[Castle Carmelya] Rage Forges

[Zim Rage]

From outside of the walls and deep into the doll woods the thin line of chimny smoke could be spotted as it raised up into the crisp blue sky, giveing travelers hope, and warning the animals of it's location. Though the Rage forge was friendly towards the woods around it, only harvesting already fallen trees to burn when it needed wooden fuel, otherwise it depended on it's abundant supply of coal for it's fiery heart of a furnace.

Located inside the gates, just as you come through the entrance, on the right side sits the forge, and if your blind you'll find it just as well by the sound of the anvil that goes deep into the night. Zim and his merry smiths worked long and hard to make sure that everything was just right and up to Zims saught after standards.

The front room was lavishly large and had racks and racks of armor and weapons hung about the walls. As well, about the walls were tapestries of the family colors, Blue and purple. The cool colors contrasted in the Hot tempratures of the room. The floor was made from a sandstone cobble, probibly collected from a near by stream.

The forge was one of the more comfortable forges a traveler could experience and the prices werent as high as someplaces either. Zim and his men were always eager to please and they were good at thier trade.

At the front counter where the transactions were made, there hung a list of prices;
--------------Weapons------------------
Bastard Sword (42" Blade) 275 crowns
Long Sword (37" Blade) 210 crowns
Short Sword (24" Blade) 165 crowns
Cutlass (34" Blade)175 crowns
Katana (Length specific to person) 250 crowns
Dagger (8" Blade) 35 crowns
stiletto (30" Blade)170 crowns
Hatchet (19" Blade) 75 crowns
Axe (31 1/2" Blade) 195 crowns
War Axe (33" Blade) 220 crowns
Morningstar (10" chain) 155 crowns
Spear (6 1/2 Ft Length) 190 crowns
Halberd (28" Blade) 190 crowns
Warhammer (29" Length) 100
Lash-Knife (12'' blade, 8' chain) 350 crowns
----------------Armor---------------------
Platemail 725 crowns
Chainmail 550 crowns
Scalemail 440 crowns
Ringmail 385 crowns
Buckler 55 crowns
Small Shield 100 crowns
Large Shield 135 crowns
Kite shield 100
------------Customization--------------
Hymm Steel x 1.5
Fae Steel x 1.5
Sweat-absorbent wooden hilt 50 Crowns
Decorative hilt 100 Crowns
Design on blade, hilt (varies)50~200 Crowns
Jagged edges 25 Crowns
Extra spikes, studs, hooks 50 Crowns
Additional chain 25 Crowns
Ring for belt latching 25 Crowns
Any coloring 25+ Crowns
-------------------FYI----------------------
SPECIAL ORDERS WILL usually TAKE A CYCLE OR MORE
TRADE-INS POSSIBLE
POSSIBLY WILL BUY UNWANTED WEAPONS OR ARMOR
PRICES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE

[Zim Rage]

Shortly after recieving word from palacrisis's messanger about his wedding, Zim got to work in the forge. It was time to make a gift for the old friend and his wife to be. Zim went through his book of drawings, scetches of designs. He went through armor, he went through crude jewelry, and bizzar weapondry. Eventualy Zim settled on a pair of matching daggers.

He fired up the forge, and pumped the bellows and as the forge heated Zim prepared the mix for Hymm steel. 50% steel, 20% carbon, 15% each of silver and zinc. Once it was all heated, and mixed in, Zim poured out the moulten hymm steel into sheets to be folded into the blades shape. Zim heated the sheet after it set and started folding it while it was soft and maliable. The process of reheating repeditivly removes carbon from the steel and makes it more flexable, which is why in Hymm steel extra carbon is added to the mixture.

After the two 10 inch blades were shaped into strait blades, Zim started to shape the daggers. By heating the blade and hammering on the tips to add a slight curved sweep to the dagger. Zim slowly shaped the blade, correcting errors as he went. Once the blade had it's curve to it Zim went to work flatening out the blades so that they would be equal. Zim worked between the two blades to complete them simultaniously and to help keep them as close to perfectly similar as possible. Zim even went through the trouble of lineing up the grain of the steel when he started folding.

After the blade was shapped properly Zim went and found two red gems the same size and shape and placed them in a round section of the cross guard. Zim then went and with silver created four heart shaped covers that would cover the gem all except for the heart shaped cut out and attached them over the top of the gems. One on each side of the dagger.

Zim then used a carved Hardwood handle on each that was died a dark Amber color, which he accented with Silver floral inlays. He then extended the floral inlay into the blade with ingraveings. which he filled with black pitch to smooth off the blade. The handle was then finished off with a silver pomel which was once again ingraved with the same black floral inlay.

To do the inlays Zim used a very thin point chisle, and to keep the form of the blade and ingraveings on the opposite side of the blade Zim put tar pitch harvested from his forge. And one tap at a time took slivers of steel from the surface. Once these were all finished Zim went over to the gind stone, which contrary to his old forge was a more modern turn crank wheel, which he spun by pedeling with his feet. This grind stone could actualy get spinning fast enough to cast sparks. After trying a few test runs on scrap metal to get used to the stone Zim got to work creating the sharpened edge. Matching up the even angle to each side Zim then did the same with the other dagger. Zim then oiled and cleaned the blades and finished them off by polishing them.

Zim then created a simalar shieth for each dagger, made from the same hardwood as the handle. The floral desiegn from the blade was then put into the hardwood with silver inlay. The shieth for each dagger was shapped in a way that allowed for the cross section to be exposed. Zim again polished the wood and made sure that it was smoothed over nice and easy.

Zim then inspected each of the daggers for inconsistancies and impurities. Makeing sure that they were infact twin daggers. One for each, Pala, and his wife.

