Owner	Pose
Colborn	The shop has been opened now for a week or so, and things are getting set up. Today, Colborn is finishing up the last piece of a half dozen theatrical fencing foils that he was commissioned to forge. Not a sharp blade, more of a pointed metal stick with a cup guard and handle. The quenching process is being done for the final piece right now, pulling it out of the oil to test for bends or whatnot.
Beroe Kazinski	It's been a bit of time, and what really gets Beroe realizing is that - well, it pops up on one of the reviews of the people she follows. Not so much that she was really paying attention to 'time', what is that thing anyhow? So, it is the end of this week when Beroe comes inside of The Forge, looking around immediately and starting to try and find Colborn.
Colborn	At the moment, he is running the shop by himself. So the door to the back is open and Colborn is doing his best to pay attention to the goings on up front even while working the forge itself. But withdrawing the foil from the oil, he smiles in satisfaction as he sees it is nice and straight. So that is set aside as he hears the door bell jingle.     Picking up a rage, he wipes off his hands as he steps out into the front room... heavy leather apron worn over his clothing to protect said clothing. But spotting the visitor, he lifts one corner of his mouth in a bit of a grin and lifts a hand, "Hello again Ms Kazinski." he says.
Beroe Kazinski	"Hellooooo?" Beroe starts off with a quiet inquiring, as she's stepping inside. Looking around more like it's a haunted house and she's going to be jumped out at at any moment, but she's super curious to see by what kind of ghost! Inching forward into the place until she sees Colborn step out and she smiles big, "OH, hi. And well, you can call me Beroe. Please do, no one calls me Miss, anything. Except maybe missed that basketball shot!" A quick pause before she giggles lightly, clasping her hands together in front of her pink plaid skirt, "I'm terrible at basketball. Glad to see you got your shop up and running! Have you been able to make a ton of swords?"
Colborn	Smirking, Colborn shakes his head as he strides forward. "I owe you for your aid last week. I also realize that you never got to see that sword that I claimed as my favorite."     That said, Colborn gestures to a display case over on one of the walls. "Open that case, and you will find it within." And of course, the weapon is in a black polished wood scabbard, and is not super duper thing and flexible like the showy Jian swords. This one is made for battle, and as such is more durable than flexible. Not super ornate, just well balanced and designed more for function, not form.
Beroe Kazinski	"My aid?" Beroe questions and then beams, "Oh! Right, when I tripped over your stuff and made a complete fool of myself, and slowing your day down." And she nods her head, "That's true, we didn't see the sword..." Moving over to the directed case, she looks at the case itself, and then finds where to open it, her eyes are super close like a little kid investigating something, until, ta-da, a sword! Reaching in she goes to just, grab it, without fear of getting hurt or whatnot. Though as soon as her hands have it, Beroe groans lightly, "Wowwie. That's heavy!" To her small statured body it certainly would be.
Colborn	Inclining his head, Colborn says, "It weighs about two pounds." And with a pause, he adds, "Actually, it is precisely one pound twelve ounces. So one point seven five pounds." And if that's heavy... well he shrugs.     Then he inclines his head and walks over to a different case. He opens it and withdraws a wrought iron armband. It looks like a snake that wraps around the upper arm a couple of times. "Perhaps this might be more your style. Please accept it as a gift." he says as he holds it out. (For the record: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61xcbP24-dL._AC_UL1001_.jpg)
Beroe Kazinski	It is heavy for the girl who picks up her phone, most often, and not really a sword, "Feels kind of heavy. Though I'm a weakling." She offers a quick laugh, as she tilts it back and forth some and then, looks at the other thing being offered. An arm band, "Oh, um. Why...?" She questions at the armband and settles the sword back down. She's blinking a few times, "That's too nice. Just to ... give me." And she eyes it, wide eyed a bit, and is holding it now should Colborn let it go, looking it over, "This is really pretty. A snake! Oh! It's a snake!" She grins big holding it up, "That's so cool. I didn't even notice at first, and then, the head, was RIGHT THERE!"
Colborn	Chuckling, Colborn nods, "It is indeed a snake. And it is indeed yours. And I like to give gifts to people who are nice to me. And you were helpful and nice after we quite literally bumped into one another. So please, let me give you something nice."     That said, he reaches for one of Beroe's hands and places the armband into said hand.
