Re: Interlude - something about steel
Today of all days, Kedo's patience is a fragile thing, his spirit rent in different directions by the messages he has received and the import borne within them - and by the thought that soon his time must surely come to an end with so much work yet undone. It gnaws at his serenity and undermines his even-tempered ability to look at the world and accept that all things have their time. It turns his thoughts in upon themselves without purpose and it is only his dedication to calm contemplation that lets him turn and bow with anything approaching serenity, reaching out to take the two buckets of fine, dark sand with gratitude.
"What I can do, I shall." he answers, lacking nothing of humility - only, today of balance.
When he moves into the simple cleared space behind the forge he moves with balance even as his spirit lurches at the thought of what need to be done, and though his body moves without thought and without haste, preparing a far smaller clay vessel than is traditional for the work to come, designed to try and make better use of the small quantity of material he has been given to work with. Once fabricated he sets to work with fine pine charcoal and the main forge to gather the necessary temperatures with which to work, operating only one of the great forge bellows (since there is only one of him) and thus heating only one side of the great furnace, wherein is set his materials. Time passes, the Ronin working for most of two hours with his arms before switching to his legs, sweat dampening his clothes as both the heat and the exertion lay their claim upon him.
It's hours before the temperature climbs enough in the forge for him to begin to add yet more fine pine charcoal and handfuls of ironsand ore, carefully measuring out the amounts every two hundred pumps (or so) of the bellows, keeping up the punishing pace into the hours of darkness during which time he pauses only for water. The exertion after the day of battle just past tiring but not yet debillitating for all that the need to feed the ravenous furnace, handful by handful every two hundred pumps denies him rest through the long, blazing night and the day that follows, his eyes darkening with soot to hide the lack of sleep that shows beneath.
But for all that he is out of balance in himself, he does not rest. Not yet. There is still dross to burn away.
---
16:37, Today: Kedo rolled 23 using 10d10, dropping the 4 lowest rolls, rerolling max with rolls of 1,4,2,1,2,2,5,7,1,3. Intelligence & smithing (w/void).
Plus a free raise for being good, that gets me 28. I might get some more for the quality of the forge, but ouch. ^_^
17:08, Today: Kedo rolled 23 using 6d10, dropping the 3 lowest rolls, rerolling max with rolls of 5,9,1,6,7,7. Meditation & stamina.
On the bright side, I don't fall over. Today.