Ren, Yurbek, and Dolznik were all down in Dolznik’s basement where he kept his forge. Anurt was wandering around the city doing who knows what. When he saw it Ren was surprised by how simple it was. It was relatively small and only contained two simple forges, a few anvils, a few work tables, and several stacks of different materials. Ren as expecting something a little grander since Dolznik was a grandmaster.

“This is the forge you’ll be using.” Dolznik said, walking up to the first one. “I only use that other one if I’m making something out of Mithril or Adamantine or the like. It uses fire crystals instead of normal fuel sources since the flame is hotter and more pure.”

As Dolznik spoke he through some fuel into the forge then point his finger at the forge and, with a single word, fire sprung up in the forge. Yurbek leaned over to Ren and whispered in his ear.

“Did I mention that he also a relatively accomplished fire mage?”

Ren just shook his head but didn’t get a chance to say anything.

“Alright boy here are the details for this little trial. I’m not looking for a work of art or something flashy. I don’t care even a little about what you decide to make. My only requirement, as well as your first and hopefully not last lesson, from me is that you put your heart and soul into what you make. From now to the end of time. If you do that everything else will fall into place.” Dolznik said with a serious look on his face. “Smithing is more than just hit a piece of metal until it looks right. You have to envision what you want the piece you’re making to accomplish. Is that weapon intended to protect those behind it or kills those in front of it? Is that armor meant for a stalwart defender or a determined attacker? Is what you’re making meant to be used against one of the sentient races or against monster? You need to ask yourself these questions and many more as you craft your desired object. You can begin whenever you want and can use anything you find down here. There’s no time limit.”

Dolznik moved away from the forge and sat down at a nearby worktable to observe Ren as he worked. Ren walked over to the stacks of ingots. Some of them held ingots of metals Ren knew like bronze, iron, and steels but the rest held metals he hadn’t seen. Using [Sage Eye] Ren identified two of the stacks containing pewter and brass so Ren guessed that the others he couldn’t identify were various alloys Dolznik used. Ren thought about what he wanted to make for a few minutes before deciding on a new weapon.

Ren first went back to the forge and place a crucible in the fire then grabbed several ingots of high quality steel and through the in once the crucible was hot enough. While this was happening Vulcan, who was in Ren’s pocket, felt the heat of the forge and decided that it would be more comfortable than Ren’s pocket and was currently napping at the back of the forge. While the steel was melting Ren gathered the other things he was going to need. He first grabbed a rectangular mold that was close to the size he was looking for then found a staff made of a relatively uncommon material called ironwood, a type of wood said to be as hard as iron but had a tenth the weight.

Once the steel was molten Ren took a short rod that was just a bit thinner than the ironwood staff made of a soft stone and placed it in the mold before pouring the liquid steel into it. Ren had placed the mold in a box of sand to try and get the steel to cool evenly. After a few hours of waiting the steel had finally cooled enough to be workable so Ren broke it out of the mold and removed the stone rod before placing it in the forge to heat back up. Ren then placed it on the anvil and proceeded activate [Extreme Focus] and started hitting the metal with a large hammer, causing sparks to fly out and the ring of metal on metal filling the building with every hit. As he worked Ren envisioned himself wielding the hammer to strike down his opponents. Slowly the metal block is lengthened while also made thinner and smaller. After a few hours you could see that one side was being drawn out and shaped into a square pyramid shape while the other is slightly rounded. This process of heating and hammering continued late into the night before Ren took a break to rest.

After a few hours of rest and some food Ren returned to the forge and continued working on his new weapon, doing his best to put his heart and soul into every strike as he was instructed to do. A couple hours pass and the pyramid shaped part of the block was done being shaped. Ren puts down the large hammer he had been using and starts using smaller and smaller ones to straighten the corners and bring the pyramid’s tip to a sharp point. Hours pass and Ren finally puts down the large metal block he had been working one, which now looks very different then when he started. What had started as a block of steel about the size of a loaf of bread had turned into the head of what would be a large battle hammer. The main striking face had a slight curve to it to dent armor and crush shields while the point on the back could pierce metal and cause devastating injuries. The hole for the shaft was placed in the front third of the head so that the head would be balance on the handle and make it easier to swing.

