making the hand part 2

The days of forging the prosthetic hand were difficult, much more difficult than she had anticipated. She needed a break, she was going to need to find a way to relax with all of the events of the country transpiring. She had to work, once this was over, her duties in the Aegis would increase tenfold, and she was ready for the responsibility. Once her, Rosaline, and Chloe were all prepared, they would travel the country together to begin their gathering on intelligence in the area. It would take some time, but she knew that Rosaline's sense of safety would grow over time.

She looked at the remaining pieces of material that needed to be forged, the skeletal hand was complete, but she needed Rosaline to be in attendance, rune writing was a skill that should be shared with all of her comrades for the sake of group progression. Tomes in her possession would be studied endlessly, the creations of her ancestor was respectable, albeit complicated, but the core of the design was one that she could understand at least. The metal churned in the pot, low on heat, with the days of waiting, keeping the mithril warm was a key part to sustaining a firm and long lasting tool of any kind. Of all the metals it was always one of the most tedious.

Soon her down time work would be adding tiny runes onto the *fingers* of the skeletal orichalcum base. Each finger needed runes of constriction or *Yaldaz*, with constriction runes, tight grips could be made to hold weapons and even targets, but with those runes in place, regulatory or *Moonum* runes were also needed to allow the user to retract mana flow and absorb any lingering mana back into the core of the hand. What was always forgotten in common prosthetics were regulatory runes, leaving limbs to have slow retraction time with the simple opening and closing of hands.

Her limbs were, at least so far, generally dynamic and adaptive. "Oh, Rosaline, I'm glad you've come back, so many weeks working on this thing huh? Well now that you’re here, we need to work on the adamantine, could you pour it into the sheet for me?"


(Akroma Rei)
Rosaline's thoughts were on all but the hand as the weeks passed. Plans were formulating and piecing together in her mind. It was all a matter of time. It wouldn't be long.

But for now, she had to focus on what was in front of her. Into the smithy she stepped, greeting Akroma with a wave of a single hand.

"Yeah... but hopefully the amount of work will pay off into something worth it."

With that, she got to work, following Akroma's directions to a T. The adamantite was retrieved and poured into the sheet before an expectant stare was offered to the blacksmith.
(Rosaline Floures)
With Whitecloak meeting done, Chloe made way to Byson once more. Now, she had many reasons to seek out Akroma! Perhaps she'd even happen uppon Rosaline on the way. Whoever came first - she had news and words to exchange!

And her luck being what it was, she was able to encounter both at the same time! "Hey, hello! Friends, hi." She greeted, throwing herself into the scene. "I come baring news and requests and shit." She said, pausing. "But first...."

Her finger shot out towards Akroma. "Akroma! How's the arm going? Shit's going to be going down soon, so I need to be in top shape possible. I'll do whatever I need to help."
(Chloe Hastings)
Akroma Rei: yeah fast.
"Thank you Miss Floures"

She placed the skeletal hand down on the drawing table before being surprised by the sudden burst in volume. Ah, Chloe, I'm glad you’re here, were going to need to do a lot of different tests to see how well the arm functions for you. Hands are a bit easy to break in, but an arm is a little bit more complicated, please, sit down." Her hands were laced with mana, the molding tray was steaming in heat as her hands grip the edges. She lifts with her legs, moving over towards the heating tray to keep the Adamantine a bit warm.

Two trays of metal in the kiln area, waiting to be used, but for now it would have to wait, only for a little. Her hands grip the prosthetic arm from the weapon rack, its weight was surprisingly light. Alright Miss Flores, while the metals harden a little, I'm going to need your help....Chloe I know this part is never fun, but I need to cut open an area near your shoulder so I can lock the arm in. I know you're tough Chloe, but it's going to hurt a lot. All the magic in the world can't negate the pain of touching and handling nerves endings.....I have alcohol for you if you need it to help you numb out the pain."

Her hands move towards the top shelf, leaping to reach but all in vain. "Miss Floures, I'm so short, could you get the bottle of rum for me?" Her walk towards the woman, prosthetic in hand was slow.....as she places it on the table, she pulls out a small surgical knife and an etching pen.

"I'm ready when you are Chloe."
(Akroma Rei)
"Oh."

Rosaline looked over from the tray where she stood, gaze locking on to Chloe. It had been far too long since she had seen the former elite, and it was very obvious that Rosaline's state had not improved.

The armor she donned barely clung to her figure, loose and too large -- beneath was a bony depiction, some insult, to the Rosaline she used to be. Some curse untold had ravaged the Floures' body, leaving her nothing but a twig.

But she was still tall.

"Hi, Chloe. Sure, I'll get you the rum."

She ambled over to the cabinets, reaching up with ease to take hold of the neck of the bottle. A few, loooong steps later, and it was offered to Chloe.
(Rosaline Floures)
"Tests? Well, fuck. I didn't study." She jested, laughing softly and putting her hand on her hip. "I can take pain. I've done it enough. All the scars on my body, and the missing arm? That all hurt. You get used to shit after awhile." She said.

