Lucy's Chestplate

[16:58] Katrin Weiss says, "Still ain't fully decorated, but."
[16:58] Katrin Weiss says, "Here's my shop."
[16:58] Lucinda Meztin exclaims, "Oh shit, Katrin this is nice!"
[16:58] Lucinda Meztin exclaims, "Huge!"
[17:00] The artificer invites the younger Meztin within, blinking and then laughing hoarsely as she hears her profanities. She shrugs off the thick cloak and rolls up her sleeves.

"Been talkin' about expandin' it. Maybe gettin' a second floor. That's the plan, anyway."

She starts rolling over to the forge, stoking it to life with a mere fire-magic-infused tap. The dead coals stir and begin to heat once more, as if they'd never been snuffed in the first place.

"Arcanium base. Thinkin'...the carapace, front and center, yeah? Maybe some designs that you like carved into it?"

And that carapace piece is set down on the work table nearby for a more thorough examination.
(Katrin Weiss)
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[17:04] Lucinda's gaze swept over the room with a curious gaze. She wasn't sure why she was so surprised that there was so much work space. There was an understanding inside Lucinda's brain that knew Katrin was a well trusted and skilled artificer, but to actually see where the space was that she worked? That was something else entirely, mind blown!

"I'm impressed, quite frankly." She blinks, astonished.

She watches as Katrin makes her way to the forge, bringing the coals to life with such ease. Clearly her craft was no joke!

There is a nod of her head, "That sounds really cool, perhaps we could give it a nice shadowy looking blend into the arcanium. Black with some shine, that sounds hot." She chuckled under her breath.

"Just tell me what to do, and I will help however I can."(Lucinda Meztin)
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[17:09] Much of the home was absolutely dominated by workspace. Roughly half. The other half was only partially sleeping quarters, occupied by a small sleeping matt, storage, and a small area for books and sitting.

Then there was, of course, the shop cat. Asleep at his post by the frontmost desk. Katrin reaches down to scratch behind his ears before she begins her work in earnest.

"Here's hopin' it only gets more impressive. Like yours truly," she says with a little laugh.

"Oh, so...dark where the arcanium touches the carapace, then bleedin' into the normal green? I'm all for workin' with colors. Got dyes for all kinds of things."

With her cursory inspection of the carapace completed she hefts up a great pot of porous stone onto the forge fir and loads the arcanium in.

"Well. We can start by trimmin' the carapace down to size. I figure it's big enough, honestly, to take up the whole front plate. And then, if you want, draw out a rough sketch of the designs you want on it in some charcoal. Then we can carve 'em in.

...Oooh, could even fill in the carvings with a Nyeshk inlay if you wanna make it spooky."
(Katrin Weiss)
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[17:37] The artificer returns, in short order, with what looks like a picnic basket. She sets it down and off to the side.

"Good! I got an eye for design sometimes," the artificer declares, resuming her work without missing a beat. The stone cauldron placed over the fire by now has melted down the bits of arcanium.

All of it is dumped into a nearby waiting tray, molds for the ingots to be worked. As the minerals begin to cool and set she turns away.

"So. You want something like..." Katrin takes a piece of coal from a nearby bin, drawing on the carapace directly. Easy enough to brush away if mistakes are made. In black dust she draws a simple, smoky swirl rising and twisting from the bottom edge.

"That? You can draw what you want. I ain't mind people bein' involved in makin' what they wear. Think it adds a certain magic to it."

And with that she passes off the piece of coal.
(Katrin Weiss)
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[17:46] Lucinda observes and nods her head. "Ah, yes. You're on the right track." She said, as she gently takes the coal from Katrin's hand. "-but perhaps a bit more natural looking, with a slow curve into the ribcage." Lucinda was a shadow seer after all. She could see actual shadows every day all day, her own along with other people.

