Ring 3

[00:47] Rindou reached out the crystal and a piece of arcanium to Garrick, quietly looking up to the night sky. It had been... So, so long since she last saw the real sky. It felt good.

It felt bad.
(Rindou Sakamoto)
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[01:04] Garrick would clasp the chunk of arcanium with a two clawed salute to the drained Rindou as he whistled a jolly tune, puffing away on his raggedy cigarette as he snapped the sharp lengths together with his free hands. The snow below the fire drakan's feet would begin to melt into slush as a glowing light bubbled beneath the black plate of his armor. Molten, once frozen soil would swirl from the ground as it compacted and smoldered with gathered heat, forming a crucible of earth from the frigid expanse of the mountain.

Tossing the single piece of emerald glinting ore into the makeshift smelter, the fire drakan would allow the raw material time to melt down to an ideal state of malleability as he turned to the other task at hand. Stomping his foot into the ground, a block of stone would rise barely largely than a common box, swiftly clasped in both crack scaled palms of the smith as he laid it down upon the nearby anvil with a steady puff of his smoking appendage.

Glancing briefly over at the crystal he'd set carefully aside, then a molten, scanning fleck of his eyes towards Rindou's ring finger, the fire drake would begin to carve the ring's mold with his glowing hot claw millimeter by millimeter, forming a careful circle by eye as sparks of heat and flame steadily flushed from the mold to be. Bit by bit, the chunks of earth would melt away to form the ring's rough shape to be, an empty slot of still hot earth awaiting in the conjured slab.

Nodding with a sharp toothed, draconic grin, the crack scaled smith would clasp the molten crucible between both of his claws before rising it with care to chest length, glancing once more at his mold before beginning to slowly empty the liquid arcanium drip by glimmering drip into the ring slot. The heat of the mold would increase in intensity as the brown slab began to glow hot, maintaining the malleable state of the arcanium as every last drop of the material was brought forthinto the mold until at last the rough state of the ring was achieved.

Allowing a brief moment to take a smoke, Garrick would nod to Sors with an idle tug of his cigarette.

"Once it cools, gonna need your help a tad. Gonna hammer it down a bit, condense the metal, then socket it with my claws. Gonna match the spiral I made on the crystal, and we're gonna do a sorta....flash weld with occultic energy on top of my magma when we bind the two together. Gonna nick out some pseudo-circuits in there to make sure the mana flow's apt, but I'm no occultist. I reckon you are."


(Garrick)
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[01:09] The young woman didn't seem all that mentally present after having given the required objects for proper crafting - her mind was wandering in a completely different direction; she was wondering how things would be. How she would approach the world once again, and what would she do when the sun rose again? She was bound to be judged, to be hurt and... punished for what she dared do. She didn't expect Jiuweihu would let that go so easily, after all.

This would hurt, wouldn't it?
(Rindou Sakamoto)
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[01:12] And so work began. It was this part of the process that the Ultovexian often participated in the least. He could make holes nad punctures but when it came to melding the metals or shaping them, he had no ability and thus his attention often lacked. His arms crossed over his chest as he squinted, watching Garrick begin to get to work on the chunks of arcanium.

Only faintly did his eyes follow the work, never really changing his movement until he was looked towards. He began to pay more attention, listening to the instructions.

"So wha' ya need ma ta do is apply ma occultism where ya forge the circuits, rite? Should b easy 'nough. It'll jus' b a fast fix but I think it should work."
(Despair)
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[01:31] Garrick would ash his cigarette as the successful smoke break was achieved, cracking his clawed knuckles with a flash of his toothy grin as he got right back to work. He nodded to both Sors "Despair" Ultovex and Rindou as he glanced at the cooling arcanium within the mold, humming contently to himself before with a snap of his twin claws, the soil of the mold would dissipate into nothingness.

Leaving a glowing hot, unadorned ring upon the surface of the anvil.

Raising his right, balled fist into the air, glowing soil would begin to trail up the fire drakan's split scaled arm as it condensed and hardened around his hand, a molten mallet forming from the frigid expanse of earth as the glowing eyes of the smith gazed down upon his work with focus. This part would take a bit of care, too much force directed towards the wrong place could mess up the mold's work and set them back to square one.