Once the head was done Ren moved on to constructing the handle. The main component would be the Ironwood staff that Ren had found. The first thing Ren did was cut the staff down to size, a task that was easier said than done. Because of Ironwood’s hardness Ren had to use a hot chisel to cut through the staff. After the staff was cut Ren made four steel strips the length as the staff and fastened them wood by pounding steel nail through into both. He then attached steel endcaps to both ends. With the handle just about done there was only a few steps remaining. The next step was attaching the hammer’s handle and head. The sun was starting to set outside as Ren heated up the head until the metal glowed orange before taking it out and placing it on the floor. Ren quickly grabbed the handle and started hammering it into the hole in the head. With the handle attached to the head Ren made a solid steel spike and attached it to the end of the handle. With the final piece attached the head and the spike were both heated up again before the weapon was placed in a pile of sand to slowly cool down.

With the work done Ren sat down on the floor near the pile of sand exhausted. It had taken a lot of energy to shape that large block of steel into something more useful. Ren lay against the sand and closed his eyes, intending to just take a short nap took a nap while he waited as he waited for the hammer to cool. Ren’s short nap, however, turned into many hours of sleep and he recover both physically and mentally from almost two straight days of hard work.

When Ren woke up he found himself lying on the pile of sand that covered the hammer while it was cooling. Ren brushed himself off before grabbing the hammer’s handle and trying to lift it. Ren was surprised by its weight when he picked it up. While he could life the hammer it wasn’t quite as easy as he thought it would. When Ren tries to swing it he almost fell over because he couldn’t control the weight. Curious, Ren inspected the hammer.

Spiked Ironwood Battle Hammer - Uncommon Type Hammer Quality Great Damage 70-80 Durability 250/250A finely crafted battle hammer made of steel and ironwood with a large spike on one side

Requirements:

Strength: 100

Well I wasn’t expecting that. Ren thought. While he was disappointed that he couldn’t wield it He was also excited that he had made something that had a requirement. Before he could continue down that line of thought though Ren heard people descending the stairs to the forge. Upon entering Dolznik walked straight up to Ren.

“Are you done boy?” he asked.

Ren held of the hammer for him to inspect. Dolznik wordlessly took the hammer with one hand, looking at and feeling every inch of the weapon while muttering to himself.

“Solid construction, good choice of materials. Reinforcing the handle is a good idea. Hmmm…what about the balance?” Dolznik took several steps away from Ren and started swinging the hammer around.

Ren watched in amazement as Dolznik swung the hammer around as if it weighed nothing. Dolnik went through many different motion, some of which Ren actually knew from his lessons with Yurbek, though most of them Ren had never seen before. At some points the hammer just became a blur. Dolznik use the hammer for several minutes before stopping and walking back to Ren.

“While the balance and choice of materials is good the quality is only fair and it’s a bit light to be a proper battle hammer. The design of the spike on the head also could have been better and the forging process as a whole could have been more efficient. While I could see that you were putting a good amount of effort into your work you don’t seem to understand how to put your heart and soul into it.” Dolznik paused to make sure Ren was paying attention to him. “Overall I’d rate you as a barely passable journeymen smith and I won’t accept this level of skill in someone I teach so you have two options here. One, you can just quit now and forget about entering the Battle of Blood and Iron and not waste anyone’s time or two. You can steel yourself and prepare for three of the most miserable weeks of your short life. What’s your choice?”

As Ren listened to Dolznik he first felt excitement from the compliments the he gave him but his excitement quickly turned to disappointment the more the dwarf talked. By the end Ren was actually pretty depressed and when Dolzik told him the first option Ren, briefly, considered just leaving. That thought was quickly stamped out though. When Ren heard the second option, though he was a little unsure about the description, Ren didn’t just want to give up so he quickly came to a decision.

“I choose the second option” Ren said to Dolznik.

“Good” Dolznik said, smiling. “We start now.”