aterat | [Open] The Finest Weapons And Armor

Entry tags:

[Open] The Finest Weapons And Armor

Who; Lauri-Ell
What; Doing Blacksmithing Work and Sales
Where; Bay Blades
When; Early June
Warnings; None

Summer, objectively the worst time of year to be a blacksmith, or worse, a blacksmith's apprentice. One might not think it, but it was true. While the forge was more or less at the same range of temperatures all year long, and that throwing off more heat than the summer sun could, the truth remained that in the other seasons you could walk away and cool down some. That was not true for Lauri-Ell in the summer.

For Forgemistress Gili it was easier, Lauri-Ell believed, for the dwarf admitted she was used to heated in cramped spaces. For Lauri-Ell, whose main experience before this world was service on a climate controlled planet, this was quite the experience. They had come up with a system, though, in the last summer she was employed, and that was in use now. Which was 'minimum public decency while working' attire. Given this was for Lauri-Ell a crop top, shorts, and her leather work apron and gloves, it was definitely both too much and too little all at once. She'd clearly already worked up a sweat, but at least she was getting a break as she was putting a finished peace in a bucket of water to quench.

Which is about when she notices the arrival of customers. Which was a better excuse than most to untie the leather straps from around the back of her neck, let the top half of the apron hang loose, and move away from the fires of the forges to see them.

"Welcome to Bay Blades!"

Hopefully the customer wasn't the sort to be scared off, or distracted, by a woman who was over six and a half feet tall, massively muscled, just this side of scantily clad, and most importantly, blue-skinned. Gili would be upset if she accidentally scared off another customer.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

“I see, so it’s the weapon that allows you to change your clothing with such sudden ease. It is convenient, in my experience.” He mused lightly, finding himself rather intrigued. There were so many kinds of people in this world, from what seemed to be such varied worlds… There truly was an unfathomable amount of realities out there… and so many people from them gathered in one strange place.

“Of course, I can’t help but notice when shades complement each other.” He responded with a smile, but curiosity won over again as he watched her as they moved towards the historium. “And what is an Accuser?” Was it some sort of law enforcement position in her world? It was… really an odd sounding title.

"It is part of the powers of the Universal Weapon granted to me. They are much limited here, though. I make use of it in the summer so I can retain light clothing for the forge, but still be 'appropriately dressed' for the rest of the city."

Human decency standards made no sense to her if she was being honest.

Still, his question might have a disturbing answer. Some did not like it.

"We were the law and justice of my people. A calling perverted that I wish to see restored to honor."

“So it can do more than call forth clothing?” Considering her height and build, that was probably still pretty convenient. Clothing that fit properly probably needed to be specially made for someone like her. Yusuke liked nice clothing, and he had a very strict eye for traditional clothing and if it was worn properly with respect or not… But he was aware of how modest most people’s views were of the how much skin was shown. He realized that for some reason, on occasion, that it was equated to being immodest and displaying a particular intent.

“I see… I had wondered if it was something similar to the police or other law enforcement agencies.” Which were quite often quite useless, considering how many things slipped by their attention, were ignored or mishandled… He wondered if it were something like that for her, if she was trying to restore it to something better, as she said.

“That is a noble endeavor, I’m sure. Justice for people who need it is important and so often neglected.” Still, he wondered what her stance on his group would be considering the way the law saw them… Maybe she would have a better understanding of their motives. But he was keeping that detail to himself with everyone, anyway. As much as he could, anyway, considering how prone some he had met already seemed to be at probing questions.

"Much more. The armor it forms is relatively simple in its list of what could happen. However it can be useful while I need additional time to get new summer clothes. I had a limited selection last year."

Still, his comment earns a nod from her. This was true. It was similar.

"Justice is complicated. The Accusers used to force our laws on others who were not of our people or in our territory. It was wrong."

“That’s very impressive?” He responded with a small hum. Really, it was clearly a versatile ability given she seemed to imply there were many more things it could do. Still, it was sad to hear she was still having an issue finding things an entire year later.