The hammering would begin. The heavy clank of hardenedstone against molten metal and half chilled iron as the drakan delivered determinate strike by strike against the flat surface of the ring. One side, flip, the other side, flip, so on and son on as the outer edges of the ring were adequately shaped while maintaining the shape of the mold with care. Aesthetic work to most, surely, but the master smith knew the passage of mana through the conduit required this sort of ideal symmetry for the best outcomes.

At least, that was how he figured it.

The molten soil would flow down into the snow with a sizzle as the hammering was complete, the crack scaled smith raising his claw forth towards the still hot metal as his sharp appendage sparked with condensed heat. With a delicate flick of the end of his draconic talon, trails of circuitry would begin to be carved in the inner seams of the ring, delicate application of the molten tip with care as patterns for passage of energy were carved millimeters at a time while sweat beaded upon the magma drakan's forehead. It was a grueling, time consuming process, but Garrick wasn't in a rush.

Good work was worth a bit of effort.

At last, only the final step of the process remained. Claw simmering with condensed, smouldering heat as the drakan turned the glowing hot arcanium ring in his palm, the fire drakan would begin to carefully carve the spiraled socked that would fit the abyssal gem inbetween glances back and forth between the crystal that had consumed Rindou's light and his own forged piece. Precision was required in these things, the slightest bit of inaccuracy could have dire effects on the piece's effectiveness.

The island could nod be burned with just a match, after all.

At last, the socket was milled with molten claws, the fire drakan blowing a gust of hot breath upon the piece in an engineer's flourish as his sharp toothed grin curled into a wide smile. Glancing over the ring with an idle hum, he'd nod before delicately clasping it on the two sides that were perpendicular to the socket before raising it up towards Sors, gesturing to the crystal that lay upon the anvil with a wave of his free hand.

"Alright. There we have it. Now for the cherry on top. I'm gonna channel my heat while you mount the crystal with your dark energy. Needs to be spiraled in, best way to make sure it lines up with the circuits. All said and done, should have yourself an inert dark ring after this bit. Long as we don't explode or something."
(Garrick)
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[01:38] The Ultovexian waited. The process had already been explained to him, but he hadn't know exactly where to tap in. Dusk and Aurum kept their gaze on the crystal as he remained silent, eyes ever narrowing with every last spark due to the heat or the sound of sweat going down a forehead. The final step remained.

The void claw would have the occultic energy mount atop his dulled talons, surround it faintly as he moved his grip to the crystal. As explained, the crystal needed to be spiraled in so first he would line up the circuits with what had been created by Garrick, and after he began to slowly turn and twist the crystal in place, believing for it to be entered like a screw.

"Spiraled in like this? O' ya want ma ta handle it a different way?" He was careful to have it descend and keep his occultism faint enough not to ruin the work if it was being done inccorectly, but if it was confirmed to be correct he would simply continue to work it into the approved groves.
(Despair)
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[01:46] "Exactly so. Keen eye Lord Ultovex. No pun intended. "

The crack scaled smith would begin to heat the ring with the subtle glow of his molten heat as trail of flame leaked from the spider webbed pattern of shattered flesh and scales that spread from his palm across the rest of his garbed body. The heat was just enough to make the ring malleable, not too much that it would lose its shape as the abyssal gem was bound and spiraled within.

"Alright, I've heated it right where it needs to be. Keep applying that barest bit of occultic mana as you twist in. When you hear the little clink at the end, amp up the dark energy you got going now about....twofold. That'll set it in without breaking it, and the seal will be in place."

Garrick nodded to Despair, the man that was once Sors Ultovex, with an idle puff of a fresh cigarette that appeared to have come from nowhere. Clearly the drake was a prodigious smoker, but maybe that just came with being your own lighter. He'd clasp the ring carefully, nod moving an inch as he allowed Sors to apply his precise spiral without the slightest bit of shaky hands.

Hard to get cold when you're on fire on the inside.
(Garrick)
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[01:50] {Item} You drop Pitch-Black Crystal.
[01:50] {Item} You picked up Pitch-Black Crystal. Dropped by Rindou Sakamoto. .
[01:52] Exactly correct. The Ultovexian nodded. The occultism remained around the talons of the claw, using the dulled edges to hold the crystal. It wasn't an easily breakable mineral, that was good, for if it was it might have shattered easily even if the talons were dulled. The occultic power mixed with the heat that was emitted by the blacksmith.

