Lute 3

[18:26] Kofe takes the amulet!!!

"Thanks. Now- onto real, big things. I want you to make me the best lute there ever was. I've got a few materials already and I think we can easily work with them."

A smile is offered, then a question.

"Should we start with the base of the instrument?"
(Kofe)
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[18:35] Her head inclined curiously as Kofe mentioned her creating the best lute there ever was for him. He had mentioned it previously in passing, and while she had agreed to it then, now there seemed to come a time in order to speak on it in earnest.

"Oh. Yeah sure. What items do you have? Then I can figure out the best way to make it going forward."
(Ophelia cos Montclaire)
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[18:44] While he might've thought he knew a thing of two about crafting, Ophelia was definitely the expert on the matter. Showing her what he had instead of insisting to design it by himself was probably a better idea. Thus, Kofe brought out an array of different objects.

The claw of the king of all crabs, in its rather large form. Solid, yet needing a bit of shaping if it was going to be used as a base.

The scale of the dragon known as Vartuul. Smooth, yet rough. Tougher than most things on Esshar and overflowing with potential.

An arcanium string. A single one. An energy similar to the one that the scale gave out could be felt coming from this single piece of art, indicating its core may have something to do with a dragon, while the coil was made out of arcanium judging by its shine.

All of those were put on display for Ophelia to see.

"When I fought the Wraith back then, it destroyed my lute and that saved my life. I... think that if we're to use any metal for the base, it should be something solid. Even if it's on the heavier side."

A pause, and a spoken thought.

"I plan on getting some harmonic quartz to enchant the strings. Dun said it was the best thing there was to let the music flow out at its best. We'll also need something else to make the other strings - I'm afraid just one won't do. What do you think?"

There were many things to debate, like whether or not the scale should be put on the base itself or used as a pick, but surely Ophelia had an idea on that, too.
(Kofe)
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[18:44] {Item} You drop Kang Krab's Klaw.
[18:44] {Item} You drop Arcanium String.
[18:51] Ophelia waited patiently as Kofe put those items on display for her.

The claw of the crab interested her, and she began by studying it intently, picking it up and turning it this way and that before moving onto the string and then the scale. Eventually, there was a light exhale that came from her.

"Well... The strings itself is easy to answer. Orchilacum is your best bet; it's what I used for the string on Galadhrim, as it's pretty easy to spin the ore once smelted into threads. Then you weave those together and you have a pretty solid string," She responds.

"As for the base, if you really want oomph, you want Arcanium. Of course you could always combine it with other things too." She withdrew her bow now, holding it out for the bard to see it closely. The colors shifted and shimmered, a mixture of Arcanium's rainbow like black lustre, blue mercury and a spotting of moonsilver from Mythril. "I smelted Arcanium, BlueMercury, and Mythril all together and poured it over a carved piece of elderwood," She explained.

"It didn't use up the same amount of Arcanium as a normal Arcanium based staff would need, but it's just as strong. So that might work out for you?"
(Ophelia cos Montclaire)
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[18:59] Kofe offered a small nod while Ophelia went to work on her assessment of what he possessed. Arcanium always seemed to be the answer in most cases. Hel, he thought it'd be the answer for himself, too. Though an alloy made of multiple different metals would work as well, wouldn't it?

A long, deep thought was given on the matter. A bow needed to be flexible, so blue mercury made sense. But for a lute?

The Rhoynish tapped his chin with his thumb a bit, only to speak again.

"What do you think about Nyeshk?"

Perhaps a bit on the crazy side of ideas. Though it showed that he'd learned from his fight with this vengeful spirit of Barsburg.

"I don't know how much you'd need to use to solidify the whole thing, but the claw is pretty solid on its own. I... really don't want to see my instrument breaking again like that. I doubt it's conventional - I've never really seen any instrument made out of Nyeshk save for a few that were meant to hit the lower notes in the scale, but..."

Time had yet again changed his ideals.

".. A Bass Lute. That's..."

He nodded to himself.

"That could work, no?"
(Kofe)
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[19:00] {Item} You picked up Kang Krab's Klaw. Dropped by Kofe. .
[19:00] {Item} You picked up Arcanium String. Dropped by Kofe. .
[19:16] The mention of Nyeshk brought a curious glance towards the Bard now, eyebrows raising in thought. Nyeshk, for an instrument? Weapons made from the metal were notoriously large and heavy, but they also packed a wallop as well.

"It... It could work," She said thoughtfully. "I'd recommend perhaps mixing it with Mythril just to be on the safe side of course. I'd say probably... Two Mythril and maybe two or three of the Nyeshk just to be on the safe side frankly." She added with a hand briefly rubbing against her cheek.

It was a thought, certainly. It interested her.

"Yeah it might work out."
(Ophelia cos Montclaire)
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[19:22] A smile graced the young man's lips when his idea seemed to make sense to more than just himself. There were more thoughts brought into the mix, and an important question.

"Do you have the metals required for that or do I have to try and find them?"

If she had them on her, then they'd be able to start right away, wouldn't they?

