Ilum: Open Forge (Dark Jedi Order and friends)

[Azel Moran]

"...I've got my love to keep me waaaarm."

An open-air forge on Ilum was a study in bitter chill and blistering heat, depending on which way you faced and how close you stood. Azel's work kept him moving between stations: the raging forge itself, the Svolten rhyolite grinding wheels, the anvils and power hammers, racks of tools. He'd set up in the shelter of an icy bluff not too far from the Dark Jedi academy. Convenient, when students or small classes needed to learn the basics.

Today had those elements, but also a more collegial, give-and-take intent. New to teaching here, he'd met pretty much nobody other than a few students and the woman who'd recruited him. Perhaps he had actual colleagues among the Order's ranks already. Perhaps others were interested in improvement, or just wanted to play around with a forge and some very nice blades.

If nobody showed up, he'd just have another nice day at the forge.

A breeze sent a flurry of snow hissing through the open-air workshop. Visibility wasn't great. Anyone coming would likely see only the forge's glow, and hear his hammer strike a bar of red-hot metal.

They'd probably hear him singing, too.


[member="Aeron Delste"]
[member="Anastasia Darkrose"]
[member="Arken Lussk"]
[member="Ashelia"]
[member="Ashlan Sentry"]
[member="Darth Illusio"]
[member="Dax Ryiah"]
[member="Eternal Cyan"]
[member="Guduma Tevas"]
[member="Kao Arael"]
[member="Katarine Ryiah"]
[member="Kezeroth"]
[member="Lunasi Vizsla"]
[member="Zedious Ryiah"]
[member="Zen Phoenix"]
[member="Zesiro"]

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Alchemy, it was to blacksmithing like a lightsaber was to a Force User; that additional flare that made all normal practitioners envious of one's skill. To say this was an interest to Aeron would have been a gross understatement, he had heard rumors of how equipment could be made nigh indestructible with the power of the Force and having brought so few belongings but the clothes on his back with him to Ilum, it only made sense to the young man that he ought to invest his time in out-fitting himself with only the best a member of this organization could hope to obtain.

Approaching the Forge and iron-works yard, Aeron spotted who was likely to be [member="Azel Moran"], the Master among Aeron's superiors of whom had offered his time to educate the students in the skills he himself had acquired over the years. Stopping before the man, Aeron dropped himself to a knee with his head bowed, a sign of acknowledgement to his superior both in hierarchy and experience.

"Master Moran" Aeron greeted the Dark Jedi by his title first, assuming that the man was in fact a member of the Dark Jedi Order; "I wish to become learned in the alchemist arts, and humbly request your guidance".

 

[Azel Moran]

[member="Aeron Delste"]

Azel grunted and set the cooling bar back at the edge of the forge to keep it a warm cherry-red. Ilum's wind meant he had to re-heat much more often than he'd like.

"Then welcome aboard. Where do you stand with metalwork or the Force? Kneeling like that, I'm guessing you're a new knight or close enough. Any background with alchemy? I've got a bunch of materials and you can use anything here, just a matter of what square you're on."

 

[Darth Illusio]

Darth Illusio was an alchemist by himself. He was a beginner in the department and was even able to create a Sithspawn guardian for his son. Zen Phoenix, who was now also in the Dark Jedi under his careful eye in an indirect fashion. He heard that one of the masters of the Dark Jedi Order was supposed to give a lecture about Alchemy. He was interested in seeing what the man would teach the new acolytes or were they called padawans or maybe initiates? He did not know. He kept his illusion in tact and never showed his actual face to those around him. His force alignment was neutral at best, leaning a bit further to the dark-side.

He appeared at the Open Forge, a place of Master Moran. A master ranked Dark-Jedi. "Greetings" Illusio said while standing at the side, arms crossed. "I'm here to observe..."

