Friends in a Foreign Land

The party spent the rest of the day the forge with Renir learning the names for all the different things in and around the forge and all the steps metal goes through from being mined until becoming a tool.

Renir showed them samples of iron ore that had been mined and talked about how the smelting process worked. They learned about the different fuel sources, reducing agents, how to use flux to remove impurities, and the common ingot molds the molten metal is poured into. Renir covered some of the risks, teaching that it was possible to smelt large volumes of raw ore only to find that you ended up with very little metal, wasting time as well as fuel.

Renir then brought out a few ingots of different metals, all the same size, and passed them around, continuing to teach. "As ye can see, each bears a distinctive heft. They also each boast their own traits that must be heeded when craftin' things with 'em."

Liam, after looking at the ingots, spoke up, “I recognize iron, gold, silver, and lead. And I assume these others are copper, brass, and bronze but I’m not sure which is which.”

"Very good," answered Renir. "Copper be tha heaviest of tha three, then bronze, and brass be tha lightest. Or, if ye be comparin' by sight, copper be tha most red lookin' one, brass be tha one that gleams like gold, and bronze be tha duller, darker one. And each o' these have different properties that make 'em suitable fer different tasks. But seein' how ye recognized 'em, I reckon ye had similar metals where ye hailed from?"

“Yes, and quite a few more,” interjected Miguel.

"Glad to hear that. These be our more common metals. We also have things like tin and steel, of course. And then we have what we refer to as mana metals, such as adamantine, mithril, orichalum, moonsteel, and dragonglass."

“We don’t... didn’t have mana metals where we came from. But we did have myths of metals by some of those names,” Liam stated. “Is mithril a silvery metal that is great for armor?”

"Aye, it is," Renir answered, surprise clear in his voice. "A silvery-blue metal that doesn't tarnish as silver would. D'ye know aught about tha others?"

“Not really. I’ve heard of dragonglass, that it’s a metal that looks like glass but has an extremely high durability. But I don’t know anything about the others.”

"That be right. And tha only folks that can smith with dragonglass be dragons themselves. Supposedly tha forge has to be as hot as dragon breath to properly melt tha ore. But no one even knows what tha raw ingredients are, whether it be ore or alloy. Adamantine be a black metal common 'round volcanoes. Some say it’s tha metal version of obsidian, which be more of a glass. Orichalum is another mystery, the Orcs make it and refuse to share the knowledge. It’s extremely heavy and is green in color. Moonsteel be a silver-white metal mostly used in magic jewelry as it can hold an enchantment better than most. What all these mana metals have in common is that they require large amounts of mana to form. Adamantine and mithril are naturally occurring metals, typically found in areas where mana has been allowed to accumulate for centuries or more. Dragonglass and orichalum are both believed to be alloys of some sort but the only ingredient anyone knows is the mana. Moonsteel is only ever found in meteorites."

“How many metals are there?” asked Deandra

“There be fourteen metals and five mana metals for a total of nineteen. It is commonly believed that tha gods love havin' things in multiples of five, and because of this, many feel that there’s at least one more metal out there, and likely six more,” answered Renir.

“If Traum is similar to where we came from, you are seriously underestimating that number. In our world we know of over a hundred elements and the vast majority of them are metals. And that’s not counting the dozens of common alloys or the hundreds of special application alloys,” said Celeste.

Renir just stared at Celeste for a few moments before finally finding his tongue again, “Yer world has hundreds o' metals to work with?”

“And just like that, Celeste just did the thing Gito warned us about with his story of ball bearings,” Liam laughed.

Renir looked a bit sheepish at this and got himself under control, telling himself that he would have work for some of the younger clan members soon. Renir slowly moved the topic forward covering more lessons and the group continued to ask questions. They learned why most dwarves don’t bother with swords. Renir explained that it was always important to have the best tool for a job and a tool that was the best for multiple jobs was better than a tool that was only useful for a single job. A sword could kill a person. That was all it was good for according to Renir. But an axe, an axe could kill person or it could chop wood. A hammer, well, a hammer was useful for pounding on any number of things from people to metal, from tent pegs to nails and then some. Hence many dwarves’ belief that a hammer was the most important tool a dwarf could master.

Dakota, who hadn’t really wanted to learn about smithing was surprised to find that he really enjoyed the lessons. And more than that, he just felt really comfortable in the forge, even though it was far hotter than what he was used to. When he remarked on this, Renir explained that Gaans had created dwarves so that he would have someone to share his love and admiration for stone with. He said that grey dwarves like Dakota typically lived far deeper in the rock where it was hotter and that this comfort was likely a symptom of that. Renir believed that part of being a dwarf was to innately love some part of Gaans’s domain.

