Pickup

[Praetorum]

Date: 18th of Vhalar, Arc 720

A tentrial had passed, and Prae now found himself in front of Willow's smithy once more. Despite himself, he found that he was rather excited—Willow had offhandedly mentioned a little bit about the metals she was using, and he was keen to see how they performed. 



When he made his way to the courtyard, Willow was, predictably, in the middle of using a grindstone to sharpen an axe. He waited until she was finished, stepping out of the way as sparks flew madly through the air. He stood there waiting for almost ten bits before she finally put the axe down, and stood up to stretch her arms over her head. "Right then," she said without preamble. "Let's get the plate fitted first."


Prae started to pull his arming doublet out of his domain bag, but she waved irritatedly at him as she walked over to a table. "No no no." She threw a bundle at him. When he caught it, he could hear the light clinking of metal. "Put that on while I take out the plate."


He did as she said, changing into an arming doublet that was at once very similar, yet very different from the one he was used to. It had all the same connectors, the same loops and straps that would keep his armor attached to him, but in places there where patches of mail sown onto the fabric. As he moved around experimentally, he found they were mostly in the places he was most exposed, those inevitable gaps in his armor that were most commonly attacked by those who knew what they were doing. The mail didn't hinder his mobility at all though, even where they were at the joints, and he found that he felt as if he were just wearing a normal tunic, aside from the occasionally clink of metal. 



"Fits well?" Willow reappeared with an armful of metal, and set them down on a nearby table. "Lets get this on you, then."

[Praetorum]

The armor fit just as well as the arming doublet did, precisely crafted for him. The plates at the joints were buttery smooth, and the connection points on the doublet distributed the weight evenly over his entire body, lacking the strain his normal armor sometimes put on his shoulders. She'd even added a piece for his tail, a metal covering of overlapping plates that still gave his tail a great deal of mobility. Not nearly as much as it normally did—he wouldn't be tying his tail into a knot anytime soon with this on—but enough to do what it needed to do: grip, and swing. 



When it was fully on, he started moving around experimentally, testing out his mobility in the armor while Willow went to get the glaive. It was impressive work—it still had the inherent limitations of plate armor, but movement was easier, and he thought he his range of motion had improved just a little, especially when he twisted his hand and arm this way and that. There were times with his old armor that the plates would lock into each other when Prae needed to use a twisting motion on a weapon, so he was glad to feel the changes. The better distribution of weight also meant it felt less tiring to wear, even though he guessed the actual weight wasn't that much different from his legion armor. 


The tower shield was as good as expected, with reinforced edges and straps at the back so he had more options in how to hold it. He'd stick to the center grip for now, but it was always good to be flexible.


Ultimately, the armor and shield felt good to wear, and looked good as well, though Prae was much less concerned about that. The metal itself was polished like steel, but the color had a bluish undertone in the sunlight that gave it a subtle glow. Decorations were minimal—Willow was, he had gathered by now, as practical as Prae was, but it didn't need to be flashy—the metal stood out all on its own. 



Then Willow returned, and Prae laid eyes on his new weapon for the first time. The metal was a deep, rich red—every inch of it, looking almost like a single unbroken piece of metal, though Prae doubted that was the case. At the area where the blade and shaft met, there was what seemed to be the only decoration on the piece, a sinuous serpent curling around that joint, possibly as much to reinforce the area as to look pretty. 



On the other end of the weapon, the butt cap ended in a short spike, to make up for the fact that the glaive was really more of a slashing weapon. 



When she handed it to him, it was lighter and more front heavy than expected; he gave Willow a questioning look, and she gestured at the shaft. "The core is wood, to keep the weight down, but I figured you'd want an outer layer of something that isn't flammable on there." Good thinking. Prae gave it a twirl, experimenting with the balance. It looked like it should have been well balanced, but the wooden core made it lighter, and as he swung, Prae found the blade trying to lead him, rather than the other way around. He was still able to control it, but he felt that wielding it for too long would strain his wrists as they constantly held up the weight of the blade.



