Crafter's Lounge

While this room still has the look of a just-constructed room, the walls lined with well-used books, comfortable chairs that are, possibly, just getting ratty, and the carpet that is almost worn through in a few spots give this room a well-used and comfortable feeling. Oposite the two doors that lead into the room from the outside coridor are two large plate-glass windows that open out onto almost untouched forest, the shutters pushed back to allow the sunlight to imbue the room with playful light in the day, and to allow gazing at the stars at night. With the exception of a door along one end, usually shut, that leads to the CraftMaster's office(and labeled as such with a small plaque above the door), the walls are completely covered with bookshelves. And those bookshelves are mostly full, although a few of the upper shelves still have some space upon them. A few rolling ladders dot the shelves to allow access to any of the books normally out of reach, and at any time, at least one of the ladders is in use. Scattered about the floor as well are several dozen tables, covered with books, drawings, and other assorted paraphanalia. A glass case in the center of the room displays the blueprints for the entire hall, along with a ledger detailing where every piece of it came from. A half dozen sand tables are also spaced about the room, several of them turned askew for work, and most of them missing atleast a little sand which has fallen to the floor. Despite all the clutter, and the large assortment of chairs and small reading tables scattered about, the room is very empty, and allows space for several private meetings and gatherings without any chance of one encroaching on another. The oddest thing about the room, however, is the lack of glowbaskets. Not to say that the room is dark at night, for indeed it is lit with a warm yellow glow that comes from lanterns and candles scattered around the room, and from the dual fireplaces set into the oustide walls that allow for heating if it ever gets cold. While a few visitors do bring a glow or two with them, the room's light is predominantly from these candles and lanterns which, at night, tend to make several private areas, and keep the rest of the room flickering and changing as shadows pass.
Baskets set into the wall are filled with sweet-smelling herbals.
Clinging to a high beam is Skittles.
You see Dart Board here.
Gaederon and Natali are here.
Obvious exits:
CraftMaster's Office Balcony Landing

Natali

Mahogany tresses stretch the length of this young woman's frame, tied back from her heart-shaped face with a simple strip of wherhide and stopping mid-torso. Size and looks may contribute to an adolescent illusion, being petite at roughly five feet and detailed with an amber-freckled face, but juvenility is hardly a factor with her curves of age. Despite her innocent look, her infamous demeanor clashes considerably, somewhat evident from the several faint scars remaining on her neck, most of them hardly visible at all, at least without a close examination. Luminous brown eyes offer as much warmth as a steaming cup of klah, or perhaps it's fury for the unknown. Her complexion has taken that of an Istan, a pure result of the vast amount of time spent in the outdoors traveling and working on her profession.
Dark cobalt wherhide trousers worn by her are incomparably worn and have seen their days. On her torso, she is wearing a long-sleeved ashen shirt with a blanched azure tunic worn over it. Sturdy new-looking boots seem unbroken on her small feet.

Perched on Natali's shoulder is Vinny.

A small, blue-green stone is set on a thin wire chain, forming a small bracelet. The stone itself is opaque, yet seems to shine in the light. The rich turquoise color of the stone gives it depth, and the few brown impurities swirling throughout the blue only intensify this affect. The turquoise is round, circled by the delicate wire.
Natali bears a knot, double corded in the colors of red and white with two loops and one tassle all bound in gold thread indicating her position as a Master of the Smithcraft. Along side this knot are two ribbons in the colors of golden yellow and peridot green, denoting her post to Keroon Hold.

She is awake, but has been staring off into space for a minute.
Natali is 20 Turns, 4 months, and 23 days old.

Gaederon

A moderate height young man with sandy brown hair and light skin. His pale blue eyes stand out in contrast to his rather large nose and thin lips. Wide shoulders turn into a broad chest over narrow hips and strong legs, while solid, wiry arms whipchord down to his long fingered hands.

