h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

*this building has a small forge, with a large storeroom containing already made weapons and supplies for making them. Also there is a large practise yard*

*Elandra enters and nods at the smithy there*

[blacksmith] Lady Elandra?

Yes, it is I. *she smiles, and he nods at her*
I want to make a couple of weapons, if that's alright.

*he nods again*

*she gets some meetal and starts heating it up in preparation for smithying*

*once the metal is heated enough, Elandra takes the smaller piece of metal and starts working it into a small, functional dagger*

*once the basic shape is visiable, she starts working it into something more elaborate*

*the dagger has taken shape now, with the the hint of sleek feathers in the bladework and engraving, and a hawk's eye engraved into the pommel. No jewel is used, but the eye is inverted - concave - making it look like the eye looks at you as you move it around.*

*she nods to herself and takes the preheated metal in the forge waiting, larger, and works on that*

*after a while - longer than with the dagger - a short sword is made, with matching hilt and subtly worked blade*

*swings the short sword against the anvil as hard as she can*

*checks it, it hasn't dented at all*

*she grins*

*quickly she fashions a short bow for her as well*

And now for some enchantments. *the blacksmith looks at her, she waves him away*

*she sits on the floor in the forge, the heat beading sweat on her forehead*

*she gets out her female sword, glowing brightly white, then thinks for a while*

*then she puts it back*

*she sits thinking*

*Elandra takes out the longsword again, and her scimitar, and looks at the two closely*

*she shakes her head, huffs irritably*

*going to the armoury she looks around*

*she finds nothing to satisfay her*

Blacksmith?

*the man scurries to her*

[blacksmith] Yes, my lady?

Do you have any...any katanas, perhaps, that are better quality than these? I know you are a good smithy.

[blacksmith] Well...there was one, I was making it for the Captain's birthday -

Let me see it, man. *she's in a bit of a mood...*

*he takes her to a safe where he extracts a katana that shines brightly*

*she examines it*

It'll do. For now. I can improve on it.

[blacksmith] But my lady -

*irritably* For Imardin's sake, man, here! *throws him a small bag of gold pieces, he shuts up* Now go to a store and get me a half dozen plain silver amulets, you hear me? Go to the fletcher, get me good - /good/ arrows, two quivers-ful, and find /somewhere/ some small hollow balls. Wooden, or metal, I don't care. *pushes another bag into his stomach* And that's for the sword. *the bag is rather heavy*

Now go!

*the man hurries off into Oane*

*Elandra sits down in the forge, in the heat - close to the furnace, so that the sweat pops up almost immediately - with the katana balances on her hands across her lap. It's very well-made, perfectly balanced*

*she grips the katana in her hands*

*it starts glowing softly, then brighter, a clear cerulean blue*

*the sweat on her skin trickles down to her hands as if drawn, and to the sword where it is....absorbed*

*more sweat appears and is drawn the same way...her hands clench hard enough to draw blood, a lot of it, and the blood dries instantly, leaving a faint red crust; tears fall from her eyes and onto the sword to be absorbed in the same way*

*the glowing brightens, and Elandra's hands tighten, the blood flow increases*

*she shakily stands, her hands still gripping the glowing sword, and suddenly plunges it under the quenching water*

*the water does not sizzle but it quickly...disappears, the sword's glow sputtering, but staying strong*

*In seconds all the water - gallons of it - has been absorbed into the sword, Elandra drops it on the floor with clatter after the glow dies down to nothing*

*she collapses by the now-empty quenching bucket*

*after a moment she stirs, drags herself to a sitting position, and grabs the katana with wobbly fingers*

*summoning strength, she clashes it against the floor*

*a puddle of water, of a reasonable size but not that deep, splashes onto the floor*

*she nods to herself, but can't speak - her chapped lips won't respond, she's so dehydrated*

*she drops the sword and grabs at her belt, her fingers trembling, and takes out a vial from a pouch, about the size of her index finger*

*she drinks it, almost choking on it, and the trembling slowly lessens, then ceases*

*she stands up, rejuvenated, but the hollow tiredness in her eyes is more pronounced now*

*the blacksmith comes back and quickly gives her the items*

Refill that quencher, and soon. *Elandra moves stiffly over to one on the other side (there are four - two with water, one with oil, one with salt water) and cups her hand in the water, and drinks it. The blacksmith tries to ignore her, and leaves quickly after refilling it*

*Elandra sits downon the nearby anvil (it's cool, it doesn't burn her) with the two quivers of arrows, and sets about doing a similar magical enchantment to them*

*as the tips glow, she holds them in her clenched palm, pricking the skin and holds it there, then throws each in the water*

*by the time all of them are done, over half the water has been used up*

*she sways with tiredness*

*Lumien walks in softly.*

Lady Elandra? I came over to see if I could-

*Notices her wobbling.*

Are you OK? It looks like you need to sit down.

*smiles weakly*

Oh, I'm fine. *takes a vial from her pouch, drinks it, and stands up easily*

*does a mockery of a bow* See?

*goes over to the wall and picks up Lumien's new blades*

Here, I made these for you...forgive me for the liberties I took with decoration. There's a shortbow too, I thought It'd be better for your strength than a longbow.

Thanks! They're beautiful!

*Turns the dagger over in her hands before inspecting the short sword.*

I never knew you could make them like this!

*Looks over the shortbow.* Thanks so much for making this on such short notice. I kind of prefer my old longbow, just because I'm used to it. But this will work great, at least until I can get back to mine in Imardin- I made it myself, you know.

*She glances at the vial with a concerned look.* How many of those have you had?

*nods* Sorry for the presumption, with bow size...but you should try this. A shortbow. It'll be far easier to fire, and perhaps even twice as fast.

*waves away her question* oh, don't worry about those, they're safe.

What I /did/ want to show you were these. *hands her the arrows, enchanted with water* When they strike the target they'll spray water...more for how fast they're travelling.

*picks up her new katana, whips it around and strikes it on the anvil, sends sparks flying but also water, which manages to spray both her and Lumien slightly*

What do you think of that?

*Wipes off her face.*

It'll certainly surprise him!

I didn't know you could do that. What is it, a water enchantment?

*nods*

I /couldn't/ have done this half a year ago. Well, I could have tried but I wouldn't have known how to do it. I learnt it from someone in my travels recently.

The trick is using not just pure magic, as with other enchantments - acid, fire, sonic, lightning. Water enchantments are harder because it's not as...openly aggressive, openly violent. Even though it can kill. So I need to use water, and - and fluid from myself, for the magic ingrained in it.

Fluid?

*crosses her arms.*

I knew something was wrong! You're dehydrated!

*Walks out for a moment, and returns with a canteen of water filled from the drinking well.*

Drink this- it'll help you more than any potion will.

*enters the forge unsteadily and sees Lumien*

*her voice comes out as barely a croak*

Lumien...

Syian? What are you doing here? You need to be resting!

I can't rest, not yet....the lakes outside you have to see them

*she gestures to the outside where the lakes are beginning to steam, evaporating at a high rate*

*Lumien watches the lakes in horror.*

This is not good. He's behind this, isn't he?

Yes...once they evaporate the fear for him here is gone and he can enter. There is a way we can stop him...

*her mind is screaming at her, telling her she is crazy and to go no further but this doesn't show outwardly except in her pale face*