[Heaven’s Tier Forge] Blacksmith Training (Viskyia)

[Saethe]

Time Stamp
Morning of Carmelyana, Brightening 4 of the First Cycle of Cryxatum
Spring of Era I of the Celestine Mandate
Era XIII Post Fractum, the First Era of the Regency of Milo L’Evienne
Paradigm: New Nation Discovered

Saethe made his way to the Heaven’s Tier Forge to introduce himself to his master and get started with his apprenticeship. The elf had all his things since the dwarf at the guild office said they would provide him food and a place to sleep. Wearing his normal items and carrying all his other things, he turned on to Merchant’s Row.

Soon he approached the door of the Heaven’s Tier Forge as he noticed a sign over the door that read The Heaven’s Tier Forge, Owned by: Steakly Soulfire and Son. “I wonder if one of the owners will be my master.” Saethe thought to himself as he gripped the handle and opened the door into the forge. As he entered the forge he took in all the weapons that hung on the walls and how well they were crafted. Saethe shut the door behind him and looked around a little more. He saw all the stained glass and suits of armor all shined. All this really impressed the elf as he thought that these men must be some of the best craftsmen in town.

Saethe soon noticed the heat and the pounding of metal from the back end of the store. The elf walked over to the dwarf behind the counter after he was done looking around the forge. “Hello, Teron Soulfire. I am sorry but I am not here right now for any weapons or armor. I am here for the apprenticeship that you offer. My name is Saethe Kalhem.” Saethe said to the dwarf then reached his hand out to shake the dwarf’s hand.

[Viskyia Crow]

Teron grinned in response to Saethe's half query half statement. "Ah a new apprentice... Dad will be pleased. He's a little swamped back there, so hes going to be glad for the help." He gestured Saethe back towards the forge, with a lazy wave of his hand. "Go on back, he was hoping you'd show today when the guild sent the message a new apprentice was on its way. Dad requested one days ago with all this new work. It's the timber industry, you see. They are driving us nuts with requests for cutting blades, implements, wedges and odds and ends like Pulaski's." Teron said, half in complaint. He sighed and made a 'go on with you' gesture.

If Saethe continued on back, he'd find Steakly hard at work. The dwarf raised an eyebrow, gestured to the gloves and smock laying on a bare workbench and said "Put them on Lad... you Saethe? I'm Steakly, though you can call me Master if you'd like. Are you ready to work? Cause I've got a ton of it laying around. Put on the safety gear, and I will show you about the bellows and how to start working on keeping the fire in tip-top shape. Feel free to stop me whenever i'm on a rant and you don't understand. I'll gladly stop and explain." The older dwarf smiled, and pointed at the bellows, as if he expected Saethe to jump right on them. "Now, what do you know about blacksmithing? And why did you pick this as a profession?"

[Viskyia Crow]

-duh..double post-

[Saethe]

Saethe nodded in response to the dwarf as he gestured. “I see. Well I sure hope I will be some help to you two.” Saethe said with a smile then headed in the direction that Teron indicated.

“Oh and it was nice meeting you, Teron.” Saethe said before going all the way to the backroom.

When Saethe entered the back room he saw Steakly hard at work on something. He then noticed the dwarf raise his eyebrow and gesture to some gloves and a smock that was on a workbench. Saethe started to move over to them as he listened to Steakly talk. Saethe nodded in response when Steakly asked if he was Saethe. When Saethe reached the workbench he proceeded to put on the items and continued to listen as he did. “I sure will let you know, Sir.” Saethe said as he moved over to his master.

“I don’t know much about blacksmithing, but I do know that they use fire to heat up the metal and then bend the metal into their desired shape.” Saethe said to Steakly in response to his question. He then continued to answer the second question, “I pick this as a profession because I have always wanted to learn how to make things out of metal.”

[Viskyia Crow]

ooc: You might want to talk to Grim or Shortround, but I think you can moderate in the Heaven Tier's Forge thread now too if people have special orders, since you're an apprentice there now.

Steakly nodded. "Well, here is the place to come, thats for sure. And don't worry lad. We can remedy any lack of knowledge. Thats what you're paying us the big money for." He grinned and pointed at the bellows. They were a huge set, enormous handles, and could either be worked by hand or attacked to a system of pulleys that ran off a small donkey that slowly walked a tread mill. It was quite a clever system.