[Zim Rage]

Zim sat around his forge widdeling away on wood as he waited for an order to come in. Letting a sigh slip from his lips Zim sat back and eyed one of his warhammers on the wall. It was in ornate and simple. Perfect for practice. Zim hefted the tool from the wall and stepped outside of the forge into the cort yard to practice. He brought with him some metal spikes to create a strikeing field.

[Zim Rage]

After working outside practicing with the warhammer, Zim came back into the forge. He sat on a stool in the back room takeing a quick break. Soon he looked over at weapons on the walls and all around him. He realized that he was no doubt gifted in the art of war. Not in combat, but of makeing beautiful weapons. Nothing more so then swords. He seemed to have a nack for that, just as well seems like everyone wants on. But still the words of the master and the B&D anvil rang through Zims head, "It's good but your still not a master, your edges need work."

Zim went to the wall and took down a short sword, he studied the edge, it's shape. He even pulled up a clamp to hold it stedy so that his hands would shake it and prevent his eyes from catching any details. Then Zim noticed that his blades were very strait, and that yes they were infact sharp, they werent as sharp as they could be. The work he did was to hammer in a bevel and then sharpen it. But that created a sharp edge, didn't it? Yes, but not sharp enough. This blade could cut, yes, but it could not slice. It lacked grace.

Zim thought back to knives that he had handled that belonged to his father, a meger fisherman. They were long and slender, flexable. In his mind he could not recall the exact details of them, but he knew they were felet knives. Ment to be flexable and sharp as to make cutting the fish felet away from it's bones as quickly and easily as possible. The cutting edge was designed in such a way that the bevel it used was much longer.

Zim stood from his stool and grabed another shortsword with the same design useing the same bevel. Zim took the first and cut a piece of leather with it. It cut, fairly easily, but it still held some resistance. Next Zim brought the second short sword over to he grind stone. He set up the guide bar to lead him at a 35 degree angle as opposed to 45. This would make for a longer, which in theory would make it sharper, but also would make the edge weaker. This was something Zim had to take a risk at to see if it were any sharper. Zim started the grinding process and soon had a new angle developed. Haveing raised a "burr" from the metal shaveing process Zim ground them down until it was smooth and stoped whare he was at. Polishing the edge to remove any abnormalities, Zim then got another piece of leather. After sliceing the leather he tried the other again. It seemed like the second blade, the one with the new bevel was a better cut. Less resistance. After the cuts Zim looked them both over, seeing they both still held thier edge Zim had to try a little more agressive approach. Zim took both swords and started chopping away at a piece of wood that he used as a balance when working with larger pieces. After multiple strikes Zim then examined the blades again. As he suspected the 35 degree bevel wasnt as sharp and had chipped in a few places.

Zim sat down and contomplated. He could go for an inbetween degree for the bevel, he thought, and he discarded that, the sharpness was that much better at 35 degrees. There had to be a way to make this work. Then it occured to him. Axes. The shape of an axe isnt a perfectly strait wedge. The sides have a curved bevel to them, while it isnt a very aggresive one, it makes for a strong axe head, as well as a sharp chopping edge.

Of cource when Zim made axes he made his curved bevel primarily from the mold. But there had to be a more exact and replicatable way to do this, especialy for such a small size, with as long of a plain to do this on. Suddenly Zim had an Idea. He had to bevel the Sword multiple times, each one a little further out then the last. This would of cource create several burrs, but Zim would have to work past those in order to make the next bevel.

Setting down to work Zim set the first bevel to 30 degrees, he did a complete bevel on this until it was sharp. Zim then adjusted the bevel to 35 degrees, again sharpening until the bevel matched up with the previous bevel. Cleaning away the burrs, The dracon smith moved on to the next degree marking, 45 and then the last at 60 degrees. Zim looked at the blade. It was a lot of work to create this sword, Zim just hoped that it was worth the effort. Takeing four times as long to sharpen the sword. Zim sliced a third piece of leather, it passed through it with little resistance, flawlessly. Zim then brought it over to the wood to have a few chops with it. One swing on the already chopped would brought it through, so Zim set up a fresh piece and proceded to hack way at it for as long as he did the other blades. Once finished Zim set all three blades up on a rack, edges out, so he could inspect them all next to each other. The first blade, with the standard bevel was still in good shape, but had infact lost some sharpness. The second blade with the 35 degree bevel was worse for ware and in need of serious repair. Finaly, the thid blade, the multi-beveled blade, it was still sharp and it was still strait. Zim felt that he had found a winner in this blade. This would become the new standard, Just as soon as Zim figured out a way to do this faster. "Maybe if I modify a grind wheel..." Zim thought as he marked down his findings in his book.

[Lichen]

The third and final knife was sturdy and sharp, shining far more brilliantly than the other two. Zim’s experimentation with the angle and shape of the blade had paid off, and his customers would be most pleased to receive such a weapon. The other two, their blades dulled or chipped, were not examples to be proud of, though the labor he had put into testing them showed his authenticity as a merchant. To sell such blades would be dishonest, for he had promised his customers twin blades of quality work. He could remake them, heat the metal and remove the blunted edges, bevel them into the shape his art seemed to indicate was best. Or perhaps he could move forward, use the shoddy examples for what they were meant for: practice. The grinding wheel had promise, he felt, and an artist should never shy away from bettering himself.

OOC: Ok, the knives are validated as they are (one really awesome, two not quite so cool). I like what you did here with the beveling, and though this thread isn’t very long, I do think that it is worth 2 points because the content was thoughtful and intriguing to read. I don’t believe that this thread is a ‘Level Up’ thread – you did damage the two blades, yes, but not to the point that you can’t easily remake them, and the beveling is interesting but I think you can go further with this.

2 pts Experience
1 excellent knife created
2 average knives created