"I mean, yeah, it'll hurt, but a little pain is temporary, a missing arm is forever." She said, walking over to the pair and grabbing the rum. She downed a good drink of it. "Get me a cloth, and I'm good." She said. If given it, she would dampen it slightly in the rum, twiist it tight, and bite hard, giving a thumbs up.
(Chloe Hastings)
"Alright Miss Floures, please, restrain her for me..."

The knife is laced with holy fire, her eyes lock with the young swordsman as she began to walk closer. SHe begins to remove the top layer of her clothing and armor to expose the area to begin her work. The wound healed very badly, a testament to her cracking under pressure, burn makes and dead skin flaking from nub and it made her feel bad. "Really sorry about that job, I couldn't even properly heal you when you needed it the most, I don't even know how you managed to survive let alone keep fighting.

While speaking, she quickly drives the knife into her arm, immediately a vat of puss leaks onto the floor as she began to rummage through dead flesh and burnt muscle. The nerve was small, so delicate, finding it was a tiresome task, "There is a surprising lack of fat in this area, you must exercise a lot" she tried her best to keep the mood light while the knife passes through her arm, occasionally touching the soul of her bone. She was going to need space, to tighten in the screws and insert the arm.

Finally she found the nerve ending, partially burnt by holy flame. "Alright I found the nerve, I'm going to clean it up a bit, please bite down on the cloth as much as you can." She dabs the cloth with rum and begins to slowly push that part into her mouth. Delicately, her hands touch her nerve, moving the prosthetic closer and closer to her body to match the rod with the nerve. "Alright Chloe, here it comes"

The base of the arm is shoved into the socket, the flaps buckle into her shoulder and piece her flesh down to the bone. The metal was cold on her flesh, but the screws in her bone were blazing hot....the worst part was, it wasn't over.....

"Chloe, that part was hard, but I need to screw the nails *deeper into your bones*"
(Akroma Rei)
Rosaline's single hand moves to grab hold of Chloe. Although her muscles are tiny and shrivelled from simply not excercising, her grip is iron-tight. The Hastings feels ten times heavier -- her legs simply do not want to move under the weight of gravity. Everything weighs down on her under Rosaline's thrall.

"That's the best I can do. Good luck, Chloe."

Rosaline screwed her eyes shut, trying to take her mind away from the gore, from the mess that Cain had made.

In this single moment, she came to realize that all of her troubles were his fault. Her eyes remained shut, but her lips twitched downwards in a frown...
(Rosaline Floures)
She sat down in her seat, it was finally over, but she still had so much work to do, at least now she had another successful limb attachment. "Thank you Miss Floures, now that we're finished with that, we can start back on your hand. Please, tend to the two trays of metal and let me know when the fires turn blood red let me know. "Also, if you could, could you take the skeletal portion of the hand and bring closer to the kiln, were going to need to coat it in the metals soon, I'll be tending and testing with Chloe for only a moment."

She walks over to Chloe with a pen and paper in hand, looking at the redness on the area of her new arm. "It's not swollen, but...its a little puffy, hold on let me take a look at it. While I do that, I need you to try to move your fingers for me, think you can handle that Chloe?" A smile left her lips while her hand glides over the sore area with cosmic energy. It responds normally, tiny convulsions being triggered by the runes in place in the arm.

"Alright, this part is going to be a little warm on her neck, but I'm going to run mana through the screw, tell me if you can feel it in your body. What I tried to do, is allow your arm to be able to *feel* slightly, it won't be the same as touching something with skin, it will feel like a phantom limb almost, like it's there, but not actually there. Once your eyes see the limb move at your accord, it will feel less like a phantom limb, and more like your hand is made of metal. Your brain just needs time to associate this strange neron return with a foreign limb. Since your mana is inside, your body won't reject it and try to push it out. It happens with Piercing's sometimes.
(Akroma Rei)
Rosaline nodded and moved away from Chloe with a heavy heart. Her weight upon her lifted when her attention turned onto the trays of heated metal that Akroma showed her to, and the skeletal outline of the hand was moved to sit atop a table next to the kiln.

Her stare fixated on the broiling pans of metal. The heat was unbelievable, biting at the pale of her cheeks. Her mind wandered, but she kept her eyes on the metal.
(Rosaline Floures)
"That's good to hear Chloe, I'm glad you're taking this so well, if you don't mind I have to finish Rosaline's hand. We have to do a few more sessions of testing but it shouldn't take long, and if you want you can help me with this last part of her hand. I just need to fill out the molding for the hand itself, the skeletal portion of it has already been made."  She walks over towards the kiln, looking at the flames burn in a bright crimson, the metal still soft, but hard enough to shape like clay.

"Alright it look's like it's ready Miss Floures. This part is going to be a bit different, but it should help shape the fingers in a way that is most natural to your original. Please, give me your arm, this part is going to be a bit painful, less painful than Chloe's but painful nonetheless. I'm going to screw in the hand skeleton into your wrist for you to get a feel for it, while that is happening, I'm going to give you a moldable glove hold. When the metal is poured into it, you need to be very careful, but I want you to move your fingers around, every crevice needs to be covered in Mithril.