 

[Zen Phoenix]

Zen Phoenix was interested in everything that could be taught by the Dark Jedi. He heard about a group session going on and as he hadn't met his master yet, he decided to look and see. He wore the academy clothing, It was completely black in color. He had a blue synth crystal around his neck together with the meditation medal of the SJO and next to him was a Vornskr. A Vornskr that had a dark affinity with the force. A Sithspawn created by his father. A failure of an experiment. It made the creature docile to its user, but it lost its natural aggressiveness and made it somewhat weaker. It protected the kid with her life. Nobody would know unless a true master of the creature or alchemy would look over it.

The poison of the initiation was in his system and not yet attacking him. The poison that had to be removed within three months or else he would be dying, but eager to learn. Eager to become something far greater and attaining family was the most important thing that he could be asking for.

He touched the force and knew how it felt. He practiced every single day with the Silver Jedi Order meditation medal in order to learn to touch it even easier. It was a crystal shaped like a lightsaber crystal on a chain around his neck. It became a practice drill for him to repeat every single day to learn to feel it, to listen to it and later he would learn to use it for his own goals.

His father was close nearby and the young kid as he came to the scene. "Greetings sir." and looking over master Moran, "Hello, Master Moran. Hello mister." As the other apprentice was older than him, he called him sir.

Zen focused around his surroundings, seeing the forge, the grinding wheels, the anvils, the big hammers and a racks of different tools.

[member="Azel Moran"]

 

[Altus Venadris]

Altus was a Sith knight in name but wondered if he had the power that came with the title. It was for that reason he had taken a leave to Ilum. He had heard of an academy of great prestige where he intended to learn all he could to bring back to the empire. He spent almost a week dizzying his head in books until being recommended the fresh air of the forge. The biting cold helped calm his mind and for a moment let slip the other people in the room or why he'd come in the first place.

He allowed himself a deep breath, waiting for the kid who'd be [member="Zen Phoenix"] to finish speaking before introducing himself.

"Hello all." Altus gave out a awkward wave. He was never sure how to introduce himself to those outside the legion. "I've come to learn all I can. Ready to get my hands dirty." He gestured to the forge.


[member="Azel Moran"] [member="Aeron Delste"] [member=Darth Illusio]

edit tags

 

[Azel Moran]

[member="Darth Illusio"] [member="Zen Phoenix"] [member="Altus Venadris"]

"Same question for the lot of you, then. Do I have any fellow metalworkers among you, hm? How strong are you with the Force and do you know anything about alchemy? Even you, observer - let's hear it all. I pitch this exercise too high or too low, and I'll waste all our time. So, boys...where do you stand?"

 

[Darth Illusio]

Darth Illusio looked at the Sith Knight, one that didn't go through the recruitment of the Dark Jedi Order, reminding himself that he spoke to the master of the order about this.

"I have been trained as a Sith Alchemist for many years, but only handle but the basics on Sith Alchemy only in the category of creating Sithspawns. As for your question about my power, I am a master in the use of the force."

He said while looking around at the other padawans calmly.

 

[Zen Phoenix]

Zen spoke after the master spoke, "I have never done any form of alchemy. I haven't done any of this yet, but I can use the force." He thought about stuff that could be made of iron. He was thinking about big blades or something like armor, but armor would be heavy. Really light, super strong armor...That sounded way better in his head.

 

[Lunasi Vizsla]

Her master told her to follow every single session that the order had. She was being trained by Anastasia Darkrose herself and it should've been a honor, but as long as her memory wasn't returned she couldn't really know for sure if she had to be honored or not. Her memory was taken by a powerful Sith and she didn't even remember anything before her big accident that was supposed to get her into the Sith Academy. Her Beskar was crushed and vanished. She didn't even know about Beskar anymore. Her past was forgotten and her future was bright in another path at the moment.

She wore at her first group session the clothing of the Dark Jedi Padawans. She had on her back a big sniper rifle for the longest of distance shooting. She was proficient at that, if you could say the least. When she appeared a few recruits and masters had already arrived. The question being asked by Master Moran "Hello...my name is Lunasi Vizsla." She doesn't know Vizsla's are supposed to be Mandalorians."I guess, I am not proficient by the Force..."
"I don't remember having done anything with Alchemy in my past."