Deep forest green muslin has been worked into a loose fitting tunic, the sea foam trim at the square collar and the cuffs of the elbow length sleaves embroidered with delicate knotwork in a slightly lighter shade. The waist is cinched with a sash of aquamarine, and hangs loosely over the top of his deep emerald trous. The trous are also loosely fitting, and double seamed along the sides and inseam, with shallow cuffs just below the ankles, and two very deep pockets in the front. His newly polished black boots show signs of significant wear, but are serviceable. Leather has been wrapped through holes in the inner side of the boots, tightening them up to his calfs. Perched on Gaederon's shoulder is Zeffir. Perched on Gaederon's shoulder is Invert.

Gaederon wears a knot in the white and red of Smithcraft, twisted in a the double cord, single loop with a long tail, signifying he is a Journeyman.f
He is awake and looks alert.
Carrying:
Gaeds Zombie Feature MBook TempPose Invert Special Gaed's Letter Zeffir Boof
Gaederon is 24 Turns, 4 months, and 17 days old.

Benjiniah
Thick, inky black hair crowns Benjer's head, bluish highlights accent the dark locks as they curl around his ears and the back of his neck. Thick eyebrows perch expressively over light brown, near golden colored eyes. Dark long lashes brush against olive skin. His face is round with boyish chub, making his straight stubby nose look natural. Benjer's ears almost stick straight out from his head. They peek out from underneath his wavey hair despite how the style tries to hide them. The lad is tall for his age, almost lanky, with long strong arms and legs but big, clumbsy hands and feet.

Off white muslin hangs loosely around Ben's neck. The tunic is well cut, fitting his shoulders a little loosly to provide growing room. The sleeves end at his wrists, tied closed around the pads of his hands with drawstrings. The creme colored fabric hangs past his waist, the light shade only broken by a thick black wherhide belt. Bark colored trousers start from underneath the hem of the tunic and wrap around his legs. They bunch around the tops of his dark brown almost black boots.
Benjiniah is 14 Turns, 8 months, and 25 days old.

**********

Natali holds out an arm for her 'lizard to perch as eyes roll in humor "You harrassin' my little gal here? She was givin' me these images of ya being troubled or /something'/... I dunno, I'm not a pro at these guys." Sighing, she settles down upon a sofa, gently stroking her little friend. As Ishem wanders in, she offers a brief nod of greeting.

Gaederon glances up at Natali "Construction go well at Gar? Sorry to leave so quickly, but I realized that I had a lesson for the evening back here."

Natali grins, nodding her head "Ain't no problem... and yes, it's /still/ going well. Paric insisted that we construct a bit beyond basic. Let's just say he's going all out to say the least." she replies before directing her attention towards the apprentice "Adjusting well into the craft?"

Ishem ambles in, pausing a moment to nod to Natali, and peer curiously at Gaederon for a moment before offering him a respectful nod. Moving to one of the book shelves he pulls a volume on iron working out and drops himself into a chair, opening it about half way in and browsing for a moment, then glancing up at Natali's question. "Me? Oh, sure, it's going fine."

Gaederon glances at Ishem's selection and says "Oh, iron working, an excellent choice. I read it through twice now." Glancing at Natali he says "Good to hear Master Paric is involved, he is a bit of a perfectionist, and I like that. The new stand will last much longer that way."

"A bit? Shards... you should /hear/ some of the things he has in mind for the stage-- I'd say well beyond perfection." Natali grins, allowing her attention to return towards Ishem with curiosity as she examines the literature's content "Eww, metal?" Yeck. Wood. Now wood is the way to go--what everyone should revolve around.

Ishem grins, shaking his head at the woodcraft master. He already knows her opinion on his specialty of choice, and he shrugs half-appologetically. "Well, what is it they say? Better to be a good apprentice than a bad lord holder? Something along those lines..." he turns to Gaederon, "Twice? Which is your favorite chapter?" Perhaps it is a strange question, but his eyes light up with interest.

