Jodiah's eyes shot open just before dawn, and he rolled out of bed quickly. The nightmares that had been a plague to him for most of the time since he rose did not come this past night, and he was actually quite rested for a change.
Maybe it was the midnight tears.
He dressed quickly, remembering to actually take one of the pills given to him by Obsidian -- something he had been neglecting to do for the past several days, and felt it in his knee. Gliding smoothly down the stairs into the common room, he was out the door without breakfast, and without his morning ale.
Or the cask of rum he promised the gnomes he'd bring.
A few members of the Watch gave him sidelong looks as he hurried past them, wrapped up in his cloak to fend against this early morning chill. Noone should be out at this time, unless they were up to some nefarious purpose of course. Ignoring them, Ayreg walked quickly through Old Town until he reached his destination: the Dragon's Breath Forge.
A key was produced, pressed into the lock, and turned with a soft click. Pulling open the door, he grumbled to himself about the weather as he slipped inside to pull the door closed behind him.
Within a few minutes, the death knight was seated on the tiny stool in the silver shop, a pair of magnifying glasses pulled over his eyes as he prepared the shop for creating the many elements of silversmithing. The forge itself he fired up, but had no use for -- if absolutly nothing else, it will serve to help beat back the still-clinging cold.
With a piece of silver stock in hand, he sets the sharp-topped hardy against it in the hardy holes of the miniature anvil, and begins tapping away with the jeweler's hammer. Small bits of silver broke away, where he then swept them to the side and onto a tray. These would be melted later in the slowfurnace and shaped into individual links of what was going to be an exquisite interwoven chain
Once he had sixty or seventy bits of silver chipped away, he slid the entire tray into the slowfurnance to soften them for melting and, later, molding. For now, he uses the hardy and hammer to break off another side of the silver stock, sets it in the slowfurnance, and goes outside for a smoke while the larger piece softens.
_____
_____
Returning, Ayreg pulls open the heavy door on the slowfurnace and extracts the large piece of silver. Once on his work table, he flips the magnifying glasses down over his eyes and takes great care in the work of knife and tweezers as he throws his skill and talent at the piece of silver.
He decided on a double-triangular design -- very much like a diamond pattern, only taller. The thin blade of the knufe carved out the entirety of the interior of the diamond like a lathe, and he nodded in satisfaction when he was finished. The inset was, perhaps, going to be the most difficult part. Tweezers gripping the tiny stand offs, he used the little jeweler's hammer to set them into the silver. When allowed to harden again, they would be most secure this way, rather than trying to attach them to the surface of the silver itself.
_____
_____
The gnomes had since got to the forge, singing and dancing and waving their silly little cutlasses about in the air. Well, perhaps the last part was only because he had forgotten to get them a cask of the awful rum they seemed to demand. Once they saw he was hard at work, and why, the gnomes more or less left him alone, poking their heads into the silver shop only when they needed something or to ask him a question. The gnomes were trying their hand at blacksmithing, see, and nothing was more a hillarious sight than a group of gnomes working in concert to try and create an iron scantling for a ship's beam, or even a grill of bars to be put over a fence or window.
For himself, Ayreg appreciated the lack of company. It allowed him to focus on the arduous task of shaping the little flecks of silver into looped and counter-looped patterns to create the long chain. He estimated the chain's length to be two, perhaps three hands long, end-to-end.
_____
_____
The sun was, by this time, high in the sky and the day had almost become hot when compared to what it was earlier. The chain complete now, he had fashioned a sliding hanger and molded it over the chain. A pin-and-hook joint was crafted and fit into the bottom of the hanger. This would allow free-spinning movement for the pendant without breaking the chain. Jodiah Ayreg set the sapphire given to him by Icer into the vice on his desk, and, setting the entire thing onto his work table, Jodiah slipped out for another smoke, and then perhaps a cup of rum.
Upon returning, Jodiah got Tsiolos the Swabby to collect the gemcutter for him. It was an item of gnomish make and design, and while he didn't know how it worked, he just knew that it did..
Sometimes.
Pressing the gear-shaped device against the edge of the sapphire, he took a deep breath and pushed downward with a forward spiraling motion. With a soft crunch, the sapphire was perfectly cut in a strait line across one side, all the way through. God bless gnomes.
_____
_____
Magnifying lensed-glasses were down over his eyes again, and his tools of choice were a slender pair of tongs to hold the diamond-shaped cut sapphire, and a sharp, metal device known as a prodder. His back ached, but he was almost finished now. Just a little bit farther to go, and his five-hour mission would be over.
Setting one side of the sapphire down into the brackets, he heard them slide into place with the softest sound of metal over stone.
The sapphire's opposite side clicked into place when set, no doubt from the tension on the brackets. He nodded casually to himself as he inspected it, poking here and there with the metal prod to see if it were weak anywhere. Another bracket, this one not nearly as obvious as the first two, was set up on the lower-right side of the gem to make sure everything there held firm.
_____
_____
At length, it was finished. Once turned into a loop, the chain would extend the pendant perhaps a hand down from the bottom of the neck. On a woman in a standard dress and bodice, this would enable the wearer to choose either to display it -- it was quite long enough to fall down over the dress's bodice -- or to hide it with a deft tuck down between one's breasts.
The chain was, indeed, as exquisite as he had planned it in his mind. The jewel was strait, and set well, though not perfect. Some minor engraving work was etched into the back side of the pendant. Nothing exciting, though perhaps there was enough space for more to be added later.
Obsidian]
He nodded, approvingly, quite satisfied with the etchwork and considered his task complete. Mounting the necklace-and-pendant into a box, he slid the box down into his pack and went out to visit with the gnomes again. No, it was not official work from the silver forge, but what the smithy doesn't know won't hurt him, right?
