Back in Jashin, Xander finds himself with more free time than he possibly wanted. Umeko has had to attend many family dinners, and well as visits by neighboring nobles wishing to meet this curious 'heroine of Jadai'. There is only so much garden walking and fish watching a Lapi can do before feeling itchy. It also doesn't help is mood to have slinky handmaidens with scary claws and sharp teeth busying themselves about the estate (and brushing up against him!).
So ... when Xander finally finds out where Umeko's childhood friend's shop is, he's more than keen to visit! Something to distract him from almost certain temptation .. fire, hot metal, dangerous things, and stories about Umeko! Once he has made sure Nawar will be busy with her lessons Xander heads off into the alien reptilian city! He's fortunately got proper papers that allow him to pass through the normally Jadaian only sections of town.
Xander can feel the heat from outside the shop. There's controlled chaos inside, almost a dance, amount the few apprentices. Ryota is nowhere to be seen; but then it's easy enough to guess he is probably in the back room.
The Lapi ponders the name of the place, and figures the Raging Dragon refers to the more mythical form of dragon - it'd be strange to have it founded by a very angry Kiriga instead. He slips in among the watchers, trying to get as close as possible to the action (and of course, he wonders how many are here to watch the process versus bask in the heat of the forge). He mutters a cantrip under his breath as well, just a simple one to tell him how hot the forge is.
The hottest parts of the coal fire are around fifteen hundred degrees! It's a good thing the fire is contained behind kiln bricks for the most part. Still, the heat significantly felt even outside of the main work area. The Kiriga he slips between to get a closer look eye the Lapi. Well, glare really. They also mutter a few rather unkind remarks about the lapi in Imperial, assuming he wouldn't understand them. Unfortunately Umeko has given him enough lessons to make out their gist; unclean barbaric creature.
Xander has been called worse, so lets the comments slide off of him. At least if he's unclean then it makes him less appetizing as well! He works around to check the bellows system. Maybe they've had some sort of innovation. And of course he feels for magic - metalworking is rare enough, but it might still attract natural metal-mages. Something else occurs to him.. and he actually looks at the crowd now to see if there are any women ogling Umeko's old friend.
Umeko's old friend isn't in view! Just younger apprentices at work in the public area of the force. There's no feeling of any magic being worked and as for the bellows system, it's a fairly simple affair; a large pair of hinge bellows with a leather bladder. The upper part is actuated through a rope that goes through a pulley anchored to a rafter. Weights on the bellows draw the top down after one of the apprentices uses their arms (and weight) to raise it by pulling on the rope.
It looks like the Lapi will have to ask someone. He approaches a bellows-apprentice and carefully asks, "Is the master smith around?"
The young Kiriga is halfway down in a pull. His earfins flick and his head turns to look in Xander's direction. "Master no time to see foreigner,/" the kiriga barks out in garbled, annoyed, standard standard.
"That is not for you to decide, apprentice," Xander notes, standing up to his full height. "You will inform him that Mage Xander Lightfoot would like to see him, regarding matters of Lady Tsuguri."
The apprentice releases the rope and down the bellows goes! The fire roars loudly just behind him. He looks the lapi from head to toe. "Papers," the young kiriga challenges, as if he doesn't quite believe a mere lapi would have any associations with a noble family.
The Lapi grunts, and presents the papers. Such a young age, and already a budding bureaucrat.
It's impressive how color can seem to leave even a Kiriga's scales as he reads over the document. Earfins flick down when his eyes fixate on the wax seal on the wax seal at the bottom. "Ah. Sorry Mage Lightfoot," the kiriga says as he bows and offers the papers back to the Lapi. "I inform Master of your presence." He shuffles backwards, head still bowed, then darts through the back door.
This little show has caused a bit of murmuring amongst the crowd now. There is more than one pair of eyes staring at the Lapi now.
