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Blackstone Foundry and Forge, Wednesday

Why yes, Fjord was in a good mood as he showed up at the forge for his shift today. There was a small, strange little sense of victory behind simply getting the Danger Shop to cooperate with him yesterday, this quiet satisfaction that, hell, this thing that was so beyond him was maybe not completely insurmountable after all.

Not... not that he was viewing that as a metaphor for certain other things going on in his life at the moment, no. Things that he really ought to get back to exploring, trying to get answers for. Which he couldn't do from here. Here, which was a place he couldn't get home from even if he wanted to...

He sighed and shook it off as he made his way to feed the fire in the forge, to check for weapons that needed sharpening, to maybe settle in and start planning out the next sword he was going to make.

Keeping busy. Most of what he was doing around this island was really just keeping busy, but at least there was some sense of satisfaction in doing good, solid work.

[OOC: Open!]

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Well, if it was keeping busy you were looking for, Fjord, did Amaya have some good news for you!

"'Morning, Fjord," she said, handing over a mug, because customary greetings and caffeine first and foremost, but then straight into business. "Think I might have a project for you today, if you're interested."

"Always interested," Fjord replied readily as he reached for the coffee and toasted her with it. "Mornin', Amaya. What did you have in mind today?"

Amaya toasted her own mug easily in response, drinking deeply before she offered out what she had in mind. "Got a job come in from my old kingdom," she said. "Turns out, the guy they got for the job's not quite up to what they're used to--" you'll have to excuse the bold, proud smirk at that little detail "--and, on top of that, he went and got himself turned into a newt. Add that to the fact that a bunch of the goblins were feeling a little feisty and thought they'd be cute by sneaking into the armory and cutting off the ends of all the spears and taking them all for who even knows what. So now the whole Daventry Guard's got nothing to fight with but fancy sticks."

Fjord, you were essentially talking to a ghost right now. Amaya Blackstone as you knew her had all but died laughing reading the letter from King Edward.

"So we're looking to make about two dozen new spear heads for the lot of them, which is some founding and casting work. We haven't gone over that much, but it's easy enough to pick up, so I figured, while I'm up at the school, you can get it all started with some melting and pouring, maybe even starting to spruce up the first few batches. Already got the molds, so there's not much to it, but it'll sure keep you busy."

... So sue Fjord, even he was biting the inside of his cheek to keep from chuckling outright at that story.

"Founding and casting, you say," he managed, eventually, with some effort to keep from sounding too amused. "Yes, I think I can handle that. Wouldn't want to leave the guard with fancy sticks, after all."

She'd be worried if you couldn't, Fjord.

"Not that they do much fighting in the first place," Amaya noted, "but, knowing Daventry Luck, this would wind up being the week that fabled dragon finally decides to show his ugly face."

She'd be so mad to have missed it, too!

"But great!" Amaya's fist bumped into her palm with a nod, because that's just what you did when a plan came together. "I'll go dig out the mold you'll need, if you want to grab maybe ~~particular number~~ of ~~ridiculously specific steel classification~~ ~~I don't know these things~~ off the materials shelf, that should be more than enough to get you through the lot of them."

"Sounds like a plan," Fjord replied easily, making his way over to the shelf and counting out the appropriate number of ingots. "Never can be too careful when it comes to arming the guard, after all."

... Eh. He didn't care if he was never going to meet them himself.

"...we haven't had a chance to do much founding and casting yet, have we?" asked Amaya, once she found what she was looking for, a well-used mold suitable for making six spearheads at once. She was trying to think back, but it was all sort of a blur between all the different projects and lessons and the work she'd done with her class ~~and my own poor work-addled brain~~.

"Not much, no," Fjord replied, smiling crookedly. "There were the practice swords you made for that one gentleman in town, but that was more your deal than mine."

He'd had his first sword to make at the time, after all.

