforms that you will wear when in your workshop. You will keep them clean. You will keep your workshop clean."

You think you should be offended honestly, but you are a bit stuck on something else. "What're orcs, and Fell?"

That gets you a full stare, and you think Officer Harding is fighting back a headache. "Orcs are big green savages. Think trolls but wider. You do know what a troll is?"

You nod at that.

"Good. Orcs don't regenerate, but are roughly twice the size of a human. You can see one if you ever are called to meet King Llane. He has a civilized one as a companion." You see Officer Harding pause again. "For the love of light if that ever happens, let me know?"

"All right." You can agree with that. You have no idea how ta talk with a king anyway.

"You will also be issued a single person room in our officer quarters." Officer Harding switches subjects and starts walking again. "You will not have company overnight in this room. You will keep it quiet since there are several fellow officers on night shift."

"Sounds fine there." You keep pace with her, and try not to stare at the place too much.

"You will be paid monthly at the end of the month." The woman pauses here. "Since you have just moved in, let me know if you need an advance. Some of our recruits require this to get food."

"Got some money squared away. Though I don't know how much it will stretch. This place looks faancy." You whistle as you pass under a very nice looking white stone arch.

"The inn next to your quarters serves meals to specialists like you for a fair amount. It can be a bit bland by all accounts." Officer Harding shrugs and continues. "That is it for living arrangements. The only thing left I have to talk about is the standard budget you are given."

You think this is a serious topic as the Officer makes certain you are looking at her.

"You will requisition everything from me. If it matches your current project, and is within your budget, you will be allowed. You can buy materials from a supplier with personal funds, but you will not be reimbursed. You get a twenty percent discount from them. Remember that. If you need experimental materials, I will attempt to procure them." Officer Harding looms, and you try not to take a step back. "Do. Not. Abuse. This."

"Yes Ma'am." You squeak.

Officer Harding nods, and then turns smartly up to a large building. You see a lot of smokestacks here, and after a moment you can confirm what it is. It's a series of workshops. Fourteen in all. Yours is completely empty aside from the forge and anvil. No tools, or otherwise.

"Most specialists like to bring their own tools, but if you need some let me know. They won't be custom, but they will be servicable." Officer Harding nods at the room. "Get settled, and I will show you where your room is. I want a tentative project idea at the end of the week. Try to keep it at thirty gold or less." The last part is fairly dry, and you can't help but smile.

"Lemmie guess, you get a lot o' big ones?" You shrug out of your pack and get out your worn tools. No sense in carrying em around now.

"Specialist Swales is working on refinement. Her initial request totaled over a hundred gold." Officer Harding doesn't look particularly happy about that.

You give a whistle. "'K then, what was she doin', buying a few hundred bars of Thorium?"

"Good guess." Officer Harding turns away and begins to walk again.

"Wait, serious?" You run to catch up. "What sort o' daft idea is that. Thorium breaks if you don't do it right."

"But we don't know why." Your superior looks at you with a slightly surprised expression. "Now Thorium properties aren't that well known. Glad to know your evaluator hasn't exaggerated."

You smile just a bit. "Noticed that the forge didn't have a elemental put too."

"Elemental?" Officer Harding pauses and looks at you.

"Ya know, ta make singing metal melt?" You look at her and realize she has no idea what you are talking about. "How do ya make mithril melt?"

"Oh, we use an arcane array. Fairly easy to have a mage come in and setup something if we need it, but every blacksmith does it differently, so we wiped it when the place wasn't in use." Officer Harding turns to lead the way again. "You use an elemental? That's interesting. I wonder how it differentiates from arcane forging."

"Would have ta test it." You know that would take a fair amount of time actually.

"Well, a good first project for you then." Officer Harding leads you into a single story building with a lot of doors. There you get to a simple room, with a bed and not much else. "Your room. If you wish to move out, let me know your new address."

"Sounds good ta me." Seriously, you've never had a room for yourself.

"Also, one last thing." Your superiour hands you a badge. "Do not lose this. This is your ID. Have it visible whenever you are around this area. If you do not, then a guard will arrest you, and you will be put into jail until I personally come to get you out."

You gulp.

With that she leaves, and you look around. A room to yourself. That makes you pretty happy!

[]

Current living expenses: .3 per day.

Current workplace: Barren Workshop
You have one week to present a good first project.

