The New Winds

Sakura had to tell a small white lie to Zashi so he wouldn't come to the forge again, and she felt awful for it. Even though it was for him!

She gave the guards a smile and a bow, again sending a servant to bring them tea, before she began her work. Taking out the package the sensei had left for her, she took her time with the cutting of the gems, carefully shaping the quartz. She looked at her wrist multiple times during it, remembering the size of her wrist compared to Zashis (with a slight blush) so she knew how big to make them.

Once this was done, she began work on the bracelet. Melting and shaping the rose gold. Her tongue poked out as she concentrated on the difficult parts, but it was going incredibly well.


(ooc:
D5 Serpent . Artisan:Gemcutting/Agility TN20: 5d10o10k4 27 passed
D5 Serpent . Artisan:Jeweler/Agility TN20: 6d10o10k4 46 passed

Smoky Quartz bracelet completed. 0.1 glory gained

The young Lion student was trying to peek into the mysterious hole they had discovered in the forge last night ... unsuccessfully, though, as the unsmiling guards turned him away.

As he abandoned the attempt to get past the guards, the Lion spied Sakura making something on the forge.

"Oh, konnichiwa," he said. "I'm Matsu Qiang. What are you making? It looks too small to be a weapon."

Sakura jumped at the sudden voice, turning quickly.

"W-where did you come from?"

She took a moment before bowing. On the desk beside her was a brown gem of some sort (Smoky Quartz), some pieces of it shaped like a fox, and at the forge was molten gold being prepared for shaping.

"Hello. I'm Doji Sakura! I'm making jewelry."

"Making jewelry," Qiang repeated, as if learning a new and previously-unfamiliar phrase. He peered curiously at the pieces of gem and gold. "I didn't know there was a class for that here. Is it difficult? Your work looks very delicate, with a lot of fine details."

"It is. Even one slight slip could break the gem and ruin the entire work. I have to be super super careful, but I'm an expert with gems. I'm even working on gem blades" Sakura beamed a smile at that "I'll be the best gemsmith in the empire one day! There's no class for it though, not even a single sensei. I'm from the Kakita academies."

Wyn arrives with a basket of food, he delivers it to the guards on duty, and pauses hearing Sakura's comment. "Then I guess you will need to become your own Sensei, right?"

"Gem blades? I've never heard of such a thing," Qiang said, wonderingly. "Are they...something ceremonial? How do you learn how to make these things, if there is no class for it?"

"You can't be your own sensei," the young Lion said, tilting his head toward Miya Wyn as he acknowledged her comment. "Can you...?" He didn't sound too sure.

"I learnt to make it at the Kakita artisan academy. We teach swordsmanship, and I chose to learn about jewelry alongside it. It's fun! As for gem blades, hai they're ceremonial mostly" Sakura smiled brightly "although some gems are really strong too, and potentially have other uses. I'm working on a tanto made from Jade as well as this bracelet here."

She bowed deeply to the Miya that spoke, then looked confused.

"Me? A senseI? I'm a student."

"But if you are the only one who has combined Weapons Smithing and Gem Cutting, then some day you will need to teach others, no?"

"I've heard people talk about jade weapons before," Qiang said, nodding. "But aren't gemstones kind of brittle compared to metal? How do you keep gem blades from breaking?"

"It's not something you could use day in day out for fighting. Gem weapons would need a lot of maintenance, and in standard combat they wouldn't offer much benefit" Sakura nodded "however gems have a spiritual benefit from what I've been told, so perhaps they'll be better for those who have to face more spiritual threats. Plus, they look pretty, so could be useful for ceremonies!"

Sakura then peeked at the Miya.

"Ano...I'm not very good at teaching though. I could try...but I think I would be an awful sensei."

"If you do not want your art form to die with you, you must pass it on." He nods and picks up a broom beginning to clean the forge, but staying out of Sakura's way, "Luckily there are Sensei's who know how to teach, perhaps you should ask your own sensei for lessons to be a sensei, while you are still training, in preparation of a time you will need to know how to teach."

Doji Sakura wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 07, 2020 4:45 pm

"It's not something you could use day in day out for fighting. Gem weapons would need a lot of maintenance, and in standard combat they wouldn't offer much benefit" Sakura nodded "however gems have a spiritual benefit from what I've been told, so perhaps they'll be better for those who have to face more spiritual threats. Plus, they look pretty, so could be useful for ceremonies!"

The Matsu nodded solemnly. "It sounds like a very useful art," he said. "I don't know much about spiritual dangers, but having weapons against them sounds like a good idea. And ceremonies are important, too."

"I hadn't thought about it" Sakura said entirely honestly to the Miya "I just wanted to make gem weapons. Maybe my children will know it because they came from me?"

She nodded and smiled to the Matsu.

"Hai! I'm glad you understand. A Unicorn boy insulted me because he said my work was a waste if it wasn't able to be used in combat all the time."