ORIGIN

And so, Attikias did get to work. He'd separated off from the main crowd and busied himself in his satchel- he had a fair amount of tools within, though none, particularly, for making things. Unfortunate, yes- but he did have the thick needle he'd made out of one of Carja's shed nails in there, set aside his old bone one he'd had since forever.

He'd made beads with it before, but those were made of wood. No little wood pieces were around here- just rocks and minerals and the like. Fine, he could work with this. Holding the claw and bobbing it as he thought, Attikias squatted to pick through various rocks and pebbles. He'd need to find a good bit of them if he wanted to get enough beads for the rest of the group.

There wasn't a lot. Everything here was too brittle and fell apart at whatever pressure he put on it. Maybe he could use those for something- he placed those on the rock he was working on, tail flicking as he continued his search. Only three ones he could truly carve out of, so far.

The elf's ear strained at another gembound talking far away, and he glanced to them owlishly- they weren't talking to him, so he got on with his task. Shuffling to the side, Attikias spread his hand through the substrate around a nearby dried riverbed, struggling to find anything he could use.

He had more luck here. The rocks were just that- pebbles flattened by heat and rain, tugged from the undergrowth and bonafide good rocks. But these ones in particular would be good. They were big enough to hold a hole, hard enough to not shatter at the piercing, even if they were basic stone. Holding one up, he put it between him and the nearest bulb, squinting.

This'll definitely work. Putting and its seven brethren on the rock by the three he'd gathered before, he moved the pieces about to look at them all. There were others he had to throw out- too small, really, or too readily shattered- but these would work.

Now, he just had to worry about the claw.

Now, Attikias had mounted the old claw forever ago on a wooden carving piece- he'd more meant it for boring, anyways, but he had no clue with how it'd hold up against rock. And, to be quite honest, he didn't want to lose its point.

He rumbled as he squatted again. His tail flicked against the ground, thumping, when he reached for the volcanic soil of Leo and pressed a handful of it up to Carja's nail. A spritzing of magic faded from his gem and down his arms. He'd aimed for some gritty substance on top of the nail- it's what he got, with diamond flecks dipping deep into the claw and nearly making an emery board out of it.

There. That should do it. Releasing the dirt and shaking his hand out, Attikias brought the claw up to his mouth and blew off the substrate. Hm. Simultaneously wiping off his hand and shaking out the nail, Attikias stared as glittering began to reveal itself. It really must have worked, and he blinked, bringing his hand up to brush off the rest of the dirt-

Ow. He pulled his hand back from the rough surface, wincing. Huh. Yeah, that'd do what he needed it to do, but he didn't expect it to work that well. Maybe he could use it for other things after this- it'd still be good for wood beads, too, right?

Attikias drew himself in as he sat by his rock, grabbing a pebble and his claw-board-thing and getting to work. He had to bore holes, first- he didn't particularly care about the outside, after all, since this wasn't made to be especially pretty.

And so, he tucked up one knee to his chest and leaned on the rock as the diamond nail got to work. It was fabulous in its use. Holes were made quickly as he worked the hard edges to and from, creating a somewhat curved inside just due to the curve of the nail. It'd be good to put a rope in through, at least, and it came out surprisingly even as he worked in from the other sides.

He'd expected it to take longer. Maybe the borer was better than it looked, because it certainly was rough, and it did its job fabulously.

Now, eleven pebbles had holes in them. None of them had broke, and he was quite proud of that! They weren't beads, not yet- but they were useful, things other people could enchant and use for themselves. Plus, they were hardier than wood. Maybe they could get smashed, but they wouldn't be susceptible to mold or fire or anything else.

Of course, hopefully they wouldn't have to deal with that. Placing them aside, he stared to them, contemplating. Could he try to enchant, too? But, he didn't know the- water breathing spell, or whatever, and he sat back at that.

Let's get these looking prettier, first.

Relaxing back, Attikias adjusted his grip on the claw to run the inner edge along the pebbles, aiming to scrape off the outside edge and grind them into a more spherical shape.

It took longer this time- holding it and sawing it back and forth was uncomfortable compared to simply spinning the claw around. It was hard, too- several times he'd felt he was about to break them, minute cracks forming in them. Once it got to that stage he set them aside. He didn't need to waste his effort, after all.

All in all, he had about five even barely round, only two being actual spheres. The other six were either a bit big or more like pendants, but at least they'd be useful. Besides, might be better to have a pendant. Gives it some weight, so you know it's on you, so you don't start gasping for air in the water.

With that done, he gathered up his work and deposited it gently into his satchel and headed off to another group.