Forging some Futures (Attn: Rion)

[Arath Faringal]

The small silver flowers dangled from the fine chain in Arath's hand. Memories of his life before the Farm rushed through his mind as he examined the detailed surface of the metal blossoms. Had it really been three years already since he'd made this? A pretty necklace for a prettier girl. Those were the days. Before his life had been forever changed by Saidin, when girls had been his biggest worry. Idly he wondered what might have become of this necklace had he been able to give it to her ...

 

Blinking back to the present, Arath handed the necklace forward to the Dedicated seated across the table from him. Today was about business. And the Inn was the best place for it. The man across from him had been asking around to buy something special for his wife, and after a little persuasion Arath had volunteered his services.

 

"This is an example, mind you," he told the Dedicated. "I made this about three years back, and it has certain sentimental value to me. But you should be able to see from this, that I can make whatever you want. A bracelet, a ring ... even a necklace like this one given ... well, quite a bit of time actually.” The other man nodded thoughtfully for a moment, then began to explain what he wanted. Arath carefully wrote the description down, thinking about the process of making such a bracelet. Shouldn’t be too difficult, he thought. Compared to this necklace, anything was simple.

 

A few minutes later the happy Dedicated was off to a class, leaving Arath alone at the table where he lost himself in thought with the silver chain. Not all of his memories were bad.

[Kael]

Rion was hovering in the corner of the room just trying to work up the courage to step foreward and ask a simple question that he needed to ask no matter what anyways. Most people would think that apporaching someone to create a ring so that they could propose to the woman they loved would be easy, but this was the exact opposite for Rion.

 

It was irrational, the fear that no matter what he did he would be shot down and denied. He had plenty of money to reimburse Arath, so what was he worrie about? The necklace that Arath had just handed to one of the Dedicated had been beautiful, and he was sure that the perfection that Rion wanted for this ring could be met by Arath. He had spent his childhood on a land that made it's money because of silver mines, and the town his father had ruled over had more than one silver smith, and they were all very good. But even then they had nothing on what Arath seemed to be able to create.

 

Just go already boy. Rion shook himself and moved to take a seat across from Arath, he cleared his throat lightly to get Arath's attention before he started. "I um....had hear you were able to make jewelry, and I saw the necklace you just showed to that Dedicated and was wondering if you could make a...a pair of wedding rings for me." Rion hastily brought out the bag of coins and set it down lightly on the table. "I'll pay near anything you want for it."

 

 

Rion

[Arath Faringal]

Arath was just tucking the necklace away into a small pouch as Rion sat across from him, clearing his throat. Pausing for a moment, he eyed the other Asha'man, wondering what brought him. He looked jumpy, nervous, almost as if he was doing something he shouldn't have.

 

"I um... had heard you were able to make jewelry, and I saw the necklace you just showed to that Dedicated and was wondering if you could make a...a pair of wedding rings for me. I'll pay near anything you want for it."

 

The corner's of Arath's mouth twitched upward slightly. "Finally going to do it huh? Congratulations." He reached forward and clasped arms with Rion. "May the creator favor you."

 

Settling back into his seat, Arath rubbed his chin and thought for a moment. "Wedding rings. Yes, I can do that. If you can just describe what you want for me, I'll get right on it. And don't worry about the cost. My gift to you. I'd only ask enough to cover the cost of materials if I can't easily get them here already." Retrieving the paper and thin charcoal pencil from his belt pouch once more, he continued. "So first off, what do you want these made out of, and how do you want it done?"

[Kael]

Rion laughed nervously, reddening a little at the compliment and as Arath reached out to grab his hand. It was strange though, Arath was now the person to know he was going to propose to Jocelyn other than himself. But it was a good strange, a strange that made him smile. This was how he showed how much he loved Jocelyn, how much he wanted to be with her. And now the world was beggining to see it. "Thank you."

 

He nodded and fumbled in his pockets for the pieces of paper that he had brought with them, sketches of what he wanted the rings to look like. He had always been gifted at drawing, and he had spent extra time in making these as detailed as he could, though he had kept in mind that it would be a smith making these when he had started on the complexity and design.

