WoodCraft (#1064)

The Woodcraft Building bustles with activity as apprentices, journeymen, and master woodcrafters move about and ply their trade. The floor, freshly swept by one of the many apprentices working here, is a smooth gray stone. Along one wall, a variety of stacks of lumber lie on shelves lining the wall. One the other side of the room, are several tall cabinets containing the tools of the woodcrafters, as well as various dyes, stains and other finishes. The other two walls have pegs driven into the wall where hang a multitude of saws, chisels, and planes. Underneath these tools, are benchtops where the crafters sit and work on their various projects. In the center of this large room are two large tables with many drawers and vises attached.

The scent of fresh cut lumber permeates the room.

Clinging to a high beam are Randle, Vinny, Cordon, and Seeker.

Freyja is here.

Obvious exits:

Courtyard Millworks Stairs

You release Yarll, who launches into the air.

Paric smiles and releases the small blue firelizard to fly up into the higher rafters. "There ya go, Yarll." He looks about the room and notices one of the apprentices. "Hmmm ... I believe your name is Freyja, is it not? Haven't they assigned you duties?"

Walking over to one of the cabinets, Paric pulls out a glass jar with a dark fluid apparent within and heads back over to his workbench and sets the jar down. "Hmmm ... now where did I put those brushes?" he says opening several of the drawers in the workbench until he finds what he is looking for. "Ah ... here they are!" he exclaims removing two brushes from the drawer before closing it.

Freyja (#20845)

Light blue eyes look out over a prominent nose in a roundish face. Blond strands of hair fall just over the long black eyelashes and are pushed back. There is a natural rosy color to her cheeks, and a soft look in the face of this young woman. She stands tall, her shoulders back and back straight. Only about 5'4, she is of average height for a woman like her. She has a trimmed body that is usually covered with something to ride in.

Perched on Freyja's shoulder is Coer. Perched on Freyja's shoulder is Deror.

Freyja's single twisted red and white shoulder loop shows that she is a Smith Apprentice.

Freyja is 20 Turns, 5 months, and 11 days old.

Paric (#7656)

Paric is a handsome man, a couple of inches short of 6'. His hair, brown in color and graying, is cut short, as he does not wish to bother with the hassles involved in having long hair. Looking at his face you notice that his eyes at first appear to be hazel in color, however, their color seems to constantly shift from brown to black to green. His forehead is wrinkled in apparent concentration of some matter of importance. He begins talking to himself, scratches his left brow and then while sketching something in a notebook he is holding in his right hand, grins and exclaims 'Yes...yes that'll work! Hmmm! But maybe there is a better way.' At which point he rubs his chin with his left hand and stares intensely at what he had just drawn.

He is wearing a very comfortable pair of forest green pants and a light cotton shirt with short sleeves, perfect for the hot climate of Ista.

Paric is wearing a heavy band of gold made lovingly by Cera. Recessed within the center of the band is a beautiful antique star sapphire. An exquisite display of blue fire resembling the sky at midnight erupts from the stone when the light hits the inner matrix of the large sapphire. Tiny crystal chips, like drops of rain, cascade down the sides of the ring interspersed with miniature marquise sapphires.

Paric wears the knot of a Smith Craftsecond.

He is awake and looks alert.

Paric is 41 Turns, 2 months, and 5 days old.

Freyja blushes and nods, "Yes.. I'm Freyja," she agrees as she glances up at you and shakes her head, "But I don't remember your name sir.. I'm sorry," she blushes again and she nods, "Yes.. Yes they have.. But I got up early this morning and finished them already, And just thought I'd come here and look around... If you don't mind?" she asks

Shaking his head, Paric sets the brushes down and sits down on the stool next to the workbench. "I am Master Paric, and no, I don't mind. But ... I don't want you just standing around. In this workshop people work." He chuckles and picks up one of the brushes and dips it into the jar. "So, " he begins to ask, "what have they taught you so far?"

Freyja smiles, her eyes lighting up, "Oh.. I had a wonderful lesson this morning with Master Bryon all about the sparkling Gems.. And Cera and I have talked about Glass work and how it's done.. But it's so... Complex," she sighs lightly but turns her smile back on for you, "I was in here because I was hoping to maybe learn something about wood work..." she offers hopefully..

Paric looks up and frowns. "Hmmm ...." he begins and turns his attention back to the small box in front of him applying a dark stain to the wood with each stroke of the brush. "You seem to be fairly old to be an apprentice?"

Freyja smiles slighlty, "My father held me back from becoming an apprentice for as long as he could.. He didn't want to see me leave his cot hold.." she sighs lightly, but grins, "But he knew he couldn't keep me from pursewing my dream forever...

Paric nods, "And your dream is here?" He dips the brush once again into the jar wiping excess liquid from the brush.

Freyja nods, "Aye, my dream is to create stuff with my hands, to create lovely works," she chuckles, "But we've all got to start somewhere," she adds with a wink as she approaches the workbench you're at and peers at what you're working on..

