Crafting a What?!

[Artemus Kurgen]

"The power of choice. It is all about what we choose to do, not how we do it. This is the substance between the two, though there are things each does that the other cannot. For instance..." He shrugged out of his work apron and draped it over a nearby counter.

With a slow exhale of breath his skin began to change. First hardening as though becoming rock but then his whole body became transparent as though he were a statue cut from a giant, perfect daimond; yet he still moved and spoke. "I have not heard of this being allowed by your Force. Right now my entire being is made of daimond."

Another shift and his body took on the appearance of black stone. "Obsidian." One more shift, his skin becoming a flawless reflective alloy that did not appear to come from anywhere on the realm. "Adamantium." And then finally he returned to his norman countenance. "For every ability magic grants there is a specializing school that devotes itself to that specific fascette. From what I have gleaned of your Force there are only two sides that war with one another about which is better. Almost like twins bickering over a mutual toy."

[Leuni]

"The power of choice. It is all about what we choose to do, not how we do it. This is the substance between the two, though there are things each does that the other cannot. For instance..." He shrugged out of his work apron and draped it over a nearby counter.

"And the choice." She uttered quietly, shifting her stance to her right leg as she watched him slip out of the apron.

Her gaze was filled with wonder as she watched him transform not once, but several times into various substances.

It was during the shift to the second one that she reached out and tentatively touched his arm with one single finger just to see what it felt like; hard, smooth and yet warm like a body, not the coolness of room temperature as would be expected from something inanimate as a diamond. She wondered if the temperature was just residual and would wear off if left in that state, or if that was something that would stay if he stayed that way for very long.

By the time he turned to Obsidian, her finger was no longer touching him but pulled away abrupty by the sudden shift to the color of a bottomless pit. She grinned at herself for being startled by it.

"For every ability magic grants there is a specializing school that devotes itself to that specific fascette. From what I have gleaned of your Force there are only two sides that war with one another about which is better. Almost like twins bickering over a mutual toy."

The grin deepened at this.
"Actually, there are different fascettes, or focuses, then just the two waring sides you mentioned. But I suppose you're right, those sides do seem to bicker over them with some things mutual ... a Universal point common between. I don't know enough to be able to explain it, but there are different focuses that deal more with things like healing or mind control.. even illusion that I've barely come across so far. What.. fascette do call what you just did with yourself? Shape shifting?"

[Artemus Kurgen]

"Not at all girl. Shape shifting is for the preternaturally furry. What I did was simply a form of metamorphosis. Transforming from one state into another. Most who know that ability need to be holding an object of said material and only then its a partial transferrence. It takes a lot of work to get that far, and among those in this realm, I am the only one so far who is capable. At least from what I have observed. You have no doubt seen more who throw around fire, ice and lightning rather than something more, benign." A shrug then as he pondered her words. "Fair enough, I'll grant you the similarities. But there is one thing I wonder. Is the Force as unique and varied among its practitioners as Magic is among her own? Three individuals side by side who use the same ability. In use of the Force is each instance different as it is in magecraft?"

That was the one thing many failed to learn where magic involved itself. For every person, the gift manifested itself differently. Like a fingerprint. Every man, woman, and child could fling the same spell but no two would be truly alike. Each would have its own signature difference.

[Leuni]

There were a lot of questions coming her way .... questions that she had no answer for. She barely understood the Force let along magic. It wasn't anything she had studied in any length.

"Honestly, I don't know, Artemus. I've barely scratched the surface of the Force let along magic.. a thing for which I was told I had no talent for. I suppose anything is possible, that a signature can be found in the force as to the user. It's far more commonly known the studies of magic vs studies of the Force. At this point, though, I wouldn't know how to use the force for this.... or magic for that matter."

Her words paused as a thought occured to her and she mulled it over for a moment before she spoke again.

"Although..... I've been trying to learn to sense an opponents moves before they fully commit to them. I've been using other people's duels to to practice this. I did notice that they all have their own unique... feel about them... aura if you will. Perhaps this is the signature present in everyone that is transferred or detected in the magic like you said... something that might also be detected by the Force. Perhaps it's just a person life force, spirit... the thing that makes them who they are."