 

[Lost Star]

[X] Elemental mithril forging VS Arcane mithril forging Vs both of them at once.
[X] Order enough mithril to forge one mace for each method and a bit more so you have enough to make a second mace using each method if you make a mistake and need to redo one.
[X] Get an elemental forge set up and schedule for a mage to come in so you can test the arcane forging method and doing both of them at the same time.
[X] Look around to find a blacksmith that can forge mithril to see how the metal is forged affects the weapon. Preferably one that uses the arcane method and ask for their opinion on everything. Make sure to credit the blacksmith for their help.
[X] Look one around to find someone that knows maces well enough to tell how different forging methods affect the metal it is made from.
[X] Total cost is (24 gold + 8 Backup) (15/28 segments :+5 Fatigue)
[X] Side Project - Javelin's: Planing Stage.
-[X] We have an idea for a new piece of standard equipment for alliance footmen, but require some information first. The idea is based around a short throwing spear we occasionaly saw at home in use by fishermen and some hunters.
-[X] Ask to be supplied a full set of Footman armor(borrowed, not permanent) as well as if possible a set of standard orc armor - give both sets of armor a once over, one to find a way for a footman to easily carry a javelin without being in the way and the other to see what kind of tip the javelin will need. If possible access to a veteran that knows standard orc and troll tactics would also be appreciated.
--[X] If access is given to a veteran ask the man/woman questions relevant to general armor designs of the enemy as well as tactics - only generalities rather then specifics on top of tactics. Also inquire how adverse soldiers would be to carry javelins into a fight if they are small and practical enough to carry.

------

First order of business is to get your self situated and check out the eats. That's actually fairly easy cause you have the sum total of a bag and tools to your name. You end up dithering around in the new room for a bit anyway. The novelty of having your own place is quite something. But you can't admire the room forever, so you head out. After a quick stop in the bathroom, you head out to the inn. There you grab a very filling and tasty potatoes and meat of some sort.

Then you go straight towards your forge. Staying still and admiring the sights isn't your thing. You are here to work, and work hard. You forge needs some setup first.

First is getting the forge elemental set in. A few sketched sigils around the place, and you light it up. Feed it just enough to wake up the fire, and then listen.

It takes time to do this. Not something you can just light and be done with. The elementals can form out of any materials, but they take time and mana. Your sigils focus it, but you have to push it in yourself. After a long moment, you hear a contented rumbling, and see the flames flicker unnaturally.

"Ya' feeding well?" You ask conversationally as you force a bit more mana into the forge. Not too much, flames love getting big, and eating things.

"I feeeeed." The fire elemental whispers back.

"Good. You're a forge elemental. That means you stay in this and I feed ya. You get out and I put you down hard." You rap on the metal with a knuckle. "Then scatter tha ashes around the lake just so ya stay out."

"As you wiiish." The fire elemental goes down to a low flicker.

Bit stupid things really. Your first lesson in this technique was to never let them out. Could apparently explode the entire building if you were an idiot about it.

"All right then." You smile and arrange your tools.

Then out of the workshop and to your superior's office. You poke your head in and see her writing something.

"Specialist Wayland." She gives you a cool glance. "Do you need something?"

"Well, three bars o' mithril, three spans of oak, and an Arcane mage to setup that arcane thingy." You frown a bit. "Or access to a forge wit' it. Somone who does it that way normally would help."

"Getting to work already?" The officer raises an eyebrow, and you nod. "All right. Fill out these forms for the materials. You can speak to Specialist Ray about the rest. He's been working on standard enchantments, and is probably the foremost expert on them. He's also the only other one we have easy access to who works Mithril. His forge is arcane, and he has some free time. He can fill you in on how to do reports."

Here she pauses and taps on the table. "In fact, he can work with you on this. You could use a guide on how we do things. I will inform him to speak with you tomorrow while I get the mithril."

"All right." You shrug. Half the day's still around, but you know how supplying things works.

You head to the inn again. There are a few vets hanging around there, and you figure it'd be good to get a feel of what they could use.

It takes a bit to find one that's willing to talk with you, but for the price of a good beer, he's pretty talkative. His name is Brayden, and he's apparently a crossbowman.

"Was there when we fought at the marsh." He leads off. "See Orcs are big and broad things. Nasty little light be damned things that howl and charge when they spot you. Don't care about pain, and takes a good half dozen arrows before they go down."

You whistle and look down at the crossbow next to the man. It's a hefty thing. You are pretty certain that it could pierce standard steel plate at two hundred yards.

"Yeah." The vet gets a far away stare. "Most humans fold when they get an arrow to the gut. Orcs just sorta bull through it. Saw some of em just rip the arrows out and laugh. Worse, the savages sprint fast, and don't seem ta get tired."

"How'd ya take em down then?" You ask, morbidly curious.