"The Adamantine coating will be as easy as dipping your hands into the tray once it's finished BUT, before the mithril hardens, we should dip it in the tray anyways, we need the metal's to mix so that the Mithril won't crack when moving around so often. Whenever your ready, please let me know, I know you could use a drink before hand though."
(Akroma Rei)
The scent of Rosaline's alcohol was pungent as she retrieved the flask from her jacket. She uncorked it and drank an unhealthy amount, enough to cause her friends worry, but soon enough, she was done. Both arms were thrust out towards Akroma. A steady stare was enough to signal that she was ready.

"Alright, have at me. I'm ready."

She screwed her eyes shut and clenched her teeth in preparation.. Pain was not something Rosaline dealt well wih.
(Rosaline Floures)
the ring of the hand was slowly placed around her wrist, a second knife is pulled from the drawer, cleaned and heated with holy fire magic. Since the area for the incision was so small, this would be a lot less tideos, but she didn’t know how well Rosaline would take the pain. The knife cuts through her flesh and the smell of burning skin begins to fill the air. She needed to be quick, the holy magic would heal her wounds as soon as she made them but luckily for her the nerves in the hand were a bit easier to locate. The orichalcum rods connect seamlessly, the heat travels through the metal and into her bone upon securing the wrist lock.

"Alright, try to move your hand for me, Miss Flores, we're almost finished."
(Akroma Rei)
Rosaline cries out.

She shudders in pain as the knife breaks skin -- it's infused with holy magic but that makes it no better, no, it only reminds her of the agony she went through when she lost the limb. Her shoulders buckle and the newly attached hand, now just orichalcum rods, curls inwards into a fist.

She sits there for a moment, expression twisted and teeth clenched, before slowly, her stiff posture soothes and she moves to sit up straight. Her lids flutter open and she stares at the prosthetic, clenched in a fist.

"It works, I guess."
(Rosaline Floures)

She quickly rushes over the Mithril tray over to the woman and places it onto the drawing table. "Alright, this is how we're going to fill in the hand, this is a prosthetic mold, try to see if you can place it around the wrist brace. It should snap in place if you've done it correctly, once that's finished, try to move your fingers around with it on. It should be restricted only slightly, since it's like a glove, but it should be enough to fill out your hand and give you room for your joints."

She slowly began to pre-brush the skeletal base with a small coat of Adamantine before the mithril filling was in place, this would serve to protect the hand from cracking from constant movement. The steam from the metal fills their nose as she continues her work, eyeing the runes on the orichalcum and making sure that the indentations wouldn't be completely covered by the *paint*. "Alright Miss Flores, What I want you to do, is channel your mana though your hand, the runes will react to the mithril and bind it to the skeleton in perfect shape."

"When ever you're ready."
(Akroma Rei)
"Alright."

Rosaline moves to place the hand in the wrist brace. It snaps in with a satisfying click, and at once, Rosaline wiggles her fingers around.

"Alright, yeah, it fits. Start pouring away." When Akroma began to fill the mold, she followed her directions, channeling her mana directly into her hand. Like she had done times before in mana practice, blue wisps began to erupt from her palm -- weak, but surely enough, there -- in an expression of raw energy.
(Rosaline Floures)
As Rosaline's Mana slowly begins to charge, she starts pouring in the Mithril, the metal slowly begins to snap to the surface of the Orichalcum base, almost like a magnet. The metal then slowly begins to harden in place, the sounds of it tightening could be hard if one listened closely. "Alright Miss Flowers, we're almost finished, let's try to move your fingers around while you're pumping mana alright. Let's see if the hand will take." The tray of Mithril is empty, and the Adamantine is only sparsely remaining, inside of the second tray.

"We have to make a bit of haste before the Adamantine dries prematurely and hardens."
(Akroma Rei)
Rosaline nodded and followed Akroma's directions. As she pumped her mana outwards, she wiggled her fingers, twisting and flexing them to get the best mold she could.

She kept at this for quite a bit, speaking to Akroma during the process.

"What next?"
(Rosaline Floures)
"You're doing great Rosaline, you're doing really  great, just keep your finger's still while I do this part alright?" Her hand lightly grips Rosalines forearm, moving it over towards the adamantine sheet and dunking it into the liquid metal. Her skin made no contact with the metal, but the heat from the metal would slightly begin to scald her skin. "Hold on for just a few seconds, it's almost finished." Her hand would feel the hand slowly *absorbing* the liquid metal, quickly *snapping* and hardening on the hand all the while seeking her mana at the base of the hand.

"Alright, lift your hand out and place it in the cooling tank, after a few minutes, you can take off the mold and move your hand around."
(Akroma Rei)
Rosaline grew silent as the scalding metal poured into the mold. Soon enough, the heat grew unbearable. Rosaline's eyes screwed shut and she clenched her teeth, resisting the urge to clench her fist.

But when it was done, Rosaline did not waste time: she dunked her hand directly into the cooling tank and the relief was near immediate.

"This is stressful," she murmured past clenched teeth, "it better be worth it."

When the time passed, her hand was moved from the cooling tank and the mold was removed and placed on a table nearby.

"Kraus, that was hot."
(Rosaline Floures)