Ring Dev

[21:28] A warm light bathed over the area again, Thorn returned with a cup of tea in one hand... And a sprightly azure chunk of arcanium in the other. "For you, pal." He set the tea aside, just incase she needed a bit more- He knew it wouldn't be the same as life essence but he enjoyed watching her taste his teamaking, his cooking.

"Hey there, pal."
(Thorn Meztin)
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[21:28] {Item} You picked up Moon Arcanium. Dropped by Thorn Meztin..
[21:28] {Item} You picked up Garden Tea. Dropped by Thorn Meztin..
[21:28] Thorn Meztin says, "That's my last piece."
[21:32] The artificer has already set to work in the Meztin's absence, examining the stone on the table. She holds up a jeweler's loupe to one eye, a magnifying lens, and examines it up close.

She pulls away from it as he returns, taking both tea and lunar arcanium. Though she's not holding the stone the uncertainty in her expression is clear.

But she leans in and, softly, hesitantly, puts a kiss to his cheek.

"Thanks." Then she clears her throat.

"Thinkin' of splittin' this big thing in half. Half on each ring. Might...I dunno. If I'm guessin' right. Allow emotions to share between 'em. Rather than projectin' out."

Or such was the theory.
(Katrin Weiss)
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[21:40] Thorn stood about, folding his arms! He was ready to return to the task at hand. Being back home only to return? To a place... Where he felt he truly belonged. The Meztin watched Katrin- Wary of close encounters before ultimately- He blinked erratically, a hand pressed against the cheek that had been kissed. "Ah. Y-yeah... No problem, honey." He rubbed at the underside of his nose.

"That sounds really... Really cute. I'll keep you near, always near my heart." He rubbed at his face, slowly... Processing the action took time.

"Perhaps, the arcanium will serve to increase it's potency- I could put some runes, or try to... Attune it to each other, just to generally know where one of us is. Yknow?"
(Thorn Meztin)
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[21:47] The artificer does not make eye contact for overly long. Without her directly touching the stone it's difficult to gauge precisely how she's feeling.

"Thought it'd be. Fittin'." At his suggestion she nods. There's a glimmer in her eye, the gleam that came with the prospect of creation.

"Yeah, yeah...Your Wayfindin'd be good for that. Let me make the bands. And you can work your magic." Literally.

There was the lump of mundane arcanium and the lunar. Both would suit the task just fine. Katrin removes her gloves and then works her magic. The air around her hands heats and she starts to work the metal like putty- one of her favorite ways to forge. As hands on as it gets.

She starts molding them into the rough shape she'll need. Enough for two circular bands.

"Think you can do that? Do runes where like...one of us can find the other?"
(Katrin Weiss)
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[21:57] The self-loathing, the melancholy. Were they all there still? Should he question such affection? Was it worth it? He ponders for a moment,

"It is!" Thorn nods enthusiastically before leaning against the table, watching her work intently. A hand of his beginning to notate within his blue notebook- His notes has runic invocations that were left imperfect, unfinished for too long. He did not have it all down but, Wayfinding had a way, assuredly!

"As close as I can get is.. writing the runes that dictate our spatial coordinates, the exact weight and composition of the rings... Followed by a few more that'll tie them to one another..." He'd sketch a draft of what he believed would work in this case. "A few of the circles of Wayfinding. The connection to the netherworld," A distinct glow, azure in color would appear on the tip of his fingers. "Territory, which will give us a general look at where the thing is- Or how it even looks like!" A bit excitable when teaching of such an art.

"We basically stop at the fifth circle, conversion. Connected through the lifestream but stopping short of... Traversing it. Yknow?" He grinned, showcasing those same golden caps! This was almost an impromptu lesson- It could potentially have been kept inside his head but, he liked to explain.
(Thorn Meztin)
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[22:11] Those things all still might have been there, lying under the surface. Without direct contact with the gem, it's hard to tell.

She's good enough at her craft to keep up the idle banter as she fashions the loops of arcanium alloy, the metal glittering and glistening, filled with sparkles from Luna up on high.

The artificer looks over his sketches and more or less follows along. Thanks to his lessons she knows only the very basics of his art. But as he rambles on about his chosen purview she can't help but flash the faintest of smirks.

"Well...you're the one that knows what you're doin'. Here."

Katrin passes over the two freshly forged bands. The way they shine is beautiful, thanks to their composition, but thus far they are plain and without decoration.

"Figure you can work with that, right?"
(Katrin Weiss)
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[22:25]
{LOAD GAME}

[22:25] The old Meztin would roll his shoulders forward, he wasn't getting any younger- But he would definitely seek to right wrongs, to the one that mattered most.

