Fire crackles noisily in the furnace, casting long, mischievously dancing shadows out all around the forge. They wave and sway across Hineni’s face, as he holds his hands outward, his features bathed in an orange glow.

(Hineni) uses: [Blacksmithing {Steel Ingot}]

A magical light leaves his fingers, the lumps of metal on the anvil rising into the air for a moment, coming together as the magic condenses around them.

An instant later, they fall down with a loud clamour, having come together as a single steel ingot.

- [Steel Ingot] -

- Quality -

Normal

- Composition - Nickel: 44% Chromium: 24% Iron: 21.61% Molybdenum: 2.5% Cobalt: 2.5% Tungsten: 2.5% Manganese, 2% Silicon: 0.75% Carbon: 0.08% Sulfur: 0.03% Phosphorous: 0.03%

- Quality Effects -

None

Steel: Item Durability +20%

Steel: Item Damage +5%

Steel Grade: 333

Steel is a metal with an excellent tensile and yield strength. This particular blend of steel is extremely resistant to weathering, wear and rust.

It has poor channeling attributes for magical energies, but is well suited for tools and weapons.

Weight: 5.0kg Value: 50 Obols

“Woah,” mutters Rhine. “That’s really useful.”

“Yeah…” notes Hineni. “Boy. Go tell Sockel to stop all orders for ingots right now,” he says.

Rhine tilts his head. “Huh? How come?”

Hineni picks up the ingot and looks at it. “We’re making them ourselves now,” he explains. “This is going to save us a fortune. Raw ore is cheaper than ready-made bars.”

Rhine nods and jogs at a half-run towards the door. “Be right back!” he calls.

Hineni watches him leave and then turns back towards the ingot, towards the fire.

It sounds odd, but he feels like he hasn’t spent much time with the fire lately. Sure, he and Rhine have been working here for days, for weeks, with little respite. But that’s all been business. When’s the last time he made something that captivated his heart?

- The metal owl.

That was a while ago.

…Something that captivates his heart, huh?

Hineni stares around the room. He’s a weaponsmith. He’s always loved making weapons. But all of the weapons that he ‘needs’ to make are orders for someone else.

“Done!” says Rhine, coming back into the forge.

“Boy.”

“Yeah?”

Hineni turns to look at him. “Do you want a weapon?”

“Uh… I mean, yeah?” asks Rhine. “I already got this cool knife though!” he says, showing Hineni his curved dagger.

“Yeah, yeah,” replies the man, waving him off. “But you’re a caster. A wizard needs a staff, right?”

“Really?!” asks Rhine, clenching his fists in excitement. “Wait. How come a staff and not a wand?” he asks.

Hineni turns to him, setting the steel bar down. The man kneels down, planting a hand on Rhine’s shoulder. “Rhine.”

“Yes?” asks Rhine, blinking.

Hineni looks into the boy’s eyes. This is a serious matter. “We’re men. As casters, men don’t use wands,” explains Hineni. “We use staves, if anything at all.”

Rhine tilts his head. “I’ve seen lots of guys using wands though?” he asks. “At the academy, all of the teachers had wands.”

“Your teachers, do you want to be like them?” asks Hineni.

Rhine stares for a moment and then shakes his head. “I mean… they’re smart, but I don’t think they could work the forge for even half an hour,” explains Rhine.

“You’re going to be alright, Rhine,” affirms Hineni. “Pick your favorite material. Whatever you want. We’ll make it together,” he says.

Rhine’s face glows with excitement and he nods, running off to the materials. Hineni decides to leave the boy this choice, after all, it is his staff. Rhine wanders around the different collections of bars and ingots, drifting over towards the collection of wood.

After staying there for a moment, Rhine walks past the piles of exotic hardwoods, sparing them little mind and instead grabs a bar of steel and a bar of cobalt-chromium. “Can we use th-” Rhine stops. “- Are you crying?”

“No,” replies Hineni, turning away. “Cinder got in my eyes.”

“Oh. Should I get Sockel?”

“I’m fine,” replies Hineni, looking at the bars that he’s chosen, noticing that he holds both of them with little effort. “Steel and cobalt-chromium?” he asks. “Interesting.” He takes them from Rhine and thinks for a moment. “I’ve never mixed these, but I think we can make it work.”