"Shadows form slow, and gradually become large the higher they go." She demonstrates this after erasing what Katrin had drawn, and replaces Katrin's linework with Lucinda's own. She starts at the base of the carcass, trailing thin lines at first - until they gradually curve into a thicker linework toward just beneath the breast area of the plate.

A small smile perks on her lips.

"I think filling that with the Nyeshk, it will look really well. Especially with a nice smoke out on the arcanium." She nods her head.
(Lucinda Meztin)
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[17:49] Katrin knew very little of shadows. Well, from a physical and artistic perspective. Maybe more from a metaphorical, surely. She watches, intrigued, as Lucinda draws a much more real representation.

"Yeah...yeah okay. I see how ya mean. I like that. That'll look good when filled in with the Nyeshk," she comments as she nods.

"See ya got an eye for design too. Though you 'see' shadows. Don't ya? What's that even mean, if you ain't mind my aksin'?"

The artificer turns to the cooling bars of arcanium. And, before they can fully cool, she wrenches the first free from its mold, hefts one of her old hammers, and gets to work.

Application of magma magic here and there keeps the metal just malleable enough to improve the efficiency of her work.
(Katrin Weiss)
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[17:58] Lucinda stands and admires her own artwork, as she partakes in discussion with Katrin. She enjoyed being complimented on her work, but there was a thoughtful expression on the Meztin's face as her shadow seeing is questioned. Choosing her words carefully, so that she might explain appropriately and effectively.

"I see physical manifestations of any given persons personality. Their traits are individualized in each shadow I see, as long as any strong emotions they might feel." There is a slow nod of her head, "They aren't always black though, like you'd think. Their colors can depend on the trait, or have nothing to do with it at all." Shadows were like that, mysterious. It wasn't an exact science, she was still learning overall.

"They are the reason I don't look people in the eyes - but that's a whole other story. An ability I am stilllearning to master completely." She explains, her shoulders shrugging.

She watched Katrin as she makes work of the slow cooling arcanium.

"I've learned to consume the shadows to empower myself."
(Lucinda Meztin)
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[18:03] The artificer respectfully keeps up conversation between hammering blows of steel on arcanium. She takes the first piece and begins shaping it into a large series of plates for the back of the torso armor. Segmented to fit the motif of the chitin carapace.

"Hm. I think you or Thorn'd mentioned it before. Seein' shadows. Never really knew what it meant. I mean, I figured it wasn't like. Y'know. Shadow-shadows."

A few more thoughtful strikes of the hammer. A tilt of her head.

"Sounds pretty handy though. So you can...take bits of people's 'shadows'. Make yourself stronger?"

The individual plates are fitted together. The back is completed and set aside.

Katrin takes the two final pieces to begin work on the arms.

"There's a chisel over there on the table there if you wanna start carvin' out your designs."
(Katrin Weiss)
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[18:11] "It's not something I really talk about, unless someone asks. Not like it's a secret or anything, but not a lot of people are curious about me." No, everyone thought they knew all about her because of the rumors going around Esshar about her. Spread mainly by Iris Vartuul. Her hands wanted to clench, but instead they twitched. Scaring Katrin isn't something she wanted to do, so instead she'd not and go in the direction of where the chisel she mentioned.

Picking it up, and moves to the outline she creates and begins to carve. By no means is she an expert, but she was careful. Making sure she maintained a level of smoothness on the edges of the intricate design, so that the mold of Nyeshk would not come out chopping looking.

"I consume their shadows, yes. Whenever I do this, I am taking a piece of that persons personality. So I don't do this often unless I am aiming to kill or maim someone." She shrugged, looking thoughtful as she continued to chisel away.

"When I look into a persons eyes, my body becomes completely void of my essence. My essence astral projects into the subconscious of my enemy, and its there wherein I am stuck. I'm still....Working on breaking myself free when I am in that state, or at least being able to become lucid. Otherwise it is dangerous for anyone around me, because my body is left susceptible to the shadows. Most often the most negative emotions of that person takes over my body, and attacks my enemy full force!...It's like I berserk...In a way." It was a scary process, but she didn't mind sharing this with Katrin.