Xander tucks the papers back into his robe before the seal can melt in the ambient heat (he's got a heat-proof pocket in there, of course). He tries to ignore the crowd, since saying anything to them at this point would probably lead to trouble.
Xander could swear he just heard someone mutter the word 'spy' from somewhere in the crowd.
Spy? These people must be paranoid, since a spy would not so obviously stand out. Instead he just says, "I can understand you, and my ears are very good at hearing whispers as well."
The apprentice returns. The position of his earfins implies he might have gotten a bit of a 'talking to' back there. "This way, Mage Lightfoot," he requests as he opens the half door that allows access into the public forge space. He bows and gestures for Xander to head through to the back forge.
Xander bows back slightly, and hurries through the door before the crowd can get any more ideas.
The back room is ... well dark and sooty; expected really. Most of the light comes from several furnaces burning in the room, possibly at different temperatures given the variations in color. The all surround what looks like a two foot by two foot slab of ironwood that has had s large iron sheet literally folded over it, the whole thing standing about two feet high. "You're brave to walk through the city without an escort," Ryota says from the side as he steps out of one of the shadows. He's dressed simply in a heavy leather apron and well, nothing else except for gloves. He's sooty on top of that and his pulled back mane has bits of hair sticking off in several direction. "The city is a bit paranoid about foreigners, hence the requirement to carry official sponsorship documents."
"I blew the head off of a Desert Giant and fought creepy faceless warrior women with Umeko," Xander notes. "I don't think a bunch of civilians are going to give me too much trouble. If they do, I'll just have to do something showy." He looks around, looking for forge fuel, in case each one has a different blend. "Besides, I was bored and you're the only person I've been introduced to here in town. I wanted to see your metalworking also. I've known a metal-mage or two, but have never seen real blacksmithing."
Ryota arches his brow. The kiriga's lips draw back into a bemused grin. "By tradition you should call her Lady Tsuguri," he points out, "But she would bite your tail I expect if you did. Well, if you had one big enough to bite. The girl I remember never liked being called something formal by a friend."
The fuel seems ... well ... to be charcoal. He did tell the lapi back on the shoreline that charcoal was cleaner-burning than regular coal. The temperature differences might be due to the amounts of fresh air allowed into each of the furnaces.
"When I first met her.." Xander starts to say, then wonders just how much he should tell of that meeting. "She was going by the name of Kin Ryu and was not formal at all."
"At all? She never did disguise her upbringing well," Ryota notes as he grabs an iron bar and uses it to go through and stir each of the furnaces, releasing a shower of sparks with each pass. "It's how she walks and holds her tail. It is precise, level, and smooth."
"Her tail is.. certainly noticeable," Xander admits. "It wasn't until we went to a Heat Bar that I clued in that she wasn't just a typical Kiriga." He wiggles his fingers, and says, "Her polisher noted the number of fingers she had."
"You do not have untoward thoughts about Umeko, do you?" Kyota asks as he finishes stirring the fires, "I might have to defend her honor." He looks over his shoulder at Xanger. The light isn't great in here, but the lapi gets the impression he's probably joking.
"Oh.. I've gotten past those," Xander claims, trying to look innocent. "Have you had to defend her honor in the past?" he asks.
"Though why I would put myself at risk to defend a short, nostril-flaring, entirely too shiny little pain in the butt like her is beyond me," Ryota comments. Yes, he has to be joking. The question is first answered with a flick of his ears, then a shake of his head. "No. I am not of proper status to defend her. Or even be in her company," he remarks, then shakes his head. "Her father scares me, and mine ... beat me when he discovered that I had dared to encourage her and worse, spend time with her."
"He beat you?" Xander asks, shocked. "Lord Tsuguri frightens me too. Does Umeko know you got into trouble because of her?"
"My father did, yes. I risked the family and the business by letting her visit, and by teaching her things," Ryota notes, shrugging a bit. "He broke my left hand and two of my toes, and I was still expected to work. That was the last time I saw her. She knows I got in trouble, but not the extent."