Prized metal, the highest quality of materials would be made in order to ensure perfection! The wedding bands were near and dear, and the woman who'd wear? Would have his heart as well. And as she worked, the man would be practically doodling into the notes section of his book, seeking out.. A lot of numbers. Nerd shit. It was t he stuff that kept his attention!

"Hey, one day maybe you will too!" He could hope, right?

As the two bands were brought to his attention, his eyes were alight- The strengths of arcanium from both Eternia and Luna brought forward beauty, even if plain. "I'm hoping I can... Cycle around it, finish it before I reach the whole of the ring."

He kneels down, examining it with an impassioned eye. Gonna have to... Put a little focus, don't want to mess up. YKnow?" A finger twitched, hardened steel would jut out from the tip of it, a sharp point would begin to... Etch, carefully, slowly. An eye of his shut as he placed quite a sum of attention into it. Strips of waste, shavings of the arcanium were left on the table.

"To make sure that I can always return to you, no matter how far we are. Right?" Affirmation? Or simply reiteration?
(Thorn Meztin)
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[22:30] To each and every piece she puts a part of herself. Without a doubt. Every thing she makes, no matter what it is, is cherished for what it is. Good or bad.

"Maybe. Ain't impossible. One thing a time though, eh?"

That faint smile widens. Just a bit. The scrawling of notes, the passion for his subject. It's all...endearing. Whether she wills it or not her expression softens.

"You work on them. I'll get to work on the gem. Ain't been able to find a proper crystal magi, but. I've gotten pretty good at workin' with stones between Atagi's and Ky's projects."

She takes the loupe back up, affixes it in front of her eye, and picks the gem up in her hand.

Those feelings come filtering in again, but more distant now. There's the excitement she feels for her craft at the forefront as, with a small chisel, she starts to separate the gem into two equally sized hemispheres.

"...They'll be beautiful. We'll make sure of it."
(Katrin Weiss)
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[22:49] It was only fair that Thorn would give the same amount of attention and care for his own handiwork now, more than ever.

"Of course."

And right now? He had to get his theories in order. It was almost as if thhe world had been wiped away, flickering's of Katrin's figure close at hand. His voice sounded strained, as if he were trying to keep his focus on two things at once- He'd of course stop midway in order to not mess up the small runework.

"I imagine you're as good as any crystal magi now."

There was confidence in his voice! He snickered to himself the moment that he felt that excitement- When was the last time since he had felt her excitement? Back before any of this ever occurred, when he still held the Sultan's Folly as a weapon... Perhaps, even while she was still alive.

"You know it!!"

With that gripping excitement, he went back to work. The engravings upon the arcanium, representing the unstoppable will of those that seek to work, for better or for worse. Shavings would begin to pile up as he went to work. A bead of light would coalesce at the tip of the sharpened engraver. Mana would be channeled into each engraving as he sought to instill most of the basic circles of Wayfinding, beginning with the Netherworld and ending with Interpolation.
(Thorn Meztin)
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[23:02] They both put no short amount of effort into it. Not that either of them was in the habit of putting forth anything less than their best. Though they differed much, in that they could agree.

"Ha...ain't know about that. I'm good. But I ain't that good. Not yet, anyway." There is no doubt in her mind that she could be, in time, yet they would still likely make it seem effortless. Atagi certainly had.

The gemstone was not something she played about with. For very good reason.

Once split its effects of broadcasting those emotions is abruptly cut off. Katrin starts to examine the individual hemispheres more closely. Each is covered in facets, a multitude of them, designed to catch and refract light.

The way they sparkle and shine matches the bands well. When one is cut close to her satisfaction, or good enough to be reviewed by her partner in craft on this project, she slides it over to him.

"...Here. Test it out?"
(Katrin Weiss)
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[23:16] Was that a bead of sweat? Thorn's concentration was all placed. "Could even add a little inscription to the inside…" He spoke to himself, idle strokes of the metal spike were slow and careful, it'd take a little more time until they were both completed. IN the end, the two rings would be able to tell where the other one was, a general sense- A feeling, perhaps even a still image of the wearer, or the area.

"You will be!" Why wouldn't she? She had all the time in the world, literally.

The telepathic wave of emotion would end and Thorn's attention would split- He took a break, it was tiring to be so giving of his focus- Mentally at least. His eyes alight as he stares at the split parts of the Dell'empatia. Thorn picks the first part up, inspecting it carefully. "It's no diamond, but that's good. It's better than one could ever be." He had risked his life for such a sumptuous gem.

