The Sounds of Anvil

[Mariya Fleischer]

Thorve nodded her head when [member="Kurenai Yumi"] indicated her preference to go ahead with the forging of her own blade. The Jedi Master could afford to skip the basic lessons anyway. Perhaps something more advanced, like the creation of an actual force imbued blade would be of more use to Yumi. The Valkyri decided that she had spoken enough for now, taking a step back to monitor the progress of her students. The first one who caught her eye was [member="Tyra Ashen"], who seemed to be wielding the hammer pretty well. Judging from the hammering strokes, it was clear that Tyra was familiar with smithwork to a certain extent.

"Nicely done. Keep up the rhythm and maintain the shape of the shield when you continue. You are doing well."

[member="Ronak"] on the other hand, seemed to be making something out of the ordinary. The Valkyri decided not to intervene for the moment, wanting to see what the Shistavanen could come up with. A dagger was simple but could still come in multiple forms. If the wolfman decided to forge something that suited his style of wielding it and served its purpose, there was no need to stop him.

The blonde was the last, who was obviously struggling with her inexperience. Thorve walked over and gave Mariya a smile, before shaking her head.

"You are not listening to the metal. Ronak is correct, you do not fight against the material stubbornly when it is not working out. Trying heating the metal longer before hammering it again. You will see a difference quickly."

Mariya nodded and was glad to have the advice. The next round should be better.

"A ship?"

The blonde stopped her work and walked over to the window, peeping out to see the figure of [member="Caedyn Arenais"] coming out of the ramp.

"Caedyn? Hey, we are here!"

Mariya gave a yell and waved at him. She knew of his royalty background ever since she had worked for Commenor and reported to his mom, but the times spent together were brief, despite being part of the Je'daii Order. She was surprised that he was here though, his Je'daii records showing that he had already forged his own weapon during his Vur Tepe visit. Still, there were plenty of other things to do on the planet of Tem and other training to be done.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

[member="Mariya Fleischer"] caught his eye, movement coming from one of the windows of Vur Tepe and causing Caedyn to smile to himself. 'So there are still some of us left after all' he thought as he pushed off in stride away from the Prophet. While Mariya was correct in the fact that Caedyn had already created the Bo Staff and the Force Imbued Blade, he hadn't come for a lesson or as part of his pilgrimage; his objective was something far greater than his journey to become a Je'daii Ranger. He had come to gather a head count of those who remained. Asha Hex had been a wonderful mentor, and a role-model for all of the Je'daii Order; it was imperative to the young man that he at-least try to bring some life back into the Order that she had been so passionate about.

Much of the time she had been helping on Commenor, Caedyn had been away training and maintaining the Je'daii lifestyle. He had traveled to numerous planets, if not simply to explore and admire the flow of the Force as it bound all things together. They had run into each other a couple times, but for the life of him he had forgotten her name and when he finally reached the floor they were all stationed upon, he held out his hand to shake Mariya's in greeting. "Sorry I'm late, the call went through but I was tied up for a couple more days before being able to listen to it".

Looking to the others nearby, they all seemed to be working hard on forging their imbued weapons. For Caedyn, the experience had been anything but what was considered normal these days. [member="Ignis Imura"] had literally placed his consciousness into Caedyn's body so that they could both witness and practice the art of creation such fine weapons with perfection. That single lesson had been all it had taken to suddenly gain a wealth of all of Ignis' knowledge on the practice and it had been of great benefit to him over the years since.

"Greetings everyone, I'm Caedyn Arenais. I've been a Journeyer within the Order here for quite a long time now, but I cannot express in words how relieved I am to find you all here within the Temple of Vur Tepe" he smiled warmly to each of them, his gaze jumping from [member="Ronak"] to [member="Kurenai Yumi"], and finally to [member="Tyra Ashen"]. Not wishing to disturb the lesson any further however, he nodded to their teacher and stepped back a ways, returning to Mariya's side.

"You're from my Home-world aren't you?".

 

[Tyra Ashen]

Tyra gave a nod to Thorve as she complemented her work. She wasn't sure how well she was actually doing, considering she had never made a shield before. Even [member="Ronak"] complimented her work. She gave him a small grin. "Thank you. I've honestly never made on before, repaired wooden ones, but never made one."

The hammer hit the superheated shield several more times before she continued speaking. "No, not a fan of the heat. I'm from Midvinter, and we like the colder weather." The hammer strokes slowed some when he asked why she was here. Sadness filled her eyes for a brief moment, then it was gone and she was back to work. "My adoptive father, Arvid the Bear, he's...dying. I'm here to fix his axe and armor before he goes to meet our ancestors."