 

"I was thinking something like this.." He gave Arath a moment to look over the sketch. "And out of silver too. The silver won't be hard to find, I already know where to get it from and I can pay whatever it will cost to get it. Do you think that's possible?"

 

 

Rion

[Arath Faringal]

Arath studied the drawings Rion provided for a minute. Far better than he could do on paper, which was excellent. The better idea he had of what was wanted, the easier the creation would be. His eyes flitted back and forth over the paper, examining the intricate details of the designs. These would be difficult, perhaps even more so than the necklace had been. Possible yes, and within his abilities, especially with Saidin, but a challenge nonetheless.

 

And Arath always loved a good challenge.

 

"Yes, it's possible. Her ring might be a little fragile, but I can work around it. It shouldn't take more than a couple of days once I have the silver." He glanced down at the paper again. "I doubt the Queen of Andor herself has anything to match these."

 

"It looks like I've got everything I need right here," he continued, indicating the papers. "Anything else you want, or that I should know? If not, I can be off to find your silver by this afternoon."

[Kael]

Rion's face split into a giant smile as Arath confirmed that he would be able to work out the ring and create it. The Queen of Andor hah! Rion just smiled more, he had wanted it to be as good as it could be. For Jocelyn only the best would do, and for this the best would almost be not good enough. It was their wedding and rion knew how important this woul be too Jocelyn.

 

"No..no..not really. Ummm... there's nothing more I could ask for. Here I have a few things...." Rion fished in his coat and took at a sealed letter, written on it a note for one of the silver smiths in the town his father's manor was next to. "Here Arath..."

 

Rion handed the envelope over. "Give that to a Jaem at the Silver Anvil..it'll be located here..." Rion placed the small map he had also taken out and indicated the marked area that was his hometown. "That should get you all the silver you might need as long as the seal isn't broken. Do you need anything else?"

 

 

Rion

[Arath Faringal]

After one more quick glance at the drawings, Arath shook his head. "Nope. That's everything. If anything should come up later I know where to find you." After a few more minutes of idle discussion Arath excused himself and returned to his home to prepare for the short journey.

 

In short order he was ready to go. Black coat and pins had been abandoned for more common atire, saddle bag was packed, and Rion's letter was tucked safely away. He would be Travel most of the way there of course, but it was important to keep up appearances. After borrowing a horse from the stables, he was on his way.

 

***

 

A few hours later, the silvery slash of a gateway split the air of the travelling grounds at the Farm. Arath led his horse and quickly and let the gateway collapse, shutting out the utter darkness on the other side. The whole affair had been fairly simple. The man Jaem had nearly fallen over himself to be useful after reading Rion's note. The silversmith had provided him with a large bar of some of the purest silver that Arath had ever seen, many times larger than what he'd need. No cheap thing. He could probably forge rings for every married couple at the Tower from it.

 

A quick glance at the sun told Arath that it was too late to begin work today. He would start in the morning and work the whole day through to make sure he stayed focused. After stopping at the inn for a quick meal, he returned home and carefully stowed away the wrapped silver bar. Most of his evening was spent pouring over the drawings, making sure he understood everything. By the time he went to sleep, he was confident that everything would work out perfectly.

 

OOC: Felt like RP'ing the mundane stuff for some reason. Next post gets to the fun stuff. :D

[Arath Faringal]

The sun was barely brightening the horizon as Arath stoked the coals in the Black Tower's forge, preparing for work. Preparations had all been made to make sure he worked without interuptions. Classes had been reassigned to other Asha'man, patrol duty had be forced onto a pair of disgruntled Dedicateds, and a very early breakfast left him ready for the morning.

 

Carefully unwrapping the large bar of silver, he hefted the thing in his hands appreciatively. He had delved into it when he had gone to pick it up yesterday, and it was definitely the best he had ever worked with. Rion certainly had good connections. Siezing Saidin, Arath wove earth and fire, cleanly cutting away the small amount of metal he'd need to work with. He chuckled slightly as his hand closed around the tiny chunk of silver. So much easier than melting the whole bar down.