Gaederon chuckles "I like the clear illustrations of each technique for forming, but it's the chapters on smelting and preparing the iron for working that I focused on the second time. What good is making something with iron if it shatters when dropped, or bends too easily when put under tortional or tensional force?"

This topic is definitely... icky poo--so Nati disregards it for the time being as she feeds her darling green scraps from lunch. "Ooooh, that's my baby! Is it nummy?" Nothing like baby talk, eh? Speaking of baby... Linnet would be where?

Benjiniah walks in from the Balcony Landing.

Gaederon nods "Right, say, where is that baby of yours Natali? You leaving her all over Pern with Nannies to watch over her again?" He looks at her with a rather odd expression on his face. Oh, he had to mention the unknown, didn't he? Natali looks up a bit startled at the journeyman, raising a brow "Well--there's work to be done at Gar--and well, she'd most certainly be in the way." No doubt, she's either in Keroon or somewhere on Ista island... heh.

Benjiniah wanders in slowly, looking around to the room to see who all is in here. Yes. There are people he has taken to avoiding, but luckily, none of them are here. He smiles when he sees Natali, and bows when he sees Gaederon and Ishem. He strides over to Natali and bows to her extending his hand to her. "And how are you this fine evening, Lady?"

Ishem raises an eyebrow as Benjiniah enters the lounge, returning the greeting with a nod, then nodding to Gaederon, entirely serious as he replies, "Good point, I'll pay special attention to those, then." He peers at Natali, a surprised look on his face, then he carefully buries his nose back in his book, though anyone who pays very close attention will notice that he's just staring blankly at one corner of the page.

Natali raises a brow at the apprentice for a moment's time "Fine... as well as can be expected." is her reply before she unprofessionally swings her legs over the chair's left arm, allowing them to dangle freely "No chores?"

Gaederon looks at Natali "Ah, Masterwoodsmith, lost her in the shuffle again? Well, I am sure she is well taken care of. How are the apprentices doing up at Keroon?" He nods then at Benjiniah, in reply to the apprentice's nod. "Anyone for a game of darts?"

Benjiniah straightens up and raises an thick eyebrow, a bit confused by Natali's reaction. He nods a little more formally to Journeyman first, then the apprentice. "Good evening to you to, gentlemen. How are you all?" Only after that does he smile and look back at Natali, the confusion gone from his features. "No, Ma'am. I've finshed thim all, already, and have even asked the headwoman for more." And he made it out of the encounter with out a cut. he was sooo lucky tonight.

Ishem flips the book shut with a snap, straightening up in his chair and nodding to the journeyman. "I'll take you up on that offer...I s'pose betting's against the rules for an apprentice." he adds with a little smirk. "I'm Ishem, by the way...'Prentice." he adds as an after-thought. Not that the man wouldn't have been able to tell by his knot. "You care to join, Master Natali? Benjiniah, isn't it? You were in the flame-thrower class the other day."

Natali is pleased, naturally. "That's excellent to hear!" And turning towards Gaederon, she flushes pink, grinning "Something like that... I swear though, she's not--lost. If anything, they'll come looking for me when they can't stand another moment of her! She does have that tendency, after all." Shaking her head Ishem-way, she says "I ain't no good at darts. Never was and never will be." You saw what happens when you aim a flamer in the wrong direction. You really want darts poking your eyes out? Doubtfully.

Gaederon raises his eyebrows at Natali and says "No betting, unless you want more chores, instead of the privilige of joining me, Ishem. Journeyman Metalsmith Gaederon, and I have seen you in classes with the Master Metalsmiths. Do you like working with metal?" He picks up the darts and says "We all throw one, and the highest score starts, and lower next. Alright?"

Benjiniah winces for a moment and nods to Ishem. "Yes. I'm apprentice Benjiniah.." He states the second part just for Gaederon's sake. He decides he isn't goign to get much out of Natali, so he picks up a dart, letting the others throw first.

Gaederon scores a bronze.

Gaederon chimes "Hah, Bronze... beat that apprentices..." He waits for the others to toss.