She pushed the pain from the thought of losing her father out of her mind. There was nothing she could do about it, just something she'd have to except sooner or later. Her blue eyes turned to Ronak as she tried to change the subject. "You should visit Midvinter, maybe when I head back. Then you can travel with me as a friend and not need to hire anyone."

Her attention quickly turned from Ronak to the new arrival. He was slightly shorter and younger than herself, and carried a Bo staff with him. From how he spoke, Tyra was sure he had been here before.

[member="Caedyn Arenais"]
[member="Mariya Fleischer"]

 

[Kurenai Yumi]

Kurenai continued to work on her own blade, not paying much mind to the others, even when [member="Caedyn Arenais"] made an appearance. It wasn't that she was trying to be rude or dismissive, but she dare not break concentration and ruin her blade. Even if this sword wasn't going to be used in combat she wouldn't treat it as anything less and put just as much effort into it as any other weapon she had crafted in the past. The only real acknowledged met she gave the Arenais family member was a behind the head wave before quickly returning to her work.

She constantly reheated the metal and folded it making sure to make th outer blade the hardest while keeping the back part more malleable and soft to the blade would not break. Though Astrian forging made very swords they were often more brittle then your regular vibro blade. In the world with strong armor and different defenses a blade capable of being hard and stiff would be needed, any blade would need to find that perfect balance, least fall short in some area when being used, not a situation any sword user wanted to find themselves in.

[member="Tyra Ashen"] [member="Mariya Fleischer"]

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"I am from your homeworld? I guess, since I kinda work for your mum for a while."

If [member="Caedyn Arenais"] had mentioned that he had forgotten about her name, she would have probably reminded him. But he did not, so the blonde assumed that he had some vague memory of her after their occasional run-ins together in Ilum and Commenor. Eventually the prince would find out anyway. Conversely, it was probably easier for her to know about him, since [member="Kay Arenais"] would sometimes mention about her children during her afternoon tea sessions.

"Glad you arrived. Definitely won't mind a helping hand..."

By that, she meant her failed attempt to even forge a simple dagger. She shrugged her shoulders sheepishly and picked up another molten metal on the forge to start hammering.

Meanwhile, Thorve was engrossed in the conversation with [member="Tyra Ashen"]. "That's sad news indeed. You have come to the right place, my child. I'll make sure you are done with your repair work as soon as possible. Once you are done with the shield, we can start working with your father's equipment."

The original intention was to train every student in the ways of creating a weapon imbued with the Force, but that could come later.

"Midvinter. Perhaps I should visit it."

Tag: [member="Kurenai Yumi"] | [member="Ronak"]

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"Ah, that'd explain it then" Caedyn replied to [member="Mariya Fleischer"] suddenly less enthusiastic about the subject of Commenor. He loved the people and the general vibe of the world but where politics were concerned, so was his family and that usually led on to the discussion of his Father somehow. Turning his attention back to the group before them, he smiled faintly to himself as he watched them all momentarily before asking, wanting to know more about this gathering of theirs; "Is this a lesson given in generosity or are all these people genuinely interested in the Je'daii Order?" the question was fair, given that the Je'daii hadn't been heard from in some time now.

Caedyn had journeyed to each of the great Tho Yor, and further to the nine Temples of the Je'daii since his Master's time; yet he hadn't allowed himself the privilege and the honor of ascending through the Je'daii traditions of prestige out of respect for those that had come before him. It didn't seem right to pursue his own path without others alongside him with the Order that had once been a growing manifestation of balance and peace in the Force. [member="Asha Hex"] had taught him a great deal, but how to progress ahead of the absence that had been left behind, she had not.

"What can I do to help?" he asked Mariya as he looked over the small group of them. Could this be a new beginning for the Je'daii? He didn't want to get his hopes up, yet it had always been his hope that their Order wasn't well and truly gone yet. Not without people like himself or Mariya in any case, it'd seem.

[member="Kurenai Yumi"] | [member="Tyra Ashen"] | [member="Ronak"]​

 

[Tyra Ashen]

Tyra gave Thorve a small sad smile. "Thank you." She let a few more strokes from the hammer hit the heated steel. "I told him I'd do my best. Doubt he would really care what it looks like when I got done with it. Going to at least try my best anyway."

The piece of steel went into the flames once more. Tyra watched the metal heat up, her mind light years away. Home was where she'd like to be now, but other things needed her attention. Pulling her mind back to the present, she turned to Thorve. "So, when was the last time you were on Midvinter?"

[member="Mariya Fleischer"]