"Hit em in the eye and they flinch. Hit em in the leg and sometimes it's enough to make them stagger." Brayden snorts at that. "Real way of doing it is having a good footman between me and the beast. He pins it with the shield and sword, and I can aim. I can't believe I'm saying it, but I miss the damned trolls. They just regenerate."

You shake your head. "So you need better penetration on the arrows?"

"Might help, but don't think so. They stick pretty well. Just need more damage." Brayden takes a drink of the beer.

"Hm." You tap your fingers on the table. If they would just rip out the arrows or ignore them, you do wonder if hand thrown javelins would do anything. The idea doesn't seem good without something more hefty backing the strike.

"Worse is when they get the magic users on the field. If there was ever proof that they were cursed by the light, those things are it." Another stare, this one accompanied by a shudder.

"Something about Fel magic? I heard some when I came here, but I didn't get much." You actually sort of missed the chance to clarify.

"Green fire that sticks. Worse, the flesh it hits goes bad." The vet shudders worse. "Gotta take off the entire limb, or they start getting funny in the head. Body shots are the worse. Either get a cleric, or you are dead."

"All right." You shake your head. "I think I owe you another drink fer that."

"Damned right you do. If you need anything else though, I'm here for the rest of the month." The soldier salutes you with the mug of beer.

You head off after a few beers, and then go to bed.

The next morning you meet Ray. He's a nearsighted man with the thickest glasses you've ever seen. A bit bumbling, but very smart, and rather interested in this project.

He guides you through the paperwork and how to do the reporting. As far as jobs go, this one is actually fairly quick and easy. Well, the first part is. Where you forge the hammers out of mithril.

It's once you are done that you have to examine what could be different. Which requires a very large battery of test. Some you barely have any clue about. Arcane resonence, elemental affinity. Stress testing. Other, more exotic examinations.

All told, it takes roughly two weeks. A week to forge, and another one to do the testing. Ray gives you pointers, and what your reports should focus on. The formats of it.

A loooooot of paperwork. Which is just a bit unpleasant.

But once you are done, you have a set of results. There is a slight difference. Not much, but notable. Mithril done in arcane resonates better with Arcane. Done in elemental, and it seems to resonate with something else. Elemental of some sort, but you don't get more than that with the tools you have available.

That basically finishes your project though, and you need to think up something else.

[]

You gain 1 Mithril hammer. (Your extra, in case you can think up more tests.)

On a free day, you can double the recovery of fatigue at the Inn by ordering a few drinks. This will cost .1G.

At the end of each week, you have to spend the day writing up and giving a report to your superior.

You will be paid 6G in 14 days.

Blacksmithing +10
Enchanting +10

New enchanting perk:
Reduces the time cost of two enchantments at once to 4

 

[Lost Star]

[X] Go to the quartermaster and request that she arranges a meeting with a priest or a group of them. Explain that after observing the results of our last project we believe it may be theoreticaly possible to create a forge attuned to the light in order to produce items with a natural affinity for the holy magic of the priesthood. But to do this we would require a significant amount of light attuned energy focused on a forge or somehow bound directly to it and for this we require the assistance from a priest - or more likely the assistance from several priests or one or two priests and several acolytes.
-[X] While we wait for the meeting to be arranged also request the resources needed to produce a thorium anvil of our own and then do so.
--[X] Also request the metal needed for several steel or iron crossbow quarrel's - once we have them attempt to bind lesser air elementals to them to give them more kick. Once they are done find our new veteran friend and ask him to try them out at a practice range to see if they are suitably destructive.
---[X] Should the binding of the quarrels prove a success do the same process but with our new mithril hammer.
[X] Spend at least one day of the week relaxing.

--------

"You want what?" Officer Harding's eye brow raises.

"Got a bit o' a bug in my head. Figured that the forge can be used to make elemental attunement, and it does effect the metals based on that. Maybe could use somethin' like that to make light based stuff." You shrug and rock on your feet.

She stares at you for a long while, and you refrain from scratching. The uniform is itchy, and thicker than what you are used to too. Nice materials, but you have to break it in more before you are comfortable.

Finally Officer Harding nods. "If you think you can manage something, I will arrange a meeting with a liaison before the end of the day. Let the priest know your requirements, and they will take it from there. Anything else?"

"Was thinking of making a Thorium Anvil." You shrug. "Figure it would be good to get the best stuff."

"Well, you have some interesting data from your last experiment, and you have a very interesting proposition, so I can arrange one delivered to you instead of you actually making it." Officer Harding looks through her paperwork. "Thorium is a favored item for armor and such, so we actually have more workers on it than we do mithril. A proper anvil for that helps significantly."

