^^ Henna Moonspring ^^
It wasn't often that the Ladies of the Forest Summoned someone; generally they accepted offerings and spoke with those who brought them at their own leisure, but to speak with someone who had no offering was... unorthodox. It was for this reason that Henna Moonspring, Master Blacksmith and Arcane Archer, was wildly fumbling about in her safe for the magical bow she'd completed recently, and had intended to sell to a traveling merchant for quite a bit of money; now, however, it was all she had that was worthy to give as an offering to the Ladies of the Forest.
"Henna, we need to go, now, do whatever you're doing much faster!" Dresden, the pompous firstborn son of one of the elders on the council, and current servant of the Ladies, yelled from the entryway impatiently.
The frazzled blacksmith spared his skull a sharp slap as she exited the forge, sending him reeling with the blow as she marched past him, bow in hand. "Mind your tone, boy, or I'll mind it for you!" Henna was not one for minced words, and with her skill and success in the forge she was one of the more respected people in the town, so she cared very little for his position, however much he thought of himself. Seeing he was simply outmatched, the offended boy scoffed at her derisively, marching past her and woodenly leading the way to the center of the town where their Abode stood, tall and green and proud. With a sense of urgency, they moved swiftly up the stairs to the parlor, where the three ethereally beautiful beings sat, conversing quietly amongst themselves in a language that sounded like the rustling of leaves in the wind; the conversation halted as the three noticed them entering, and they gazed at Henna as she knelt before them and placed the gorgeous silver longbow on the table, the Runes that gave it its power pulsing weakly in response to the raw power of the beings it sat before. "Greetings, my Ladies of the Forest: I, Henna Moonspring, have brought an offering that I hope is sufficient for the situation... I know not why I was summoned, but if Finnegan gave any offense, I only beg that you treat his ignorance as reflection of my poor teaching, and that you do not judge him too harshly. He is an old soul, one quite well traveled, and I cannot fathom the reason for any offense he would give, only it's... probability." She finished with a tired voice, already sure of the reason she was here, after seeing Finnegan was gone.
Dresden was sent away with the flick of a finger from Lady Rose, while Lady Violet spoke to the kneeling woman. "It surprises and also does not surprise us that you predicted his... attitude... but we are not offended by frank and clear conversation, or irreverence. Lady Daisy even considers this to be the superior method of speech, and is quite enamored with him! That is not why you were called, however... we wish to inform you of the Visions that were had, when we gave him the Blessings of the Forest; the Anvil, specifically."
The kneeling woman paused in her thoughts, thinking deeply about the implications before replying hesitantly. "I suppose I'm happy he's a Craftsman, but... Is he in danger? Or is someone else?"
The three Ladies laughed softly, apparently amused by the question, and Lady Violet responded with a smirk. "Oh, I don't doubt that the only ones in danger are those who would dare oppose him! He is of my body, after all, and of the proper state of being assumed by said relation! No, Henna, we wish to make sure he is properly trained, as his future will be full of conflict; his is the path of a Hero, after all, and there is much fighting to be had, before he is successful, and may rest. His 'Glass', as well, will bring either prosperity or war, and we cannot see which due to a crossroads of destiny... preparing for both is the best course of action, we believe."
The kneeling smith grinned happily, understanding finally the purpose of this meeting; Finnegan was to be a Magical Smith and a Hero, and that which he created would be valuable enough to start a war over. "A fate befitting Kelt's Son... I've no doubt he'll have many enemies, but what types should I prepare him for? Men, or Monsters?"
"Both." Lady Violet said simply, then glanced to the north, almost nervously. "But Monsters will come first, we believe. Men will take time to gather and build their hatred, as a Cult of some kind has already begun using the story of Kelt and Finnegan as a dichotomy of Good and Evil. But more importantly, the Forge of Kings... do you know of it?"
"The Forge of Kings? I... think I remember it's supposed to be a Magic Anvil? The legends say it's the portion of the Forest that grants the Blessing of the Anvil, much like the Ladies each offer their own Blessing, and that it chooses a Master once every Eon, and then they can't leave the forest? But I thought we didn't know where it was?" Henna racked her brain for details, trying not to sound like an idiot. These were the legends of her people, her history, and she had to make sure to remember them, so she could teach her children one day.
The Ladies all smiled at her approvingly, so she knew she'd been mostly correct, as Lady Violet responded happily. "Indeed! All of that is true, except that it is lost and that it chooses a Master every Eon. It chooses a Servant, who will use it to build Relics, using the Mana Spring beneath it to spread its supply of Life-Giving Mana to the rest of the world. With this, Magic becomes stronger, the knowledge of magic increases, and more Mages are born amongst the Humans and Dragons, more Druids are born amongst the Elves... More Fairies, as well, which is the most important part, to us; if a Male Fairy is born,-"
"-I finally get a Lover!" Lady Daisy sighed longingly, lounging backward on the couch elegantly and dramatically.
