Cycles of living in Leo had accustomed Zhusha to many things he would have lost his mind about as a fledgling. Dread, for example. The first time he'd seen the dragon soaring overhead, he'd thought it was the same one that had wrecked Polaris and nearly killed everyone there that Purity had told him about. His stomach had twisted with, well, dread at the thought, and he'd felt oddly dizzy with the expectation of impending Armageddon.

But this dragon must not have been the dragon after all, because the caves had not collapsed and killed everyone inside for all of this time. And so even this massive, eternally loud, fire-breathing dragon had become 'normal' to him. Zhusha paid little attention to the booming voice as he sifted through the sand for snails and crustaceans a good distance away, at least until the dragon slammed its tail onto the beach and opened a fissure in the ground.

That made him pay attention. Whirling around with a startled flap of his wings, Zhusha stared at the surprisingly large group of Gembound in the distance. This didn't look like a fight, but... what was going on?

He took off in a flurry of wingbeats, circling around the gathering to get a look at what was happening. People seemed to look to a tall, black-robed figure, whose movements and speech were gentle, and did not seem dangerous or malevolent despite the mask concealing his face. A blue-feathered Gembound dove into the fissure, reaching for a shimmering blue object.

Ah. Zhusha landed within speaking distance of the masked person. "Are you looking for something?" he asked mildly. "If you want another person, I could help."

burn me to ashes and scatter me in the flooding spring river
that i might drift with the fallen flowers to a place no one has known

THE BEACHCOMBER

THE CAVE STORIES — LEO

The Blacksmith reached down to take the blade from Renasci, lifting it and examining it with something quite close to awe--or was it a sentimental look? He appeared deeply distracted for a moment, running fingers along the metal in a reverent sort of way. "Thank you. I am... the Blacksmith. It is good to meet you... Renasci." The introduction was made gently.

Zhusha's offer had him looking up, and blinking. "Ahh, yes... Please, if you could. The more eyes we have-... the better. Thank you. I am looking for... the broken pieces of this," he went on, holding the blade carefully up. And then, behind the mask, he blinked.

"Oh!" he said, and looked around at the Gembound present. "I know a way... to make this easier. And it will be... a gift, too. A thank you for... your help. Please... come closer."

The Blacksmith set the blade into the wet sand by his feet as he gave them all a moment to gather around. Then he straightened, lifted out his hands, and smiled gently behind the mask.

A magic swept out, gentle and delicate, like a tingling sensation: it seemed to ripple through each of them and, for a moment, it was as if they each could see all the little shining bits of metal throughout the cave! Then it faded... but they would remember, now, how to search in such a way.

"This... will be faster, yes?" the Blacksmith asked, and beamed.

The following spell has been unlocked in the Magicka shop, and granted to all thread participants:

Metal Sense
Low Intensity Detection. Sense the location of nearby metal, whether raw ore or abandoned weapons, armor pieces, jewelry, et cetera. Experienced users can detect the type of metal with relatively high accuracy.

---

Two rolls of Metal Sense at Barely Successful or higher will find the final pieces of the polearm and complete the Blacksmith's quest.

New members may still join, but please bear in mind the starting date of this thread for your character's timeline!

@Dread @Kaimana @Renasci @Mossie @Cerilaine @Zhusha

Dread shook himself, blinking, the spines at his neck erecting and swaying some. The sensation was there--tingling and alien to him--and then gone; but in that instant he'd seen one gleaming bright star in the distance.

Perhaps the others had seen it, too: the stash Dread had gathered of treasure up in the cave in the center of a sea stack out in the bay. He'd chosen a place with cliff-steep sides that rose sheer, perfectly vertical, from the water; a place with a cave partway in, one that Dread could simply fly in and out of. He'd spent many cycles gathering all his shinies there: the enchanted golden collar, scraps of old armor, gemstones, and so forth.

Then again, the actual forge eclipsed it. The Blacksmith's workshop, and the layers beneath, were full of metals; the volcano was positively glowing with ore. Dread hoped nobody'd seen his den in that instant and that, if they had, they wouldn't want any of his stuff (that was HIS stuff).

Tentative, he tried to use the magic again.

Sparks lit up and down the beach, and he wing-walked toward the nearest, fixing his eyes on its position so he wouldn't lose it once the magic wore off. "THERE IS SOMETHING HERE," he boomed, scraping ineffectually at the sand with one wing.

Zhusha's eyes glimmered with appreciation as the masked figure showed him the blade. "It's beautiful," he offered softly. "Are you trying to repair it? --or just find the pieces?"

Either way, he would be happy to help. He concentrated at the Blacksmith showed them a new magic, trying to remember the feeling of sensing the metal around him. When it dissipated, he called it back, searching through the glimmering sensations for something that seemed like it would fit onto the Blacksmith's already-recovered fragment.

There. Zhusha honed in on a piece of metal some distance down the beach. Dread too had found one, it seemed, but was struggling to dig it up. He thought maybe Dread should use his legs instead--but no, he didn't know enough about dragon anatomy to make such suggestions. Zhusha's own spindly legs would be ineffectual for digging, and he tended to use his beak to dig, but perhaps Dread's face structure, as different as it was, wouldn't be suited to the task either.