You nod. Anvils are important for forging, but are really just a thing to brace your crafting on. The best ones are those without give, and hefty. It's usually cast iron, but a good Thorium anvil can take a very high beating. It's also got the highest melting point out of all the metals. Without magic, it's flat out impossible to your knowledge. With it, it's still a time intensive thing to work with.

Done with that, you head back and start fiddling around with something more personal.

When you grew up, you didn't really know about all the different sorts of magics. To your knowledge, the fire elemental was the way to do things. Yet it's apparently not. Arcane magic has a very distinct 'tang' to it. You can't really describe it as anything else. It doesn't do much noticeably to the metals at first, but it might if you can push it.

This involves working on your runes and understanding them more than you already have. Where before it was something by rote, now you want to really get into it.

The priest finds you as you explore this idea, covered in black charcoal, and with half a dozen runes scrawled everywhere across the floor.

"Hello?" She's a pretty thing, blonde hair, slim, and just a tad older than you. "I'm here to speak with Wayland?"

You perk up immediately. "That's me. Your tha priest?"

"Acolite in training. I can assist you directly." She corrects and smiles uncertainly. "I can channel the light a bit, and know all the basic prayers."

"Well, that'll work then. What ya called?" You smile warmly.

"Joyce Hale."

What comes next is a lot, and lot of work. Examining and working on the various runes you use for setting up a forge, and what arcane users would do. Then you have to work on learning how the Light is channeled. Which is even more work. And then working on combining the three sets of knowledge together to even get an idea of what you can do with it all. That's on top of the reporting you have to do, and the possible side projects.

But when you are done? You have an array you can setup to align your forge against the Light, the Elements, or the Arcane.

Furthermore, you pick up on something that your mentor probably didn't intend. Or maybe he did, but didn't tell you directly? You can do elemental bindings apparently. Summon small elementals of air, fire, earth, or water.

They can't be bound directly to the weapons. (You think it's a bit cruel too really, they are smart enough to fear death.) But they can sort of force the attunment along more.

Which gives you another thing to test actually.

Mithril is aligned with Arcane, you know this from previous testing. You've never been able to figure out what the second alignment is until you had a wind elemental push it more. Mithril aligns with lightning.

So, you have made some serious progress, and increased your knowledge greatly.

By the end of the third week, you do a full write up of your findings, and the experimental array you have created. It's a pretty intesive thing, and requires quite a lot of enchanting knowledge though. Not just of Arcane magic, but of the magical schools in general. Unfortunately, you've reached the limits of what your previous teacher has imparted. And you think your poor little runed copper rod will break if you do anything more hefty.


[]

Enchanting up to 150

Shaminism learned.
Light Magic learned.

Learned the following:
Three Point Forge: An enchantment placed on your forge to allow it to attune metals used in it. Can attune metals to light, elementism, or arcane.
Spiritual Sharpening: Increases an attunment


Metalic Property unlocked:
Mithril (Arcane): When Mithril is properly aligned with Arcane magic, it turns purple, and is capable of channeling arcane far easier
Mithril (Holy): When Mithril is used in a light-forge, it turns a silvery-white. Joyce says it feels off somehow, and while useful, is like wielding a miss-weighted hammer.
Mithril (Lightning): Mithril aligned with wind elements are where it really shines. It gives off a small static shock naturally.


Enchanting learned:

Lightning: +8 - 2 - Enchanting *Special, requires Mithril used in item

Enchanting Perks:

-125 Upgrades Firey and Frosty to Flaming and Icy
-150 You can completely wipe and recover the cost from enchantments

You have been paid!
+6 GP from salary

 

[Lost Star]

[x] Request for Thorium, Steel, and Truesilver.
[x] Try Light-Forging a Hammer using each metal.
[X] If a priest of acolyte is required to supply the light schedule one of them to come in as well.
[X] Request a gold rod to replace our copper one.
[X] Side project:
-[X] Ask Officer Harding if she can arrange some training time with an enchanter for us as we have hit our limit for the moment.
[X]Make sure to take a Day off a week. Try to hang out with the other specialist trade ideas and stuff.

-----

"So, you are making a few waves already I hear." Specialist Swales gives something that could be called a smile.

Off duty, you tend to hang around the inn. You try to keep busy so it's not as often as one would think. This is probably the first time you've been here with all the specialists in your 'division.'

Specialist Swales is a broad woman with an abrasive personality. Not the worst you've dealt with, but she's good and she knows it. Tends to be a bit of an attention hog too, but you can't gainsay her. The mithril she's managed to process is the best you've seen, and it's thanks to her that half your materials have even been available. Her current project is actually getting steel into something like mass production. It's not the best metal for half your items, but it's useful. She's also worked a significant amount in Thorium, but another specialist has taken over there.