Paric sighs and nods. "True. You do need to start somewhere." He looks up at the apprentice and chuckles, "And now is probably as good a time as any! Here, take this." he says handing her the brush.

Freyja blinks as she finds the brush in her hand, glancing from it and back up she shakes her head, "I couldn't," she breaths as she offers you a questioning look, trying to hand the brush back to you...

Paric chuckles and gets down off the stool he was sitting on and offers it to Freyja. "Now sit down here."

Freyja blinks lighlty, but listens and does as he says, climbing up in the stool she turns towards him, "Ok..." she says as she peers accusingly at the brush..

Paric grins, "Okay ... as I said, people work in this shop. And you will work as well." He moves the jar in front of her. "Now, please continue where I left off. I want an even amount of stain on all surfaces, so you will need to concentrate on what you are doing."

Freyja nods slowly as she looks among the Brush, Jar and box for a few moments before she pastes a smile across her face and starts on it, taking a deep breath she dips the brush in the jar and starts on an un-stain'd section of the box, "Ok... Even stain on all surfaces," she repeats, more to herself than him as she slowly continues to work, her eyes on the box and brush..

Paric walks over to one of the cabinets lining the wall and opens it. "Okay ... where is it? Ah ..." he says pulling out a couple of clean white rags. He turns back to the workbench and the apprentice places the rags down onto the top of the workbench. "You may find these of help as well. You can use them to wipe off any excess stain ... or at least even it out a little."

Freyja nods slowly as she spares a glance towards him and then returns her attention to the box and the stain asking, "So, even if you do get a little too much stain on one spot, aslong as you act fast it's not a bad mistake?" she asks...

Paric nods, "Most of the time it can be corrected providing it hasn't dried too long." He pulls up another stool and continues to watch as Freyja applies the stain to the box. "Now ... since you are working, perhaps you could tell me what is woodcraft?"

Seeker suddenly disappears ::between::!

Freyja keeps her attention on the box as her brush moves in slow, even strokes but she does give some of her attention to Paric and answers his question, trying to look at him as she talks, but also keep one eye on the box, "Well.. Woodcrafting is working with wood inorder to produce Chairs and Boxes and Other things like that," she responds, thinking she's pretty close.. Or hoping at least.. But while her attention is diverted to Paric the stain starts to get a little bunched up in one area, she tries to use the brush to smooth it out, but when that fails she grabs a rag and attempts to smooth it out to save the stain job..

Paric nods, "Good ... proper use of the rag. You can even it out by rubbing the area that was uneven." He grins, "And you are also exactly right. Woodcrafting is the art of creating objects from wood, be they chairs or boxes ... or even cogs for a windmill or the framing of a door."

Freyja smiles and starts to rub the area with the rag, then pulling back the rag she smiles, "Yes.. It does work quite well," is agreed as she goes back to brushing on the stain, "Yes, wood crafting does sound /really/ interesting," she agrees, then adds, "But I just can't decide on one thing to specialize in..." but this time as she talks she keeps more of her attention on her work, not removing her eyes from the box as she moves to another side of the box...

Smiling, Paric rubs his forehead. "Well, that will be decided as you progress." He turns around and leans back against the workbench. "Now, can you tell me a little about what you know of wood?"

Freyja thinks about this for a few moments, "Well.. I don't really know that much.. Just that it facinates me some of the lovely chests and chairs that I've seen.. Tis one of the reasons I came here to learn.." she offers with a smile as she uses a rag to even out some of the stain on the box again..

Paric nods and smiles, "Well ... not exactly what I was getting at, but ...." He walks over to the scrap pile and pulls out several pieces of wood and brings them back to the workbench setting each down. "Okay ... there are essentially to types of wood: softwoods and hardwoods."

Freyja nods slowly, pausing in the staining of the box for a few moments as she looks over the scrap pieces of wood, trying to tell the differance between the two of them..

Paric smiles, "So ... any idea of what is a softwood or hardwood?"

Freyja shakes her head quickly, "No, no idea atall sir.."

Paric smiles and nods, "Okay, well softwoods include woods like these, conifers, fir, and the scrub pine. As you can see from these pieces of scrap, " he says separating out a couple of pieces of wood and placing them in front of Freyja, "these have a rather simple grain. As well, they tend to be easier to work then hard woods. They are also cone-bearing."

Freyja nods slowly as she points, "So these, the ones with a less pronounced grain, are the soft woods," and then she points at another one, "And the ones like this are hard woods?" is asked in a light question..

Paric nods and grins. "Yes, these are examples of hardwoods. There is a lot of variety of color, grain and texture compared to the softwood examples over here."

Freyja nods slowly as she takes all this in, starting to brush the stain on to the box again as she begins to understand, "Ok.. That's not too hard," she says after a moment with a smile.. She's ready for more..

Paric smiles, "Hardwoods are generally more durable than softwoods. Examples of hardwoods include oak, which is what the box you are staining is made of, and beech. They have broad leaves compared to the trees that comprise the softwoods." He grins, "Now ... a quick question. Which do you think is harder, a fir or the oak?"