Surely, if one were to pick at the other half. They'd begin to notice the magnificence he felt ad fighting the forces of Belial- Carrying with him the same excitement as any battle that he partook, unbothered by the fact he had risked his life for treasure and with that feeling? That thought? A sense of duty, he'd do it again.
(Thorn Meztin)
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[23:27] The gem is slide over without too much attention drawn to it, lest she commit the cardinal sin of breaking the Meztin's focus. Many sins she is willing to commit. Breaking the concentration of a fellow craftsman evidently is not one of them.

"Mn. All things in time," she comments, pulling out some no doubt parroted sage wisdom.

"Way better. Diamonds're easy to get by comparison. This is somethin' else." And he had contributed it to the matter. Something that had not evaded her notice.

As he picks up one half, she takes up the other, two roughly carved gems that resonate with one another. The feelings reach her through the stone.

He receives hers in turn as she watches him examine it. The static-y, latent hunger, but above it a another mixture of feelings. Lo and behold, there is still affection. Albeit muted.

"S'gonna turn out good. I can tell."
(Katrin Weiss)
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[23:38] The man's heart is shaken at a thought proceeds within his mind. Were this to work, were the rings designed and used just as intended. Would that hunger persist? Night and day? A constant reminder of his incomplete work- A pulse of anxiety emanated from within before being guttered by his undying sense of duty, to the one that he had hurt. Affection was felt in kind... No less, but more than he had always had. Was it deserved? Katrin had never given him any reason not to.

"And I'll never take it off. I'll be yours eternally." He felt to end it there, but. His words- His desire could be felt. To return to one's side.

His finger twitched once again, the spike beginning to emanate with a tad of mana... To continue and carve his undying love into each rune.

"I've gathered some of my own funds. Would you ever want to expand the Ardent Artificing building? A second story, at the least. Yknow?"
(Thorn Meztin)
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[23:49] And she feels it all. From the faint and brief anxiety, to the resurgence of the undying ardor. Her own, for none other than the Meztin, flickers and flares brighter. Also joined by her own anxiety.

"...Eternity's a long time, darlin'."

He's left to his focus. She returns to faceting the stone in her hand.

"Yeah? I mean. Been thinkin' about it. Expandin'. Addin' some security. That somethin' you wanna...Put money towards?" Hope swells, springs eternal. Even in her cold heart.

"If your retirement's comin' up..."
(Katrin Weiss)
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[00:00] With a wave of inspiration washing over him the moment he could feel the fervor of Katrin. Thorn would complete his work! A final etching of the runes involved, it appeared to be like eggshells on top of one another, layering into one another. They nearly spanned the entire length of the exterior, while the inside remained empty. "Hey, honey?" He looks off towards Katrin- He rose to a stand, shifting closer to her.

"Do you want something written in the interior? No one would be able to see but... We would." He snickers to himself, it felt childish for him to even consider such.

"I'm sure Lucinda wants to do her best for the tribe. I think she's capable of it. I feel I have a year left, or two." He believed in his sister, and in the eventuality that he would finally be free to fulfil what dreams he had left behind in his youth.

"If my retirement is coming up, then I want to be with you."
(Thorn Meztin)

[00:13] Once she finishes faceting the stone in her hand she leans over, admiring his handiwork. The one in his clutches would, naturally, need final inspection.

"...How 'bout. We each take the others. And write soemthin' in it," she suggests, following his line of inspiration."

Another flourish of hope springs from her. Considering his retirement, finally, close at hand.

"Then...Yeah. Another floor, maybe. A lil' extra security. In case anyone gets any stupid fuckin' ideas. You and me here. Together."

The idea did have an undeniably beautiful sound to it.

"Got plenty of coin I can put towards it. Been savin' up."
(Katrin Weiss)
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[00:24] With her words... With her inspection, the other band was offered up. It'd be in her care!

"I'll be your security, if I gotta!" He smiles, smug as ever. The man still had some strength in him yet. He could attest to it, time and time again. As long as the pulse within his gauntlets continued to thump away- He'd be more than happy with that job.

"Together... Forever. Yeah?" Coin... "I'll definitely have to give some of my funds back to Moxtli, so they don't complain..." Perhaps a bit of the moment soured by those words but he had to be honest. "I'll still help my people but I'll be free to roam once again, free to roam with you."
(Thorn Meztin)
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[00:28] Though he was getting long in the tooth, longer than she looked certainly, he was still not a weak combatant by any stretch.

The artificer takes the band from him, giving it a final inspection. His etchings are a thing of delicate beauty that she can't deny. It's taken from him, the first of the set, she sets the stone where she's certain it won't destroy his webwork of runes.

"Pfft...Let 'em complain," she huffs, her distastes palpable even without the stone. "That's your coin. Not theirs."

