ORIGIN - earth scorned by the sun

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Elyon flinched at the name-drop, bright eyes immediately scanning for the tall being's presence --- she always imagined him to be far taller than reality, given she had been fairly young when they last met. The centaur looked fervently for pinprick red eyes, gazing deep into her soul. Her gaze settled upon two glowing orbs, whirling about and moving so that Glory was between herself and the lights. They were, of course, simple sparks from the forge.

She felt the need to apologize: "Oh, I--- I don't like hearin' his name. He wouldn't come and take the t-thing I was tryin' to give back to 'im, y'see? I was callin' and callin' and I just left it." Armored hands rose to smooth down her ruff --- if only the poor child had the foresight of Giggle on her side, reminding her to be wary. Elyon knew that she shouldn't have trusted that thing from the get-go, but childish impulse had locked her firmly into that devilish deal.

Happy to move on, though, the centaur eyed up the well-decorated blade once more. It definitely was a bit small for her, she realized, as she grabbed it. Her palm was enough to swallow half of its length, sharp and pointy bits included. Experimentally, Elyon grasped it between her thumb and index finger, but found it a little difficult to even do that; her digits weren't the most flexible or suited for actually holding onto things. She set it back on the rack.

Hoof-claws clicked against the floor as she turned toward a metallic, scraping sound. Oh, that was more like it. Elyon knelt on the spot, resting on a forelimb for a moment in order to grab at the sword. Already, it felt more natural than the flail ever did--- not a single dark desire flooded her on the spot or rooted her to it. The hilt was simply bound in leather, and the guard and pommel were simple round beads. Nothing extravagant here.

She squared off, and gave it a few experimental swings while Glory dredged up a few more bits of weaponry from his possible Dread-gift pile. The centaur frowned --- as best as she could, anyways --- the sword felt a bit... well, short. It floundered slightly in her heavy swings, feeling more like an empty arm than an actual weapon (like Elyon had experience with that.) Very gently, she placed it back on the display rack and went back to the pile of other goodies, trying out each item as she went. Each test was complete with "hmm"s and "hah"s.

Until, finally, she took up the spear. It sat well in her grip, and Elyon could immediately think of a million ways to wield it. The long arm of it could serve as a guard, as well as allow it to be thrown with quite a bit of precision. Out of respect for Glory, she did not test this in the forge. Its blade, intricate and rather stunning, reflected the magma-light with keen clarity.

Nice as it was... it still didn't feel quite like hers. It, too, was returned to the Dread-pile. Hoof-claws clicked against the floor once more, bright eyes scanning over Glory. The blacksmith could make something perfect, right? Something like the spear but just right--- yes, she believed it. But, it was rude to just ask for something like that, right? She narrowed her eyes, the closest centaur approximation to a furrowed brow, and thought.

Oh!

"Can ya make somethin' like that spear? I dunno what it'd be like, yet, --- oh, and one of 'em shields, too? I was thinkin', yeah, thinkin' that I could do heavy liftin' and test runs for ya stuff in return?" A job would be the perfect thing to get Elyon out of her slump, and she was already ecstatic with the idea. Of course, it only showed outwardly with a toothy grin and impatiently twitching tails.

@Glory

Glory watched as Elyon went through each of the weapons, watching her reactions carefully and nodding at places. Once she picked up the spear, though, he could see that it was what she preferred. He felt a little disappointed, though, when she put it back. So he returned to simply waiting silently.

Until she finally spoke and he almost leaped for the joy that it gave him. His eyes shone with happiness as he opened his wings and fluttered over to the spear. "Ah, yes, of course! Any preferences to the make? The build of the pole? Simple or detailed? I'll need to take measurements of course. Do you want it easier to throw or to wield? Or a balance of both? And what about the shield? Plain or decorated? Do you want some sort of symbol on it? Round or a different shape?" His words were becoming very fast as he darted over to a different pile and began to sift through it. From it he unearthed a couple of tall wooden poles that he took back to Elyon. She was too tall to measure with only one. He held out one to her. "Hold this to the ground, will you?"

@Elyon

The centaur's eyes widened, hoof-claws click!-clack!ing against stone as she was taken aback; Elyon hadn't expected such a... raucous reaction. Glory started right in with quick, rapidly-unintelligible questions that just became gibbering noises to her. As the blacksmith flitted about, drawing out a number of wooden poles and holding one out to her (which she took and did as told) the centaur tried to ponder what exactly she was thinking of.

To be honest, she didn't think she'd get this far. With talking shop, I mean.

"Uhm," Elyon muttered, clearly a bit overwhelmed and standing straight as she could, "I was thinkin'... wieldin' would be good, yeah? Strong 'n sturdy 'n heavy, y'know. It doesn't need to be too fancy schmancy." Those seemed like logical things to want from a spear. She couldn't even begin to think about a shield, though. "Do ya have somethin' I could, uh, show ya on? Like... drawin'? My fingers are pretty sharp."

The Chambers were pretty boring when you weren't scribbling all over the walls like someone cooped up in solitary confinement--- ah, wait.

