aterat | [Open] The Finest Weapons And Armor

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[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.

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"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.”

Well of course they would not be arranged artfully. They were arranged practically. That was the best one could expect of her and Yuki. They weren't making art, they were being practical.

"Ah! My people do build things. Architecture. Maybe that is where we have art."

But she doesn't know. She doesn't even have pictures of what they did back home.

"Gili is an artist then, not me."

“That could very well be true, then. Even if they may not have thought of it as such, the architecture of different places is often quite magnificent!” Yusuke was quite fond of looking at architecture himself at times, especially at historic locations. They just had such a particularly pleasing look to them, the details and shapes often inspiring.

Her suggestion that her work might not count as art gets a small, thoughtful shrug as he reached for another book to leaf through. “Perhaps at this stage, if you’re only starting… But one does better their skills over time, I’m sure you will create wonderful pieces yet. I have already heard high compliments about your work.” It was why he sought Lauri-Ell out, after all.

His eyes fell on a page and beamed as he recognized the designs of weapons on the pages. “Oh, I believe I may have found a reference to Japanese-style swords, so I believe that’s a start. Do you think this will help?” He commented, eyes drifting back as he intended to continue helping to look for books on enchanting metals.

Perhaps he is right. But She doesn't know how soon she can reach that level. It could be interesting though. Still, to think she might make art is... amazing.

"Oh, please let me see that," she said, holding her hands out for hte book.

Yusuke would be quick to encourage her to pursue such a desire, of course. He was undoubtedly going to sing her praises in thanks for the katana when the time came.

But, for now, the teen offered the book over to her with a hopeful expression. “Here you are. I believe I saw the katana somewhere past the middle-point in the book when I was flipping through.” He commented with a smile, fussing with other books on the shelf while he waited for her verdict.

Lauri-Ell nods and takes the books, quick to flip through it to seek the item. And for a long while then she's reading, thoughtful.

"Yes, I think we could achieve this. It will take time. We will need to do it more than once."

And Yusuke waits patiently, simply passing the time looking for a book on the other subject Lauri-Ell was looking for. His attention shifted, though, when she finally broke the silence. A pleased, eager tone in his voice at the good news. “Wonderful! I’m quite glad to hear that.” He’d feel much better once he had it, honestly. Goemon was powerful, and easy to call here, yes… But not to be relied on entirely, it could tire you out faster than simply fighting with enhanced abilities his persona granted.

“The time taken is understandable. I sincerely appreciate the thought and care that you will put into it.” He responded with a knowing nod. “And the time it takes will give me time to secure the funds. I presume you will be able to give me a better idea of the blades cost once you know how much will need to go into it?”

"I shall bring this back to Gili. She'll know what to do with this. I will contact you once we are ready to recieve your full specifications. But we won't know the cost until we try."

They must know how much metal they will use and the time and many other things.

[Open] The Finest Weapons And Armor

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