He looks at Rhine for a moment. “Come on. You’re going to melt these yourself.”

“Huh? Me?” asks Rhine.

“Who else?” asks Hineni. “It’s your staff.” He nods his head towards the furnace. “Get the crucible set up, feed in some charcoal. We need it hot.”

Rhine nods with feverish excitement and does as instructed and Hineni notices that, while he himself isn’t exactly making something, per se, that he seems to find the same enjoyment in the process of guiding Rhine to do so.

The fire crackles and dances joyfully, its long, mysterious shadows, painting the cracks of Hineni’s smile.

- [Cobalt-Chrome Steel Ingot] -

- Quality -

Normal

- Composition -

Nickel: 22%

Chromium: 26,5%

Iron: 10%

Molybdenum: 4,25%

Cobalt: 31,25%

Tungsten: 2.5%

Manganese, 1,5%

Silicon: 1.75%

Carbon: 0.08%

Sulfur: 0.07%

Phosphorous: 0.07%

Impurities: 0,03%

- Quality Effects -

None

Cobalt-Chromium Steel: +15% Melee Damage on all slicing, cutting and stabbing weapons

Cobalt-Chromium Steel: BIO Affinity (Water, Nature, Poison)

An extremely unusual blend of cobalt-chromium and grade 333 steel. Cobalt-Chrome Steel is an excellent metal for cutting tools as well as for metal implements meant for bodily contact, given its bioinert properties.

Weight: 5.0kg Value: 367 Obols

“Huh…” says Hineni, looking over the metal ingot. It has taken on an odd hue. The cobalt-chromium, darkly prismatic as it was, has blended with the more matte, fine graded steel, resulting in the metal having a shade of an unusual greenish luster. It's like the waters of a swamp on a sunny day. “This is an interesting material, Rhine,” says Hineni, looking at the window. “Global bonuses to three different attributes? That’s rare.”

“I read about some stuff like this once,” says Rhine. “Apparently, if you start embedding gems and stuff into the materials too, it can get really crazy.”

“Gems?” asks Hineni. “Boy. You should be glad we can afford dinner every night,” he says, thinking for a moment. “What did you ever buy with that early pay you wanted anyway?” he asks.

“Uh…” Rhine fiddles with some leather from the workbench. “Do I have to talk about it?” he asks.

Hineni blinks, staring for a second. “No. Sorry,” he says. “It’s rude to ask what other people do with their money,” concedes Hineni, waving him off. “I was just curious.” He nods to the workbench. “Next, you need to make a sketch for your staff,” says Hineni. “So we know what our goal is.”

“Sure thing!” exclaims Rhine, dropping the leather and grabbing some paper and a pen, hunching over as he begins to scribble.

“It’s just a rod?” asks Hineni, looking at the drawing.

Rhine stares at him for a moment, rubbing his lip with his thumb. “It’s a staff,” remarks the boy, dryly.

Hineni turns the paper sideways, continuing to look at it. “You sure that you don’t want any… uh… I don’t know wobbly-woo things?” he asks. “Like ornaments and detailing?”

“No. Just a staff is fine,” says Rhine, puffing his chest out and flicking a strand of sweaty hair to his side. “After all, people should be looking at me and not my staff.”

“A problem all men with interesting staves face,” replies Hineni.

Rhine snorts.

Hineni nods in approval.

Rhine has grown a lot.

“We’re rolling the metal out,” explains Hineni. “Well. You are,” he adds on. “It’s your staff.”

“So, what does that mean?” asks Rhine, looking around. “What do I do?”

Hineni points at the long, metal table next to the forge. “You know how they roll dough out over a flat surface, to make long loafs of bread?” he asks. “We’re gonna do that, just with the metal.

“Oh, wow,” notes Rhine. “Won’t it get crooked?”

“They say that the ladies like that,” notes Hineni.

Rhine purses his lips, holding down a laugh.

“Who~” The owl-god pops her head in through the door to the forge. “They are working hard, yes?” she asks.

The two of them look towards her, staying quiet for a moment. Hineni can hear Rhine struggling to hold down his laugh still next to him. “You bet,” replies Hineni. “All good outside?”

