Frost 30th, Year 74, Age of Steel
Rúnar gave Alyssum a couple of days before throwing her into the craft proper. Enough time for her to acclimate to not just Rúnar, but the house and all that was included in it. It took a little after that first time showing her around, but Alyssum quickly took to the large semi abandoned house which seemed to be chocked full of secrets. For the four days that followed the tour Rúnar would struggle to find Alyssum throughout the day, only for her to come back covered in dust and clinging to this book or that when it came time for the last meal of the day and hunger was what finally drove her away from her wonderment.
Sometimes she wouldn't even reappear for that final meal and Rúnar was forced to track his charge through the house like he was 20 again and trying to hunt down his younger siblings. He'd track her all through the house only to find her curled up in some room among the crafting supplies. Things for alchemy, tools for artificing, the rare necromancy related accoutrement. She somehow managed to find things that her mentor hadn't seen in over 50 years or more, tracking them down with the intent of inspecting them in full. When Isra brought Alyssum in it was because she had promise as a Crow, not just because Isra needed someone better than she to care for the child. It would be a discredit to say that Alyssum didn't have any kind of potential.
She was curious and quick minded above most other things, and seemingly had a natural draw towards the magical arts. Gods and magic, the two things which drew her in the most. Her siren's song.
The fifth day, Alyssum didn't get the chance to run off and explore.
"If you want me to teach you magic, my own magic, the first step is going to be learning how to smith," Rúnar had said to catch her attention. It was bribery, pure and simple. Oh, but Alyssum was weak to those words. The promise of magic drawing her right into the steel trap and having her skipping off after Rúnar to the forges once the first meal was over and done with. She was still didn't talk much to the point it was noticeable to Rúnar, but it was hard to tell if she was naturally quiet or if it was a quirk of her suffering language comprehension under the tutelage of Isra. "Rathari are meant to travel. Keeping them in one spot their entire lives is also unethical so at some point I'll have to teach the pup other tongues that'll be useful to her growing up..." Rúnar muttered to himself in a quiet tone, Alyssum's ears swiveling to catch the sound but not fully understanding what he meant by teaching her other tongues.
After a relatively short jaunt the pair arrived at the forges, Alyssum's eyes darting all over the place. She'd been a bit too nervous to properly admire the place the last time Rúnar had showed it to her. After having the time to recover from Isra suddenly leaving, Alyssum was a lot calmer and now had the presence of mind to drink the whole place in.
The forges were understandably located in an open air area that connected into the side of the building, covered by a metallic awning so that they could still be used even during harsh weather, assuming one could ignore the nipping chill that came from not having multiple walls. It didn't bother the duo of Rathari as much as it might have others. While still both in their true forms, Rúnar had a thick layer of fur rounding his neck in a male like fashion and heavy clothes which took the season into account. Alyssum herself didn't really have extra patches of fur, but the tailor finally finished Rúnar's order and he'd dressed her for the weather with all the regard of a doting mother goose.
The younger Rathari perked as the forge was lit up, but only the forge without the weird markings. "Why not the other?" She asked.
"I don't know runeforging, pup," Rúnar said with a laugh as Alyssum inspected the stranger of the two forges.
"Can't you learn?" She asked.
"I could. It wasn't ever my specialty though. Back when there were enough of us for it, every member of the family had their own specialty. Something they'd mastered in each and every way they could imagine. While I've learned a couple other skills to help better my main skill, I've always specialized in alchemy and smithing. The runeforgers were some of the most spectacular. They had to learn so much," he sighed as though reminiscing on a distant past before ruffling Alyssum's hair. "I could learn, but I don't feel like I'd do it justice. I'm too old to master a whole new craft, and I feel like it would just be an insult if I did and did poorly. You're different though. You're young enough. You know, the first member of the Crow kinship was said to have mastered ever world magic under the sun and could utilize them with terrifying grace. They were a force to be reckoned with, but no one like them has come from the family since. Would you like to be the first? Be back the family glory?"
Alyssum's eyes sparkled for a minute before her mind actually caught up with her expression. "That sounds hard," she said.
"Well of course. But you're only fourteen, and you have hundreds of years to get to where I am. Rathari live for a long time. It's why our members can become such dedicated and wonderful practitioners of our crafts. You'll find a craft you like one day, and you'll excel just like every Crow. Even if you don't become like the founder and bring mass glory, you're a Crow now, be proud of that," he said as he picked up a pair of tongs.
"Now then, teaching you my craft. I am an alchemist smith. That means I create weapons, armor, and other tools while adding slight alchemical enchantments to the creations. Tweaking their properties. While alchemy is easier to use when it comes to changing the properties of a magical took, keep in mind that any changes made through alchemy will eventually fade. A sword made to spew flames eventually runs out of flames to spew. Think of it as alchemy being more of a 'consumable' practice," he said. Alyssum nodded along mutely, not entirely sure to the meaning of some of the words but intrigued by them none the less.
"How do you make the magic stay?" She asked, peer at his work as he began to hammer a piece of metal into some shape she could hardly understand. The meaning of it was foreign, but the craft itself mystified her. The idea that someone could force something as unyielding at metal into the form you wanted it to be.
Rúnar couldn't help but bark out a laugh before answering, marveling at how mystified her expression had become. "That's where the runeforgers come on. Runeforging is a special practice because it allows the enchantment to become permanent if done properly. Of course, it also takes a lot of time and a lot of skill. When I was a pup my pops used to tell me that there was a rune about runeforgers. A master runeforger was entirely worthless regardless of their skills if they weren't a master craftsmen. Only a true master of smithing could make a runeforged blade fit to challenge tyrants and gods. Only a master leather worker could craft hide armor that was perfectly suited to the body and needs of the customer. Runeforgers were certainly respected, it helped us earn our name way back in the day."
"I wanna learn runeforging!" Alyssum declared, her heart leaping at the thought. Pride. Recognition. They were foreign concepts to someone like Alyssum who'd grown up in the woods never taking into account the thoughts or actions of others. But she was drunk on the idea that she could do something to make herself loved. To stand on that pedestal, nothing mattered except for the fact that in her mind that pedestal meant she'd never have to be alone again. Abandoned again.
"I can't teach you runeforging, but I can teach you alchemy and I can teach you craft skills. I can make you one of the best smiths in Atinaw in a couple years time. From there, you can learn runeforging yourself using the books and things scattered around the house. You're a Crow. Any resources that are mine to you are also yours to use. A Crow is never insulted by their own family member's desire to learn. Adopted or not, the Crow secrets are yours to take and use. Just don't let anyone outside our kinship get their grubby fingers anywhere near them," Rúnar said with another laugh and a wink to which Alyssum responded enthusiastically, bobbing her head and grinning like a moron.
"Now then. I'll teach you the first two rules of smithing. Patience and perseverance. Sometimes metal is hard to work and you need to spend days, weeks, hours upon hours trying to get it to follow your will without ruining it. You need to be able to wait out the metal. In order to have patience, you must also have the perseverance to keep going. No matter how many ingots get ruined, practice is the key to the craft and with enough practice eventually even the most difficult concepts become familiar. Over the course of the next couple seasons until I can proudly call you a master, I'm going to be teaching you a number of concepts. Then we'll hold exams to see if you've learned and mastered them. There's no shame or penalty for failing, we'll just try again with the concepts you mess up until you've got them perfect," Rúnar said as he forced he moved the glowing metal to an anvil and slammed a hammer into it.
"Won't that take a while?" She asked.
Rúnar laughed, and answered her in spite of his age. "We're Rathari, my dear. We've plenty of time."