Specialist Ray is someone you've already met. Nearsighted, and immensely thick glasses. He's been working on refining the standard enchantments. It's a painstaking work actually. While you can be inefficient and take your time, he's trying to specifically shave off time from enchanting objects. It's all well and good to mass produce armor and weaponry, but if you can't give it some magic omph, it will crumple against the first good magical spell. This is actually where the biggest bottleneck is.

The last one is Specialist Smith. A non-descript smith named Smith. Half the time he has a self depreciating smile on, as if he knows his entire existence inspires jokes. It's him that's really working with Thorium. His project is probably the biggest one of the bunch. Where the others are working on infrastructure projects, if he manages to make a breakthrough, then Thorium is going to hit the front lines extensively. Unfortunately, progress towards that is going to take awhile.

"Got a figure on how ta do alignment better. Not much really. Just needed a different idea." You shrug.

"Good work. Array was a bit cruder than I would like, but it works." Ray nods to you.

"Not the most useful thing, but I can see a few next steps. I might have to crib some of it later if you manage something other than a novelty." Swales takes a long drink of her glass.

Smith chuckles. "I can see it being used to craft a few more powerful elemental weapons. Shame it didn't help my end."

"Still stuck on the refinement?" Swales questions. "Never got past that myself."

"Thorium is a finicky metal." Smith shrugs in reply. "I still have several things to try."

"Can't envy you." You shake your head.

"It's not exciting, but I can deal with it." Smith shrugs.

You tip your mug in a salute.

-----------

"All right, Thorium off the list." You wince just a bit as you heft the hammer.

It's a combat hammer yes, but it's also a total failure from your perspective. Thorium just doesn't like any sort of attunment. You'd say it was uneffected, but it's more everything just sort of washes out after a time. You can almost see the magic wafting off it before you finish it.

"Sorry." Joyce smiles sheepishly.

You technically don't need her around. You can power the light-forge yourself. But it's nice to have an extra set of hands, and the company isn't that bad. It also makes things a little easier if she can keep an eye on the magic too.

"Not your fault. Did better than tha steel." That one makes you both flinch.

Steel eats magic. That's the best way to describe it. Or rather carbon absorbs the stuff, and iron seems to distribute it. What ends up happening if you push too much magic of any type in is that the stuff violently expels. No injuries thankfully, but it did scare the shit out of you and Joyce.

"Lets try the truesilver next then." You motion to the forge, and Joyce nods and begins to pray.

Truesilver is fun. A variant of silver, it's actually surprisingly calm. It sort of flows when it melts, but is actually relatively easy to work with otherwise. Of course once you get it to set the stuff is stubborn as a mule, but even that's not particularly bad. You can even use it in etchings if you are careful.

You are making a simple mace. Nothing large, just a one handed weapon for people to use.

Melt it down, hammer it into shape, and then get it cool. None of the sharpening or other intricate deals that are required for other techiques. This is just a good hammer for someone to hit things with. The initial melting is done in the Light-forge. Then as you hammer it out, you use a few burst of light on it. You have to be gentle near the end. Too much magic just sort of flows off.

This is why you don't have to be strong to make something strong. It requires delicacy. A lot of it.

But when you are done, you have a fairly decent hammer that looks surprisingly good.

You present it to Joyce, and have her channel light through it.

And the way it lights up with her power makes you want to whoop.

You've found the proper metal to attune to the light.

Of course this doesn't mean you are done. You have to get it tested and re-tested. And then replicated, since this is a pretty big achievement. Which is nothing that you can do unfortunately.

Instead you get some tutoring on Enchantment from Ray, and get a golden rod when you are done. It's a beautiful thing etched in a varient of sigils to make things easier on you. Enchanting is a finicky art. It requires lots of Arcane dust, and crystals. Both of which you have to use in the forging process or use atop the item in question.

It's actually fairly boring to watch too. You wave the rod over the dust, and focus. There is a small glow, and maybe some flash. Then it's done.

Learning how to do it however requires a lot of focus. You are doing most of the work in your head. The rod is there to make it so you don't have to draw an array over the entire thing every time.

Thanks to Ray, you are probably one of the two most learned enchanters in Stormwind now.

It shouldn't be a surprise then that you are given a summons for an audience with the King. You are far more nervous than you should be about it.

[]

Blacksmithing +15

Enchanting upgraded to Artisan.

Golden Rod gives +75 Bonus skill ceiling.

Blacksmithing perk!

-150 Truesilver Inlaid

Enchantment given:

Light Attunment+: +10 - 0 *Special, requires Truesilver used in item

You have been in Stormwind 2 months now.

You have been paid!