Beroe Kazinski	"OH, that's nice. Well, huh." Beroe sort of looks left, then right, then down her form, and she is hmmming, "Oh! I know." And she reaches out her arm to the side and pulls back a 6 pack of Spritz Energy drink. Then she grabs with her other hand a poster, that's rolled up, and quickly grabs a permanent marker with her other hand, "What about a signed poster? Oh, wow, that sounds really egotistical. You don't want a stupid poster that's signed, you know people, buy these. I just, I forget it's stupid." She grins big and is still holding onto the snake arm band like it's going to fall or is made out of babies. "What could I give you? I don't make a lot of things, and I'm already planning on doing a selfie outside the door, tagging it and everything. This energy drink, stuff, you can have, it was free. So, sharing, right? Hmmmmm..." She taps the marker against her chin as she thinks.
Colborn	"Beroe. You do not need to give me anything in return. All I ask of you is that you accept my gift." says Colborn. But he looks at the poster, and then the drink, "I could find a spot on the wall for the poster for sure. We can call it an endorsement, and perhaps you could do a livestream of one of my forging projects sometime. That would be an excellent advertisement for me, and I hope your followers might enjoy it."     That said, he gestures back towards the back room and the forge. "I just finished the blade for part of a project. Would you like to see how I work?"
Beroe Kazinski	There's a pause and Beroe twists the arm band around and around in her fingers until she takes in a deep breath, "Okay!" She burst, and then is fitting it around her arm, and then she's unpacking the poster quickly, "One second. Just, you know, in case, I get UBER famous, you'll have something worth a lot of money." And she signs the poster, <<To the bestest blacksmith that there ever was.>> And then her name before she rolls it back up with practiced ease and puts it back in the plastic wrap. "Ooooh! See how a blade is made? That sounds really interesting." And she nods her head a few times, reaching up and fiddling with the arm band again.
Colborn	"Usually, it takes hours. But I could do some quick sample work if you wanted to record it. Or ..." says Colborn as he steps into the back room and selects an ingot of steel from a handful of samples. "This will make a good knife." he says. "It has high carbon content, and as such will make for a strong and sharp blade."
Beroe Kazinski	Leaving the energy drinks on the counter, Beroe smiles and nods her head, "Oh, that would be really great! Do you have like a spray bottle, and can take off your shirt?" Then she waits a moment before blinking a few times, "Oh, wait, that could bring unwanted attention. Hmmm, okay, we could oooh ooh, focus really close to the knife and kind of steadily move around it as it 'forges' and then speed up the video to make it happen quick on screen. Then it could be a super cool tiktok."
Colborn	"You are the professional. You tell me what would look good, and I'll give you whatever performance you require." He grins and puts on his gloves before reaching to deposit the ingot into the coal fire. Then he shovels a few coals over the steel to try to heat it up evenly. "It will take a bit of time to get this up to the right temperature. Those television forging shows tend to gloss over that. Somewhere between one thousand seven hundred and two thousand two hundred degrees Fahrenheit. It is generally the color of the glow of the metal that will tell you when it is ready to be worked."
Beroe Kazinski	"I... am? That's so nice of you to say. Did you check out any of my quick change videos? I like those A LOT. They look so cool, you just do that little 'hop' and boom. You would not believe how long those take to make." Beroe comments as she's looking at her phone, pulling up the video recording, and making sure to get the settings right. "Really? The glow tells you, huh? Well, you are the professional here. I think, I want to doooooooo, one of those videos where sparks come flying off, and in slow-mo, you know?" Still looking at her phone and then she grins, "I think that's better than you taking off your shirt. For, your business, anyhow. If you have a dating profile, on an app or something, I could totally film that for that. I'd throw myself under that bus."
Colborn	Shaking his head, Colborn says, "I am not interested in dating. I thank you for your concern. But that is not necessary.." But now, he cheats just a little bit. Calling upon his internal energy reserves, he speeds up the heating process of the metal by mentally manipulating it on a molecular level. Just to save time with the filming and the like.     So after just a few minutes, he reaches in with tongs and removes the ingot... the whole thing is glowing yellowish orange. "There we have it. Are you ready?" he asks as he sets it on the anvil and hefts his forging hammer.... before bringing it down with force. Smooth strokes are the key. Not just hitting it as hard as you can... hitting it at the right angle, with the right force...
Beroe Kazinski	"Oh, well I'll strike that one from the options of things I can help you with, I guess. If you change your mind, lemme know. I think you could attract ALL SORTS of people with a shirtless smithing video." Beroe comments easily and then is flipping through some other settings on her phone until she smiles "Got it. Perfect for the lighting, a little slow-mo action, this will work. Then she reaches into a spatial pocket she creates and pulls out a small portable microphone that she moves closer to the knife. One hand, mic, other one video. Super close, she crouches some to be at the right spot to start, then stretches out to one side even more, extending her arms. She'll make a smooth swoop action, "Already recording, don't worry, I can edit later." And as the forceful hits come down, she slowly moves the phone around in a half circle. The glowing ingot getting the most attention, a lot of everything else fading into background other than the hammer coming down.
