Attikias reached forward with his hand, hovering over the earring as he shut his eyes in concentration. 'Just work, please,' he pleaded, face tightening. When he opened them, the glow was slowly petering out, and Attikias let out the breath he'd been holding with a sigh. "Thank goodness." Rocking back again, Attikias clapped his hands together once. "Aaaas for armor, sure. Some sort of torso armor? It shouldn't be too hard to make- an hour, tops, if you wanna stick around to help." He stood and turned, making his way to the small leather pile.

"... I might need more of this. And I don't think there's a lot of deer in here, and definitely not Fornax." He rumbled, holding up a large, bare hide. "But! I have enough if you want maybe-- bracers? So your legs don't get hurt that bad." He turned back as he rolled up the hide.

He looked for a moment, before blurting out, "Where's your gem?" It would be good to get armor over that, too, but he didn't see it externally. If it was internal, then... Hrm.

"Maybe? Make sure I can swim and turn in it," she pointed out, watching as Attikias grabbed a hide. It looked like it would fit? But- "If you need help getting more, I can try to help." She leaned in, eyes on the hide. "Maybe a helmet? Bracers would be good, too- those won't limit movement, at least. Something small, might be good, for my chest." She gestured, placing a paw on her fur.

She hesitated. "But-- I don't know where my gem is." Was she supposed to? She thought some people just didn't have them. If she had one, then that'd be the most important thing, right?

Attikias looked down to the hide in his arms. "I can make it work," he assured her, turning back to retrieve his tools. "Do you mind sticking around? I'm gonna take measurements, I wanna make sure it's comfortable."

He squatted back down as Cerilaine stood, laying the much too large armor over her. It was easy to trace where to cut with his metal knife- and he was careful, tracing out a saddle that was a little too long, made to tie together like scales.

Except, as he got near the thinner belly skin of the deer, the knife pierced though. It didn't pull out blood, but it poke into Cerilaine, who squeaked and jumped back. "Shit-- sorry," he hissed out, pulling the knife back. "I don't usually make armor with the people here for it."

sorry for powerplaying but also it's my own character and i'm not making 50 small little posts.

Attikias pulled back for a moment, trying to figure out the armor and how he shouldn't cut into his customer. It took a few seconds but, eventually he got the hang of it, leaning back in to cut out the outline. "There," he informed her, removing the leather from her back and laying it on the floor. She paced around as he set to work, cutting through the traces and freeing up the leather, poking in holes where he'd need to sew.

"Can you hand me that thicker strapping?" He pointed forward to the pile, which Cerilaine shortly pulled out the strap from. "Thank you." It took some time to craft- to sew, to thread and create the armor, and in the meantime Cerilaine snuffled around in Attikias's tent. That was fine- he didn't have anything in there she shouldn't get into, and she seemed content to lay outside of it as she watched.

With a chest-piece on the front akin to a 'Y', reaching over her shoulders and pulling back to a strap over her chest, it looked like it'd hold. It was minimum protection, really- plates that could move if she wiggled, and curl out if she reached down.

As he tested it out on her, he asked, "How's this?"

Cerilaine waited.

And she waited.

Eventually, she got up to resettle herself, stretching out and laying down by Attikias, watching him as he worked. She only stood if he needed a measurement- and he needed a few. The armor was finished soon enough after that, at least, and soon it was buckled onto her.

Looking down, Cerilaine gently tested the bottom piece with a soft tug, feeling it. It felt sturdy. Twisting about, it didn't feel too restrictive, and she hummed, arching her back.

"It feels good," she said eventually. She'd have to decorate it a bit if she planned on wearing it a lot. Hopefully, it wouldn't lock up in water...

But, she turned back to Attikias. "Do you want to make bracers, too?" One paw reached out, planted on the floor as an offer- to measure it, if he wanted to. "I saw your armor, too. You sure you don't want to go down there, huh?"

Attikias hummed out with a grin, seeing Cerilaine break in the armor. "It looks good on you," he said- but it did sound like he was just complimenting his own work. Oh well.

He paused, though. He took a moment, and- "Yeah, there should be enough left over from that pelt." Turning back, Attikias got to work, not particularly needing to measure for this one. "It won't take as long- maybe we can decorate these in the future, if you want?" As he trimmed out the familiar bracer patterns- two for the front, two for the back- his tail thumped on the ground. There was just enough, too.

It went a lot faster- he just needed to sew in the straps, and soon he could slip them over Cerilaine's paws and tighten up the strap behind them. These, she could put on herself, probably. "And here you are! Bracers." He held them up proudly, tail thumping a little harder. It slowed, though, when he thought of the armor.

"But, ahh-- I don't know if I'll go. Good for back up, I guess." He shrugged, offering the bracers. "Try these on?"

Once she was settled into them, he'd moved on to threading the enchanted bead and creating a loop for her, and tying it around her wrist. It was tight enough to not fall off, yet it wouldn't cut off circulation, and he pulled back with a thumbs up.