It was a comfortable work setting to get to know one another.
(Lucinda Meztin)
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[18:19] "I get ya. I mean. Some things ain't gotta' be explained." But Katrin, whether by nature of who and what she is, is a curious sort.

She takes the next pieces of arcanium and, in much the same fashion as the back plates, begins to divide the bar into chunks to create more segmented plates. Not only does it fit in with the aesthetic of the chitin, but provides mobility and movement.

"That's..."

A pause, more ringing of hammer blows.

"...That's pretty fuckin' gnarly. And sounds kinda' terrifyin'," Katrin offers sympathetically. Lucinda is, in a way, her kin. "But. Also sounds like somethin' you could harness. Y'know? Like a lotta' magical forces in the world."

As the artificer finishes the plates themselves, she brings them over to the work station itself. She needs no forge for this- the heat she can generate from her own hands and her magic more than substantial- and she begins attaching all the pieces together with small, arcanium rivets.

"The Nyeshk'll be next. Figure we can fill in the grooves on the front there, then put the arms and the back on. Then all that'll be left is for the runes to set."

She peers over. A slight grin, a nod of approval. "It's lookin' nice."
(Katrin Weiss)
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[18:26] Lucinda watches Katrin's handy work as she begins to attach the plates. It was all beginning to come together nicely. An admiration for Katrin's work clear in Lucinda's gaze. Nonetheless, the Meztin finishes her chiseling until all of the swirls of shadow are carved out nicely. It's ready for the Nyeshk to be added, she was sure.

"It can be terrifying, yes. Though I have learned how to control the ability greatly already. She said with a soft smile. There was a flicker of black that coated her skin like a gentle smoke, carious colors augmented into it. "Your shadows are here, they'll keep me company if I ask." She explained, but the color didn't last long and the cacophony of shadows are dispersed.

All the while those unfocused golden eyes had seemingly glowed.

"Alright, it's ready for it whenever you are."She watches, curiously.
(Lucinda Meztin)
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[18:32] The artificer finishes the first steps, dusting off her hands. The arms, the back plates, all were ready. A few final touches and it would be ready for letting the magic all settle, for the stars to align.

The stone pot, now empty, becomes host to several chunks of Nyeshk. The firelight twinkles merrily and casts more shadows along the wall of her forge.

And when she turns she sees it. Though the explanation was different, the way it manifests looks familiar and draws a flinch from Katrin, clear as day.

"...Ain't seen that type of spell work in a while," she comments.

But she has not forgotten her labors, even as she reminisces about when last she'd spied that voracious, hungry magic.

"Alright, alright. Just step back a bit, yeah?"

She takes another smaller vessel, made of the same porous, volcanic rock as her crucible, and dips it straight into the cauldron of liquidized Nyeshk. It's poured into the engravings the younger Meztin has made and oozes along the runnels like tar.
(Katrin Weiss)
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[18:35] Lucinda watches, observantly. Unsure of what else to do, she listens and steps away from the process. Though her expression is that of curiosity, as she first handedly watches the process.
(Lucinda Meztin)
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[18:39] And for a while the artificer works in professional silence. She pours dollops of the liquid metal all over, coaxing it into the shape of the engravings. Where it slows too early there's a slight application of heat all until it cools to a glossy, smooth black sheen.

Not that her work is done just yet. Almost, but not quite. The disparate pieces, the arm and the backplate, get attached with further application of that same fiery magic she holds.

Katrin runs a finger along the edge of a plate, returning the metal to that cherry red glow, before pressing it into place with the joining portions. For a moment she admires the work.

"I got faith in ya to do somethin' grand with what I make, Lucy. You got your eyes on bein' the next Voice, I suspect?"
(Katrin Weiss)