An axe is crafted

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Alioik
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2018 5:53 pm
Guild: Barbarians

An axe is crafted

Post by Alioik »

Alioik enjoyed working with his hands. It gave him time to think. He had crafted many hundreds of items since learning the basics from the Barbarian tutors, and it was now time to try crafting something grand. He had only glimpsed his goal a couple of times, it was a spectacular axe held by the most experienced Barbarians. Several times he had seen Satyana holding the axe he was going to try to create. The haft of the axe was a dark lustrous wood, maybe ebony or mahogany. The impressive blade of the axe was made from a large tough bone; the only thing that Ali could think of was that it had to be dragon bone. Ali took a mental note of what he would need to do the gather the materials, and he set out from the guild.

He spent days wandering the forests of the land trying to pick out the perfect piece of wood to form the haft of his project. He found many fine pieces of wood, but his recent expertise in forestry made him very selective. Some pieces had small imperfections that he knew might break under stress. During his time wandering, he took time to think about the guild itself. Satyana had asked him how the lessons he had learned from Tashmaal and Kilrsat informed his actions as a Barbarian. She had also asked about how learning these things would make him a better Barbarian. For Kilrsat the lesson was to always be proactive in trying to improve the guild. Do whatever you can, whether it be mentoring the young, or holding events to bind the guild closer together. Ali smiled to himself as he ran his fingertips over a freshly cut piece of wood. Young Kovoth had been one such Barbarian he was mentoring, and he was rapidly improving in the ways of the guild. With Kovoth’s growth, the guild grew stronger. From Tashmaal he learned the story telling tradition of the guild. Ali tried his best to tell grand and helpful stories after his hunts. While not as enthralling as Tashmaal, he hoped that his tales spread through the land and helped improve the reputation of the guild. Also he hoped that his successful hunts raised the moral of the guild. Ali spent many hours thinking about these things and letting his feet lead him. He was jolted from his internal thoughts by a cold wet feeling around his ankles! He looked up and realized that he was by the Eastern Coast. He was looking for wood, but his feet led him to the ocean. He chuckled to himself and made to wander back into the forests when he noticed a dark long shape being tossed around in the surf. He ran over to the object and rescued it from the crashing waves, glad he was able to get it before it was dragged back out to sea. Ali inspected the object he held in his hands carefully. It was a piece of beautiful mahogany driftwood. The waves and sandy beach had made the wood incredibly smooth, and the water had made the wood hard. This would be the haft of his axe!

Ali moved from the coast and made his way back into the mountains where he knew the dragons of the lands lived. He knew that dragon bones were some of the strongest bones in all the lands. They made very strong weapons and armor, but he felt that he needed to find a special bone for this axe. Of all the dragons he had killed in his dragon slayer task, he could think of only one bone that would suffice. He would need to hunt a red dragon and take from it a bone. A shoulder blade or a pelvis would make a strong blade if he could find the right dragon. As he moved through the mountains he took a moment to appreciate the mastiff that was his constant companion, he wasn’t always visible, but he was always there. It was in these same mountains that he had befriended his companion mount Reint. Ali found himself going up a narrow path along the edge of a cliff. He had to press his back to the mountain to maintain his balance. As he rounded a bend and took in the scenery before him, he knew he was in trouble! He looked at his feet and saw a clutch of eggs, he had stumbled upon the nest of a Dragon and knew that he needed to retreat or he would risk being attacked by an angry mother. He began to edge slowly backwards, and suddenly Reint started to growl. The growling grew in volume and Ali looked up just in time to dodge a gout of flame from a red dragons mouth. He slid forward and almost tumbled from the edge of the cliff in order not to be burnt to a crisp. He turned and drew his weapon in the same motion and confronted a huge and angry dragon mother. Her eyes were slits and her teeth were bared. Flame played along the dragon’s lips as it moved down the mountain to chase Alioik. He had a choice to make, either fight the dragon on this thin ledge or jump onto Reint and run. He chose the latter. He knew that fighting a large creature on that small ledge would just lead to a grisly death. He jumped on his mastiff’s back and yelled, “Move to a larger area so we can fight.” Reint ran down the mountain in a way that only a Shadow Mastiff can, disappearing every few feet and reappearing a short ways away. This managed to confuse but also keep the dragon interested in the chase. Alioik quickly came up with a plan. He needed to get the thing out of the air so he could finish the job with his weapon. However, he needed to not damage too much of the dragon, for it was just the right size to harvest a strong bone. He turned backwards on Reint and pulled out his throwing axes. He began to hurl them at the dragon as she chased. He watched in satisfaction that the axes were tearing through the wing membranes of the pursing dragon. It screamed in pain and rapidly started to lose altitude. After several more well-aimed throws, Ali would need to thank the trainers for teaching him this skill, the mother dragon crashed into the ground. Ali quickly jumped off of Reint’s back and pulled out his huge bone club weapon. He brought it down hard thrice on the skull of the dazed dragon. Blood leaked from its eyes, and he knew that the dragon’s skull had been crushed. Taking out a dagger he began to take long strips of dragon hide off of the corpse. He could use these to bind the haft to the blade, and make an outstanding grip. He then set to work removing a large piece of bone from the dragon; this would make a strong and sharp blade. He also took blood from this dragon, it had been a strong foe and it would sustain him for a long time. He hung the strips of dragon scales off his pack starting the drying process and made his way back to the barbarians to begin his project.

He made his way back to the Barbarians’ Guild and immediately set to work. He used chisels on the bone to sharpen the edge, and dried the strips of dragon hide completely by the fire. They became pliable but strong. He then used them to set the axe firmly into the mahogany haft. He took time with the haft, cutting in designs and polishing it with good oil. Hours later he hefted a grand axe. He swung it several times to test its weight. It was well balanced and felt good in his hands. He knew that if he tried again that he might never craft an axe such as this. He held the axe proudly in his hands and went in search of other Barbarians to show his new axe to…
vampirss
Posts: 213
Joined: Sat Apr 26, 2014 2:09 pm
Guild: Barbarians
Temple: Dread

Re: An axe is crafted

Post by vampirss »

Hearing the pounding in the guild, Satyana took to the shadows to see what was going on. This sound was quite different than she had heard most recently. She stood in the opening watching silently at the careful movements he was making to get the axe made. There was no hiding the smile that came to her face. It was always a pleasure to see the care someone took into creating their own weapons. Especially one that was as special as this. With the finishing touches made, she finally came out of the shadows.

Well done, Alioik! Your work is an inspiration to everyone. May you use it well. It is quite deserved....High Clansman.
Night Empress Satyana
Cardinal of Dread
High Lady of Twilight, House Umbra
Barbarian Guildofficer
Torturous Temptress
Vicious Vampiress

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