Colborn	After a few strikes, unlike in the movies... Colborn picks up the ingot and puts it back in the coals. The single most important part of forging is to maintain the right temperature. Not to let it cool down too far, but also not to get it too hot. He reaches for the air-flow control and pumps that handle a bit, to get the coals heated up also.     Then out it comes once more, and the hammering begins again. The shape of the metal begins to change... slowly drawing it out longer and thinner..
Beroe Kazinski	The ingot goes into the coals and Beroe's attention shifts, moving over in that direction to get some additional video. She moves in and out, getting real close and backing away to make sure she gets video from a bunch of different directions. Even once the ingot is moved from the coals she films the coals just a few moments longer to have that for use. Then back to the hammering. Stepping back some, she stands an grins, looking over to Colborn, "Got it!" A few nods of her head, and she offers, "I bet this will turn out real well." Eyes, glued, to the screen of her phone she's editing it there. Cause that's what an 18 year old does. She films, edits, lives, on her phone. Cutting out sections, adding some effects, bringing in some floating text and more and is just working on it.
Colborn	"Most of forging is repetitive. It can be boring to watch..." admits Colborn. He pulls the ingot out of the heat and hammers it a few more times before putting it back in. "Most times, I will be working on two or three items at once, so that while two are heating, one is being hammered. But... I do not wish to confuse your viewers.... followers?"     he shrugs and works it a bit more, drawing upon his power to keep the ingot hot longer, to make it more malleable. Just little cheats for the sake of the filming. Nothing obvious, and nothing to make it better than normal forging would make it. "So tell me. Do you think your viewers would like a Seax?" (pronounced Sax). "It is an old single bladed knife used by the Vikings."
Beroe Kazinski	Beroe Kazinski looks up as Colborn says things are repetitive, and she smiles quickly, but then boring to watch? "What? No! That's so cool, then each time you can see how it slightly differs. And something is created by the end. How could THAT be boring?" And Beroe tilts her head to the side a little, blink blink. "Confuse my followers? Oh, no no, it's okay. They're only gonna get like 8 seconds of video ... and it just needs to 'look cool'. Did you not learn this in business school?" Her face tilted down again as she's editing more of the video. Then she starts recording a little more to capture some small additional changes, before going back to editing again. Seems like she figures she has all the video she needs, "Um. We can get a finished product shot, and with you holding it, to be honest, you could be holding anything though. Even something you've already finished, with a big smile. Or me, holding it, if you are embarrassed about being internet famous?" She grins and laughs just a little, as she is tapping, shrinking things, swiping fingers across her screen. "How do you know so much about old people?"
Colborn	"Business .. school." says Colborn. Then he smirks, "Sorry, my education is pretty much all from experience in the world, not formal education. I apprenticed with a master smith in my youth though." A pause, "A few masters of different styles actually."     He pulls the ingot out again and start hammering once more. The shape is starting to show in the metal. Long, narrow... the tip angled towards one side. But unlike many blades, this one's sharp edge is on the -straight- side, not the tapered one. He twists it up and hammers at the tip to shape it before turning it flat and striking it a few more times. It's rhythmic and steady as he works.
Beroe Kazinski	It can't be said that Beroe is paying THAT much attention, not at least currently, as she's tweaking the video she has. But she's listening for sure, "Yeah, Business School. I mean, I didn't go to business school either, but I want to! It has been an uphill battle since I was sixteen. My mom, triiiiies to help, but she doesn't -really- get it either." And then she grins, putting her phone away for now, and watching the hammering, "You must have a great attention span. I don't know if I could do this just from the waiting, it's like baking. Waaaaaaaaay too long, just sitting there waiting for the cookies. When I was a kid, I nearly burned myself sooooo many times grabbing cookies straight out of the oven, cause I just couldn't wait. My mom would just laugh, well, not really laugh, just little crinkles on her eyes, but she wouldn't stop me. Jeez, she's great too. You might like her, super good at her stuff, serious, like you. Attentive."
Colborn	Smirking a bit, Colborn keeps hammering as he speaks. "You learn to be patient when performing tasks that are measured in days and weeks of work. It can take an immense amount of focus to be able to work one piece of metal until its shape has changed enough to be a finished product."     He pauses, looks up and says, "I once spent six months making a single suit of armor. But.." he grins, "It was worth it in the end. To watch something you made with you make with your own hands take shape and become something else entirely."