Lady Violet spared her a disapproving glance, then returned her gaze to Henna. "Regardless... The Servant of the Forge cannot leave the Forest, and for a Hero who must travel the world and destroy monsters and demons... I'm sure you can imagine that being stuck in the Forest for the rest of his life would be rather Counterproductive?"
"So... If he wakes up the Forge, he can't leave, and that's bad, so I should tell him not to do that yet, and train him in fighting so that he can eventually survive the journey, and until then survive the world at large?" Henna nodded slowly, mostly understanding but slightly confused by the concept of 'Fairies'.
"That is correct." The three Ladies agreed in unison, and Henna bowed her head reflexively, retreating from the room at the casual dismissal of Lady Rose. As she reached the stairs, however, a final bit of wisdom was given to her, almost half-heartedly. "And one last thing, Henna... do make sure he is ever cautious around Lightning."
"Of course, My Ladies." Henna bowed once more, exiting the building and beginning her search for Finnegan; he disappeared each day after his chores, seeking out solitude as often as possible when he wasn't in the forge with her or at the stall in the market with her husband, so she had no real idea of where to find him, beyond asking the others where he went. Her search lead her to the edge of the Town, where the trees ceased to be made into homes and buildings, and were simply trees once more: here, she began tracking his boot-prints, following them a short ways into the woods until they completely disappeared, suddenly. The trees around had no markings that showed he had climbed up them, there were no rocks he could use to hide his tracks, no roots sticking up without moss on them that he could use as stepping stools... he was simply gone. "Well, at least Kelt taught him well..." Henna sighed, referencing the book Kelt had written for Finnegan, wherein all of his skills were kept. Finnegan read it almost religiously, constantly memorizing every page of monster anatomy, wind-physics, fletching, tracking, fighting, and more, and clearly it had not been for nothing. Her pride warred with her disappointment in herself for not being able to catch him, and pride won, after a short battle; she may have been out of practice, but that was no excuse to lose to a child, unless he was simply better than her.
"Henna." A soft voice called from her left, making her turn in that direction reflexively, to find a very odd sight indeed; Finnegan's face inside what looked like a root-ball of a very large tree, which should've been totally solid and looked petrified and dead, covered in moss and fungus that was slowly eating the dying tree. "Hop over here! Don't leave any tracks!" He whispered urgently, disappearing away from where he'd been and leaving the scene looking totally natural again.
"What in all creation...?" She muttered to herself, leaping nimbly over to the rocks butted up against the root ball and peering within, seeing nothing at first; then a jagged portion of it moved on a hinge, like a door, and Finnegan grinned at her, pulling her in and closing it again. "That is rather impressive, Finnegan... well done." She nodded as best she could with the low ceiling, then looked at the glow of a forge coming from deeper within. "Though a Forge in such a place would suffocate you in moments, you should never underestimate the power of smoke."
The young artisan chuckled and led her deeper within, traveling downward in a spiral as the walls transitioned into stone covered in lichen and fungus, and ended up in a large underground chamber with a series of pottery tools and a forge burning with hot coals with a very curious contraption pumping the bellows without his input. "Look up." He commented as she opened her mouth, and began mixing what looked like salt and chalk into a handful of black and silver sand in a metal pot.
Obeying out of curiosity, she gasped slightly as she saw a veritable vertical forest of mushrooms and lichen and moss in the hollow trunk of the tree, all covered in very small black crystals and rocks that looked like smoke frozen in time. "So that's why there's no smoke... you're feeding the smoke to the mushrooms!" After a moment of staring, something occurred to her, and she frowned at him. "Wait, are those the mushrooms you always say you gather in the Forest? We eat those!"
