Topic: Forges of Power: OOC Information Thread

Kruger

Date: 2014-03-25 15:34 EST
Purpose:

The purpose of this thread is to offer possibilities to other realms. Within this body of writing lays elements that occur in multiple planes. The methods may alter from smith to smith but the key elements and some suggested attributes are what I am offering. I have never been satisfied with what I deemed insufficient data on how empowered things were created. It has never been enough to see that it was willed into being. I do not seek to undermine the mysticism of magic or religious fervor, rather I want to enhance those elements by giving a degree of believability to the processes involved. Despite the amount of effort placed into this, I do acknowledge that there are still gaps that could be filled. How those gaps are filled is up to imagination.

Knowledge is always key to creating things either magically or through theological means. That a mage or deity knows how things happen can be believed. The power of being able to put that knowledge into words is, for me at least, more freeing than if I were to simply say it happened. That requires a sustaining of disbelief that I am unable to force myself to adhere to. While this offers as many opportunities to pick apart what I have put together, the need to marry certain realities to fantasy is worth the attempt.

The Forge of Creation: There are seven forges of power, plus one. This configuration though odd is not without its reasons. The seven are attached to one unchanging element. Each forge having its own separate element. Making items of power requires seven stable elements. Each forge of power has every element present, however, one tool housed within is what marks the forge to be one of power.

Kruger

Date: 2014-03-26 20:29 EST
Tools and the Seven Elements: The tools which make the forges of power can be found in any smith's shop, though they are of the ordinary variety. The Anvil, The Hammer, The Bellows, The Quench, and The Forge represent the first five primary elements of the process known to make Great Items. They are Spirit, Earth, Air, Water and Fire.

There is a tie between music and mathematics, as well as intonations to magic. Songs are sung in religions throughout the world, and the power of them felt by believers. With that in mind, each piece of the original forge of power possesses upon it somewhere, hidden or visible, a musical scale. There are seven notes, A through G. The pieces of the forge of creation will have the full scale embossed into it. The note that is represented by the tool will be raised rather than engraved. The placement changes from piece to piece.

The Anvil/Spirit:

The anvil is equivalent to an altar for the smith. Like any religious altar the smith's anvil is the place where the four elements of earth, fire, air, and water are unified. The smith acts as the heart that ties them all together.

The Anvil of power is a highly decorative item. Its base is carved hardwood in the shape of a woman. She is kneeling, her back arched her face holds a look of ecstasy her hair flows down to the floor in carved waves. The woman's hands hold to the base of the anvil that is placed in the center of her chest above where her heart would be. The anvil is a cast piece that resembles a man on one knee. His right hand reaches towards the woman's face. By his right foot lays a heavy hammer that marks the kneeling man as a smith. His left foot is planted, and his bent leg his left hand rests. The smith's elbow is pointed outward and forms the horn of the anvil. The face of the smith is a mixture of pain and desire. Across the smith's bare back a flat plate is attached that looks like he is waiting to support the weight of the world. This plate serves as the workplace of the anvil. In the place where the metal base meets the wood a musical scale is carved. The D note slipping is raised and fits into a carved D note on the base.

The Hammer/Earth:

The Hammer has been sculpted, in its head a downward arrow. The ancient symbol of earth, the triangle went on to become the technical symbol for ground. The presence on the hammer suggests that the creator had knowledge of the mechanics behind electricity. As further evidence the handle has carved lightning bolts traveling in the direction of the head. Those who have seen this hammer work claim that the lightning bolts glow, and the energies look as though they are flowing into the head. The shape of the head itself is cross peen, the same seen in all blacksmith shops. The handle is wooden, and though aged, it never needs changing. The bottoms of both handle and head have a musical scale carved into them, the E note being raised rather than carved.

Kruger

Date: 2014-04-09 06:35 EST
The Bath/Water:

Quenching has long been a part of forge work. Smiths have been known to use anything from fresh water to blood. The Bath was used to contain the liquid. The bath taken from the Forge of Creation was no different than any other, in that it held liquid for the use of quenching. The Bath itself is steel on the outside, the outer lip having wavy lines all the way around it. Inside it is coated to keep the steel from rusting from the liquid contained. That coating was crystalline in nature. It isn't known where the single crystal came from, or who carved but it is resilient. There is evidence of the bath being moved many times, but the thick crystal inside never cracks from the stresses this has put upon it. The bottom of the bath has the musical scale carved into it, the B note was carved around to leave it flush with the rest of the lines that make up the scale.