Ishem scores a bronze.

Ishem coughs lightly into his fist, though his amber eyes gleam with a little bit more than self-satisfaction. "Almost as well thrown as your own, journeyman." he concedes, though he doesn't seem quite as humble as his words imply. "You seem to know a lot about metal working...is it your specialty...erm..." he trails off, waiting for the journeyman to introduce himself.

Benjiniah scores a brown.

Benjiniah winces a little at his toss and shrugs to himself, trying to mentally encourage his bad throw. He eyes the other apprentice and the journeyman for a moment, wondering whether he'd be able to grab the dart and move it before they noticed. He'd better not.

Gaederon looks at Ishem "Alright, Ishem, Benjiniah, and then me. Only fair, I suppose. Mine didn't count." He prepares his throw and asks, "Have you looked over the points of the darts Ishem? How would you form them?"

Gaederon scores a blue.

Ishem hits the edge of the board.

Ishem's brow furrows, though his concentration is exclusively on the board for a moment, until he throws the dart and then grimaces. He turns back to the journeyman, grimacing slightly and then venturing a guess, "Seems to me the easiest way would be to have a form and cast them...of course, you'd have to smoothe out the point, but they're too small to forge, or use a whetstone, aren't they?"

Benjiniah scores a brown.

Benjiniah raises an eyebrow. At least he's consistant. He grins a little and peers at the next dart in his hand. Eh. good thing he wasn't getting quizzed right now. He probably wouldn't sound nearly as smart as Ishem. Besides. When Gaederon talked to Ishem, he missed the board. That was good right? Benjer would win that way.

Gaederon hefts his next dart and holds it out "I made these, on the forge. Now, if you were to hammer the points out, how would you do so? Would you use a block or strap or bar iron?" Ah, testing the metalsmith hopeful... this is his forte...

Gaederon scores a blue.

Ishem glances toward Benjiniah, half hoping that the other apprentice will speak up, but not really expecting him to. He raises the dart, aming carefully to forestall a bit, then lowering the dart and replying, "Wouldn't you use a bar? That is...well, if it's already been extracated into a round bar, all you'd really have to do is heat the tip and re-shape it, wouldn't you?" Of course, he sounds less sure of this answer even than his first and he clears his throat nervously, raising the dart again and carefully aiming before letting it fly...though he hardly remembers to notice where it lands.

Ishem sinks the dart into the wall.

Benjiniah scores a green.

Benjiniah coughs a little as he watches Ishem's dart. He'd speak up, if he knew the answer. He smiles a little, takes aim, then lets the dart fly, wincing a little. At least he hit the target. That's it, Journeyman, keep the other guy distracted!

Gaederon smiles at Ishem "Exactly what I did. Now, would you use a regular or peening hammer to work the metal, and would you work the tip to a point, or would you merely narrow the metal and then section it, and make the points with file and whetstone?"

Gaederon scores a blue.

Ishem scores a bronze.

Ishem's face darkens a shade or two toward red and he hardly takes aim before throwing the dart, then turns back to Gaederon. "I...erm...I'm sorry, sir, but I'm not familiar with the peening hammer. Off hand I'd say so section it once it was narrowed, and shape the point with a file, or small whetstone."

Benjiniah scores a brown.

Benjiniah nods to himself and purses his lips. He rubs his nose with his wrist and smirks a little. Good old consistant brown. He was going to be good at this game eventually.

Gaederon hrms to himself "Well, there are several kinds of hammer, the peening has a round back, and a wide/flat business end. It's best for flattening. I was just seeing what the extent of your knowledge was Ishem, no disparagement on your knowledge. And yes, file and whetstone are good. Now, would you use the flat or the saddle of the anvil?" With a flourish he launches his next dart into the air toward the board.

Gaederon scores a green.

Ishem scores a brown.

