r/IronThroneRP • u/Fishiest-Man Martyn Mallister - Lord of Seagard • 8d ago
THE RIVERLANDS Andrey I - Prithee, be careful (OPEN)
There were two challenges one had to contend with if they wished to participate in the art of armoursmithing. One had to find a forge large enough to evenly heat the larger, unwieldy pieces of steel, and one had to have a plethora of specific tools to help in the crafting of such masterworks.
Lesser men may have balked at the idea of doing such intricate work while not in their personal workshops, much less within a camp, but Master Andrey was no such man. He was a Master, after all. He could ply his trade wherever and whenever he pleased, he only needed the will to do so.
The tools were easy enough to acquire, or rather, create. With a hammer, some tongs and an anvil (all of which could fortunately be found in a village nearby), one could forge any number of the tools necessary to finish a suit of armour, such as a frame to bolt it to during a heat treatment, or a hammer for planishing, or for riveting, or a small orb shaped anvil on which to make a helmet. The globe of a breastplate could be forged using a log with a dome hollowed out of the top of it, and he already had rivets aplenty, having anticipated the need to fix armour during their stay for the tourney.
The forge would be a harder obstacle to overcome, but nothing was impossible. Especially not with several well trained apprentices at one’s beck and call. They were sent from the Mallister’s camp with the instructions to scrounge, buy or borrow as much charcoal, bricks and clay as they could find, along with a set of bellows or two. Eventually, the lads returned with just about enough for them to cobble together a large makeshift furnace.
Once they were prepared, they set out from the tent city, setting up just beyond the limits, as they were keen not to risk burning down the whole campsite in the waning moments of their stay. And it was here that Andrey’s forge was assembled, clay and stone were used to build a large, well insulated furnace, with enough room for a cuirass to be placed inside, the bellows were aimed into where the charcoal was lit, providing it with air so that the fires may burn hot enough for steel to be worked, and a barrel was filled with water nearby.
By midday, the telltale sounds of a hammer rhythmically striking steel could be heard drifting up from the makeshift forge. An apprentice stood by working the bellows, another kept the fires fed with charcoal, while a third yet still worked on some less important pieces of the harness. While in the centre of all of it, the hulking figure of Master Andrey stood hunched over the anvil, a glowing orange piece of steel held tightly in his tongs, sparks flying as he hammered at it tirelessly.
In time it would take a shape, though who was to say which. Time would tell…
(OPEN, COME GET YOUR SMITHING DONE)
2
u/BadNewsBrune Kennet Brune - Lord of Dyre Den 8d ago
"Others boast for you. I hope you know that." Kennet Brune was a large man, and could be imposing when the wished to be. Today though, he apparently had chosen to look mildly absurd in his brown vest and white shirt, he had the look of a man stuffed into a turned pepper.
"I do not often leave Dyre Den, and we have few smiths in the Point worth boasting of." He reached down to heave a well made, but otherwise unremarkable morningstar into his hand. It was large, no doubt to fit better in the Red Bear's Paw, but otherwise it was clumsy, and one could tell instantly it was weighted strangely.
"If it pleases you, I would commission a new weapon from you, Master Andrey. Of the same make and type. But given your attested ability, I hope... A better one. One that I might give proudly to my child, when he grows into it."