So he simply took off, flapping to the place where he thought the third fragment might be buried, and dipped his head to sift through the sand.

burn me to ashes and scatter me in the flooding spring river
that i might drift with the fallen flowers to a place no one has known

THE BEACHCOMBER

THE CAVE STORIES — LEO

"Thank you, it is... beautiful. I will... restore it," the Blacksmith assured Zhusha, his voice barely loud enough to be heard over the rush of surf.

He came to help them dig, kneeling delicately on the beach and scooping up great armfuls of wet sand. And gradually, he dug up the langet beneath Dread's feet, and the tang recovered by the clack of Zhusha's beak on metal. Each were carefully gathered up, and tucked within his arms.

"Thank you... very much. This... is all of it," he said softly, his voice filled with soft reverence as he looked over the timeworn scraps of weapon. He then peered at the Gembound present. "As promised... I will teach those... who want to learn. Come back in... several cycle's time. Six... perhaps; and I will have prepared a lesson. I will teach you... and all of those who you... bring with you. All those... who come. About forging... and smithing. About... perfect blades... and balanced weight... and which metal is brittle... and which is strong. Will this... be enough? For your help?" he asked, almost worriedly.

Hopefully this, and the gift of the spell, would do.

The Beachcomber is now complete, and may be exited at your character's leisure, or characters may remain behind to speak with the Blacksmith if they so wish!

In early June, the Blacksmith will provide a lesson on Smithing for any who would like to attend, though the Gembound present for this thread have been personally invited.

@Dread @Kaimana @Renasci @Mossie @Cerilaine @Zhusha

Dread listened, head tilting a little back and forth.

This was it, then-? They were--done?

Some part of him was almost... disappointed; this had been interesting. Mostly, in Leo, all he did was... exist: hunt, fish, sleep in the sun, soar around above the surf. Not that it was a bad life, by any means. It was just relatively uneventful, these days. It'd been nice to have... something to do.

It reminded him of that time Astraea had gathered a bunch of them up to teach them lessons: something for his mind to focus on. Oh, and that reminded him:

"I KNOW HOW TO READ," he declared loudly.

Apropos, naturally, of nothing.

Then he shifted his wings back a little, and turned, marching off up the beach, so as not to accidentally knock anyone down when he again took flight. "I WILL COME FOR LESSONS, MAYBE." For now-... maybe he could find more metal? Like--on his own..? MAYBE I CAN FIND SOME GOLD, he mused, his thoughts deafening inside his own serpentine skull.

He didn't bother wishing anyone farewell, but he did offer a very random "THANK YOU" before looking around. And something, in Leo's distance, flashed in his mind's eye.

GOLD..?

Well-... there was only one way to find out.

The black dragon reared back, crouched and then leapt, enormous wings catching him and propelling him off across the bay. It was treasure-hunting time.

exit Dread

"Of course," Zhusha assured the Blacksmith. "It was no trouble to help you, and I would love the opportunity to learn." What a gift it would be to be able to restore things like this blue blade like the Blacksmith claimed he could, or to create things as beautiful as it was!

I know how to read, Dread declared suddenly, out of absolutely nowhere. A look of blank confusion crossed the crane's face. He hadn't expected many words from the dragon--maybe a YES or THANK YOU or something related to shiny things--but this was a complete non sequitur from the 'smithing lessons' conversation. Should I respond? Say something? Congratulate him? Zhusha wondered blankly, but then Dread said he'd come for lessons and uttered the more expected THANK YOU, and he decided there was no point in pondering it much more.

"Yes, thank you," Zhusha told the Blacksmith, a little awkwardly. "I will see you in a few cycles." And with that, he too took flight, in a decidedly different direction from the dragon.

burn me to ashes and scatter me in the flooding spring river
that i might drift with the fallen flowers to a place no one has known

exit

The harpy was quick to disengage from climbing the dragons tail with the weapon piece, and then continues to help the others search- albeit unsuccessfully. The others seem to have found the lot of it, and they seem pleased to watch the Blacksmith and others interact and... in the case of Dread, declare knowledge and them proceed to fly off in a thunderous bound... Nice!
A sudden shock of magical and adamantine gleam in their minds eye has them light up in wonder and look around, and then beam at the Blacksmith.

"You didn't have to gift us anything, I would have been glad to help you find that memory." They do sound wholly grateful, and pleased. "I live in this cave," a gesture at the area around them, and then up at the cliff faces with some natural crevices, "So I will more than happily be around for your offered lessons. Maybe my fire magic can help? But again, thank you kindly."

A sudden seeming realization, and they reach to ruffle at their wings- the now dried sand sheds from them, and the harpy frowns deeper. "Pardon me Blacksmith, but, until we meet again. I need to... get sand out of places I forgot I had places," and with a cheery wave they head down the beach, looking for a cove or some submerged rocks in the water to bathe upon.

[EXIT]

"When I speak"
When I think