Celeste, on the other hand, still wasn’t thrilled with her time in the forge but she put in the work to learn all that should could regardless. She paid attention as Renir explained how the hearth and bellows worked and even asked a few questions to see if the dwarf understood the role oxygen played in why the bellows worked. He did not, which Celeste and Liam both took notice of. Celeste wondered if dwarves even breathed oxygen, surely they must, right?

Once Renir was confident in their ability to not get overly injured he walked them to a large circular forge that was surrounded by anvils. On each anvil was a them each a few tools and a lump of metal.

“Today’s task be simple. Pick an anvil an' forge that lump o' metal inta a flat plate. We’re nae focusin' on speed but on doin' it safely an' learnin' ta get a feel fer everythin'.” Looking over at Deandra, Renir continued, “Ye, young miss, get ta help me supervise. Keep an eye on 'em an' let me ken if anyone breaks any o' tha safety rules I taught ye all earlier.”

After about an hour of watching and not seeing anyone doing anything overly risky, Renir stepped away only to return a few minutes later with a small hammer and a box. After setting the box in front of an empty anvil, he waved Deandra over and set her on the box. Renir tossed a small piece of metal into the forge. When it was hot enough he pulled it out and laid it on the anvil. “Pound on that until it stops glowing,” he instructed the child.

Deandra, excited to finally getting to do something besides just listening lifted the small hammer and cautiously began to hit the metal. Her strikes weren’t having much effect at first so she started to hit harder and harder. After about the fifth or six blow she started to feel like something wasn’t right. The hammer seemed to be hitting even harder than she thought it should. But it was working so she just kept swinging. A few times Renir had her stop so he could re-heat the metal and Deandra went right back to pounding on it. Before she knew it the metal was more or less flat. She looked over to Renir to tell him and saw that everyone was watching her. Suddenly self conscious, Dandra drew into herself.

“Don’t go doin' that now,” barked out Renir in a joyful voice. “Ye’ve done nothin' wrong lass. Ye did just as I asked an' a fine job at it.”

“But how?” asked Celeste.

“Well, she isn’t strong enough ta use one o' tha hammers like ye all were usin'. But I remembered that I had an enchanted hammer from when me own children were that size. It’s a good trainin' hammer as it only helps out if she’s puttin' a good bit o' her own effort inta it. It won’t let her be lazy. Proportionally, she probably put about tha same effort in as tha rest o' ye.”

“That’s my girl!” cheered Miguel!

Deandra just looked at the hammer in her hand, “It’s magic? I used a magic hammer?”

“That you did,” answered Renir. “And you’ll use it again tomorrow and any other time you’re in my forge until you’re strong enough to not need it.”

Deandra hopped off the box and ran over to Renir and hugged the blacksmith, “Thank you Mr. Renir!”

Renir patted her on the head, “Ye’re welcome.” Looking to the group he added, “Ye all did well today. Nay safety issues or accidents. That’s rare with new smiths.” With a grin he added, “Of course, ye lot are a bit older than normal for new smiths.”

“So what’s next,” Liam asked. “Next you go back to Bloodbeard’s for the night. Tomorrow morning you’ll go to class again and tomorrow afternoon you’ll come here again. Tomorrow you’ll learn how to draw the metal.”

“How long will we all be learning blacksmithing?” asked Celeste

“However long it takes ye to forge what we call tha ‘beginners set’ made up o' a spatula, a spoon, a knife, a hammer, a pair o' tongs, and a leather punch. Those plannin' to delve into minin' would also craft a pickaxe and shovel head as well. Ye’re welcome to do so but I won’t be requirin' it o' anyone except Liam, who'll be stayin' with me a while to venture beyond tha basics.”

“How long does it usually take for people to make all that?” Celeste asked while envisioning herself growing old in this forge rather than fulfilling her dream of studying magic.

Renir just shrugged, “With ye all bein' here 'bout four hours each day, four days per week,” Renir paused, dragging out Celeste’s misery, “ye should all finish in two weeks at tha longest.”

“Oh thank god,” Celeste said as she took a deep breath.

“Only four days per week? So we get three days off each week?” asked Dakota?

“No, remember what Arden said,” Liam answered. “A week here is only five days. So four days of work, one day off, rinse, repeat.”

Renir just shook his head, “I’ve thought a bit about what it must be like ta go from one world ta another, but I never thought about how a week might be different. Did ye at least 'ave 15 months like normal?”

Miguel laughed, “Normal for us was 12 months, but they were longer than yours and made no sense. Once we adjust, the timekeeping here on Traum will be easier.”

Renir just shook his head, “Well, good luck wi' learnin' all o' that. Ye better head on back before old Gito sends out a search party for ye. I’ll see ye all tomorrow afternoon.”