API tools faq
paste
Baizon

Ky's Key

Baizon
May 25th, 2021
95
0
Never
Add comment
Not a member of Pastebin yet? Sign Up, it unlocks many cool features!
text 5.08 KB | None | 0 0
raw download clone embed print report
  1. [21:04] The Saekanni was no doubt long over. Yet, save for a wayward beastkin, no others had found their way to her shop's door.
  2.  
  3. For the best, no doubt. This is how it would be now; it's better to get used to it. Seclusion. Silence. Far from the throngs of the cities, the sweet music of so many beating hearts...
  4.  
  5. Katrin sighs and licks her lips, half in hunger, half in thought. It was time for work.
  6.  
  7. Ky's pendant had been a long time coming. Too much had happened to divert her focus from it. No time like the present.
  8.  
  9. The old arcanium pendant is the first to be dealt with. Not poorly crafted, but it could be so much better. Into the crucible it goes, the great stone pot that hung over her newly renovated forge space. It bubbles it roils, and it melts down quite nicely.
  10.  
  11. At the very least she did not have rats chewing on her ankles again.
  12. (Katrin Weiss)
  13. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  14.  
  15. [21:07] Here alone she can at least avoid the scrutiny and politics she so loathes. The stuff the foolish tribesmen try to drag her into.
  16.  
  17. In part, the old Headmaster was right. The memory of mortals was a thing of such short breadth. But she would remember it all too well. No forgetting. No forgiveness.
  18.  
  19. But in her work there is a calm sort of serenity. Katrin is in control. This is her domain, and few now can feign to be her equal.
  20.  
  21. The arcanium pendant is melted down into its base metals, occupying the bottom of the porous stone cauldron. She takes the key that Ky had given her and uses it as the base of the new pendant.
  22.  
  23. She removes the tag from the key's loop and, repeatedly, dips it into the molten alloy. A dip. A time to let the layer harden and cool, and then repeated.
  24. (Katrin Weiss)
  25. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  26.  
  27. [21:13] The arcanium key, once coated in as much of the old metal as she could get out of the pendant, is left off to one side to cool. A slower return to a normal temperature in hopes to anneal the metal and keep its toughness.
  28.  
  29. She then shifts her attention to the crystal.
  30.  
  31. Katrin's seen Atagi work wonders with gemstones, with little though- the way she moves magma or the flame. Yet alas, her results to turn up a crystal magi of sufficient skill, or any skill for that matter, came up empty.
  32.  
  33. In the end, it is fine. The artificer can always rely on herself. The one sure person that she can, without question, depend upon.
  34.  
  35. Similar to the Kitsune's pendant, this gemstone is meant to interact with light and magic components. However, rather than channeling and honing, it diffracts.
  36.  
  37. With pick and chisel, she tries to further enhance its diffracting capabilities. A new facet carved here, another angled away there. The artificer checks it not only with close inspection, but by holding it up to the forge light to watch it separate the light into so many tiny, kaleidoscopic beams.
  38.  
  39. At least it seems to be working as intended.
  40. (Katrin Weiss)
  41. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  42.  
  43. [21:16] Testing it on the light was not enough though, was it? In order to ensure that her work is up to snuff, she tests it with her own magic. It's simple enough for the artificer to conjure a flame, to channel it into the stone.
  44.  
  45. While not a soldier of any sort, she does know her own spellwork. The moment it is channeled into the crystal and it does its diffracting work, she can see that it is weaker.
  46.  
  47. ...But, as with all things, it could be better.
  48.  
  49. Katrin begins another round of repetition, of refinement. She channels her mana through the stone, watches it cast its beams of light upon the wall, and sees for where she can add more facts to enhance its diffraction as much as possible- without turning the damned thing into powder.
  50. (Katrin Weiss)
  51. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  52.  
  53. [21:18] It is not perfect. She knows it is not perfect, but her standards have only grown higher with her experience. Katrin can see the flaws up close, under the scrutiny of her profanely keen eyesight.
  54.  
  55. To the mortal eye, however, it is no doubt a thing of beauty.
  56.  
  57. A sigh. She relents. For now, it will do, though it brings her a small measure of pain to continue. The stone is given a final polish as she looks to check how the key pendant has cooled.
  58. (Katrin Weiss)
  59. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  60.  
  61. [21:20] Sure enough, the arcanium coated key is cool enough for her to handle. Not that that is saying much, thanks to her once-draconic lineage and her natural inclination for the flame besides.
  62.  
  63. She takes it, the stone, and turns to one of her brand new work benches. It has yet to be marred with her labors. This will be the first.
  64.  
  65. Katrin traces her finger around the edge of the key's loop, heating the metal anew, yet only in selective places so as not to jeopardize the annealing it has just gone through.
  66.  
  67. The green arcanium shimmers a faint orange beneath her touch. And, as it does, she presses the multi faceted gem firmly into place.
  68. (Katrin Weiss)
Add Comment
Please, Sign In to add comment
Public Pastes
We use cookies for various purposes including analytics. By continuing to use Pastebin, you agree to our use of cookies as described in the Cookies Policy.  OK, I Understand
Not a member of Pastebin yet?
Sign Up, it unlocks many cool features!