[GFD/CMD] Like Old Times

"You heard the lady, let's get out of here," Liam responds with a nod, inciting the rest of his... Err, the squad to follow suit.



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"Never before have I been so happy to be in a place with a regular amount of mystical energy. That crystal place was extremely overwhelming," Lexi remarks, now walking on her own again.

"No kidding, even I found it difficult to track spiritual signatures without being right up close with them," Liam echoes.

As they walked through the Bulwark's streets Ariana's new appearance drew a few looks... But not nearly as many as Liam expected. He supposed having a giant snake lady, a mutant frog-thing, and a living legend walking around made something like Ariana a lot less noteworthy. Liam had informed one of the staff to let Camille know of their arrival and for them to meet up outside the forge.

As Ariana passes out Phil is quick to catch her before she hits the ground, carrying her gently as the group moves onward through the town. That makes Phil two for two on carrying tired women around, a true gentleman.

As they head up to the manor Camille walks out to meet them. Much like Anderson her keen senses immediately tell something is different about Ariana, though given they don't seem to be in a hurry she's likely just asleep rather than in danger. "I take it everything went alright?"

Liam chuckles. "Oh everything went to shit, but that's to be expected. We managed,"

Camille raises an eyebrow but shrugs and decides not to question it. "So what's the plan?"

"Phil will take Ariana to her room and tuck her in for a well deserved rest. You and I, as well as anybody else interested in seeing the rare treat of an ichorsmith at work, are going to head to the forge to get the process done on your weapon,"

"I'll pass, I've already gotten to see it twice and want to get a nap in myself," Lexi says, before parting from the group and heading into the manor. Phil also decides to excuse himself as he goes in as well with Ariana. That leaves Kali and Tana to decide what they want to do.

Liam nods as Kali and Phil then take their leave to tend to Ariana. After that he leads Camille and Tana to the forge where they see an older gentleman hard at work. He of course knew in advance what they were planning so he had already made the preparations so that there wouldn't be any wasted time. He glances to the group and nods, gruffly saying. "Got the blood?"

Liam nods, producing the vial he filled and handing it to the man. He eyes it, swirling it a bit, before nodding in approval. "A fine sample, this'll do nicely," He sets the vial gently on a work desk to the side. At the same time one of the doctors of the Bulwark approaches with the tools necessary for drawing blood from Camille. Camille would be hesitant but stick out her arm.

Liam chuckles, glancing to Tana. "She's always been squeamish around needles," He whispers.

As they draw blood from her arm Liam would watch curiously as the blood is put into a second vial. He seems highly intrigued, and for good reason—her blood is not like typical blood. It's less red and more like a pale-pink, and it is also translucent. "Is this what pure monster blood looks like?" He asks.

"Aye. I've seen some really pure samples before but this is the first time I've seen one that is completely pure," The smith responds. "The last time I've heard of a completely pure blood sample was a tale from my master's master from way long ago. They were the one that made that special axe Kem's got. When he came in with that sample they could hardly believe their eyes. It's unsurprising it ended up becoming one of the most potent ichor weapons ever made," He glances to Camille. "Once the lass is powerful enough, I'd wager her blood alone could be used to make ichor weapons for other people as well,"

"Ehehe, that's... A humbling thought... Though I'm not sure I'm too keen on getting my blood drawn regularly for that purpose," Camille responds nervously.

The ichorsmith nods. "Aye. Besides, there's a cultural aspect to it as well. Ichor weapons are earned and forged from the spoils one gains from defeating a great monster. By defeating that great monster you prove yourself worthy of the ichor weapon. Similar to how a monster's blood has to be particularly strong to create an ichor weapon, the wielder's blood must also be strong enough to wield it. Ichor weapons are not sentient by any means but there is a special bond they forge with their owner—and unlike a bonded object, which is sourced from you, this bond is sourced from the weapon itself, so if you are not fit to use it, it will reject you,"

"Interesting... What happens when a weapon rejects you?" Camille inquires.

The smith shrugs. "Nothing much, really. When a weapon rejects its owner it just refuses to give them the power boost it normally would, effectively making it no different from a regular weapon, albeit a very high quality one,"

"So do you just let the unworthy person keep the weapon?"

"Well of the few unworthy people that have been given weapons, effort is usually put into training them until they are worthy. I believe that through enough determination and discipline anyone can become powerful," He responds. As he says that he takes the monster parts and begins his work assembling the weapon. He also has someone else, probably his apprentice, take the two vials of blood and prepare the quenching medium. Watching him put the weapon together was like watching a puzzle being solved, each piece seeming to fall perfectly into place as if they were made for that purpose. A true master of his craft can seemingly turn even the most random of things into something not only usable, but beautiful. Some of the pieces he discards, and others he uses special equipment designed to mold and shape even the hardest of materials in order to sharpen or reshape things until they are just right. Finally he heats the head of the halberd to a degree that would've turned even steel into molten liquid, before quenching it in the medium of the two mixed bloods.

This whole process would've taken most of the day, so the group likely would've departed and returned one or more times throughout, but when it's finally ready he holds the finished product up with a proud smile. "This is definitely one of my finest works. It helps when you've been given such high quality materials," He gives it a deft twirl then rests it on his palms as he presents it to Camille. "Time to see if you're worthy,"



Camille would understandably be nervous as she slithers closer, looking her new weapon over. She was pretty strong at this point, and from what she heard that was the main thing that determined worthiness, so she had nothing to worry about, right? But there's another part of her that dreads if she touches it and feels nothing. Though she supposed like the man mentioned, it would still be a servicable halberd until she becomes worthy. She takes a deep breath, and then reaches out to grasp the weapon for the first time.

Camille grips the halberd, feeling the power emanating from it. The bond was immediately apparent, it felt so natural to her compared to every weapon she's wielded before, she couldn't help but marvel at the comfortable feeling... But then something unusual happens. She witnessed the visage of a drake, its appearance matching what Anderson described to her while recounting the tale as they waited for the weapon to be finished. She watched it curiously as it returns her look, and seems to... Reject her. Not quite the whole weapon it seems, but something was clearly there within the halberd that she seemed to need a connection with to truly unlock its potential. All this she could glean from that brief interaction.

The smith meanwhile strokes his beard curiously. "Well I'll be. Guess there's a first time for everything. Can't rightly say what that glow means but it certainly ain't normal,"

Anderson nods. "Definitely didn't happen for me when I held Ultimatum for the first time," He says. The mention of the axe leaves a sour taste in his mouth but he was in such a good mood that it definitely wasn't enough to ruin it.

Camille seemed to be in a trance for a bit, before glancing to the smith. "I think that whole 'not sentient' thing proves inaccurate here. I could feel the drake's presence within the weapon. I'm not sure why, but it's undoubtable,"

"Fascinating. If the weapon truly has the mind of the monster used to forge it... I suspect it won't be too happy about being killed, so convincing it to be your pal is gonna be an uphill battle," He then shrugs. "But I'm just a smith. This would probably be better brought up with someone more keen on souls and all that jazz,"

Camille thinks on it for a moment. "Perhaps visiting Polymas one more time before we leave the Bulwark would help enlighten me on things. I've been meaning to visit him for other reason as well, so we can just add that on to the list,"