The bath is vast and deep to allow larger items to be quenched. A great sword could enter the bath horizontally and not touch either end. It is believed that there were means to divide the space into separate chambers, allowing it to contain more than one type of quenching agent.

The Bellows/Air:

Within the Forge of Creation is a vast network of pipes. These pipes were used to regulate the fires, and change the pressure within the Gallery. A complex pipe organ ran off these pipes as well. The bellows that ran everything was too large to be worked by a single man. Still the bellows went missing. It is believed that wherever the Forge of Power is that contains these bellows must be highly technical. A machine could be created to run them as they should be. It's possible though that the smith at this forge has many slaves, giving them the labor of keeping the bellows going while creating.

The only thing left of the bellows is the vast wooden housing that it once was a part of. It was floor mounted, and rested at a great distance from the forge itself centered at a point where it was equidistant from all everything its mechanism ran. Classically decorated walls hid the monstrous bellows to keep them from sight. So few have ever seen them that a description can't be found.

Rudimentary drawings found show a multi-chambered configuration. The chambers could be operated singly or together depending on the needs. The separate chambers each had an exhaust port that was adjustable to regulate the pressure and amount of air allowed to flow. Though its primary function was to supply the forge with air and raise the temperature of the fire, it also served to conduct airflow through the gallery, and aerate the bath. The venting and intake ducts could be opened and closed to allow the heat from the fires to other areas. The bellows had the musical scale engraved across each piece that made up the whole. The A note was inlaid on all of them.

The Forge/Fire:

An ebony steel was used to construct the forge, it too was moved, taken to some plane and moved often since then. This particular tool from the Forge of Creation is the easiest to identify due to the color of the flames that rise from it. They burn in a blue-black flickering that gives an eerie quality to the light inside the workshop which houses it. The hood is where the scale has been carved into it. The F note is simply gone from this item. Where it would be the flue was cut into the hood. The intake where the bellows attaches to the forge is the same as would be seen on any, this has allowed for possessors of the forge to use their current equipment. Inside though is a network of pipes and valves. These allow the airflow to be controlled within the forge. This design creates the ability to regulate the temperature in the same fire, giving the smith who knows how to use it a means to direct more heat where he needs it.

The front of the forge has vertical wavy lines which run from the floor to the work area. The motif is continued on the outside of the hood. The dark metal it is created from, when seen in direct light, looks as though it is drinking in that light. It has been stated that when seen beneath direct sunlight its edges look blurred.

Kruger

Date: 2014-04-11 03:38 EST
Hidden Elements: There are two hidden elements in the forging of The Great Weapons, Energy, and Time. These are represented by The Amphitheater, and The Pendulum. Within the seven forges of power these two elements also exist in some fashion. The Amphitheater was structural in nature. The forges would have within the work area a ceiling that was parabolic in nature. The energy that came from it was sound. The pendulum was most often found in some form of clock or metronome. The metronome was more often seen as its tempo could be adjusted. The Pendulum however was said to have power over time itself. Hours inside the forge proper did not run the same as outside. The smith who had mastery over The Pendulum Forge could make things far faster than those with less potent representations.

Pendulum/Time:

The materials used to create the pendulum were far more ordinary than its counter parts. Wood made up the rods, and a great brass disk served as the weight. The face of the weight held the musical scale, here the C note was the one raised. The rods were held together in a single length, hinges connecting them together. Above each hinge a metal tube that could be slid into place. When all were in place the pendulum functioned in the same fashion as any clocks. When the hinges were allowed to function, the path of the weight was erratic. Weights hung on chains their function to keep the pendulum moving, the topmost bar never deviating from that normal clocklike motion.

The weights that kept the pendulum in motion also served to pump the bellows. This tool is the most complex of all those from the Forge of Creation. The smith who possesses the Pendulum likely has gained an incredible understanding of time and motion. The multi-rod capabilities of the pendulum have also likely given that smith a clearer understanding of how order can give birth to chaos. It is believed that the pendulum achieves balance when it is in a resting position.

This tool can be found in other forges of power, though very few possess a multi-rod version. Time and its aspects are the hardest to comprehend, most forge masters never conceive of it in chaos. The result is an unintentional lean towards order, which limits them from reaching the true potential of an item of chaos.

Kruger

Date: 2014-04-11 03:41 EST
Gallery/Energy:

The gallery takes many forms, though those forms are always parabolic in nature. The most common being dome shaped and rising above the work area of the forge. By its very shape it is able to harness energy. Sound is carried along the outer edges of the dome in a phenomenon that has come to be known as a Whispering Gallery. Such is the design that a whisper at one point can be heard clearly at any point along its outer edge. These galleries have been employed in many places for their acoustical pleasantness. There is power in the sound though, unlocked by those who came to understand them.

The gallery can be altered to trap any sound that is not at the right frequency. This allows the smith to tune the gallery to the frequency needed for quantum tunneling to reach the proper place. Crystal oscillators are used to achieve this, as well as variations in the airflow pressures within the gallery. It is believed possible that light waves could also be used, or trapped as needed.

This is the final element that allows the quantum barrier to open. Sound as vibrations weakening the barrier serves to aid in creating the quantum tunnel between the physical and the metaphysical. The applications of positive and negative pressures can change the frequency of the vibrations allowed to be utilized, or heard. It is this feature which allows the smith to attune to the three forces which will be described later. This ability to align is why created items seem to have a greater attunement towards ideas of order, chaos, or balance.

Other forms can be a series of arches, or a pair of parabolic walls that are facing one another. These galleries are always structural in nature, though it may be possible to create something more portable. By the time most smiths have discovered this element of forging though they have established a shop of their own and have little need of portability.

The Gallery of Power, is the largest of the tools from the Forge of Creation. It is probable that it may well be the very building that was the forge. Unlike the other tools, it can't be simply packed into a wagon or carried with ones tools. It does however seem to have the ability to move across planes, and house itself in temporary locations. The building itself is an immense classical structure, domed and imposing on any horizon. Within the building are wings where in ancient times musicians and choirs would sit, playing and singing while the Creator worked. A great pipe organ, was present as well. The complex infrastructure of its pipes were said to be the way that the pressures were regulated within the gallery which the Creator worked.

The tip of the dome had been carved out and windows placed to let in light that would make the frescoes and carvings visible. Eight awesome pillars support the dome, each pointing in a different direction of the compass. Throughout the building the theme is reiterated by paintings. A dais in the middle of the gallery was raised, a huge platform atop that dais and stairs that wound their way up to the platform. The stairs have carved into them musical scales, the G note being emphasized.

It was here the tools were once housed before the ancient smiths were executed and the tools taken. The wood carvings in the choir are a testament to nature, cornucopias carved elegantly with the bounty of the earth. One hundred and seventy meters above the ground, atop the dome was a lantern. In ancient times when the Creator worked its light could be seen blazing into the night.

Kruger

Date: 2014-04-18 02:40 EST
Empowering Items: The primary five elements are sufficient for making empowered items. However, standing by themselves the items created tend to have fatal flaws. An imprecision that can't be accounted for and won't really be known until after the item has been completed. A smith may create a weapon of enhanced perception, only to discover that enhancement has increased perception of the wielder's emotions. Prolonged use will have a lasting effect on the bearer of that weapon. Early smiths who mastered these elements managed to create many empowered items. They passed that knowledge on to their apprentices. There was a lack of understanding in them though. They knew it worked but failed to understand the why. The question of why was often broached by an apprentice, however the lack of knowledge within the master as often caused frustration. Most apprentices who asked were broken by their master. A sparse few were strong enough to maintain that curiosity through the severity of punishment. Fewer still went on to actually answer that question. Those few who managed to find the answers, were years in the search. The search itself would drive even more of those curious few to leave the pursuit, happy in the knowledge they had managed to track down. For those who continued, years could go by before understanding was attained. The Eighth Element and the Masters of the Forges of Power: An eighth element was discovered, this one however was fluid. Three forces make up the eighth element. These forces could be tuned for a specific alignment. They are Order/Law/Good , Neutrality/Equality/Balance, and Disorder/Chaos/Evil. The most adept smiths, those whose affinity went beyond one or two elements, were able to discover how to make items that worked to a specific alignment. Ancient texts told of smiths who aligned themselves with one force or another to create weapons of specific alignment. These smiths were hunted down and killed in the great sundering. The Lords of Chaos, and the Lords of Law understood that it was these smiths who held the power to change the balance. Each side commissioned weapons to help them in their war against one another. The Lords of Balance however looked to the future and saw only a perpetuation of the war. It was they who contracted the assassins who tracked down these smiths and eliminated not only them but their apprentices as well. The knowledge was deemed too dangerous to continue in the hands of the lower planes. There are rumors of secret texts containing the key to the knowledge. Messages left behind by these Master Smiths, though there has yet to be a rise of any new master of alignment. If the texts exist, they are lost in time. There are a very few smiths who might be able to decode such secrets. The Masters of the Forges of Power. The discovery of the final elements Energy and Time allowed smiths to make great weapons with greater precision, but they still did not know how it worked. Those who gained the knowledge were given one piece of the Forge of Creation. These few smiths were oddities, they were imparted in some way with an almost unnatural affinity for one or more of the elements. They were open to the more scientific aspects of the elements required to create the effect known as quantum tunneling. It was through this tunneling that breaches within the metaphysical quantum barrier allowed those metaphysical/spiritual powers to enter the physical world. The continuity of the process is what kept those forces from escaping beyond the work before the smith.

Kruger

Date: 2014-04-18 02:41 EST
Mastery: There are levels of mastery within the smithing trade. Most masters apprentice for years before being deemed worthy to take on their own forge as journeymen. A journeyman smith is often seen traveling with caravans or amongst mercenary groups as they perfect their art. When they believe themselves ready, they can petition an acknowledged Master Smith to assess their work and decide if they are worthy to be raised. Most Master Smiths are of the ordinary kind, creating non-magical items. A journeyman who is able to perform enhancements would need to petition no less than three Masters of Enhancement to judge their work. One of the three smiths can be substituted by an Archmage if there are not enough Masters of Enhancement available. The three will sit in council and assess the proffered work. Standards vary for the master's piece submission. This unfortunately often has to do with the level of skill the masters themselves have been able to achieve. Often because of this, and in some cases a certain amount of jealousy from those doing the assessments for work that exceeds their own. Some councils insist on having more than one mage present to help keep the smiths honest.

Work on an enhanced level must meet with the same physical requirements of non enhanced submissions. By this requirement there is only rarely a submission by a smith who hasn't gained his first mastery. It does occur, but most Journeymen lack a certain confidence, knowing that their lack of rank will be held against them no matter how incidentally.

Once the physical properties have been affirmed, the enhanced aspect is assessed for strength and stability. Rejection of a piece occurs far less often with pieces that are weak than it does with strong yet unstable. This method is flawed however as a piece would need to be grossly unstable in order to be detected early. This level of mastery shows affinity for use of the five primary elements. As previously stated there is little precision in the enhancement. The piece is likely to have a negative effect on the user that is unpredictable and cumulative. The effects become permanent over prolonged exposure. An adventurer who carries a shield with an added defensive enhancement may never understand that his shield is also affecting his perception of the world at large. Over time that adventurer will grow more suspicious of the world around him. If separated from it early the afflicted will not see an overly detrimental effect. Over a period of years however that same adventurer may develop deep paranoia that never will never fully leave them despite putting aside the shield.

Elemental Master is a level that is largely unknown even amongst the Masters of Enhancement. These smiths have achieved their Elemental Mastery, yet managed to uncover the two secondary elements of Time and Energy. They have an understanding of how these elements are to be utilized to instill the stability of their enhanced items. There is no council they can go to that will elevate them to this level. For them however it is enough to see that what they thought of as perfection before was more flawed than if they had crafted non enhanced items. Masters of this level tend to have affinity for multiple primary elements. Their forges differ from those of the Elemental level in that there is evidence of protections against letting Metaphysical energies escape the confines of the forge itself. To those with the ability to see it, their workplaces emanate power. Without the Forge of Power though, these smiths usually to turn towards archaic means to trap energies. Circles are perhaps the most common device used due to the ease of erection. Other common methods are wards, though these are more likely purchased from the local wizarding school or guild. Warding can be expensive, and a smith using this method is forced to increase his prices on goods.