[Artemus Kurgen]

He merely offered a nod to her words. It was true he'd pushed at the point even knowing she was a novince in her own right as to the Force. In any event this conversation had reached its ending point, any more discourse was just filibustering. A pause to scratch his chin, Artemus watched her calmly as the faint glow in his eyes brightened a moment then faded to their usual shade.

"Make you a deal. I'll see to the commision of your katana, plus a means to manipulate the aether for dueling. But I'll charge you double, simply because of how strange this request is. Most who come in already have an idea of what they want the weapon to do specifically. Further, I'll take a shot at crafting your toy. Does this all sound fair? Neither work will be free but you're only paying for the one." He put his work apron back on and tied it in place while awating her answer.

[Leuni]

The blank stare flashed in and shifted to an incredulous look. The expression again eased to a more controlled setting though the lift of her brow clearly showed her dislike and confusion. Her tones were inquiring, words spoken slowly.

"So... lemmi get this straight. You want to charge me double on an item simply because I didn't know exactly what I wanted? Seems to me that might actually cover the price of both, and perhaps more, depending on what they end up to be or which one you're doubling .... I'm not sure I understand how that's fair. Perhaps you could explain it to the gullible novice?"

The grin slowly formed, mirth sparked in her eyes. Bartering for a price was not beyond her means.

"As for the lightsabre, I figured that would be a mutual benefit... I provide the schematics, which I think are nOt easy to come by ... you learning how to make one from that ... then teaching me. We would actually learn together. I'll pay for the materials I use to make my own... scraps and all. Now that would be fair. Don't you think?"

[Artemus Kurgen]

"So... lemmi get this straight. You want to charge me double on an item simply because I didn't know exactly what I wanted? Seems to me that might actually cover the price of both, and perhaps more, depending on what they end up to be or which one you're doubling .... I'm not sure I understand how that's fair. Perhaps you could explain it to the gullible novice?"

"You called yourself gullible, not I. And I charge what I charge. I have to cover costs for forging materials, regular steel is not the best conduit for arcane injections, the spell components required to give you access to the energies of the Isle both on and off site, as well as the partial commision for my smithy. Now, I can tell you that total cost, you won't go over 1700 nobles as I normaly only charge 800 for a masterwork blade which is magically enchanted enough to give Fey, lycanthropes, and other etherial creatures reason to pause.

As for the sabre. There is one downside and that's the the only item I know of their forging. You need a special crystal that provides the energy to power it, but if you want it to be some pretty color other than white."

He moved behind a counter then and pulled out a folded length of brown cloth. Within the dark material he revealed a silver necklace inlaid with rubies and emeralds. Gently holding it in his hands, Artemus whispered soft words in a gutteral language that seemed to make the modern electric lights flicker and dim for a moment. The gems within the necklace seemed to flash once then softly sparkled in erratic patterns.

"Project fourty-two is done now. Eight more before I can go home for the day." He re-wrapped the necklace and moved to set it in a shelf under the display case that was out of sight of the public.

[Leuni]

Mental calculations of eight hundred times two swirled briefly in her head, resulting in the crack of a smile widening further upon her lips. Brown hues sparked even more with mirth; it was all she could do not to laugh. The ceiling of the price is what she settled for, being far less then what she had anticipated.

The man was charming in his own way, akin to an older brother one wanted to place their boot to arse with.... in a humorous way of course. It reminded her that he did have a brother somewhere and she wondered what had happened to him. It was, of course, none of her business and she wouldn't even ask. She didn't even know the brother's name off hand as it was, let alone the man himself. All she knew were rumors and rumbles ... talk on the street... certainly nothing substantial.

Her gaze followed his movements as he pulled out the beautiful necklace. She watched him closely, though the words he spoke were foreign to her and lost on her naiveté. She couldn't even repeat them if she tried and had no idea what language they were. Their effects didn't escape her, though.

Leun watched, almost mesmerized by the sparkling patterns the gems gave off with their light. Red and green patterns twinkled across the room briefly before it was extinguished by the cover. She watched Artemus move to put it away.

