Keep that fire burning...

Sarai sought out the local smithy, her plan was to learn about the craft, she needed to be able to produce items on her own, if she ever wanted to make full use of her enchantment capability. This was one of the reasons why she chose El Tarter too, it had craftsmen, and she would do what was necessary to learn the craft.

At first she sought out the smithy station, (or stations plural) and tried to find out who owned it, convicing them that she should be allowed to use the forge in order to learn the craft. This proved to be less difficult than she had thought at first. She expected to hear how a woman should know her place and leave such things for men.

But instead, the old man running the furnace simply grinned: "Aye? Well go ahead and get your hands dirty." he simply stated. there was more to it of course.

As she got inside there were two more men there, working up a sweat, hammering and working on a large project. It looked like the undercarriage of a wagon, or something like it, maybe the bottom of a cage? 

"Good evening. my name is Sarai, I came here to learn, would any of you be willing to let me watch your work?"

One of the men put down his tools and looked at her: "This is not a fancy we're doing here miss, Sarai?"

Man #2: "Yeah I've seen you around, you're new here aren't you?"

Sarai: "I am, look, I don't have much money, but anything I make we can sell and make a profit for you, I am offering free work, I can work late nights, and I wont disturb your other works."


Man 1: "Well when you put it like that..."

Man 2: "Just keep the place clean and uncluttered."

Sarai had convinced them, but was unprepared for the heat of the furnace, and what her beast thought about it. Stlll, she managed to keep her calm. And bided her time, learning how the craft was done. It wasn't all that hard, she needed skill with the tools, to strike unerringly.

It would take her time, and she would make small tasks, over long nights, but in the end, she learned all the pertinent details, now all she needed was time to craft something really well. And time, she had a lot of. The old man was surprised she stuck with it, and grew more and more hospitable, provided she brought him something to drink, which she did, on those nights when she wanted a bit more privacy.

With the passage of time, Sarai tested and learned new methods. Things that work... and things that didn't.

For example, vitae did work, partially, well not at all if just dripped on the sword, but she knew there was iron in the blood after all, she just had to isolate it.

So with some centrifugal force (that's Sarai slinging it around in the metalshop as fast as she can) and well a few other trial and error things, gave Sarai a way to apply the magical effects she wanted.

Granted, blood was not her favourite, it seemed contradictory, if the blade tasted blood, it'd be thirsty, but she wanted an angry blade, not a thirsty one!

So where does anger come from? Fortunately Sarai has a best friend who can tell her these things! Beastie was a bit confused about the concept of putting anger in a blade. It seemed pointless! But with some convincing, they came to the agreement that the beast could transfer som of it's anger through Sarai. Which proved to be a lot easier than she had thought it might.

Turns out staring angrily at the blade is what was needed, to give it that "you better get real sharp, or I'll use you to shovel shit!" sort of stare. No blade wants to be a shit blade... but that's a different story.

In the end, she had her blade created, it was sharper than usual, but, not enough to make people wonder. She gave it a name too, Anger, because that's what it was.

After having created her personal dagger, she felt like, it was only appropriate she would try her hand at something more impressive, a great sword, something that could be used in actual combat. She knew just the thing for it too.

The thing with running away and hiding in the mountains, was that it was a necessity, but it didn't necessarily mirror her own wishes in therms of fame and fortune. She had already made some inroads on the fortune bit, but now she wanted the former.

How does an anonymous crafter gain recognition? Well it's only too simple, she lets the craft speak for itself. She intended to create a powerful sword and simply trade it away, and with the sword, a simple thing, a mark, her very own mark, that would indelibly link the sword to whoever crafted it. It'd be an embarrassing thing before long no doubt, but all true craftsmen, artisans shared the same story, one must start somewhere, to get to the next place.

So, she would visit the forge, curious as to what kind of ability she might enchant the sword with? An angry sword seems like a foolish thing to put out there, what if it was used against her? No, she would choose something more suitable, something impressive, but all the same useless for combat.

Ah yes of course, a dazzling sword! The Toreadors will cream their collective pants!
with that in mind though she realizes that she needs a "pièce de résistance" to further her goals. So she set about a long and grueling work, trying to come up with something poignant as she worked the blade.

Then, as she stared at the blank crossguard, it struck her, she could detail it!, mark it up and down the sides and at the very center, engrave her own symbol, yes, brilliant.

So the work begun, that would take a very long time to finish

Extended roll:

Sarai came back to the forge, it was becoming more and more like a refuge than just another time consuming to-do thing on her growing list.

She had been searching for an answer, to what she should use to finish her creation, the sword was getting better, the blade almost complete, and now she was working the handle and crossguard where her attentions were most needed.

The memory of the jewel Eveline had received came to mind, a gemstone of some sort would be a nice fit, a bit ostentatious perhaps, but the idea was to catch attention. So she realized it was time for her to get to work on that. Most gems already had owners, but she would find a suitable one sooner or later.

With the advent of the battle looming on the horizon, Sarai had to change her plans considerably, while the intricate detailing and sharpness of the sword was ready, the enchantment of it was not. A glamour to make it pretty would be especially useless on the field of battle, in fact, she pondered, what if it would counteract her stealth?

So no, she needed something something that would truly give an edge. She could make it angry, just like the dagger, that was a potent enchantment, could she think of anything better?

It was tempting to make a sword that would increase her strength, or speed, but the blood could already do that for her, surely, what was needed was more something that the blood could not grant her.

In the end an Angry blade gives her the most effect.

Rolls for crafting
4 successes 11/9-24/9.
3+2 successes 25/9-8/10.  (Plus fortune 2) = 9
4+3 successes 9/10-22/10. (Plus fortune 3) = 16 = 4 doublings!

Sarai was finally finished with her rather extraordinary "armor" after seeing Vanessas boob plate, she simply decided to go where her facies took her, it was a shame Eveline had drifted so far off, because she  had appreciated feedback on this piece, (from someone with good taste) but alas, it is done.

purchases:

Armor Rating: 2 Dexterity Penalty: 0 Extra Pretty! Extra Pretty! Minimum Strength: 1 Difficulty Targeting: +1 Perception Adjustment: 0

Crafting 23/10-5/11: 3 successes.