"Now go show that city who's boss."

THE EVIL IS DEFEATED!!! YES!!

Cerilaine hummed. "I can still enchant a weapon-" but was interrupted by Attikias, and she rumbled. Well, fine. Waiting, she kept her eyes in Attikias's hands, fascinated.

They were like Indigo's. Thicker, more calloused, maybe, without webbing- and yet, similar. Her eyes slid up to Attikias's face construed in concentration, and she dropped back down to the sewing he was doing. It was fascinating to her. Too bad she didn't have them- looking from behind Attikias's back, Cerilaine lifted her own paw to look at it, frowning. Well, she had claws, she supposed. And, she could probably deal with a lot more cold than him.

But, he turned about after Cerilaine was done, with the bracers ready. "Hm." She looked at them, then offered her paw when he asked for them. "They aren't too tight," she voiced, turning one paw in place once he went on to slide the bracers onto her back legs. She waited, too, for the water bead to go on, and stood in place once it was all over with. There was a moment, where she considered what to say, before--

"... See you on the other side." Pausing, Cerilaine nodded softly to the both of them, before continuing on into Fornax.

;exit Cerilaine

"It's fine-- we can see if anybody needs it once we're in there," he interrupted her with.

But, he'd put them on, and watched as she explored her armor. "I'm glad you like them," he hummed out, eye closing from his smile. "I'll see you soon. I'm gonna wait here until I see the key, at least." And he nodded to her, settling in and waving her off.

And he sat down in front of his tent, cleaning up the leather scraps and putting them in one neat pile. He would wait, just as he said he would, and he'd wait patiently.

While he'd no quarrel with Fornax, a warm haven for chilled limbs despite what danger lay in store, Fahl had no fond words for the way to that particular cavern. Iced, the path downward from his home proved worse to navigate than a steep cliff face, and those he knew well in his climbing pastime. Though the ground was uneven, claws skittered off the surface more often than hooked on a foothold, and every step was a fight against slipping and sliding to his destination instead of a controlled descent to it. His frustrated huffs wafted before him as condensing vapor only to collect upon his hide as freezing droplets once he passed through them on the arduous journey.

It was in this state, glistening trails of water running down his back and unkind mutters escaping from between partially clenched teeth, that he at last came up to the stone door. His voiced thoughts—mainly vulgar and largely unintelligible—ceased, and murky eyes took in the shelter set up. The occupant in front he regarded with a curious tilt of his head, weighing whether to address their presence or continue onward without care. After all, if this was to be a comrade, he'd likely see them again soon enough beyond the entrance.

An inhale sucked in the refreshing and less numbing air from the area mere inches away. He shivered against whatever cold still clung to him, then spoke. "Nice idea," Fahl said with a nod to the other's handiwork. A tentative smile, toothy though ever reptilian, crossed his face. "You, er, here for the city?"

He didn't recall if this one had been present any of the Blacksmith meetings he'd attended. Then again, most often he remembered only of what pertained to himself in particular.

@Attikias

Attikias certainly wasn't one for this tunnel, either. But, most people would be coming through here- if they weren't water-bound, at least- so it was as good as a place as any to set up. In fact, as he'd waited for more people, in the lull of activity, Attikias had pulled back and shrouded himself with a thick pelted cape, wrapping it around himself and huffing out.

It was cold, but still, he persisted.

When he made eye contact with Fahl, Attikias rose a hand and let out a small wave, his default expression brightening. If they passed by, then, that'd be fine- but, it looked like he'd be getting a visit! Humming out, Attikias gathered himself and squatted down so he'd be on Fahl's level.

"I figured I might as well stick around," he explained with a small humble shrug, a single-note chuckle coming out of him. His head tilted towards the tent, but it went the other way as Fahl struck up a conversation.

Business mode. Breathing in sharply, Attikias grinned as his tail thumped behind him, eyes shutting just briefly with the force of his expression. "I am here for the city, yeah! I wanted to make sure everyone was ready, so I'm here to enchant things or make some armor if you need it." One hand swept back to the pile of leather- it was a bit haphazard, but at least it was all in one place, a few scraps here and there. "I don't know a lot of magic, but I can always work with your own, if you want a weapon with something you can cast."

He thought for a moment, looking over Fahl- they looked limber and it may be a bit awkward to make armor, but perhaps he could make a helmet? Attikias's hand drew up to his mouth, a finger curling as he thought and rested his chin on his thumb. He could use some of his dye, but he didn't know how it'd fare in the water if he didn't affix it, and he didn't know how this being would fair if he did.

It didn't hurt to offer. "I do have some metal dye I can use, too." He offered his own arm as an example, nail tapping on the hard metal of his swirling tattoo. "It should stay fine for a little bit, but I can affix it, too, to make sure it doesn't flake off or anything. Though- I doubt you'd be down there for that long."

Pitch made, Attikias drew his full attention back to Fahl, a warmness to his expression and the way he held himself. An unasked question- can I do any of these for you?

@Fahl