"Jus' keep applyin' it until it's flush against it?" The Ultovexian asked curious before it was fully explained. A sound at the end as it was screwed in, one clink later as the crystal sank deeper and deeper into the ring before finally he amed up the darkness. It wold be triplefold, causing for a slight crack in the crystal, but it would only be skin deep.

Despair was careful not to destroy it. Only to force it incorrectly before nodding.

"Tha' should work."
(Despair)
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[01:57] Garrick would nod contently as he held the ring steadily in place, the process going completely smooth as millimeters at a time the gem of overpowering darkness, the absence of light, was mounted upon the ring with care. The crack scaled smith would flick his molten eyes briefly over to Rindou as he allowed Despair to complete the process while puffing small rings of smoke from his jagged toothed mouth.

Clearly the wrong moment to look away.

When the smith's eyes had returned to the ring, he'd blink lightly as his glowing visage fell upon the barest of cracks that had spread across the crystal, squinting briefly as he forced his eyes nearly atop the crack with an engineer's frustration at the sudden lack of complete symmetry in the work. The flames within the magma drakan would briefly glow hot with fury, the glowing handprint of reika that remained at the center of his chest sparking wit energy as the smith grit his teeth.

Yet, as he examined closer and gauged the depth of the crack, a sigh of relief would exit the smith's jagged teeth as he barked out in laughter, shaking his head lightly as he laid the ring with care upon the anvil to allow it to cool at last.

"I guess the crack does add a bit to the cosmetic flare. Luckily it ain't deep, looks largely cosmetic. Probably not gonna disrupt the passage of mana through the ring's energy channels. Well...probably. If it explodes, not my bad."
(Garrick)
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[02:03] "This world is imperfect, full o' sufferin' an' betrayal. One crack won't break wha's made anyways. 'sides, it's jus' like ya said. Mostly cosmetic, shouldn't do anything." The occultism slowly began to disperse from the darkened talons of the claw as he backed up slowly, looking again at the work.

"Ya, do make sur' it ain't 'xplode if ya can. Ain't think Rindou wants ta lose figners, an' would ya want ta hurt tha' pretty face?" He cackled, almost seeming partially comedic at the moment.

"Is there anything else we need ta apply ta tha' thing 'fore it's finished? O' should we let Rindou don it an' see if it works well 'nough?"
(Despair)
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[02:11] "Ain't that the truth. Only perfect world is one burnt to ash I reckon. No hypocrisy, no fallacies, just a sea of warm grey and nothingness as far as the eye can see."

Garrick would nod steadily, puffing steadily at his raggedy cigarette as he hummed to himself in contemplation. There was one final thing he needed to do, though it was hardly necessary for the smithing process. In truth, it was just a sense of comfort he'd always achieved from a completed project. The crack scaled smith was hardly going to stop now.

Clasping the ring briefly within his spider webbed palms, the drake would lightly polish away at the gem and arcanium with his cotton coat, buffing it with careful precision until the green metal glinted even as the dark gem seemed entirely unaffected. Perks of swallowing all the light Garrick supposed.

It was a brief gesture, and with a nod the fire drakan would hand the completed piece over to Sors with a nod to him and Rindou, taking another long drag from his raggedy cigarette with contentment at a job well done.

"All yours. Shiny as incarnates of darkness come. Which is to say not that shiny, but well, sucks to suck I reckon."
(Garrick)
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[02:14] Rindou offered nothing more than a frown towards Sors as the man seemed to try his best attempt at cracking a joke and being funny with a compliment. It didn't work. The moment the ring was presented forward the young woman reached out - snatching it before the Ultovex could even have a good look at it.

She had to make sure everything was there. That it was all find. That it could... let out that glow, entrap it, and make her shine when she needed it the most.

Unless stopped she'd slip her finger into it.
(Rindou Sakamoto)
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[02:15] Despair asks, "It fit?"
[02:16] Garrick says, "I'd be a real shitty smith if I messed up the fitting."
[02:17] Rindou Sakamoto says, "..."
[02:17] Rindou Sakamoto says, "It fits."
[02:18] Despair says, "Satisfactory."