"It'll be...it'll be good. Havin' ya here more."
(Katrin Weiss)
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[00:34]
{LOAD GAME}

[00:34] You've received 100 daily salary from Starfall Academy.
[00:38] The runes were most certainly a tightly packed webbing! The ability to most assuredly get a general feel for the position of the other wearer, to even, at times of great focus? Catch a glimpse of one closely held. Thorn's hard work was assured from the very outset.

The man blinked. "Oh yeah.." He would nod slowly, as if he began to understand. There would soon be more time alongside the artificer extraordinaire!! The tell-tale sign of his excitement? His tail beginning to wag at the prospect.

"I hope so. I wanna show people we've got a matching set of gold!" He grinned in order to showcase the caps! "Not to mention, adventures we can go on, you and I!" He punched and open palm before... His gaze rose to meet the tall Drakn's own.

"I wouldn't wanna be anywhere else, but here." He stamped his feet- Lightly- upon the forge's floor.
(Thorn Meztin)
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[00:42] The artificer is pleased with the work on the bands. She holds out a hand for the stone that the Meztin still has to finish the final band.

She smiles, a bare smirk, as she sees his tail twitch and switch. Maybe there was happiness in sight after all. And maybe, just maybe, this time it wouldn't come back to bite her.

A girl can dream, can't she?

"Lots of 'em. All over. Maybe not everywhere. But. Pretty damn close." Most of the places that mattered, really.

"We'll expand the upstairs then. Really get things boomin' here. I'd say we could just buy out the Muscled Maiden...but I ain't know how Hina'd feel 'bout that.

This is already bigger than your place though."
(Katrin Weiss)
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[00:45] Thorn STARES at the letter- He was holding his breath until. He let out a sigh of relief.
(Thorn Meztin)
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[00:45] Thorn Meztin says, "Just an update, all clear."
[00:46] Katrin Weiss says, "Good...Good. Phew."
[00:46] Katrin Weiss asks, "What 'bout?"
[00:57] Another blink! Thorn forgot he held the other half of the empathic crystal! It was gifted over- The very last dregs of emotion that could be felt? Contentment.

Anything was possible. So why couldn't the long-lasting happiness of the two be in that domain of range?

"I can get almost anywhere! Just gotta give me some time." He'd at the very least be with her alongside it, the studying of runes- "Hey.. I never used my chiron for anything but... I always wanted to create something." He had an idea, a very, very faint one. "I considered discovering my own realm, a small one in space. Where I could return to after a long day of politicking... Never got to it because of said such."

His brows rose, "Yknow, Hina's told me she's been looking for a flag to fall under. She might let us take the Muscled Maiden." His smile turns a little bit more devilish, a spike-less finger extends to poke at Katrin, "Might have to become the eponymous Muscled Maiden."

And as for the letter, "Nothing. Updates. Gladly."
(Thorn Meztin)
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[01:01] And with the second gem in her hands, inert when not responding to its twin, she gingerly sets it into the second rune-worked band.

Two rings, roughly the same, now sit on the workstation. One is slid before Thorn for him to take.

"Figure you can etch somethin' on the inside of that. If you want.

I'm sure you'll think of somethin' to do with that Chiron. S'potent stuff." The stuff of legends to be exact. Divine cosmic magic compressed into a bead sought after by so many.

"...No shit? Might can convince her to part with it then. Have a lil' village out here at that rate." It was not the frozen north, the home she felt pangs of sickness for at times, but...Was that so bad?

"'Least nothin's on fire."
(Katrin Weiss)
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[01:11] Ultimately, the ring fell into his hands and with that... He'd kneel down again, finding hhimself enscribing once again! This time.. A font tinier, care grander. It would have to be perfect.

'I'll always return to you.' It had meaning, to him. It was a promised quite literally etched in the divine stone.

He rose once again, handing it off. "I've been thinking for a while! Might as well get something squared away, a little home for the years to go by in." The chiron was practically a wishing stone, all he needed was a push.

"We can talk to her together, if you want. It'd be cute, no?" He chuckled. "Maybe our fireplace during the winter nights."
(Thorn Meztin)
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[01:14] He turns to start his etching. She does the same, taking a small, fine tool to carve letters into the interior of the ring. Katrin keeps whatever she writes hidden from sight...Spooky.

Nor does she look at what he carves within his. Not yet. Both are palmed and tucked away somewhere safe in one of her pockets.

"Well...Yeah. Alright. I ain't mind that. Hour's late so she's probably asleep. But yeah."

A little place on the river all their own. It felt.

Good. Undeniably good.

"...Thorn?"
(Katrin Weiss)
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