"Tssss," Xander hisses in sympathy. "I'm sure she'd try to make it up to you now if she knew. Do you regret showing her things though?"
"Regret? Why would I regret it?" Ryota asks, "Knowing her was a small bright spot in a life of work. You have known her long enough to know when she smiles it seem to brighten the room, yes?"
"Among other things, yes," Xander notes, trying not to think of the dreams where Umeko was smiling at him. All those teeth.. "I don't suppose you knew her.. great uncle, I think? The one who made the family swords?"
"Oh, no. He died before I was born. I know of him, but that is all," Ryota notes as he resumes doing actual work. Using some clamps he fishes out from one of the furnaces a small misshapen bar of metal that has taken on a yellowish hue as it goes from the heat. Taking it over to the large block in the middle of the room, he then picks up an orate hammer (the head is carved to look like a snarling Kiriga!). The glowing bar is set on the iron slab and with precise, moderate, blows Ryota starts straightening it out.
"What are you making?" Xander asks. "Metal tools must be in high demand.. but expensive."
"Right now? Just some bar stock," Ryota answers. "This is ... soft iron. It doesn't hold an edge very well, but it will flex without breaking. It is good for outer layers of blades and basic utensils. Also used in making simple art for houses that can afford it."
"Iron likes to deform when it cools," Ryota continues, "But by properly hammering the metal, stretching it, then refolding it, you can tame its warping nature until it cools straight. Then it can be used to make things."
Xander is reciting cantrips again, so he can tell how the metal cools and heats. Deforming metal may come in handy after all! "How do you make it brittle?" he asks.
"Cool it very quickly. The rate of cooling affects how soft to hard it is. Also, the content of various powders mixed into the metal when it is smelted," Ryota notes. "I should not tell you this, but the secret to many swords is differential cooling. The edge is cooled fast, which makes it hard and sharp, but the core is cooled slow, so it flexes. It's an art to get the proper amount of hardness and softness and make something durable and sharp."
"Hmmm," the Lapi ponders, rubbing his chin. "Differential cooling.. and you do it without magic? With blown air, or applying water or oil?"
A few more blows on the bar that Ryota is working on and it goes back into one of the furnaces. "You're delving into secret arts," the Kiriga notes. "The answer to that is none of them."
"Well, I wouldn't use the techniques," Xander notes. "I'd use magic of course. I'm pretty good at controlling temperature over long periods - I was a cook."
"Pfft magic. A crutch," Ryota claims, "Skill is in the hands, not the tongue."
"It's in a lot of places, and with magic it's in the mind, not the tongue," Xander corrects. "There are Savanite mages that dance their spells. You Jadaians have a bad habit of just dismissing anything that isn't traditional."
"And foreigners have a bad habit of dismissing the important of tradition," Ryota counters and waves a pair of tongs at the lapi. "Tradition is continuity, a way to remember those that came before and how they touched the world."
"Yes, but that doesn't mean you can't make things better, otherwise what is your contribution to the future? Somebody broke tradition to create the tradition you follow, you know. It wasn't just handed down from the sky."
"Well, of course," Ryota says as he pulls the bar back out of the furnace to beat on it for a bit longer. He seems to be lengthening it now by using a the rounded end of the hammer to leave ripples in the bar, then the flat end to hammer it back flat. "The technique commonly used in cooling metal at different rates is using fire brick clay, ground into a paste and coating the item. With a sword it is completely coated, then the edge is scraped clean. The blade is then heated the exposed metal turns a dull brown, then drawn out and placed a tub of oil. the edge cools faster than the clay-covered core. It is also what instills the arc in the blade. If done improperly, you end up with a twisted mess."
"Where does your iron come from?" Xander asks. "Is it local, or imported from the Red Cliffs?" Origin makes a difference, when it comes to magic.
"The sea. I make it from black sand that washes ashore," Ryota answers as he tosses the bar back into the furnace. "It is a difficult process. It takes days to break the sand down into its base components. and the type of iron varies based on the quality of the sand. It is often a mix of harder and softer irons that settle out of the slag."