@Glory

Once Elyon was holding the first pole, Glory held the second and fluttered into the air with the second in his claws. He lined it up to the bottom pole and, at the height of Elyon's shoulders, made a small mark and another at the head point. Another at the waist as well. A slightly different mark at the elbow and where her arm hung at her side.

With his measurements done, Glory grabbed both poles and set them beside the forge before jumping back to the pile. "Yes, okay, strong and sturdy, for use rather then decor. And yes, of course!" He shifted more things around before unearthing a thick slice of rock. There were scuffs and scratches in the corner but the center was clear. "Here you go. The rock is pretty soft so it should scratch away easy." He set it in front of Elyon before grabbing another for himself. He sat himself steady and began scratching at the surface with a delicate claw, eyes narrowed with focus.

@Elyon

Elyon visibly sagged as the blacksmith finished taking all of his measurements, shoulders lowering and stance evening out a bit. Bright eyes flickered down to the tablet offered to her. Before picking it up in her right hand, she settled down knees-first and then... basically loafed. Leaning back slightly and against the stone wall, she experimentally scratched at the stone's edge. As stated, it was very soft and carved away with minimal effort.

Adjusting so that it lay better in the light, she hastily scribbled away, first drawing a spear with two prongs and a cleaved edge. It was simple, but effective, she thought. The centaur knew, of course, that she wasn't the weapons expert here, so she moved onto the shield.

After a couple minutes of silence spent drawing, the hybrid shuffled the tablet over and rubbed her fingers against her ruff to get the chalky stone off. Inscribed on it was the aforementioned spear and a curved, tall shield that seemed to be made up of three parts: two somewhat symmetrical curving faces and a central circle with spikes embedded into it. The top and bottom seemed to have two prongs, perfect for allowing visibility and to be planted firmly into the ground.

"I'm not the expert here, but I'm thinkin' these would be neat and useful? Y'know? The shield could go into the ground and still let me swing that spear around, yeah?"

@Glory

Glory looked up from his own scratchings and moved so he could see what Elyon had drawn. It was messy but he could see what she was getting at. "Ah, okay, I see. You'd like the spear to be both a stabbing and a slashing weapon? And you'd like the shield to be able to be mounted into the ground to better wield the spear...interesting and creative! I'll have to come up with a stronger alloy for the bottom of the shield, then, so it doesn't shatter or dent when you thrust it into the ground." He paused. "Ah, I just remembered something. I'll need to do one more test."

He turned back towards his pile and began shifting around in it until he unearthed a spear, quite basic in composition, but it looked sturdy and strong. He picked it up in his beak and dragged it over to where Elyon was, dropping it in front of her. "If you could, go to the wall," He opened his wing and gestured to the side of his cave where there were a number of dents and scratches in the wall, "and thrust the spear as hard as you can against a flat spot. Don't worry if it breaks, I need to measure how strong I'll need to make the weapon."

@Elyon

"I was thinkin' it could be good defense, yeah?" Elyon visibly puffed up with confidence, nodding down at the tablet as she set it on the ground. The Blacksmith seemed to think it was a great idea! Ecstatic, she clambered to her feet with quite a few stumblings and picked up the spear.

Rolling it experimentally in her palms and deciding to lead with her left hand, the centaur shifted over to the wall. She ran her right hand experimentally along its face, poor eyesight not quite enough to properly determine what was flat and wasn't, even in the light of the forge. Audibly grunting, she suddenly drew the spear back past her elbows, left hand still leading and right hand providing the majority of the power. A deep gouge was carved into the rock, and part of the spear's head bent with a quiet groan. Withdrawing it carefully so that she knew exactly where the sharp and pointy bit was, she showed it to Glory. "I fumbled a l'il with it, I'm thinkin'. That's prolly not as hard as I can actually do that, y'know?"

@Glory

Glory watched carefully as Elyon thrust the spear against the wall. His keen eyes caught the bending of the tip and the way fumbled with it a bit. A novice's work, but she would improve. And it gave him all he needed to know.

He hopped over to the wall and carefully inspected the area that Elyon had hit with the spear. With one of his claws he drew a small circle around it, puncturing a few small dots around it, to mark it as his current work. "Thank you very much. I think I can take it from here." He turned to face her, inspecting the tip of the spear that she showed to him. "If there's anything else you'd like me to know before I work, now is the time. You may stay if you wish but it will take some time. Days, maybe a week or so, before I am finished! You may do what you like in this time. When the pieces are completed, they shall wait here for you."

@Elyon

The centaur puffed up a little as Glory seemed pleased with her strike, no matter how weak it was. Elyon carefully set the spear down, sharp (and now bent) edge facing toward the wall. She then tip-toed over it and closer to the forge's exit, relishing in the blast of hot and warm air mixing and stirring up a great wind.

"I can't think of anythin' else, no. I'm gonna go for a run, I'm thinkin', but call for me if ya need anything." With that (and no further interruptions from the Blacksmith) Elyon set to squeezing her broad self through the workshop's opening.

;exit Elyon unless stopped

Glory nodded proudly and hopped forward to watch as Elyon squeezed out of the cave. "I will! Thank you so much! I'll have your pieces done soon!" He watched her go for a moment before immediately turning back to his forge.

He had work to do.

*exit

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