Obscura nods. “Tonight, talented Obscura will make their meals,” she explains. “She has come to bring them this truth!”

“Looking forward to it,” replies Hineni and she leaves again, leaving the two of them alone with their work.

The forge is quiet, except for the singing of the hissing fire.

“…Can I ask you something weird?” asks Rhine.

Hineni feels like his question, after seeing the half-human Obscura, is going to be an obvious one, given the tone of their conversations today.

“Boy. Get to work,” says the man.

- [Cobalt-Chrome Steel Staff]{Gift of the owl-god} -

- Quality -

Normal

- Composition -

[Cobalt-Chrome Steel Rod](Normal)

[Leather Wrap](Normal)

[Black Cloth Wrap](Normal)

[Black Cord](Normal)

- Quality Effects -

“Chosen of the owl-god”

Adds additional attributes to the attached weapon - Title Effect - “Gift of the owl-god” +3 OBSCURANTISM +3 WIS +3 LUK +3 NATURE DMG to all spells.

Attribute: BIO

All WATER SPELL-DMG deals an additional 33% POISON

All WATER magic heals the followers of the owl-god instead of damaging them.

During weather - Rain: restores SOUL passively at a rate of {3}/Minute.

A long, somewhat, spiraled staff made up out of cobalt-chrome steel. It carries a soft, green tinge, muted by repeated scorches. Its surface is somewhat knobbled from uneven working. ‘Made by Rhine, the river-wizard - Chosen of the owl god’ Weight: 1.93kg Durability: 33/33 Value: 639 Obols

“Not bad, Rhine,” praises Hineni, holding his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “This is really great, actually,” he says, looking over the menu. “A little heavy, but that just means it hurts more when you hit something with it.”

Rhine picks up the staff, still hot, with a pair of heavy tongs and looks at it with pride in his eyes. “Wow…” he whispers beneath his breath, staring for a moment. “That’s wild.”

Hineni stares back up at the staff, thinking about it for a moment. Actually, it is wild. Rhine’s river-magic is chaotic as is, but what happens when the entire cascade of water that the boy can summon turns out to be poisonous? “Rhine. Promise me you’ll never use this near anyone who doesn’t deserve it,” says Hineni. “Only in the dungeon or if there’s a threat.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be careful,” promises Rhine.

Hineni nods, thrilled that Rhine is excited, thrilled that Rhine has come so far over these few months. The boy, with his guidance, made this weapon.

He looks at the menu for a while.

- A flood of poison water.

What general wouldn’t love to have someone like Rhine on the front lines? Drowning the enemy, drowning the landscape in tepid, deadly water. Maybe this kind of crafting is something they have to be more careful about in the future? The last thing they need is to get even more attention from the military - Right?

“Hey. Nice staff, twerp,” says Sockel, who had snuck in unannounced. Rhine beams holding his weapon out for her to look at.

“It is,” says Hineni. “Rhine worked very hard for this.” He stares for a moment. “What’s up, Sockel?”

The elf shrugs. “We’re closed for the day?” she replies. “It’s late. Just wanted to let you know.”

“Already?” asks Hineni. Time really flew by today. He sighs. “Okay. Rhine, let’s put out the fire for the day.”

Rhine nods and they do just that, before going to have a relatively nice dinner.

Hineni realizes that they only made two crude jokes today, instead of three and it ends up bugging him for the rest of the evening. But he doesn’t ever find a set-up to make it work anymore, especially given that the they find themselves in the company of the others.

The man lays awake in bed that night, staring at the ceiling, wondering when he will get his opportunity?

“Can her Hineni not find sleep-quiet?” asks Obscura, opening her eyes to look at him.

“No, I’ve got something stuck in my head and it’s been bugging me.”

She softly clicks with her mouth. “He has dream-troubles?” asks the owl.

“No, it’s just something dumb,” replies Hineni.

She hoots.

Damn it.

He should have made a joke about the knobbled staff.

There was something there. He can feel it.

But it’s too late now.

- With haunted eyes, Hineni stares towards the ceiling, the curse of the owl-god, of three, having consumed him.