[member="Azel Moran"][member="Altus Venadris"]

 

[Altus Venadris]

Altus waited for the others to answer before he did, the question stirring in his head. How strong am I with the force? He came here to figure that out himself.

He had no knowledge of alchemy but and would gauge his response off the others, trying to seem more than. "I've dabbled in alchemy many times, master blacksmith. This is your class however and it seems there are a few among us with very limited capabilities." Altus shot off a challenging stare to any other student who'd look over. "I've come to learn anything you're willing to teach. Basic as it may need to be." Altus stood tall, inflating himself with false confidence.



[member="Lunasi Vizsla"] [member="Zen Phoenix"] [member="Darth Illusio"] [member="Azel Moran"]

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

With the arrival of others, coupled with the comment made by [member="Azel Moran"] in regards to Aeron's kneeling, the young man slowly pushed himself back up to his feet and moved to take a step back in order for his peers to join and now overly crowd the Master of the Forge. Among them, [member="Darth Illusio"] was also present, though Aeron didn't recognize him any better than he did the others with the exception of a couple who had been present during their initiation.

"I am capable of traditional forge works, working with metals, yet my knowledge of alchemy is extremely limited", and perhaps even saying that much was being overly generous in his previous experience. It was fairly straight forward to make a weapon such as a blade out of metal, but to perfect the art and then to throw in aspects such as force imbuement and blood magicks, that was something else entirely.

Looking to the others whom had shared their relatively similar experience, or lack there of, Aeron offered a firm nod in compliance with their own willingness to learn should Azel Moran grant them his time.

[member="Altus Venadris"] [member="Lunasi Vizsla"] [member="Zen Phoenix"]​

 

[Azel Moran]

[member="Lunasi Vizsla"] [member="Aeron Delste"] [member="Altus Venadris"] [member="Zen Phoenix"] [member="Darth Illusio"]

"Sort of a grab bag. Alright, then." Azel scratched his beard and shifted a little closer to the heat of the forge. The bitter Ilum wind was picking up. He used a pair of tongs to grip the bar of cherry-red metal that rested in the edge of the coals.

"This used to be durasteel. It's heavier than it should be, denser. Alchemy made that happen. Mass was conserved; it's just a matter of compression and strength to make that compression happen. You can use alchemy to make almost any metal stronger, but an alchemical sword will always be heavier than one made of the untreated metal. That's why you see some alchemists making blades out of very light metals like phrik or desh-terenthium alloy. Who can tell me when that might be a good idea and when that might be a very bad one? Anyone?"

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

The first thoughts in answer to [member="Azel Moran"]'s question raised a few of the more violent scenario's in Aeron's mind. When it came to weapons and weight, two handed maul's or the more brutal weapons made the most out of weight, where as someone who sought to utilize two swords for example were better off with lighter blades made from more appropriate materials. Armor plating was similar in a way, though when it came to keeping yourself in one piece, sometimes it was better to utilize the heavier materials in order to discourage a blade from running you through.

"I've heard that some weapons can match the blades of Jedi weapons" Aeron answered the man, though not outright giving the answers he guessed were the correct ones. No sense in coming off as a know-it-all, especially when the likely follow-up to this discussion would consist of a lot of answers and knowledge that he didn't have. "...-And certain armor-types are good for some environments, and not others. A scouting party wouldn't want to be weighed down too much, for example" he added, concluding that the right answer was better than a half-assed one.

[member="Altus Venadris"] | [member="Lunasi Vizsla"] | [member="Zen Phoenix"]​

 

[Zen Phoenix]

The idea of being able to mold a weapon or rather an armor was quite fascinating for the youngster. Zen wasn't interested in the manslaughter that could be caused by such fashion. He hadn't gotten into any fight really and still needed to be taught the art of combat, but the stuff around it was absolutely awesome of alchemy. His eyes were looking around scanning to see if he could somehow make something neat. Little ideas that were going through his narrow mind. His eyes looking at [member="Azel Moran"] before looking at Ruby. How neat would it be to put his Vornskr in a cool looking armor?