"They're perfectly safe, and pre-smoked, so they're very tasty." He shrugged, unfazed, and showed her the sand, happily changing the subject and beginning to explain what it was in the most animated voice she'd ever heard from him; enthusiasm rolled off of him in waves, as it did when she spoke of metal, or her husband spoke of trade. She recognized true passion, and settled in for a lengthy discussion, honestly curious about this amazing substance 'Glass', which was made from sand and would bring either war or prosperity to the world. "But don't worry about that, look at this!!! Glass Sand!!! A perfect mixture of Silicon-Quartz Sand, Soda Ash, and Limestone!!! There's a little more Iron in there than I'd like, so I'm trying to add some Salt and Limestone, plus some Quartz I found as I was digging this place out and making the walls, and I'm sure it's going to work!!! First, I need to melt it all down and test the consistency; if it's too liquidy, I need more limestone and Sand. If it's too sappy, I need more soda ash, or salt!!! Then, I need to pull some out and test how fast or slow it cools; if it cools slowly, I can use it to make art, but if it cools too quickly, I can Temper it with the Annealing Oven a bit longer than I would otherwise, which will strengthen the bonds of the glass to about the same strength as crystal that is three to four times its thickness, as well as gaining the ability to bounce, instead of shattering!!! If it's perfect, and clear, (that's very important,) I can make sculptures and jugs and jars and bottles and decanters and glasses and spectacles and telescopes and star-viewers and grand solarium domes to view the stars and the moon, AND I can start to make Stained Glass, and the fun REALLY starts!!! See, with Stained Glass, I can make mosaics and reliefs and portraits and scenes and windows and even art that uses the light of the sun or moon shining through it to create different scenes in the air as time goes by!!!"
He stopped to take a deep breath, clearly intending to continue, but she held up a hand slowly, forestalling his words, and pointed at the pot that'd been stuck in the forge halfway through this conversation. "Is it supposed to glow?"
"Hmm? Oh, that, yes, it's currently melting, and it gives off light as it gets hot, just like metal; the only difference between glass and metal is that one you can hammer into shape, and one you can only work with while it's white-hot. They require a similar heat-treating process, but glass has to be baked as well, afterwards, then slowly cooled to force it to remain in the same shape forever!" He grinned and dipped an iron rod into the pot, pulling out what looked like a dollop of yellow syrup, then surprised her as he set his mouth against the end of the pipe and exhaled heartily, one hand on the pipe and the other using a heavy pair of tweezers to twist and pull and shape the small bulb of expanding material with a masterful, clinical precision. At times he would place the pipe and substance over the flames, keeping it hot just like you would with metal. While this substance looked odd, Henna found herself slowly thinking of ways to make it, of projects she could do that would be even better with this curious, rare substance.
Henna watched, awestruck, as he swiftly turned the small dollop of glowing material into a bottle like any clay bottle would be, except when it was finally allowed to cool all the way, about a minute after he removed it from the flames for the last time, it was a black-grey color. "Isn't it supposed to be... clear?" She asked slowly, confused by the coloration, when he'd said it was supposed to be clear.
"This is the first step; step two is annealing in the Kiln. Essentially, it'll heat the glass all the way back up, then slowly, slowly cool it, and that will strengthen the glass and make sure any impurities shatter in the kiln, so bad Glass never makes it to the customers." He explained seriously, setting the small bottle into a brick oven of sorts, igniting it and then closing the front, sealing the bottle away. "My Mother was always very adamant that the shaping process was the most important process of the making of Glass, but by Father always said it was the annealing... Shaping is important because it determines how your product looks at the end, for the most part, and also whether or not it can be Tempered or Laminated, or if it has to remain Untempered, due to its fragility. Annealing requires the most patience, which I suppose is why my father likely excelled at it. He was the Blacksmith and Merchant of the family, so he was used to waiting for long periods of time, whether it was waiting for caravans to arrive at their destinations, waiting for customers to come to the stall on market day... Mother and I weren't as Patient as him. Too much Celt in our blood, I guess, always pushing us towards the next fight, the next battle, the next project... but, as much as I loved them both, I always thought they were both wrong. The most important part is the Mixing, the gathering of materials and making of the most effective, strongest alloy, or sometimes certain mixes make certain colors, and certain metals added to glass makes them more brittle or more tough, more light or heavier. Heavier glass is best for busts and windows, while lighter glass is best used for cups and plates and bottles, like what I'm making now. See, there's a lot of similarities to blacksmithing for glassmakers; both require an intricate understanding of heat, and metal, but also some amount of patience, sometimes more and sometimes less. Of course, not all mixes are alike; the history of Glassmaking is full of a variety of methods and mixtures, with every clan and business having its own specialty, or 'secret recipe', which changes the glass in small ways that most people wouldn't notice, but any proper glassmaker would be able to tell the maker even without the maker's mark!!! My mother always said that if you needed to use the Mark to find out what region the glass came from, you were really something of a disappointment, as far as Glassmakers go!!! But, even with all the variety, there is a basic formula everyone has to follow, so, -much like the process of making the right Steel Alloy,- without the right ratios, Glass-" He was cut off by a deafening explosion, as the oven shook around in its space for a moment, and then went still, white smoke billowing out of the small grate on the front which had been forced open by the explosion. Finnegan slowly turned to stare at the oven, sighing, and then turned back to Henna, shaking his head angrily. "Yeah... Glass is a right temperamental bitch to handle most of the time, as I was saying."