"You just melt it all together until the metal settles at the bottom?" Xander asks.
"More or less. Each metal has a different melting point and density. At the right temperatures it separates," Ryota confirms. He sets his hammer back in the table-anvil.
Xander tries to think of some way to help.. but without having practiced with the metal and temperatures, he doesn't think he can do much. "You must be pretty important, being the master blacksmith, right? So.. how inappropriate would it be for you to visit Umeko now?"
Ryota holds up a two-fingered hand. "I an an artisan, but I am still a peasant," the kiriga notes, "I would not be welcome. She has more important friends than me now."
"Only in the eyes of those that pay attention.. I mean, you were able to call her out with that mock challenge of yours," Xander points out. "So there must be some circumstances where you can associate."
Ryota snorts. "That was in a seaside village," he points out, "Far from the scrutiny of gossip and prying eyes. Why are you asking about this?"
"Well, it just seems.. unfair to me," Xander notes. "Outside of town, you can hang out just fine. What are the consequences of you meeting, anyway?"
"No one claimed life was fair," Ryota notes as he runs his gloved hands over his mane. "It would be considered beneath her station to associate with me. It is a political stigma."
"Whereas I can do it because I have no political standing anyway," Xander notes. "So.. do you like it here?"
"It is my home and my life. I enjoy the work. Why do you ask?" Ryota inquires. He was about to pull the bar out of the furnace again, but seems to have changed his mind.
"Well, Lady Tsuguri does need retainers for her estate in Viper's Hold," Xander explains. "That's part of the reason she's traveling around Jadai."
Ryota rubs the tip of his snout. "And is that the only reason?" he asks.
"No, there are other things she's looking into here," Xander notes.
"No, I meant why ask me? She was a childhood friend. But that was a long time ago," Ryota says. "did she send you here?"
"She didn't send me," Xander notes. "But I've noticed that she really doesn't have many friends. And more than that, she'll need people she can trust. I worry about her trying to set up a household with only strangers."
"No true noble has friends Mage Lightfoot," Ryota says and shakes his head, "It is their sacrifice for the position. I cannot go with her."
"Sacrifice for the position?" Xander asks. "So, you'd rather not help her then. I can respect your decision."
"It is not that. I don't think you would understand," Ryota says and shakes his head.
"It sounds like you're saying you'd only be a distraction to her," Xander notes, frowning. "But.. she still needs people she can trust. I don't trust anyone out in Viper's Hold."
"It's not that, either. I don't know if I could be around her," Ryota says as he pulls the hot bar roughly and slams it down on the iron table. This time he grabs a chisel and hammers a cut into the center of the bar, then folds the metal in half with hard hits from his hammer. He practically throws the folded bar back into the furnace. "I would be around the most beautiful person I have ever known, and she would still be forever out of my reach. Broken bones were nothing compared to that."
"Well.. it's out at the edge of civilization," Xander mutters. "The question of Umeko's necessary heirs is still.. unresolved. There's a lot to do before then. A lot to build. I just want her to be happy."
"She seemed happy at the shore, with you," Ryota points out.
"But I can't be all she has," Xander says. "She needs people from Jadai that she can connect to. Especially when she's so far removed from it all. Do you think this is hopeless?"
"Think what is hopeless? Her establishing an estate of her own? No, I do not. She has always been stubborn beyond reason," Ryota answers, smiling slightly at that. "I'm already the greatest swordsman ever, she said, Either you can help me and then bask in knowing the greatest, or you can ... stop laughing. She even stamped her foot."
"You actually laughed at her?" Xander asks, looking amused. "You seemed a lot less traditional back then."
"I was twelve. She was eight, about two foot tall, wearing a towel, and covered head t toe in coal soot,/" Ryota notes. "She was also smacking my knees with a stick of bamboo."