"What was that?"

Pleasure of its beauty mixed with her curiosity seeped into her smile.

[Artemus Kurgen]

"Nothing special. Just an enchantment to induce acne and chicken pox. The man who commissioned it caught his fiance commiting an act of infidelity...with several men. " Artemus just shook his head at that. The whims of the rich.

"Though going back to your own commission. The price I gave you is an estimate for now. It might be lower, or higher depending on if there are any complications. Personally I don't see it going higher than 18 at best. So again not too much to worry about."

[Leuni]

"Nothing special. Just an enchantment to induce acne and chicken pox."

The reaction to that was a dumbfounded blink and a slight step away from the item, fear tinged brown hues for a moment. She shook her head with a grin as he continued.

"The price I gave you is an estimate for now. It might be lower, or higher depending on if there are any complications. Personally I don't see it going higher than 18 at best. So again not too much to worry about."

And then shook her head some more with a laugh as he went back to the price.

"Wait a minute... what happened to 1700 being the most? I could've sworn you said that. Yes, I believe you did. .. which, by the way, is more then double the usual 800. Does your price keep rising the more you go back to it? Cause you need to stop!"

She was pretty firm about it even though the mirth was in her smile and laughter in her tones. "If I knew you better I'd kick your arse right about now. I think I'll kick Tass' just because he sent me to you. Might be fun anyway regardless. All right then, Artemus... 1750 and nOt a noble more."

Her gaze was steady, mirth sparkled inside yet there was a firmness that she wasn't backing down. It even looked like she would walk from it if he tried to go higher. Was she bluffing?

[Artemus Kurgen]

He met her gaze with an unreadable mask of mirth at the reactions he yanked from her like giving candy to a child with a massive sweet tooth. Fingers lighty drum on the counter as he watched haggle and found it rather enjoyable. "Fine, not another Noble more. 1750 nobles and 50 crowns." A faint glimmer in his eyes as he played the loop she left available. Crowns to Nobles was like Pennies to quarters, really inconsequencial. "But I kid. 1,750 it is."

A hand reached under the counter and pulled out a writ of commission and slid it towards her. He may be rough, but everything he did was legitimate. No shadey work from him and people get what they pay for. "Just fill that out and I'll get the ball rolling. Now if you need to get in touch with me you can either call here..." Motions to a landline at the end of the counter. "...between noon and two. Or at the Arcanum Academy between five and seven as those are my office hours where I'm either grading papers or having meetings with students and staff."

[Leuni]

"Fine, not another Noble more. 1750 nobles and 50 crowns."

A spark of a fiery reaction flared in dark hues to meet the faint glimmer of humor in his eyes. Fire softened with the tug of a smile as she took the writ and picked up a pen. Her gaze shifted to the paper as she looked it over. "For a minute, I thought you might be brave enough to go for the arse kick. It might be worth the extra 50 crowns ...."

She chuckled, glanced up briefly at him with a devilish grin and returned her gaze to the writ as she began to fill out the form. Her expression sobered gently.

"The colors have meanings behind them for the Jedi... blue, green and gold, or yellow. Perhaps for Sith as well with red and purple. I'm not sure of all the colors, or which color means what yet. I've only briefly covered that area. But... um... I want something different for the lightsabre.... that much I'm sure of. I want something that sets it apart from them both. Maybe an aqua... or an orange... or pink."

She grinned at that last one giving it a slighty eye roll for effect. Her with Pink? It was laughable to her anyway and she did laugh softly at it for a moment.

"Seriously though... what do you think about copper? Can it be done?"

[Artemus Kurgen]

"Well see when I can study the schematics," he said without looking up from the next project to be worked on.

A quick look at the clock let him know he'd have to close up for a few hours and move towards the Academy for what remained of the daylight before moving on to the warehouse.

[Leuni]

She caught the glance and remembered what he said about his hours here and at the Academy. "I'll bring those by here first thing tomorrow."

She was planning to be there even before they opened. Jotting down a TBD note for the color, she finished filling it out and gave him back the writ of commission.

"All square for now?"