 

Final preparations were made quickly, sketches laid out, bright lights fixed above the workbench, tools laid out in a comfortably messy fashion. And he set to work.

 

The hours passed quickly. Family trade secrets passed down for generations fused with the awesome control and power of Saidin as Arath worked tirelessly. The ease with which the intricate tasks could be performed amazed the young smith, accustomed as he was to Saidin. Thin silver filaments extruded entirely with the power were carefully worked and shaped by his deft fingers and tool work. Seams in the metal, already barely imperceptable, flowed together and ceased to exist with tiny amounts of earth, fire, and spirit; small details which seemed impossibly thin and fragile were given the strength of hardened steel. All the while tiny flows of spirit wound around and through the ring as it formed, probing it for flaws and defects.

 

Around mid-day, the smaller of the two rings was completed. Taking a break to eat the small lunch he had arranged to have brought to him, Arath examined the thing he had made. The intricate patterns and lines seemed to be all one smooth piece, which in fact they were. An impossible feat without Saidin. His light blasted father could never have dreamed of something like this. And the fool thought I'd never amount to anything ...

 

After his meal, work began on the second ring. It was larger, but other than that it was almost identical to the first. Hours sped by once more as Arath lost himself in his work. Even though it wasn't as necesary with this piece, he strengthened the silver in all of the same points and all the same ways. Identical in every way. By the time he was finished, the sun was well on its way behind the horizon, and Arath was exhausted. Such detailed work with Saidin for so long left him drained, and the taint seemed to weigh down heavily on him. He knew he should leave final details until the morning when he was well rested again to avoid mistakes, but the urge to complete his project goaded him on.

 

Holding the pair of rings in his fingers, Arath channeled again, splitting a flow of spirit between the two rings and examined every detail. Spirit flowed over the identical designs slowly, letting him see and compare down to the most minute detail. Slowly turning the rings in his fingers, the spirit threads wrapped around the silver bands until the entire loop had been made. Satisfied with his work, Arath released his flows. For a moment they seemed to persist, to settle into the rings. Arath shook his head and blinked in surprise. What was that? He rubbed his tired eyes and channeled again, probing the rings with spirit again to determine what had happened. There didn't seem to be anything wrong at all. He must have just imagined it.

 

Stifling a yawn, he let the odd event go. He was too tired to think about it now anyway. All he wanted at the moment was a good meal and his bed.

 

* * *

 

The next day Arath woke late, but feeling good. The odd event the night before still bothered him a little, but another examination had revealed nothing to him. Satisfied that the rings were as good as he could ever get them, he tucked them away into a small pouch and set off to find Rion. After a few inquiries he found him at the training grounds, finishing a class with a handful of Soldiers. He leaned against a nearby building, waiting in the shade until the other Asha'man was finished until waving him over.

 

"Here you go," he said pulling the small pouch from his belt. "I hope these work for you"

[Kael]

Rion clicked his mouth shut and twisted it around to try and bite back the voices raging in his head at the end of another class. Those impudent little welps, they all should be on their knees begging to be taught not waltzing away with those satisfied smirks on their faces. Do be quiet you would do the exact same. Rion ignored the two and turned as a familiar face appeared. "Arath!" He ran to the man he had hired to make his wedding rings, hoping that they were done and ready.

 

"Here you go, I hope these work for you"

 

Rion was curios to see how they cam out as he upended the two silver circles into his palm. He held them up to see more closely as his jaw dropped. They were..."Beautiful, they are absolutely amazing." Rion was having a tough time taking his eyes of the two as he inspected each, turning them this way and that. He was glad he had picked silver and that he had had Arath go get it from home, it added a certain touch that Rion liked even more. But Light...Arath put the silver smiths at home to shame with these two rings, obviously forged somewhat with that One Power, Rion couldn't find a crack or blemish anywhere.

 

"I can't beleive how well they turned out they are more than I could have ever imagined. I don't know how I will ever be able to thank you for them. I can't express my gratitude." Rion smiled warmly and reached out to shake Arath's hand to show the small portion of how thankful he was that he could.

 

 

Rion