It was then that something about what she said struck him rather by surprise. Not the weapons abilities or clothing, so much as the duration of time she’d spent in this place. “You’ve been in this place for an entire year? That is a rather long time to be away from home.” And he doesn’t like hearing that, even if time wasn’t going to pass in his absence? He didn’t want to be away for such a long time. It was starting to sound like a long stay was closer to the norm than a short one, though…

"Oh, more than," she answered. "I have seen two winters. Kree do not have winters."

So why were quire the experience to her.

More than… Two winters… Yes, Yusuke liked the sound of that less and less. People being in these worlds for long seemed to be becoming the more common trend than hearing of those who’d been here for a short time before leaving. He would have to consider this going forward, to be prepared for such possibilities, as much as it pained him to think of being away from the others for such a long time. “If the kree do not have winters, then I expect that must have been quite the adjustment. The climate of the place you come from must be quite different.”

"It was. I encountered snow for the first time and was very confused. But I also got to know hot chocolate, and that was nice," she says, grinning.

Though she supposed she had had learned a lot more than that.

"Yes, the Kree worlds are climate controlled."

“I’m sure it was quite shock to your system, though it sounds as though you found some of the more pleasant points to winter.” Yusuke found he rather liked the season. The cooler weather and the beauty of the freshly fallen snow were a sight to behold as the sun came up. Fitting for someone with access to ice spells, perhaps, but it was better to him than sweltering heat.

He tilted his head slightly, “Climate controlled? That must be quite advanced compared to most places, I expect.”

"It was. I was cold, and it was EVERYWHERE!"

She laughs as she considers it. Her friends had helped her adjust to it.

"Oh, we are. We are a space-faring people."

It was hard to not smile a little at the description. Snow was like that after all. When it fell, it coated everything in the storm’s wake. At least she seemed to find it amusing enough to laugh about now, so there wasn’t any lingering animosity towards the weather. “It is that, certainly. I’ve always found the chill it brings rather refreshing, but I can see how it would be less so for someone who has never experienced it before.”

The explanation gets an interested hum as they moved down the streets. “Space-faring? So you live in a climate controlled ship, or the technology has advanced enough to keep your planets climate that way.” Yusuke had a lot of questions, perhaps, but he was trying to picture this place she was from and he was trying to understand more about the people around him as much as the world.

"We control the climates of cities and worlds," she answered. It was very advanced. "It makes things easier for us to adjust to a world."

ANd honestly, she saw a lot of good reasons for this. They could settle horrid rocks of worlds, and support garden worlds for food.

And that rounded the mental image out a little, tilting his head up to glance at her again. “That sounds quite wondrous? I can imagine there would be many benefits to such a stable ability to control such things.” But also made adjusting to a world like this challenging, certainly, especially if she couldn’t easily find a variety of attire to assist with adapting.

Approaching the Historium, he reached for the door to open it and hold it for her to enter as well. His mind wandering to where they might find what they were looking for. Even as he’d been here frequently enough with Mitsuru since arriving, there were still a lot of sections he hadn’t gone through.

It was courteous for him to hold the door for her, and Lauri-Ell nodded her head in appreciation as she strode in before him. There was much to find here.

"I have another commission I must research, so this would be good to do. Let us see if we can't find a place where smith work id discussed."

Yusuke’s eyes wandered over the shelves, flitting to titles on spines as he tried to pick out one that might lead them to believe they were on the right trail to such a section. “Is that so? What is this other commission, if you don’t mind my asking? I will keep my eye out for titles that might suggest we’re in the right place for that as well.” He added, wondering what other projects that Lauri-Ell might have. It was interesting to know what other kinds of weaponry she might work on, especially should he run into anyone or a friend to arrive that might have the need for something.

"A sword," she said thoughtfully as she started to inspect books as well. "More artful. Meant to hold magic. Gili and I are not sure how to make some of the designs, even with her mastery. I must see if there are books on metals suited to holding magic for extended periods."

And that would be very important for their work.