Beroe Kazinski	"Jeeeeez, days?!" Beroe gasps, her eyes get really wide, as she looks over, in genuine awe. "You mean you work on the SAME thing for an entire day?!" There's a little shake of her head, "Wowwie. I have a hard time staying focused enough to do the same thing for ... I dunno, fifteen minutes? My mom would joke, she'd say unless it's shopping! But, I'm not really like that..." A pause and then she grins bigger, looking to the side, "Well, okay, mayyyyybe a little. It's serious stuff though, and it's a lot of little tasks, not one big long neverending one." "OOoh!" She blurts, and grabs her phone, jotting down the quote, "Wait a second, you just said. A single suit of armor can take six months to make. The entire time, having a front row seat to watching your own hands make shape of the shapeless, something beautiful from the raw. It is worth it." And she looks up, "That was great."
Colborn	"Exactly. Knowing that you are making something. Something that is both beautiful and functional." says Colborn with a grin. He looks up from the work as he puts the metal back into the forge. It's already started to take some shape. And he works without words for a bit.     Hammering over and over forces more changes on the steel. But he makes sure to strike in ways that generate more sparks. After an hour or so... yeah, he's working fast today... he finishes shaping his blade, and says, "Now the quench." and he makes sure the camera gets a good view as he lowers it into his tub of oil....
Beroe Kazinski	Wiggles her fingers a little bit as she looks at the item coming into 'shape'. And Beroe keeps watching, "See how good of a teacher you are? I got it on the first go." She gives a quick beaming smile, which calms down to just a normal near-constant smile on her face. As you quiet down, Beroe fills in the gap, chatting about this or that in the news, about people producing content, clothes, picture techniques, latest social media stuff. Just, the entire thing. Her phone is ever at the ready though to grab good shots, and when you make sure to tell her about this quench, she gets in there with the phone and does super slo-mo, for sure, this time.
Colborn	And as the blade goes into the oil, a flare of flame and heat come up out of the oil. A flare of flame that will look fantastic in slow motion. When he pulls it out, he grins and adds, "And now comes the boring part." he says as he steps over to a machine with what appears to be giant belts of sandpaper on wheels. Turning it on, he begins leaning into it with the blade... or what they call -grinding- the metal.
Beroe Kazinski	Capturing the quenching, Beroe has to bite her lip because she just wants to giggle squeal at how cool it looks, and then you are moving. She keeps her mouth closed, the toughest part of the entire day, and she walks after you. Hurrying with her camera she setups as you grind. Capturing some of that with you in it. Getting some of the audio in via the bluetooth microphone she just watches, her eyes squinty closed with a big grin on her face.
Colborn	The most dramatic part of the grinding is the sparks that fly off of the metal. He didn't bother to really -test- the metal to make sure it was hard. He knew it was hard. So he works to add angels and a bevel. He moves with sure hands based on experience. None of this is new to him. Making a knife is the sort of thing he can do almost with his eyes closed.     He twists and turns the knife about as he works, angling here and there with sparks flying off as the blade shrinks. Finally, he asks, "Wood or bone for the handle?" as he gives Beroe the choice.
Beroe Kazinski	The sparks are mesmerizing. Beroe just sort of stares wide-eyed, luckily she started recording early. Even with the sound of it all, it doesn't seem to bother her, just the spark flying capture all of her attention for a long period of time. And then, when she's asked a question, she keeps staring, it's only after a minute or so from the question she pauses, blinking a few times, and looking over at Colborn. A smile, as her eyes look at him, and then she asks, "What'd you want to know? Or were you talking to someone else?"
Colborn	"Oh, I just wanted your opinion on whether I should make the handle out of wood or bone." says Colborn as he stops with the grinding for now. He gestures to a cupboard which he moves over to open. Stepping aside, he gestures to the shelves inside. "There are many different materials here to choose from. So take your pick."
Beroe Kazinski	Beroe is in the back of The Forge, past a door, with Colborn. There's grinding sounds happening from back there, grinding of metal not crazy dance moves. Beroe has been filming and is every so often again, phone in hand and a bluetooth mic in another, but is currently conversing with the much taller man as the grinding sounds stop. "OH?! You are going to let me decide. Ummm, bone. No, that's probably no good for my vegan followers, nor animal rights friends. It sounds cool, but I need to... stay vigilant with my allyships. Okay. Wood." The pointing to the cupboard went well past her, as she was lost in 'decision mode'.
Colborn	"Well, it's not like anyone is going to eat it. I mean it's harvested from animals that are already dead. No animals were killed -just- to make this handle material. And -not- using it would be much the same as wasting the material. As if the animal died for nothing." says Colborn with a smile. "But sure. I understand the sentiment ... the world these days is way too concerned with not offending anyone. And everyone seems to -want- to be offended."     He grins and reaches into the cabinet to pull out a block of dark stained walnut wood. "This should do well for your followers." he adds as he steps over to a bandsaw and begins cutting the wood in half.
