Manon of the Source

[*sugarandspice]

Having enquired about Sigil's great bazaar and all the great merchants found therein, Manon finally found and entered the Great Foundry to speak to the representative there.

"I find not what I seek already crafted in their entirety to the markets of this city so I assume they are rare. This will simply not do. I intend to make the mold and I'm here to do my part."

[*Agony_Aunt]

The representative does not introduce himself, simply looks curiously at Manon for a moment and then asks what it is that he is seeking?

[*sugarandspice]

'She' replies with equanimity to the representative at the Forge

''I seek the means to make mold that allows spear to be formed for the proper and varied means of conductivity for electrical enhancement. None of this wooden nonsense.''

[*Agony_Aunt]

The representative nods.

"Then the foundry is at your disposal while you labour to achieve your aim. Be aware that the effort required may be substantial to craft a weapon of substance."

[*sugarandspice]

The heat of the Great Foundry was intense and work on the clay mold Manon had chosen to use for the shaft could not sensibly be carried out close to the forge and furnaces for risk of the clay drying before it had been shaped. She had chosen clay in preference over stone or other metal as her first attempt at making suitable mold.

Outside of the Foundry, Manon bartered with a two headed troll to enter the elemental plane of earth to bring back some of the richer clay earth to be found in its depths. In return, she promised that within a few weeks she would make the troll a double amulet, specially crafted to fit the wide dual necks and bearing simple magical enhancement of its choice.

She took the sackful of clay into the sewers beneath the city where many a dank pool lay and the cooler clime enabled her to shape the cloying earth about the shaft of one of her spare wooden spear shafts, having removed the iron tipped head first. She formed a separate clay mold of two parts that split around one of her iron spear heads to create the simple diamond point shape. This second mold once created could be placed about the successful casting of the spear shaft once forged.

Manon returned with both clay molds to the Foundry and placed the still wet clay of the both molds in the heavy furnaces to fire. The clay hardened and the wooden staff spear shaft burned to leave the first mold as a long cylindrical hollow. The second, once cooled, could be split into two and the iron spear head removed to leave mold shape for other metal casting.

Manon now had the basics of simple clay mold for both head and shaft. The next stage was to cast metal to the shaft and test the quality of the hollow mold. For this she would work first with the cheaper ingots of iron.

Manon had worked with the bare minimum of conversation to any other workers, reserving her energies and focus entirely upon the moldcraft. Sweat poured to her skin as she laboured in the foundry so she stripped off her plate armour and helmed crown to leave her in linen shirts and leggings to carry out the process. The heat was such that the linen lay cloying and sweat-soaked close to her skin, outlining her sleek muscular physique as she worked. She cared nothing for her appearance during this time. Achieving good progress on her task all important.

[*sugarandspice]

Into large crucible she place the ingots of iron, finally having to resort to requesting aid of one foundry workers to jointly lift it using winch and tong to set in the furnace to melt. The molten iron was poured carefully into the hollowed mold. This was then left to the side to cool and reharden after which, Manon took hammer to the clay, smashing her efforts of earlier to pieces to get to the results within.

With heavy tongs she lifted and plunged the still hot iron shaft into cooling water and then inspected the results. There were imperfections still but only as result of rougher mold work at the end. She fettled the edges of the long iron cylinder and the extra flashing at the tip caught in a rough ridge of the mold end she filed off. She wondered how better it might have been using a metal mold. An experiment for another time.

Finally, taking cloth to hold the middle of the shaft, Manon struck several times hard the end of the iron shaft against an anvil, testing the tone of the sound and strength of the form. It was solid.

Now to make the secondary stage of casting-on the iron head. Manon took the split parts of the spear head mold and fitted it about the newly forged iron shaft. Repeating the melting of metal process she filled the hollow pointed form with the molten iron, which then upon cooling, fused with the end of the heated metalic shaft. Further filing and fettling once the iron had cooled and Manon now held completed iron spear to her hand.

She now had reusable diamond point spear shaft mold but the clay shaft mold would have to be reshaped each time. She was satisfied but would need to return to process again and again to improve and experiment with the other metals and molds in forging. There were other spear head styles, multi-blade and prong to attempt, streamlined points and lighter shafts for javelin style spear as opposed to melee and then there were the more specialist metals she wished to forge next and these were more costly if error were made. And after one of each was made, only then could she begin to test them as conduit for electrical conductivity.

It was going to take time and effort and gold.

[*sugarandspice]

Manon repeated the test, remaking clay shaft mold and this time casting in cold iron which took the last of her gold resources to acquire.