And then, a more important question.

"The dragon scale— I thought about using it as a pick but... that doesn't feel right with a bass."
(Kofe)
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[19:27] Ophelia cos Montclaire says, "Mmmm... Let me check."
[19:28] Ophelia cos Montclaire says, "I have two pieces of Nyeshk ore and enough Mythril, though I was saving the mythril for kits if Osrona needed them."
[19:33] Kofe says, "I'll try to see if I can repay that, then. I've got a few things back in Ilburg, might have the metals."
[19:34] Kofe says, "If-"
[19:34] Kofe says, "You wanna start now, that is."
[20:33] Her head tilted and she nodded.

"Let me go grab them, then."
(Ophelia cos Montclaire)
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[20:39] Kofe nodded in return!
(Kofe)
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[21:03] "So. What we'll do is we'll coat the claw in the smelted metals. It'll give a nice visual effect and reinforce it to ensure it doesn't break," She explains. Moving over to the furnace the normally cold woman was greeted with nothing but incredibly hot fire.

Dumping the Nyeshk ores into one mold, and then the Mythril into the other, Ophelia would turn back towards Kofe as she waited patiently for them to melt.

"The metal should also fill in any excess holes or faults in the claw to reinforce it as well."
(Ophelia cos Montclaire)
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[21:07] Kofe watched as Ophelia moved towards the furnace where a roaring flame awaited her. A question came to mind and was asked first.

"Isn't this too hot? Like... for you."

Maybe not for metal, but it definitely seemed to be the kind of thing he didn't want to stand by. It could burn someone alive, for sure!

Another nod was given when she mentionned the smaller hole being possibly filled with the metals. That was definitely the kind of thing that he sought out when he wanted his instrument not to break before the jaws of an angry Wraith.

"Have you worked with something like that before?"
(Kofe)
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[21:16] The woman paused to look upon the Bard.

"... The fire? For me? No, not really. I'm used to it," She answered with a shrug. It was the truth. In fact she didn't truly even feel the roar of the flames given the temperature around her usually held a particular chill to it.

"With a crab claw? No, never. My bow has a solid block of nevermelt ice in the core. I hollowed out some elderwood and put it in there, and then covered it in the metal mixture I made. But a claw? Nope."
(Ophelia cos Montclaire)
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[21:22] To hear someone who's whole schtick was ice being so close to fire - used to it, even, made Kofe smile a bit. It felt as if Ophelia fought against the very things that were meant to oppress her.

He hadn't expected her to have worked with that kind of claw before. It was one of a kind, after all. No other crab could be that big!

"So it's still frozen?" He asked, tilting his head both in surprise and a bit of... happiness.
(Kofe)
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[21:31] "The bow? The core is, yeah. I had to handle it with gloves or else it'd give even me frostbite," She said. She moved over to check upon the ores themselves, ensuring that they were actually complete for the time being. Glancing over towards the Rhoynish once more she'd speak,

"Can you bring the claw out and put it on the table?" She questioned, withdrawing the smelted metals. Pouring one mixture into the other, they were stirred together, giving off a wonderful black and silver mixture coloration.
(Ophelia cos Montclaire)
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[21:36] Just how cold was that ice if Ophelia could stand near that flame without any issue, but the core of her bow was so frigid she needed to be careful? It was mind-boggling, but Kofe had no time to think about it much. A nod was given after the instructions, and the claw was brought up on the table, sat there while the Rhoynish held an inquisitive look on his face, ensuring the positioning was right.

".. That's a cool color, dude."

What kind of teenager brought up during their formative years wouldn't like silver and black?
(Kofe)
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[21:43] His compliment upon the color brought a shrug from her, continuing to stir it as he placed the claw upon the table. Taking a pair of tongs, she'd utilize those to pick up the claw and then it was dipped in it's entirely into the mixture and released.

The blacksmith would poke and prod at it, shifting it around and around to ensure it was fully coated before it was withdrawn.

Now, how would Ophelia actually ensure the smelted ore cooled to a satisfactory state and not simply drip off the claw? A blast of freezing cold air was released all at once from the woman. That chilling temperature dipping lower and lower and lower.

The once liquid metal very quickly cooled, resulting in a sheen of black and silver in the shape of a claw.

"There we go. The base is at least done."
(Ophelia cos Montclaire)
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[21:47] How could Ophelia not think the color was cool? She really was uncool... ironic for an ice magi!!! Kofe let those thoughts fall away as he observed the work instead. From it was smelted to how it was cooled off by her magic.

Way cold. Too cold. A pained expression fell upon the Rhoynish's face, reminded of Theria's temperature nigh instantly.

Still, it was work that had to be done. And the looks of it was... fantastic, really.

".. This looks great. Thanks, Ophelia!"
(Kofe)
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[21:52] She offered a nod, gesturing for him to take the now thoroughly coated claw. She'd put the tools she had utilized away before dusting her hands off.

"There you go. We can work on the other parts later."
(Ophelia cos Montclaire)