Beroe Kazinski	Hmmming a bit, Beroe offers, "I don't think it's that. I mean, I get it. It's just that, if I put this on my page. Lots of people will want to buy things like it, with bone, and that bone might not come from a responsible person. It creates a market. It isn't about the specific, single bone, or even you for using it. I think it'd look lovely, beautiful, but I understand that people don't want to promote or incentivize certain behaviors." And Beroe oooohs as the dark walnut comes out and she nods her head quickly, "Yeah. That one looks great. Sorry for my indecision, or politicizing the bone. I just, I have to keep in mind my demographic, their concerns and worries as well as my own."
Colborn	"Too many people in the world are too focused on -being- upset for one reason or another. A lifestyle choice should only affect the life of the person making the choice. Anyone else should simply not stick their noses into the life of the person living the life." offers Colborn as he takes a small chisel and begins digging minimal amounts of walnut wood out of each half of the block. Making a channel for the tang of the blade.
Beroe Kazinski	"Maybe." Beroe offers, smiling, "It's tough to not want to go with the crowd though, and do something that changes the world for the better. I don't like eating meat, but I really do like eating it. I'm torn. On one hand I know if many people stopped, like, lots of people, even if not everyone. The world would be better off, cows wouldn't suffer, and they are SOOOOO cute." She frown pouts for just one moment, then is smiling again, "But on the other hand, they taste good." She's holding up both hands now, kind of weighing back and forth. And then she shrugs a little, and lets her shoulders drop back down, "I don't know which is right, I don't know if using the bone is right or wrong, I just know that - lots of the people I think are trying to do good things, and help me help others. Well, they think it wouldn't be good. Even if wrong, overall, I think they are doing something amazing. Not as amazing as making a blade, and sparks and fire and everything. But still!"
Colborn	"And the population of cows would skyrocket. People forget that in the natural world... survival of the fittest is a very real thing. A wise man once said... nobody wants you to learn your truth. They don't want you to learn what is right for yourself. They want you to agree with -their- view of what is true and good for you." Colborn says that as he works, shrugging as he steps over to the anvil and fits the tang of his blade into the gaps in the handle. He's done this enough that he quite literally was able to size things up by eye and hand. His hand work is better than some people's measured machine work. Some epoxy, and he begins fastening the handle wood to the metal of the blade.
Beroe Kazinski	"And maybe that would bring back the wolf population! That'd be nice." Beroe offers with a smile, "See, everything is connected, one great big circle of life. It's so amazing, isn't it?" Her voice still rather cheerful as she watches more with the handle being affixed and she pulls out her phone, just to get a little footage of the last pieces. "Don't let me forget to get a picture of it, either laying down, maybe, over the anvil, or held by you, or on display. Either way, gotta get those finished product shots. Oh, and if you have a price. I could add that too! People might go bonkers for it, it's already looking so cool."
Colborn	Chuckling, Colborn works some more, attaching the wood, before he moves back to the grinder. There, he starts shaping the handle. It doesn't take too long before he has a nicely rounded hand-grip cut into the wood. That done, he turns to a different grinder and begins actually making a sharp edge to the blade.     After a few minutes, he gestures to it with his chin. "I would start filming right now." he adds as he starts scraping the edge over a whetstone. It's just for show of course... and then he lifts it to display before his aproned chest... and then lays it on the anvil. "There. A Seax knife fit for a Viking. On the average, these go for three hundred dollars each. I would sell one of these for one hundred and twenty myself."
Beroe Kazinski	Beroe smiles bigger at the chuckle, "I got you to laugh! Yes!" She rocks back and forth in an accomplished sort of foot rocking. And then she's picking up her phone again and getting ready to record. She does so, of course, and when it is laid down on the anvil, she takes some film of that, moving around it, but then also some pictures, close up and further back. Eyes on her screen. When she hears the price though, her jaw drops, "All that work, for just ... a hundred and twenty dollars? That's ... people are ripping you off. This thing is soooooooo cool, and probably, useful, for a person who ... cuts things, seems like that's really low."
Colborn	It costs me far less in materials and time to forge it. Anyone who charges more than they need is ripping others off. I make enough and do not wish to charge extra just so that I might have a few extra dollars at the end of the day. My rent gets paid. My food is purchased. My bills are paid, and I set some aside. That is enough for me." says Colborn.     "I am not into profit for the sake of profit. I am into making enough that I get to keep doing what I love to do."