"Hmm, she does tend to make a big impression, you have to give her that," the Lapi notes. "Well, since I can't charm you into uprooting yourself to move to a barren wasteland.. is there anything interesting to do in this town?"
"I haven't decided on moving or not," Ryota grumbles as he pulls the bar back out of the furnace, "Most tourists like to visit the ... massage houses." After pouring some white powder on the folded metal, he start beating on it again. This time its generating an impressive shower of sparks!
Sparks don't bother Xander any. "Massages? I've had enough of those," he says. "The handmaidens at the manor tease me enough as it is. What do you do to relax?"
"I'm doing it right now," Ryota answers. With each successive blow, the metal seems to be welding together where it was folded.
"What do you do that involves being social or having company?" Xander asks. "Assuming you'd want to be seen with me at all, since the rumor outside is that I'm a spy. Any notion what that's all about?"
"Rumors about foreign spies and the late Artists' associations. It has made the public nervous," Ryota says as he sticks the bar back into the furnace. "As for social, there is just drinking and having a meal at one of the small rest houses, or hopping on one of the small fishing boats and going fishing with them."
"I don't suppose any of the meals here would be vegetarian?" Xander asks. "And what would Haku have had going on out here?"
"Tempura vegetables are rather tasty, though I do prefer something that was once living," Ryota says. "I would have thought the meals on the Tsuguri estate would be decadent, though. The food here is mundane."
"I'm a mundane mage," Xander notes. "I grew up in a much-too-small house in Abu-Dhabi. Umeko's visited it.. that's how my little sister has become her new handmaid. I don't need decadent. I need to run every so often. Fishing might be interesting. How come you haven't married yet?"
"I have a business to run and people to teach," Ryota claims. "And no mage is mundane. I have come to understand it attracts insanity."
"You've met other Fire Mages then?" Xander asks with a grin. "Or Chaos Mages.. but they're more eccentric than insane. Do you think the locals enjoy fireworks shows?"
"Possibly. You would have to explain it to them," Ryota says, "And I must ask your leave, I need to get another few bars done before the sun goes down. You can do me a favor, though." He sets his hammer down and heads over to an old crate. Out he pulls a very battered-looking handmade chest. "Please give this to Um ... Lady Tsuguri when you see her next," he requests.
The Lapi takes the chest, and asks, "Is there anything inside of it I should know about?"
"The heart of the fabled demon of the bridge of the eternal tears," Ryota claims, his expression rather impassive.
"Oooo, she doesn't have one of those," Xander says, before he goes, he also asks, "Could you spare me a few bits of charcoal?"
Ryota actually rolls his eyes. "It is just something I made for her a long time ago that I never gave her," the kiriga remarks, his joke having fallen flatter than his expression. "And of course can have some; charcoal is not that expensive. What do you need it for?"
"Oh, just in case I have to deal with an angry mob," Xander claims. "Or I could conjure up my familiar out in the public forge area. I'm sure that would keep my path clear.."
"Do you really wish to annoy the local guards?" Ryota asks.
"You're right.. I should put the familiar inside the chest so if they ask what's in it, I can tell them it's a demon.." Xander offers with a grin.
"How about you walk back to your guest house without causing a problem?" Ryota suggests. "It figures. You are as bad as she is."
"No way, I'm just a cute harmless little unclean bunny spy," Xander claims, and pops up his collar before taking the chest. "I don't suppose you'd like a painting of Umeko? Then again, you probably wouldn't.. so I'll suggest it to her. Good day, Master Blacksmith." The Lapi bows.
"Good day, pyromaniac," Ryota replies as he returns the bow, "I expect you to return some evening for dinner." Granted, he doesn't explain whether it is to go to dinner, or be dinner...
"I'm so telling Umeko the demon heart thing," Xander mutters to himself as he exits, then checks to make sure nobody outside is holding a pitchfork or noose. Torches he is okay way.
Xander understands torches..
Umeko says, "It isn't a demon heart. :)"