Right?
Maybe it was the midnight tears.
He dressed quickly, remembering to actually take one of the pills given to him by Obsidian -- something he had been neglecting to do for the past several days, and felt it in his knee. Gliding smoothly down the stairs into the common room, he was out the door without breakfast, and without his morning ale.
Or the cask of rum he promised the gnomes he'd bring.
A few members of the Watch gave him sidelong looks as he hurried past them, wrapped up in his cloak to fend against this early morning chill. Noone should be out at this time, unless they were up to some nefarious purpose of course. Ignoring them, Ayreg walked quickly through Old Town until he reached his destination: the Dragon's Breath Forge.
A key was produced, pressed into the lock, and turned with a soft click. Pulling open the door, he grumbled to himself about the weather as he slipped inside to pull the door closed behind him.
Within a few minutes, the death knight was seated on the tiny stool in the silver shop, a pair of magnifying glasses pulled over his eyes as he prepared the shop for creating the many elements of silversmithing. The forge itself he fired up, but had no use for -- if absolutly nothing else, it will serve to help beat back the still-clinging cold.
With a piece of silver stock in hand, he sets the sharp-topped hardy against it in the hardy holes of the miniature anvil, and begins tapping away with the jeweler's hammer. Small bits of silver broke away, where he then swept them to the side and onto a tray. These would be melted later in the slowfurnace and shaped into individual links of what was going to be an exquisite interwoven chain
Once he had sixty or seventy bits of silver chipped away, he slid the entire tray into the slowfurnance to soften them for melting and, later, molding. For now, he uses the hardy and hammer to break off another side of the silver stock, sets it in the slowfurnance, and goes outside for a smoke while the larger piece softens.
_____
_____
Returning, Ayreg pulls open the heavy door on the slowfurnace and extracts the large piece of silver. Once on his work table, he flips the magnifying glasses down over his eyes and takes great care in the work of knife and tweezers as he throws his skill and talent at the piece of silver.
He decided on a double-triangular design -- very much like a diamond pattern, only taller. The thin blade of the knufe carved out the entirety of the interior of the diamond like a lathe, and he nodded in satisfaction when he was finished. The inset was, perhaps, going to be the most difficult part. Tweezers gripping the tiny stand offs, he used the little jeweler's hammer to set them into the silver. When allowed to harden again, they would be most secure this way, rather than trying to attach them to the surface of the silver itself.
_____
_____
The gnomes had since got to the forge, singing and dancing and waving their silly little cutlasses about in the air. Well, perhaps the last part was only because he had forgotten to get them a cask of the awful rum they seemed to demand. Once they saw he was hard at work, and why, the gnomes more or less left him alone, poking their heads into the silver shop only when they needed something or to ask him a question. The gnomes were trying their hand at blacksmithing, see, and nothing was more a hillarious sight than a group of gnomes working in concert to try and create an iron scantling for a ship's beam, or even a grill of bars to be put over a fence or window.
For himself, Ayreg appreciated the lack of company. It allowed him to focus on the arduous task of shaping the little flecks of silver into looped and counter-looped patterns to create the long chain. He estimated the chain's length to be two, perhaps three hands long, end-to-end.
_____
_____
The sun was, by this time, high in the sky and the day had almost become hot when compared to what it was earlier. The chain complete now, he had fashioned a sliding hanger and molded it over the chain. A pin-and-hook joint was crafted and fit into the bottom of the hanger. This would allow free-spinning movement for the pendant without breaking the chain. Jodiah Ayreg set the sapphire given to him by Icer into the vice on his desk, and, setting the entire thing onto his work table, Jodiah slipped out for another smoke, and then perhaps a cup of rum.
Upon returning, Jodiah got Tsiolos the Swabby to collect the gemcutter for him. It was an item of gnomish make and design, and while he didn't know how it worked, he just knew that it did..
Sometimes.
Pressing the gear-shaped device against the edge of the sapphire, he took a deep breath and pushed downward with a forward spiraling motion. With a soft crunch, the sapphire was perfectly cut in a strait line across one side, all the way through. God bless gnomes.
_____
_____
Magnifying lensed-glasses were down over his eyes again, and his tools of choice were a slender pair of tongs to hold the diamond-shaped cut sapphire, and a sharp, metal device known as a prodder. His back ached, but he was almost finished now. Just a little bit farther to go, and his five-hour mission would be over.
Setting one side of the sapphire down into the brackets, he heard them slide into place with the softest sound of metal over stone.
The sapphire's opposite side clicked into place when set, no doubt from the tension on the brackets. He nodded casually to himself as he inspected it, poking here and there with the metal prod to see if it were weak anywhere. Another bracket, this one not nearly as obvious as the first two, was set up on the lower-right side of the gem to make sure everything there held firm.
_____
_____
At length, it was finished. Once turned into a loop, the chain would extend the pendant perhaps a hand down from the bottom of the neck. On a woman in a standard dress and bodice, this would enable the wearer to choose either to display it -- it was quite long enough to fall down over the dress's bodice -- or to hide it with a deft tuck down between one's breasts.
The chain was, indeed, as exquisite as he had planned it in his mind. The jewel was strait, and set well, though not perfect. Some minor engraving work was etched into the back side of the pendant. Nothing exciting, though perhaps there was enough space for more to be added later.
Obsidian]
He nodded, approvingly, quite satisfied with the etchwork and considered his task complete. Mounting the necklace-and-pendant into a box, he slid the box down into his pack and went out to visit with the gnomes again. No, it was not official work from the silver forge, but what the smithy doesn't know won't hurt him, right?
Right?