"Hmm. You hold it a little further back than I was expecting. Right, come here." Willow gestured for him to come to another workbench. Once he'd laid the weapon across it, to his surprise, she carefully pulled the spike off the shaft. "This is exactly why I haven't pinned it yet." She muttered, more to herself than to Prae.

[Praetorum]

Now that it was pulled out, Prae saw the spike was hollowed out, with the end of the glaive filling up about half of the available space. Then Willow put something that looked like an iron disc into the space, filling another quarter of the hollow. Sliding the cap back on, she gestured for him to test it out. 



"It's perfect," he said, after giving it a few twirls and test swings. The counterbalance at the back meant the glaive nearly floated in his hands and he was able to put his full focus in maneuvering it instead of holding it up. The spike was sturdy as well, nothing rattling inside when he stabbed experimentally with it. 



"You haven't even given it a proper swing yet." She grumbled. "There. Training dummy. Test." She pointed to an open space in the courtyard where a few beaten up training dummies stood, waiting. "Use the worn one on the right, I've been meaning to replace it anyways."


He saw what she meant as soon as he struck. Her training dummies were the normal kind, which was to say, they were tall, stout poles of wood with padding wrapped around them and a thinner stick that represented arms. Typically, weapons would only scratch the surface, or maybe cut a chip loose, if the wielder used their full strength. 



His glaive sank right through the thick wood, stopping about a third of the way through, and Prae's eyes widened. Pulling the blade out of the wood, he examined it, and found it just as razor sharp as when she'd first handed it to him, like it had never seen wood at all.


"That's adamantite for you." Willow said. "It'll cut through most things like they aren't even there. Except, of course, what you're wearing."


There were footsteps behind him, and Prae turned to find Willow standing there with her hammer in hand. "Hold still." She ordered, and hit his chest with the hammer. 



It was the sort of blow that would normally leave a small dent in steel—but as the blow reverberated through the metal, Prae felt something very odd. The force of the blow should have been concentrated on the point where it landed, but it didn't—the hammer just bounced off, and Prae felt the force of the blow across his entire chest. 



"Do you have any idea how challenging it is to forge a metal that disperses impact?" She actually smiled then, the first facial expression Prae had seen on her that wasn't grumpiness or surprise. "I don't get to work with sorelian steel nearly as much as I would like to. Now, the finishing touches." Plucking the weapon from out of his hand, she set the butt against her anvil, and quickly inserted two pins into holes cut through both the metal and the wood. Some hammering later, and the whole piece was secured together, leaving the butt cap impossible to remove. 



"There. It's done." She gave him a warning look. "I quite like having a shop in Rharne, so you'd better use it well."


Prae nodded seriously. "I will," he promised. 

[Doran]

Prae:

Knowledge:
Polearm: Pickup [1/3]
Polearm: Pickup [2/3]
Polearm: Pickup [3/3]
Smithing: Pickup [1/3]
Smithing: Pickup [2/3]
Smithing: Pickup [3/3]

Loot: Sorelian Steel Masterwork T8 Armor Set, Adamantite Masterwork+ Glaive
Lost: -
Wealth: - 17 WP
Injuries: -
Renown: 5, people will notice your new armor and your weapon!
Magic XP: -
Skill Review: Appropriate to level.
Points: 10

- - -

Comments: I appreciate in how much detail you described Prae’s equipment. Willow sounds like a very skilled smith, and it’s obvious that she gave Prae’s new armor a great deal of thought. She even added a piece for his tail. I never thought about how Ithecal having a tail affects armor!

Prae’s new equipment sounds great in my opinion. Sorelian Steel is a good metal to make an armor out of. I also like the weapon that Willow made for him. It will definitely be useful!

It’s good that Prae tested it before he went on his way!

Enjoy your rewards!

P.S.: I might have added “Endurance” to the list of skills used in the review request as Prae felt the force of the blow when Willow hit him. "Endurance" might have played a part there.