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The Blacksmith Greets You In His Shop
"It truly seems my work is never done! For I am constantly receiving orders and requests. When I get this busy it usually means that the local lords are planning on war. I have many tasks as the town blacksmith. Not only do I craft horseshoes, nails and ironworks but I am also called upon to make weapons, armor and even shackles and manacles for the dungeons. My work begins when the sun rises and I've been known to work late into the evenings. The crafting of a sword takes a master hand. Most are made from casts of previous weapons. Some molds have great detail for the rich and extravagant, others are plain and simple. The steel is heated over a flame in my forge. Then I pound and smooth it with a mallet, dipping it in water every so often to harden the metal and to let it take shape. When that is finished I peddle at my grinding wheel to smooth the edges and to begin to sharpen the blade. The finishing edges are put on by a whetstone which brings the blade to a razor sharpness. When the blade is finished I hand fit it into a pommel and securely wrap it for comfort. After adding the tang and the handguard, the weapon is ready to be sold.
Shields are much easier as I must only temper a piece of metal into a round or triangular plate. Some shields are square but once the process is finished it can take me weeks or months to hand etch personal details into the metal. I then fit leather armstraps and a handgrip into the back with mounting lugs. Thus the piece is finished.
Armor is all custom made. There is a form of regular armor for sale that can be minimally adjusted to the wearer, but unless each particular suit is made to custom measurements, the wearer will experience discomfort. A full suit of fine plate mail armor can take up to 60 days or more to craft."
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