Attikias had his work cut out for him. He'd been back and forth from here and Fornax a little in the time that the Blacksmith waited for the key- and now, he'd started work on an idea of his. This time might work, after all, after the few failed lantern-like styles that were a bit too hard to hold easily or control. This time, though, he had the idea, he had the plan, and he had the dowel for it. Something thick enough to hold in one hand, and it wasn't too clumsy.

Of course, this relied on the fact that someone with hands would be down there. Or, at least someone with a thumb- but, surely there may be. If not, then he'd go. Even if he didn't want to. He had his family to take care of, he kept saying in his mind, and he had plans. He wanted to talk to Emuh, even- he'd heard about the owl from a while back, here or there somewhere, and he wondered if he held trials for people who just made things. Would it be like an appraisal? He could make something and bring it to him, maybe, but then that'd be against the spirit of the challenge.

But, Ursa. He'd never heard anything back from it, and he worried. Without him there, would it be okay? The aquatic creatures down there... Attikias shook his head, shutting his eyes and sighing out through his nose. He'd see. Maybe, he could make a bet with himself, about going if there wasn't a handed person there. That'd work.

Besides, he didn't do water.

Shaking his head, Attikias returned to his work, having hollowed out the center of this rod, gotten it all ready. The back was thick enough with a hole for string, so the thing wouldn't be lost to the depths or stolen or anything. Now, he had a bunch of fiddly parts to do, and he squinted down.

He had the things to make them out of, but he had to connect them. A sort of wheel, tied to something that rotated? And then moved a series of slats back.

But, as he constructed the thing, it wasn't working- or, he couldn't really fit it into the wood and get a glowing bit, and that frustrated him. Grumbling, he sat hunched over his workplace, a mess of failed projects strewn about.

Actually, Attikias knew what would work. String. It moved back and forth, and was more reliable than rods. Plus, he could affix it to a dowel in the middle of a wheel, and glue it all together--

Glue..? He knew it worked, but he never found a reliable source, and he grumbled. There was that dye Elspet showed him... That dye! (And Elspet! He forgot about her- he hoped she was alright...) In any case, Attikias scrambled to his feet and made his way to the storage shed, glancing around for some sort of amber or orange gem.

There. Something small- that was fine- and a little hard. It'd do. Gathering up a small vial, Attikias returned to the work-bench, retrieving his mortar and pestle. The gem didn't last long against repeated use, and eventually, he could pour it into the vial to make it fit.

Finally, he needed water, and he tipped some from another jar into the vial and was careful not to overfill it. A cork went on top (he only had so many from Elspet...) and he shook up the contents a little, surging his magicka into the mixture. It congealed quickly, and he raised it up, looking at the bubbles that slowly began to form.

Huh. Funky. After uncorking the top, Attikias pulled a thin toothpick of a twig closer and touched the tip into the bottle. It drew out in one long, sticky string, and the elf let out a small hum. That would do for glue, maybe.

Gathering up the rest of the wood to use, Attikias set it in place to begin working.

With the glue ready, Attikias worked for some time, getting the little fiddly pieces carved and ready. The tube was the hardest part- the wheel had to fit into it, then rise up into a slot, and dock into a little nook. That was easier said than done- with it all put together, it was a bit unwieldy with its small parts, and Attikias had no clue how to get it to stay.

He could try something, though. Glueing string on the axle like he meant to, he was careful not to touch it and make it slip off. Instead, he balanced two, careful little arches, complete with glue on their bases, to glue to the matching notch he'd made into the edges of the tube. It'd wear down. He knew this- but it was still worth the try, and he carefully slotted the wheel into place, the glue latching onto the wood and bonding it together. Experimentally, he rolled the wheel and watched as the string pulled back and forth. 'I need to cut those,' he made a mental note, watching.

Moving on, Attikias pulled forward a flat piece of wood and glued that in over the cavity, set into place for the baubled item. And this would be a piece of glass, molten and forgotten a long time ago, some sort of clear pebble now. This would hold a glow well.

But, first, he painted the inside with titanium. It wasn't a direct reflector, but it would be shiny enough to make things bright, and this would direct the light forward. He nodded, and waited, waited for the dye to dry a little and watched carefully.

As he waited for the dye, Attikias got to work with his magic. It'd been out of sorts lately (and he dreaded affixing the dye on) but- maybe this would work. Settling the glass in the middle of his palm, Attikias concentrated as it flared up with a bright colorless light, glowing in his hand.

That glow only increased once he put it in the reflecting chamber.

Smiling excitedly, Attikias put most of the glue on the back of the pebble and affixed it into the cmaber, right in the center, and watched as the light made a faint beam forward. Would adding more baubled bits in there work? He could worry about that later, maybe. Should he had made the glass reflective..?

He shook his head, pushing that aside. The glue dried quickly and he got to work stringing thread between three wooden slats, holes in place like a strange ladder. The idea was that the strings on the wheel would connect to corners of the one in the center, and once they were on the notches (which weren't that hard to finagle, gluing the cover in place like he did with the wheel) they moved with ease, shutting closed and blocking all the light. The rest of the glue was plastered on to make sure the strings stayed where they needed to be, and were taut with each turn.

Grinning, Attikias changed hands and held the torch in one, using his thumb to move the wheel back and forth. The contraption clicked as wood clacked against itself, blinds opening and closing to make a sort of directed beam. "Yes!" It worked! Standing up, Attikias pointed the beam to various things, watching shadows cast about the place.

Pulling the contraption back, Attikias concentrated on his magic, letting it flow from him and into the item. It needed a name. Flashstick? It didn't , though. Light control. Lightrod? No, that was weird. Beamwand. Beamstick.

Light stick. A stick of light. That was good enough.

But, as he concentrated, his palm heated up- shit! Attikias hissed out as he dropped the wand and shook his hand. Was the thing damaged? Forgetting the pain for now, Attikias bent down to pick it up, brushing off the dirt from it.

No, it looked fine. Huffing out, Attikias focused again on his magic, willing the dye to latch on.

This time, he could feel the feedback as his magicka surged through. That worked, right? Opening the slats fully, Attikias wormed his finger in and touched the titanium, feeling the cool metal-like dye under it.

It worked! Closing his eyes and blessing the caves, Attikias sighed out happily. This would work. Should he make more? Who knew how many people could even use these? Hell, he wanted one outside of this mission! He'd be sad if it went missing down there--

RIGHT, the string! Returning to the workbench, Attikias quickly affixed a loop to the hole he made in the end of the rod, tying it off. It was big enough to fit his hand in and tighten, and he dropped it and felt it dangle on his wrist, lowering his limb down.

Very nice. Grinning, Attikias flicked it back up in his hand with flair and pointed it into the surrounding woods, exploring its limits. All in all, it was a nice, rod-like thing: if he knew, he basically made an entire flashlight, just with blinds like you'd find over a window. The light opened and shut with a wheel on the top, perfectly situated for his thumb.

Now, he definitely wanted to make more. But, for now, he'd go off to explore the woods and find out how it did in darker surfaces, even dunking it under the nearby river to see how it illuminated the rocks on the bottom. This? This would work.

;exit attik with a flashlight.