Zen remained quiet the entire time, not answering the question as [member="Aeron Delste"] tried to answer it already.

 

[Azel Moran]

[member="Lunasi Vizsla"] [member="Aeron Delste"] [member="Altus Venadris"] [member="Zen Phoenix"] [member="Darth Illusio"]

"Sure, light metal is what you need sometimes, and alchemized desh-terenthium or phrik will stop a lightsaber just like any other high-quality alchemized metal. Lots of makers go that route, the light rather than the heavy. But when would it be the wrong choice for a sword? Hm? Give me some audacity. Make me remember you were here."

 

[Altus Venadris]

Altus truly had no clue. What kind of sword needs to be light? That's what the question means right? Right?

Altus coughed before replying, giving one last second for anyone else to butt in and answer for him. "Rapiers, short swords. They're used by agile swordsmen who strike fast. It could easily throw off the balance of the weapon or render it so heavy that it's pointless to use." Extremely unsure of himself he shut up quick.

Was that even an answer?

Right after the last words passed his mouth Altus palmed his face and shook his head gently side to side. The only things that brought him comfort was that this was, in fact, not a Sith academy and he knew no one here. Hopefully he would never have to bear the embarrassment of anyone in the Empire finding out about this day.

[member="Azel Moran"][member="Aeron Delste"][member="Zen Phoenix"][member="Lunasi Vizsla"][member="Darth Illusio"]

 

[Azel Moran]

Azel growled and started rooting around in a piled-high shelf of assorted blades. He emerged with two of them, definitely not his creations: a fancy longsword and an equally fancy rapier.

"Object lesson time. A respectable smith and alchemist made these weapons." He waved, a flicking gesture with the rapier, and used the Force to drag a high-end ballistic dummy into sight -- just a head, torso, and stand. "Both of these swords started as very light metal, a desh-terenthium alloy, and alchemical rituals made them stronger, denser, and heavier. They're still light, though."

He flicked the rapier again a couple of times, slicing open the ballistic dummy's chest.

"That was a good choice for a slim, fast blade, like you're saying. What I'm talking about is the opposite." He put the rapier aside and took the longsword in both hands. "A sword this size should be able to cut this dummy in half with enough strength behind it. But watch this."

He took a swing. The sword only opened a long cut; it didn't go deep.

"Even alchemized, the metal is way too light for this kind of blade. It's like if you took a swing with a razor made out of tinfoil. Surface damage, sure...but will it kill? Not as easily as it should. All that to say, you need to pick the right metal, and lighter doesn't map straight to better. Make sense, boys?"

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"Two handed weapons...-Something like a Maul or a Battle-Axe would benefit from heavier materials, blades that might cave in someone's chest plate" Aeron imagined aloud. The rapier was a sword with finesse unlike most other weapons, but for those heavily armed types, brute force could be a potentially better option.

On the subject of dense materials however, a question posed itself and Aeron felt the need to air it; "Would you say that these heavier materials would necessarily make the weapons more dependable? Lighter materials make for lighter work when looking to break them down, right" he elaborated some, though curious to know whether this was usually the case for alchemized metals or not.

Part of him felt as though he ought to just keep silent and pay attention alike the others, that perhaps he was talking a little too much, though his interest in the subject was keen and he had the desire to further study the art, that he might take it on as one of his primary roles within the Order.

[member="Azel Moran"] | [member="Altus Venadris"] | [member="Zen Phoenix"]​

 

[Azel Moran]

"Yes on both counts. The density is a side benefit of the alchemy, and the alchemy is what makes the blade just about indestructible. The density alone isn't what lets an alchemical blade stop a lightsaber, or people would be killing Jedi with iridium or solid gold."