Ishem barely aims, once again, as he throws his dart toward the board, then turns back toward the Journeyman, looking relieved at answering something right, and then replies, "I'd use the...well the saddle because it's got an amount of curve to it already and since what I'd be forming is supposed to be round, that would save me some time with the file and whetstone later, wouldn't it?" Assuming that the saddle is really the part of the anvil that he /thinks/ it is.

Benjiniah scores a bronze.

Benjiniah hides his excitement at the good throw but does still manage to do a tiny little dance. WOO. He got a bronze. He's getting good. plus, he has the opportunity to eaves drop on all of this good information while Ishem gets quizzed. wasn't he the smart one?

Gaederon shakes his head in silence "Actually, Ishem, you would use the flat, as you don't want the tip to be curved. The saddle is for forming curved shapes. But your reasoning was good. I think you have a good mind, and you will learn quickly with the Masters we have here. And make sure you read that book through. It contains the combined knowledge of the MetalSmiths of Pern for the past several centuries." He prepares to toss again.

Gaederon scores a bronze.

Ishem nods, "Yes, sir. And they have me copying some of the scrolls...good for memorizing." he grins, "Good throw." This time he turns back to actually pay attention to where his dart goes, squinting one eye before throwing the dart.

Ishem scores a brown.

Benjiniah nods.. and rubs his hands together. This time he wanted to get the gold. Yup. He did. Now, lets just see what he gets. He picks up the dart, takes careful aim.. then throws. Time seems to stop as he watches the dart arch through the air towards the board.

Benjiniah scores a blue.

Benjiniah hangs his head and sighs. oh well. Just a game, right?

Gaederon looks at the two apprentices and thinks a moment "Well, there is one last step. How would you harden the tip when you are done forming it?" he asks, and tosses his last dart.

Gaederon sinks the dart into the wall.

Ishem almost laughs, but smothers the sound, not wanting it to be mistaken as being meant for the journeyman's throw. "Easy, submerge it in water...like puttin' out Thread." he adds a with a cocky grin.

Gaederon nods "Smartnick. Heat it and immerse it. And what's that called, since you know about it?"

Benjiniah grins.. and nods to himself and makes fists of joy. yes. He was 'da apprentice. He won the game.. and didn't get grilled for answers. this was a good day. "Thank you for playing with us, Journeyman. It was a real pleasure." yeah, and good thing you didn't bet on it, cause Benjer would have been a rich guy.

Ishem can't keep the cocky look off his face as he replies, "Quenching, sir. Not to be confused with annealing or normalizing...which we'd use to relieve the internal stresses on the metal caused by the heat..." he trails off, glancing from Natali to Benjiniah a little shame-facedly, realizing that he's probably stepped off the deep end, lecturing a journeyman like that.

Gaederon looks at Benjiniah "Tell the cook that I sent you down for a treat, and come back up here for a while, if you want you two, but make it snappy."

Gaederon nods "And the quenching tempers the metal, hardening the point, so it doesn't dull easily. Good, you will make a fine metalsmith Ishem." He goes to collect the darts and sets them in the small box set aside for them, then sits down. "That was exhausting." he says, privily to Natali.

Ishem's shoulders sag slightly from relief as he drops a low nod of gratitude to the journeyman...for not assigning him to KP for the next sevenday. "Thank you for the compliment, sir." he replies softly, retrieving his book and beginning to inch toward the door. "And for the lesson." informal though it may have been, Ishem at least seemed intent on soaking up every word of it. "I guess I don't want to miss curfew." he mutters by way of excusing himself, and hurries out the door.

Benjiniah raises an eyebrow at Gaederon as he dismisses him like a little child. He peers and folds his arms over his chest. Sure his stomache was growling. It was always growling, but that didnt' mean that he would go skipping down to the kitchens just because Gaederon wanted to get the winner of the game out of his sight. He takes a step back, heading towards the door. yeah.. he wasn't going to skip. He was going to run pelmel till he got some food in his stomache. Yeah. Benjer turns, grins to himself and bolts from the room.

And the final score...

There is a scoreboard next to Dart Board: