Basic Jewelry-Craft [Lyria|Private]

[Aesha]

Timestamp: Mid-Immanis, Era I of the Celestine Mandate, Era X Post-Fractum.

OOC: I sort of couldn't think of a way to get your PC here very well, so in this and the other thread I'm just going to assume that Janice has already led Lyria here like she said she would

IC: The house that had been Janice's destination had only been a short walk from the Aedile's office, and in a hurry to get back to the ever-increasing mounds of paper, Janice had left Lyria standing in front of the house of her jewellry-craft trainer-to-be.

The house itself stood practically on the street edge, a small strip of grass the only barrier between private and public property. Built of grey stone and with ivy creeping gradually up the rough walls, it looked inviting enough, if though a little untidy. Weeds were beginning to poke up above the flat grass, so whoever lived seemed to be currently too busy to attend to the poor excuse for a garden.

The front door was plain wood, and hadn't been painted but rather varnished, giving it a gleam that showed off the red-coloured wood it had been made from. No one seemed to currently know of Lyria's presence, so all that was left to do, was knock.

[Lyria Foamswift]

Lyria stood for a while, looking over the building. It had a rather classic, lived-in charm, although she had to look at the garden with a mixture of pity and dismay. The stone by itself would have looked harsh, but the ivy softened the effect and gave it a certain appeal.

She was rather glad that the door had been left unpainted, as she’d always enjoyed the color and patterns of natural wood. Why cover up something that was so naturally beautiful on its own? Lyria lingered for a moment, standing before the door but not yet willing to knock. She had to admit herself that the funny feeling in her stomach was nervousness, something that she wasn’t too familiar with.

But why should she be nervous? There was no reason, really, Lyria mentally reassured herself. Except perhaps that the jeweler will take one look at me and deem me unfit, know right away that I don’t have the natural skill to do this. She rubbed her necklace, the only outwards sign of her anxiety. It was all very well and good to talk of jewelry-craft and make up dreams about it; it was another thing entirely to actually do it.

Lyria sighed in exasperation at herself. It wasn’t like her to be so wishy-washy and anxious. Pushing aside her worries, she stepped forward and knocked on the door, no sign of nerves on her face.

[Aesha]

Nothing happened for a small while after Lyria knocked on the door of the house. The world continued as normal, and no sign that anyone was on the interior of the building emerged. However, the sound of quickly padding feet appeared as the owner of the house raced to get to the door before the inquirer gave him and walked away.

A glance at the front door of the house would reveal something strange. The door handle was at a peculiar height, so much so that any human or elven creature wanting to open the door would actually have to bend down slightly. Before that could be pondered on further, the door itself actually opened and a figure stood in the doorway, peering out to see who was calling. A look of familiarity passed over the person's face as she recognised the half-elf standing on her doorstep.

It was the hobbit from the jewelry stand in the market square. Her mass of curls were once again tied up as they were, and she wore a long, peach coloured dress that almost covered her bare, hairy feet. She lacked the apron with it's money pockets though, and in one hand a semi-threaded row of beads had been clutched as she ran to answer the door.

"Oooooh. I don't give refunds you know." Blinking, she added, "Wait, how d'you know where I live?"

[Lyria Foamswift]

Lyria frowned slightly as she waited for the door to open, wondering if she’d come a little too early. She’d been sort of expecting the door to fly open as her instructor-to-be labeled all her faults. Frankly, it was rather anticlimactic after all the worrying and anxiety she’d been experiencing before. She grinned at herself, having gotten over her brief panic attack. It was hard to see what she’d been so worried about in the first place.

The odd height of the door handle was only beginning to make sense to Lyria when the door opened, and she found herself staring into the familiar face of the hobbit jeweler. She’s going to be my instructor?! Surprise was quickly followed by a sense of I-should’ve-known, and Lyria grinned. And I was even thinking of asking her a few questions back at the jewelry stall. Abestat is a small city after all.

She grinned again at the woman’s initial reaction. “I’m not stalking you, and I’m not looking for a refund. If anything, I’d like to buy another pair of earrings sometime, although… not quite so soon,” she admitted.

“Actually, I’m here for jewelry-craft training, I’m not sure if you were informed…” she glanced at the string of beads in the hobbit’s hand. Apparently Lyria had interrupted her in the middle of her work. “If you’re busy now, I can come back another time.” Despite her thoughtful words and mild smile, Lyria was anything but. Please don’t be busy please don’t be busy… ran through her mind as she waited for the jeweler’s response.

[Aesha]

The hobbit frowned slightly, "Noooo... I don't think anyone told me." Raising a finger she continued, "Hold on a sec." She turned around in the doorway and raised her voice.

"Norb! You got some message from the Aedile you ain't told me?!"

The only answer Lyria could hear started with "Er......"

The hobbit didn't need anymore information to know that 'Norb' had forgotton to tell her however. Nodding and turning back around to Lyria she gave a slightly exaggerated sigh. "Yup. No good for anything but wood, I tell ya."

Glancing at the beads in her hand as Lyria did she waved them a little. "Oh, no, no, not busy at all! Just repairing something. Please, please, come in, can't leave you out here on the doorstep, hmm? Oh, yes, my name is Raura Orangeblossom."

Turning around and heading inside she waited for Lyria to make her way in before closing the front door and leading the elf into a wide sort of kitchen area, complete with a big wooden table that sufficed as a workspace. A few glass beeds in a box had been left there. Whereever Norb was, it wasn't in this room.

The house was humansized, so there was plenty of headroom for Lyria but all the furniture had been designed for hobbits, so the chair Raura waved Lyria towards was like a child-sized seat, but still big enough for the elf to sit in.

"Now, hmm, you have your voucher, and 100 crowns for the rest of the payment?"

[Lyria Foamswift]

Lyria grinned at the exchange between Raura and her husband, the carpenter who had made her box. Perhaps he wasn’t the best message-relayer, but he had a skill with woodworking that she admired.

She nodded politely to the hobbit. “Serale, Raura.” Stepping in, she was surprised that everything was comfortably-sized, until she glanced at the furniture. It would be a snug fit, but for once Lyria was glad that she had a rather petite frame.

Settling herself into the chair that Raura had motioned towards, she nodded at the woman’s question. “Yes… here they are,” she said as she fumbled through her bag for both the voucher and her money pouch. She weighed the pouch of coins in her hand. It was significantly lighter, but Lyria reassured herself. It was an investment, one that might pay off in the future, she told herself. She certainly hoped so.

She placed the voucher on the table, as well as the 100 crowns. “As requested,” Lyria said with a smile.

[Aesha]

"Great." Raura carefully counted the money and nodded, picked up both it and the voucher and exited the room for a moment, leaving Lyria alone. She came back a few moments later, empty handed.

Sitting down in the chair opposit the Theyri again, Raura smiled and fiddled slightly with the string of beads she had left on the table top in an absent manner. "Let's see. Right, I suppose first of all I'll explain what our lessons will entail. First, I'll teach you about making jewellry out of non-metal items. Such as, leather, glass, wood, any sort of other material. I even use shells on occasion. Then, I'll teach you the very basics of gold and silversmithing, but you won't be able to make anything significant until you start the next level of training."

Realising she'd rambled on a little, she smiled apologetically at Lyria. "Any questions before we start?"

[Lyria Foamswift]

Lyria nodded as she listened to Raura’s explanation, tamping down the regret she felt at not being able to jump into metal-working first off. Of course, it made sense that they would start off the training with more basic, easier to handle materials, but Lyria couldn’t help being slightly disappointed anyhow.

In any case, it was interesting to hear about how many other materials were used in making jewelry. Glass and wood! Lyria could imagine wooden bangles and earrings made out of glass. It would be exciting to learn about how to craft those materials into jewelry. Especially glass – the idea of using breath and fire to create solid objects was fascinating.

She shook her head in response to Raura’s question. “No, no questions at all. Well…actually, I do have one,” Lyria admitted. “About how long will it take for us to cover the basics? Before we get on to smithing?” Other than that, she had no other questions, and was quite eager to start learning. If only I’d had this kind of enthusiasm during school, she mused wistfully.

[Aesha]

Raura grinned at her student's enthusiasm to learn, and answered as she tucked a piece of wavy hair behind an ear. "Oh, well, there's a surprising amount of different materials to take into consideration. I'd say today, and tomorrow, then after that we'll start on metals. Oh, of course, my lessons only last two or so hours a time, because I have to go and work on the stall too, of course."

Twisting the half beaded necklace around with a slightly stubby index fingers Raura 'hmmmed' a moment, and pulled the box full of coloured beads towards her. "Of course, there's a lot more to making jewellry then well, making the jewellry. It involves design, coloured co-ordination, things like that. After all, even if you're the best silversmith in the world, if you make ugly things, people aren't going to buy them. Well, mostly." she chuckled, "Some people have the strangest taste."

"Okay, this is just going to be a little test, nothing too hard." She produced a long, thin leather thong identical to the one she had already half-strung beads on, and gave it to Lyria. Next, she pushed the big box of multi-coloured glass beads towards the half-Theyri. Practically every colour imaginable was in that box.

"Okay, I just want you to string a bead necklace, in a pattern you think would make someone want to buy it. Use as many or as little colours as you like."

[Lyria Foamswift]

Lyria nodded as Raura explained the approximate amount of time it would take. Around two hours for a lesson sounded fine to her. She tended to get a little antsy when she had to sit in a classroom for more than 3 hours… which was another reason why school had been a trial to her. But this was different, Lyria reminded herself. For one thing, it was more active and hands-on; for another, the subject actually appealed to her. Which made a whole world of difference for Lyria, since she only applied herself when she was interested in something.

She grinned at Raura’s comment about taste, and was reminded of her father’s questionable taste in fashion. Here was a man who happened to think that polka-dots and plaid worked well together, especially in the garish colors of bright orange, yellow-green, and a vivid, eye-smarting blue. Lyria winced at the memory, and chalked it up to not having an adult female influence around the house.

Taking the thong that Raura had offered, she stared down at the box of beads, dazzled by the huge spectrum of colors. There were so many colors that she could even pick out the exact shades of orange, green and blue that her father had favored. A test… Lyria hoped that bad taste wasn’t genetic as she picked out colors to thread onto the leather string.

She’d always liked colors that reminded her of the ocean. Dark blues, sea-greens, and the paler shades in between. Lyria started out with the darker colors, and worked up a gradient to a pale sea-green, so delicate it was almost white. It reminded her of seafoam, pale against the darker crests of water. Sliding on more beads, she made another gradient, this time from paler to darker shades of blue and green.

Lyria had run out of space on the leather thong, and she glanced up at Raura, with a nervous smile. “Well… it looks like I’m finished.” She held up her experiment for the hobbit to see, feeling a flutter of anxiety in her stomach.

[Aesha]

Raura watched carefully as Lyria strung the selected beads on the thin piece of leather, resting her hands on the tabletop gently and glancing at the wooden box full of glass orbs before watching Lyria work on the necklace. The beads in question had very wide holes through them for that loose, free effect, but Raura also had other selections that were alot more tricky to thread, for those people who liked the beads to stay in place.

A small smile appeared on the hobbit's face as she worked out what pattern Lyria was making. She patiently waited for elven student to finish the work before she said anything. Once the necklace was held up in Lyria's hand, she clapped her hands together a few times in delight. "Oh, that's beautiful! You certainly have the talent for this profession." Raura beamed, the smile lighting up her hobbit features.

"Okay, now, how do you think we would fasten such a necklace to keep the beads secure?" Raura liked to ask her students questions alot. Thinking was all part of learning at the Hobbit didn't like to just tell a student what they were supposed to be doing.

[Lyria Foamswift]

Lyria lit up at this casual praise, and even though she knew Raura probably said it to all her students, no matter how ugly the necklace turned out, she couldn’t help a goofy grin. Well, it may be plain and simple… but at least it can only get better from here! she thought, eyeing her creation. And she did rather like the way the colors looked with each other, a smooth transition between the blues and greens. Perhaps it’s not that bad after all…

She frowned slightly as she considered Raura’s question. “Well, I suppose the easiest way to do it would be just to tie the ends together. Or… have some sort of clasp, like metal necklaces do.” Lyria chewed on her lip in thought as she tried to figure out another way. “Knot the ends, to make sure the beads don’t fall off?” she suggested weakly, and shrugged helplessly.

[Aesha]

Raura nodded at the answer Lyria gave. "Ooooh, you got it right!" The hobbit giggled slightly, as though something amused her. "Most people don't think of the most obvious answer - knotting the ends. Of course, metal clasps can be used to, and some people prefer those, but some people also prefer the natural sort of knotty look." Raura obviously placed a big emphasis of what the general public wanted in her lessons.

Taking the necklace gently out of Lyria's hands, Raura deftly tied two simple knots in each end of the leather thong. To demonstrate that it worked, she turned the necklace upside down and all the beads ran down the length of the thin strip of leather, and stopped. She shook it gently to make sure the knots will hold.

"Okay, I'll just show you how to make the ends secure with metal, rather than knots."

Standing up from the table, she wandered out of the room again, into some other part of the house. A few moments later she came back carrying an enormous workbasket, which she place beside her seat, and then sat down again. Reaching into it, she pulled out two thin rectangular pieces of silver metal, which could easily be bent into shape. Carefully, she untied the knots, and squeezed the pieces of metal around the leather, creating a stopper so the beads would stay in place.

"Okay, now the last thing is to do something so the necklace will stay in place around the neck. Once again, the most obvious thing would be knotting it. However I do have more wrap-around pieces such as these with clasps on the end, that hold the necklace together around the neck."

Placing the necklace back on the table, she continued, "Of course, pieces with any sort of metal fastening are going to cost more in order to cover the price of the materials. Any questions?"

[Lyria Foamswift]

Lyria watched in interest as Raura demonstrated different ways to prevent the beads from sliding off. The hobbit’s fingers moved quickly and efficiently, showing that was an old hand at this. Lyria noted that one needed a certain bit of dexterity to work in the jewelry-craft business, and flexed her own fingers absentmindedly, as if revving them up.

“For fastening the necklace around the neck, it would be easier to use the metal fastenings, right? It seems like a great trial to have to reach behind and untie a knot every time one wants to take off a necklace.” Lyria reached behind to rub at the clasp around her neck, which was made of metal. She rarely took it off, but she figured it would be quite annoying if she had to unknot the ends when she did. “Is it much more expensive to have metal fastenings?”

“But besides that, no questions,” she smiled.

[Aesha]

Raura nodded. "In most cases, yes, it's easier to use the metal fastening, but it depends on the length of the necklace. If it's long enough, it can just be knotted and lifted over the head, which saves a lot of bother all around, really."

The hobbit woman considered the next question carefully, as if calculating something in her mind. "Well, not too much more, admittedly, and of course, it matters whether you use silver or gold, or something else completely like bronze or even iron. But for the size of the metal involved at this stage we're only really talking a couple of crowns at the most. It all depends, though, on whether you are making the fastenings yourself or buying them from elsewhere."

Done with the explaination, and safe in the knowledge that Lyria had no more questions, Raura pushed the necklace aside and pulled three more strips of leather out of her workbasket. It was clear she was moving on to something else.

The three strips of leather in question had all been tied slightly different tones of tan, and were flatter and thicker than the thong Lyria had used to string beads. Raura placed them on the table between herself and her student.

"These three simple strips can be used to make a bracelet, or, if they were longer, even a choker to fasten around the neck. The concept is... fairly simple..."

Wanting to test her students brain again, Raura smiled encouragingly and asked, "Can you guess how they can be merged together to form such items?"