“An enchanted blade. That would be a complicated endeavor.” He mused thoughtfully, pulling out one book to leaf through before shaking his head and putting it back in place. “I have enchanted blank cards for use, but they are rather limited.” He added, thinking of the onetime use skill cards that Ren would often ask him to make to use with his persona. It was always an interesting challenge, but Ren wasn’t here so…

He read over a few more spines before continuing. “I can imagine that having a weapon enchanted with an element could certainly give a nice edge against some enemies.”

Enchanted cards? What would they have been for? She's never heard the like.

"Are you a witch then? To do such magic?"

But yes, that would be a useful thing. Inesa's power had made the metal quite cold. Lauri-Ell pulled down a book and flipped through it for a bit.

A witch? What an odd notion. “No, I’m an artist.” He responded as if that explained anything. Not that Yusuke actually knew how to explain the ability that had come to him after awakening his persona and spending some time with Ren. It had simply been a stroke of inspiration that worked out more useful to the team than his usual work did.

“Truthfully, I’m unsure how to explain it in great detail. It’s an ability I stumbled on by chance when inspiration struck while looking at a blank card my team’s leader had.” Yusuke could never look at a blank piece of paper without his fingers itching to cover it in something, and he hadn’t expected it to somehow turn into a real skill card. The teen wasn’t sure why he could do it, only speculating that perhaps it had to do with the cognitive world and that believing they were a real card based on his attention to detail made them as such.

Sliding another book back into the shelf, he reached for another that appeared to be about swords, hoping perhaps it might contain a section that might be helpful.

An artist? She's intrigued by that. Art was, after all, something Kree did not have. Not really.

"What do artists do?"

Yes, she's too curious about that now.

Yusuke paused, his hand falling away from the shelf where he was about to pull another book free. It was not a question he had expected to hear, certainly. Did they not have artists among her people?? That just seemed tragic to the teen, and it showed on his face as he tried to think of how to answer.

“Artists create works to evoke emotions, to inspire those around them to feel through their art. Either the feelings of the artist, or the subject matter of the piece. To put beauty into a world that can be so very ugly at times.” He responded, expression and gestures rather animated. He was, unsurprisingly, quite passionate about the subject, and it seemed a shame to think there were people out there who had never gotten to experience such things before.

To put beauty into a world that can be so very ugly at times. Well that is interesting.

"I like the sound of this. I do not know that I am familiar with art. Not even here. I grow flowers and medical plants and food plants. Those bring beauty into the world. Is that art?"

Her words only confirmed his suspicion, as sad as it was to think of…

But her questions get a vigorous nod, tone bright as he responded. “I would say gardens are often arranged in an artistically pleasing way… So yes, I believe the growing of flowers and plants can be a form of art with considerable value. The way one flower complements another, or the varying shades of greenery with pops of colour mixed in, can be quite beautiful. And it’s often for the enjoyment and benefit of others, which certainly counts as putting beauty into the world. I have seen some magnificent locations that truly inspire!” When Yusuke felt like he needed to go back to the basics, he did paint flowers, after all.

“There are many forms of art, some often not considered or overlooked in favour of forms considered more traditional.” He added with a gesture, hoping he made sense. This was, after all, rather important in his opinion.

The thing is that Lauri-Ell doesn't know if she's arranged them in an artful way. So maybe she's failing at the art of it.

"What other forms of art are there?"

If she showed Yusuke, he would undoubtedly offer an opinion on the subject of if they were arranged artfully or not. It was something he honestly had a hard time not doing sometimes.

“There are many, as I said. The most commonly thought of would be painting, as I mentioned before, sculpting, literature, music, theater, architecture, and cinema. But I would say it spans well beyond those things, such as fashion and hand crafts that are quite the art, for example, people who create wonderful things from knitting or crochet. Embroidery would also count, I should think. There are so very many things that one can put forth in the world to convey feelings or inspire others.” He responded, tone passionate and gestures animated as he forgot the books entirely for a moment.

When he finally did turn his eyes back to the books, he continued with a more thoughtful tone. “Even the work you do with metals could be considered a form of art. Some weapons and armors carry such ornate details, intricate and beautiful.”

[Open] The Finest Weapons And Armor

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)