On first use of the newly forged cold iron spear against skeleton in undersigil, the spear slid off the bone to strike against the stone block of the wall. Manon felt the tremor in the shaft, a vibration that informed her that the clay molded pole arm in cold iron she had sweated over in the Great Foundry to make was flawed.

The spear remained in tact not breaking but the flaw was such that the damage and power she should have been able to attain from it was suboptimal. Not ideal to one who sought perfection in her craft. There was nothing Manon could do until she acquired more wealth to attempt the work again. In the meantime, she would practise with the flawed spear and learn from its use to be able to apply that knowledge to an improved mold craft and casting.

[*sugarandspice]

Manon combined the components of jewel and reagent, lesser ones to make the basics of the enchant that turned the flawed cold iron spear from simple metallic pole arm to an acid dripping and flame burning weapon. She was given help from one enchanter working to the benches in the market to break down the essences she owned, lacking the tool herself, to provide her with those lesser ones. He also made sensible suggestion in use of straightening support for her mold-work to reduce the risk of flaw.

Testing the newly enchanted spear out in the dusky plane of Brux, she was given an early idea of a new concept by one elven and knowledgeable bard. The bard girl wanted a bow, asking for one of duskwood and whether she had the skill to craft such. Perhaps.

Wood again. But what if...

Manon wondered how to make mold to the shape of longbow but in metal, light and flexible enough to mimic the finest wood. Had anyone ever forged a metallic bow and what source of metal would work the best?

Manon did not know but she cut short the adventure with the dwarf Grag, the drunk joker Art and the elf Jinella to head to the Great Foundry and do some research....do her bit...play her part to progress this idea as well as begin on new mold for new spear.

[*sugarandspice]

Following time spent with a calm comrade in the paramental plane of ice, Manon had fresh idea for research.

How to 'merge' metals to make a weapon with the best of both, to combine and fuse the properties of two ores with the right alchemical and metallurgical process say to bond the silver upon a stronger base ore other than the usual steel.

It was well known fact that the alchemical silvering process normally failed to work upon the rarer metals such as adamantine and cold iron.

But what if...

....a third property, be it metal , mineral or reagent could be found and introduced that worked as combining-catalyst.

Hammer or flail was the weapon of choice in this instance used by this comrade and she had her work cut out to improve upon the weapon currently owned, one molded from the prayers and flames of Kossuth.

Only the head of hammer or ball at the end of the flail chain was used to bludgeon an enemy and provide the critical damage that could bypass certain enemy resistances. But in close bodily combat, where a full swing of weapon may be thwarted, the handle of both kinds of weapon could be used, to take out an eye for example. The idea was still worthy of attempt. A silver head, to a cold iron handle base and vice versa.

Stoking the Foundry's blazing forge fires, covered in sweat, stripped of her plate armour, Manon worked to smelt and cast to standard mold, testing with variety of reagent she had so far acquired on her planar travels working with with what resources she could afford and collect, beg or borrow from scraps and remains left by other foundry workers.

To her own stock, she had acquired a fair few components to test with; a fragment of an iron golem part crushed back to its earth's essence, a chunk of a raw and unusual mineral she had found through portal near the Foundry leading to an elemental plane rich with minerals mostly found to a lower section of mine still being worked that was well guarded by terran miners. She had managed to prise out small piece and fend off the furious dwarves.

Her own research and work on silver spear mold and improved cold iron spear would be delayed a while as she toiled over this idea.

In the bar near the marketplace she had overheard others talk of specialist ores, very rare ones that caught her interest..solanian truesteel...such a metal was told to be imbued with goodly powers of Devas and Solars properties of which worked well against their fiendish enemies.....but her duty for the cause, her penance and for the Source was to build up her knowledge and metalwork from scratch and put in hard work in her achievements.

No short cuts.

[*sugarandspice]

It took time and testing until finally she discovered that the combination of the earth plane mineral as conducting agent combined with the electrical force that crackled through her scarred hands fused the two metals successfully in this manner.

The weapon was forged. The handle base was formed mainly of cold iron, the head mostly of alchemical silver. The energy she was gifted by her god to wield, imbued throughout.

Manon took the still warm weapon to the Laboratory to add the final touch and with ironic smirk, thinking of the weapon's intended recipient and the reasons behind her efforts for the 'old man', she used her last reserves to acquire the final components and enchant the whole with new property wondering if this comrade would appreciate the ironical jest.

Not a masterwork by any means in the scheme of things. There was room for improvement. But Manon was pleased with her progress and success of this research and craft.