Freyja thinks about that for a brief moment then shrugs, sound pretty common sense to her, "The Oak of course, it is Hard wood," is her response as she continues to slowly work on staining the box, looking at it in a new light as she knows what type of wood it is..

Paric chuckles and shakes his head, "Though most of the time you would be correct, but, actually it is the fir." He pulls out a scrap of wood from the softwood pile, "This is an example of fir." He scratches the surface of the wood and barely any indention can be seen. "Now, in the case of the oak," he takes a piece of scrap oak and scratches it with his fingernail leaving an apparent indention. "See what I mean. So don't be mislead by the term hardwood or softwood."

Freyja lets out a breath in a slight 'ahhh'... "I see," she says, "So, just because it's called softwood doesn't mean it's really.. Soft..Right?" she says, starting to get the point..

Paric nods. "Yes ... that is correct." He looks over at the oak box Freyja has been staining, "Have you finished?"

Freyja nods slowly and glances over the box quickly then nods, "Yes.. I don't think I've missed anyplace," she notes as she turns back towards you, awaiting your approval..

Paric nods, "Very good. Why don't you set it aside and we'll talk a little about some of the tools that are used in woodcrafting."

Freyja nods and sits the Box and the brush off the side as she turns to face Paric, giving him her full attention now, "Oh.. Yes, that sounds interesting," she states as she glances briefly around the room..

"Okay, there are a variety of tools that are used in woodcrafting." Paric opens up a couple of drawers and pulls out some tools naming each as he sets them on the benchtop. "For example, saws and shaping tools like planes, files and chisels. Others include hammers, drills, clamps and fasteners. Can you name a few types of fasteners?"

Freyja thinks for a few moments and shrugs, "Well.. There are those kinds with the little spinny thing that you twist tight.. And then.." she shrugs lightly and blushes as her words trail off...

Paric chuckles and nods, "Yes, I believe you mean a screw. As well, there are nails, bolts, dowels, and glues."

Freyja ahhs and nods, "Yea.. Ok..." she says as she makes mental note of these terms..

"Okay, why don't you put these tools back in the drawers and we'll look at another aspect of woodcraftin," says Paric before walking over to another cabinet opening it up to look inside.

Freyja grins, just like the apprentice to get stuck cleaning up the Master's mess.. But it's not like she's really /complaining/.. She does this willingly, putting everything back in it's drawer and then turns expectantly to Paric..

Paric pulls out several pieces of wood that appear to be joined together and then walks back over to the workbench. "Okay, now these are examples of joinery. Joinery is simply the art of joining pieces of wood together. Now this is usually not done alone, but with some sort of fastener." He places the examples down on top of the benchtop and names and points to each in turn, "Butt joints, rabbet joint, dado and groove joints, lap joints, mortise-and-tenon joints, and finally, dovetail joints."

Freyja nods slowly as each join is pointed out, looking closely and memorizing each of the different joints, "Ok.. That should be somewhat easy to remember.. After some practice," she smiles..

Paric smiles, "And usually, the last part of any woodcrafting project deals with finishing. One of the first steps in finishing is filling and sanding of the object, but after that is .... Well, why don't you tell me."

Freyja grins and points towards the box she just finished with, "Well.. To make an educated guess.. I'd say that the next part would be the Staining?" she answers, more a statement then a question..

Paric nods, "Yep, you are correct. Staining and dyes are applied followed by shellac, lacquer, or varnish. On the other hand, you could just paint the wood." He pick up the glass jar and takes it over to the cabinet placing it back on the shelf. "So, now I think you need to do something for me. I've briefly explained each of the areas of woodcrafting, but do you think you could build a small box to demonstrate what you've learned?"

Freyja blinks slighlty and really thinks about this for a moment then nods, "Yes.. I think I could," she finally answers with a determined smile...

Paric grins, "Great. You can use the scrap wood over there against the wall. I expect to see your finished project by the end of next week. You may use the tools in the workbench over there."

Freyja offers you another smile as she moves over to look through the scraps of wood, pulling out a few pieces here and there to examine their texture and general asthetic beauty..

Paric smiles, "Well ... any questions?

Freyja shakes her head slowly, "No.. Not quite yet," she responds as she starts to get the beginings of an idea and turns back to the scrap wood.

Paric nods and smiles, "Alright then." He looks up at the rafters where the small blue firelizard was sitting quietly watching. "Yarll!" he calls to the firelizard, then whistles.

You whistle, and Yarll flies over to land on your shoulder wrapping his tail about your neck to peek out occasionally and chirp.

Freyja smiles as a head peeks out from her hair and cheeps at the blue, "Deror, shush up, I'm working," Freyja says without a glance up..

Paric smiles and rubs the back of the firelizards neck, "Okay, we should head off to the kitchen to see if they have any food for you." He turns to Freyja and says, "I'll see your project at the end of the week. Until then I expect to see you working on it anytime you in this workshop. Night." He turns back and heads down the stairs into the passage leading to the Smithcraft Hall.

You go to the East Tunnel.