"The first thing you need to learn is about how to build up a good fire, and keep a nice bed of coals red hot. We start with pine here, though sometimes in the off season we use alder thats cured a season. You stack it in, woven into a pattern, and light it from the bottom to get it really heated. Then you need to wait for it to burn down to coals, and add more wood to the sides, keeping the coals raked towards the middle. That way you can refresh the coals as you need too. Half the back alley is filled with are forge wood. You need to start with good good wood to get good coals, and to keep those coals hot a long long time. Good fire takes time. Its not something that can be started and roaring in a candlemark. There is a trick to it, and a layering of the burning wood to produce the best coals. A good fire needs to be set to bed at night properly.. I will show you when we get ready to close down for the night. And it needs to be awaken gently and coaxed back to glory for proper usage during the day in the morning. Again, I will show you that in the morning as well. He smiled, demonstrated how to lay in the wood in a sort of criss-cross interwoven pattern, then demonstrated how to rake the burning wood to move the coals to the center of the forge. "Any quesitons?"

[Saethe]

Saethe grinned with Steakly after he finished talking. Saethe then looked to where Steakly was pointing and he saw the bellows of the forge. The elf looked the bellows over noticing the enormous handles and the different ways to work them.

Saethe listened to his master talk. His master then demonstrated how to lay the wood so Saethe watched his master closely. “Umm. Yeah I do have a question. If it takes a while to get a good fire going then how long does it take to make a good item?” Saethe asked.

“Also they said that you provide sleeping quarters.” The elf paused a moment and looked around then continued, “Where exactly would that be at?”

[Viskyia Crow]

Steakly laughed. "Good fires? It depends on so many conditions I can't likely say.. usually an hour or two, if the wood is well seasoned and its not rainy outside. As for items, it depends on the item itself. Sometimes minutes, sometimes days.. and how good are you? It's all relative, again not a question I can easily answer. As for the sleeping arrangements...You don't think you get a room do you? This is a prosperous forge, but we don't have much else. Your sleeping arrangements are here, under the watchful eye of the forge. Its about ready to become your entire life. You can roll out a straw pallet next to it, and keep warm all night. But your job, your very first job as an apprentice will be to mind the fire. You will wake each morning before dawn and get the fire going so its ready to work at between two and three hours later when we all arrive for work. As your knowledge increases, you'll get a nicer pallet, more blankets, and we might even clean out the storage room for you to make your bed in... cause summer is coming, and when that happens, you don't want to be next to the forge, it stays hot all night long. Course, during the winter, its a real luxury to have such warmth." He grinned, then slowly moved around to the bellows.

"Now lad.. first with the bellows. There is two ways to use them. The first way involves you running them by hand, which you will have to do until you learn to manage the donkey. You grasp their handles, and start pumping. You need to pump hard first thing when you light the fire, working a lot of air into the fresh laid fire to get it roaring, later the only thing the fire will require is slow and steady work. Now.. give it a try, and we will introduce you to Felix." He said, handing over the handles to Saethe after his short demonstration on slow and then fast.

Once Saethe had gave it a try, Steakly showed him how to hook the bellows up to an automatic contraption that attached to a small circular walk that a tiny minature donkey calmly paced around when the forge was in full operation. Steakly introduced the beast as Felix, and showed Saethe how to yoke him into the wheel that he walked around, and how it in turn drove the bellows mechanics. He gave him a basic course in how often the donkey needed rest, food, and when and where to use the donkey. The little creature, it turned out, had an nice little stable and the run of the back yard of the forge when he wasn't working... far better accommodation's than Saethe had.

"Now.. for your first items... we are going to make a set of horseshoes.... interested?" Steakly said, grinning formally.

[Saethe]

Saethe heard Steakly laugh after he asked his question. Saethe then listened as his master answered all of his questions. “Well I guess some straw is better then nothing.” Saethe said with a half smile and a little disappointment in his voice. The elf followed his master around the bellows.

Saethe watched and listened to his master as he demonstrated how to use the bellows. “Hard pumps to get the fire going and slow steady pumps to keep it going.” Saethe thought to himself trying to make a mental note. He then gave it a try. Saethe grabbed the handles and pumped hard and quick and then slowed down to a slow but steady pace. Once he finished he turned to Steakly and said, “How was that?” If he was given thumbs up he would practice a bit more. If he did it wrong he would fix what was wrong and repeat it a couple times to make sure he was getting it.

Saethe followed and listened to Steakly as he showed him the donkey contraption. Saethe started to pet the donkey as Steakly introduced it. “I can’t believe the donkey has better accommodations then me.” Saethe thought to himself and then stated, “Ok I think I understand how to run the donkey now.”

“I sure am interested!” Saethe exclaimed. He was happy that they actually got to start working on items today.

[Viskyia Crow]

Steakly nodded, then lead Saethe over to a bin filled with ore. "First and foremost we are going to learn how to smelt our ore. You can't always depend on everyone providing you with the best ore around. Sometimes you have to make it. We do here for the most part, though we do suppliment that with already smelted cubes of metal we buy from reputable dealers. Some of our best suppliers were in Paxia though, and since that supply has been cut off, we do alot ourselves." Steakly said, as he scooped up a bunch of ore and took it to the forge. He then placed it in a smelting pot and placed that in the heart of the fire. The pot itself was made of a material that would stand up to the heat, while still allowing the material inside to melt.

"Once you start getting a good melt, all the impurities will float to the top and form a crust. Its your job to skim off the crust and keep skimming until nothing else forms. If we were doing something else besides horse shoes of iron, we'd have to add other metals together at this point to get the combination we need. But since we are starting out with plain iron, and using iron ore, its a simple enough task. Once your done with the skim, pad the handle, and pour it into these molds. They are long iron bar molds, and from those pieces, you will make your horseshoes. Pour as many molds as you have metal for.. don't worry if the last one is short some metal." Steakly then showed him where the molds were stored, and there were a great many of them. He also showed how to lace them together, and where the pour holes were so Saethe could form his own ingots in which to start his project with.

[Saethe]

OOC:
Whats ingots?

IC:
Saethe followed Steakly to a bin that was filled with ore. Saethe watched and listened to Steakly was getting some of the ore out of the pot. Saethe nodded in agreement when he finished to indicate that he understood what Steakly was saying. Saethe noticed that Steakly was putting the ore into a pot that was over a fire. “So what is the pot made of so it doesn’t melt like the ore you just put in there?” Saethe asked in curiosity. “Also what is that pot called?”

Saethe watched as the ore started to melt in the pot. He also listened to his master as he told him what to do. While he listened the elf started to make some more mental notes about skimming, adding other metals, pad the handle and pour metal into molds. Saethe turned to Steakly, smiled and said, “Ok I think I got all of that.” Then the elf watched his master as he showed him where to find the molds. “Wow there sure is a lot of molds. Will I learn to use all of them in this apprenticeship?” Saethe stated as he watched Steakly show him how to use the molds.

[Viskyia Crow]

ooc: Ingots are just bricks of pure metal. Think of the bricks of gold they have at fort knox.. those are gold ingots. Here's a link to what you did in the last post.

Steakly chuckled. "Not all of them lad. I'm just working on your groundwork right now before you start blacksmithing. A lot of folks would skip the foundry part altogether, but for blacksmithing, knowing the foundry side is just as important. We can skip this knowledge if you like, but you won't be a better blacksmith for it. I mean, how many of my fellows care about where their ingots come from? How they were made? How pure they are? Do you want to be lead blindly into this trade or learn it from the ground up so you know when your getting fleeced on buying piss poor ingots? " He demanded, waiting for Seathe to answer...

"Now, the crucible is what that pots called, and its ceramic for the iron. For almost everything else, we melt metal in iron pots." Steakly said, sighing slightly.

"If you have any more questions, ask um.. otherwise, smelt the rest of the ores in this bin here and stack the ingots high. It should take you the rest of the day.. then get intimate with the broom and clean this place up. Otherwise you will have to sleep in the soot under the forge. Thats not pretty lad, not at all." Steakly laughed, waited to see if he had to answer any more of Seathe's questions.. and then left him to the work.

[Saethe]

Saethe listened to his master as he lectured him. “Ok. Ok. I was just wondering. I want to learn what you know, so I can make as great of items as you do, Sir.” Saethe stated.

Saethe nodded his head in response to Steakly’s statement.

Saethe shook his head to indicate that he had no more questions after he asked but kept talking. When Steakly finished Saethe said, “I don’t have any more questions as of now and I will get this place cleaned up for you, Master.” Saethe watched Steakly leave then got to work.

Saethe started out by skimming the impurities off the top of the already melted ore and deposited the impurities in trash bin. He continued to do this for a while longer till he saw no more impurities come to the top. The elf took a pad and grabbed the handle with it. He tipped the pot towards the molds pour hole and emptied all the melted ore into the molds. Saethe left them to cool down.

Saethe walked over to get more ore from the bin and filled the crucible with the ore. He went back and forth till the crucible was full and started to melt. As it melted Saethe repeated the skimming process again. Once all the impurities were skimmed off, Saethe emptied the now cool molded ore into a random pile for now. He then poured the melted ore into the molds again. Saethe let them cool down and moved back over to the ore bin and fill the crucible with the last of the ore in the bin.

As the ore started to melt, Saethe decided to stack the ingots into a nicer pile. So he grabbed the broom and swept an area by a wall and started to make a nice pile of the ingots. He stopped ever once in a while to skim the pot of the impurities. Once he finished with the nice pile and the now cooled ingots. He poured the last of the melted ore into the molds. As he let them cool he swept up the back area.

When the last of the ore was cool he stacked it nicely on top of the pile. He then went up front to sweep the floor. When he finally finished the sweeping and cleaning he went out the front door and noticed that the sun had almost set. So he went back inside and made up a bed and went to sleep.

[Viskyia Crow]

ooc: Sorry for the delay, Saethe... expect more for about ten-fifteen days.

Steakly was back first thing in the morning to admire Saethe's pile of ingots and the cleanup work he did the night before. He nodded his approval, and set about getting the forge fire going. He demonstrated how to rake back the coals that were firmly bedded down before the family had departed, giving them air to breathe, and sprinkling them with fresh woodchips so they would catch faster. Then he carefully laid firewood in a criss-cross pattern up and down the length of the firepit, letting that too catch. He kept raking, demonstrating the techniques to Saethe, until he had a great bed of coals, and the fire was not flaming at all.

"Thats your job each morning... wake the fire. Each night you will put it to bed.. and feed it multiple times in between." He smiled, pulled for a horseshoe from a drawer filled with them, and handed it to Saethe. "You will be making four of these today. First things first.. now that the fire is settled and hot, we will take one of your newly made ingots and heat up the tip until its red-hot. Use the long tongs right here... hold the iron ingot by them, and thrust the tip into the fire.. check on it frequently. Once its red-hot we will pinch off a bit, and begin to work it. I've found, when you pinch off just as big of a bite the pinchers will make, its perfect for your average horse shoe." Steakly said, giving Saethe a hint. Then Steakly smiled, moving around expecting Saethe to do exactly as he said, using the exact tools he pointed out as the smith got his own work started for the day.

Once the ingot was red-hot Steakly came back to oversee Saethe pinching off the bit of metal, and taking it over to the anvil to start working it. He wanted to see how the lad did without too much instruction, but making himself more than available for questions that might crop up.

[Saethe]

Saethe watched Steakly as he looked everything over and woke the fire. Saethe tried to remember each thing Steakly did to get the fire going again. Saethe remembered the criss-cross pattern from the day before when Steakly showed him how to get the coals going. The elf continued to watch his master as he worked on the coals until the coals were not flaming anymore, but were still very hot.

Saethe smiled and nodded back to Steakly in response to what he said. Saethe then took the horseshoe that was handed to him and listened to Steakly as he looked it over. Saethe smiled back at Steakly and said, “Sounds pretty easy to do. But I bet it is harder then it sounds.” Saethe chuckled a bit then got to work. He grabbed the long tongs that were pointed out and an iron ingot. Saethe used the tongs to grab one end of the ingot and then stabbed the other end into the burning coals. Saethe pulled it out a couple times to see if it was red-hot yet, but it wasn’t either time. Once he pulled it out again he noticed that it was now red-hot. So he took the pinchers and pinched off just as big of a bite that the pinchers would make.

Saethe moved over to the anvil to start working the red-hot metal, but he was unsure of what exactly to “work.” But he continued anyways. He picked up the hammer laid the metal down onto the anvil. Saethe used the pinchers to hold the metal and started to hammer the metal so it was flatter. Now Saethe was stumped, so he turned to Steakly and asked, “Umm. Master, what do I do now?”

[Viskyia Crow]

Steakly brightened, having been right behind Saethe the entire time, watching the entire procedure and noting that the youth had listened to him carefully. "Good lad.. good. I can tell you've never baked cause throwing out a shoe is like rolling out pie crust me good wife says.. and shes never wrong. Just ask her!" He slapped his thigh and roared in laughter. His son, from the front, shouted out an agreement and everyone in the smithy shared a little moment.

Then, Steakly put Saethe's horseshoe back into the fire to heat it up again, and once it was red hot, he carried it back to the anvil. "Watch closely lad. You gotta get up a rhythm... tap the anvil, tap the horseshoe.. what your going to do is spread the metal thin and do so in little bits. You just can't hammer the thing down flat like you did. Its good that you can do that, but any monkey can really... what you want to do is slowly coax the metal into a uniform shape. Keep turning the length, keep flattening it, as if you cannot decide which side wants to be down, which wants to be up, and which wants to be the edges... work it slowly, reheat it as often as you need too. Then, once the metal has seemed to decide for itself, stick with the metal's decision. Go ahead and start on one end.. and slowly work the metal flatter, then move inward just a smid... bite off more metal by hammering it towards your already flattened end... keep going until you run out of metal. Make it about an inch thick... reheat it as often as you need too.. then I will show you how to put it into a horse shoe shape once you have it even. Don't be afraid to turn it on end to tap the ends down to keep the metal a consistent thickness and width. Thats important." The dwarf grinned, loving the simple task of talking a piece of metal int