"Ahhh, yeah, that's right!" Amaya could place it now. She had a feeling Kanan's swords were the last thing she really casted, outside of some attempts with Kaidan's caltrops, but she couldn't quite recall where it fell on the whole pre-Fjord, post-Fjord forge. It was...a little strange thinking of a pre-Fjord forge around here, if she was honest.

"Well, great! Then it's high time we went and introduced you to The Crucible."

...don't let the dramatic, booming voice fool you. It was great, sure, but it was no Crumbler. She just couldn't help herself.

"The... Crucible?"

So help him, even Fjord couldn't resist the urge to drop his voice down low (so very low) and ominous, playing a counterpoint to Amaya's own booming delivery of the word.

"Must be one hell of a crucible," he mused, voice returning to normal, a little grin on his face. "Or you just really enjoy melting metal down."

Possibly both?

Amaya appreciated it, truly, grinning faintly back.

"Well," she reasoned, "who doesn't? And it's a good crucible; maybe not a great one, but it gets the job done, assuming that job isn't someone wanting me to found a cathedral bell for them, and it's better than the one I had back in Daventry."

She waved him over to forge, particularly to a little offset of the main furnace, where the stones created a wide circle with a heavy cover over it. "Now, there's a few smaller ones if you're doing just doing something small, but I've got this one here," she lifted the lid to show off the foundry and the large crucible within, "for the when you need to melt a lot. Already a little warm in here; I built it to take some of the heat from the forge, but you'll want to get it up way hotter than this. Rigged up a few levels and handles, too, so, once you're ready to pour, all you've really got to do is lift it up out like so," she demonstrated as she went, of course, "and that'll give you enough that all you need to do is turn the handle on the side here...careful, it's going to be hot!...into the mold, which you can set up there. Now, you're taller than me, and it's built to my height, but it still shouldn't be too difficult, probably easier for you, to get it to pour well. Just be careful, it is molten metal."

Sure, since it was molten metal, she figured she didn't have to tell him that much. But, at the same time, since it was molten metal, it sure as heck didn't hurt to mention it, either.

Hey, Fjord didn't mind her stating the blatantly obvious in this particular case, either. He nodded along, watching carefully as she demonstrated all the bits and pieces of the thing.

"Seems straightforward enough," he decided. "A solid set-up, shouldn't be too much of a reach for me."

It wasn't like bending over a little would kill him.

"So, I suppose step one will be to get it up to the heat we want?"

"That's right," Amaya confirmed with a nod. "And, like the forge, that's nothing a few more coals and a bellows can't help fix, especially since we've got it a little toasty already."

"Well, then," Fjord clapped his hands together and gave a little grin. Yeah, he'd lose his mind if he didn't have this job, wouldn't he? "I suppose I ought to get to that, unless there's anything else about the process you figure I ought to know first?"

"Please don't burn down my shop?" Amaya offered, which was far less of a suggestion than it was a simple over-arching hope. "Seriously, though, and hopefully the crucible will be hot enough before I need to head up to the school so I walk you through the first casting, but always powder the mold before you pour, pour slow and let gravity do its thing, don't overclamp the molds. Be patient and make sure you're giving it time to cool, but that's pretty much it."

Said like working with molten metal hot enough to melt your face off was a walk in the park, really.

Powder, pour slow, don't overclamp, patience.

"Fortunately, patience is something I don't have much trouble with," Fjord offered, already getting to work feeding more coal into the fire and then making a reach for the bellows. "I'd really prefer to avoid any unnecesary fires, myself. I happen to enjoy working here, and there actually being a here does tend to lend a certain sort of something to the whole experience."

"Not to mention," Amaya added in a jovial tone that was mostly joking, "I had to work my butt off for this place. I'd have to track you down and throttle you if the fire didn't get to you first. Why, I'd have half a mind to do it even if the fire did."

"Wouldn't expect anything less," Fjord replied easily. "Throttle away, Amaya, I'd have it coming."

He knew what it felt like to have the crux of one's livelihood go up in smoke. Especially when it was more than just a job; it was a home.

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Blackstone Foundry and Forge, Wednesday

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