eachdraidh | Video; Available only to the Unseelie

[Lancelot stood in front of a great, molten forge, walking along a narrow walk-way inside Troichean Beinn. He was out of his armor, wearing a thick smithing apron and a short-sleeved tunic, startlingly different from the usual attire he would display. As always, Lancelot's absolute lack of enthusiasm shined like a dying star.]

To those of the Unseelie court--I have a trade I would like to make with you. If you believe yourself skilled in researching history and mythology, please respond.

I have a second trade I would like to make to those with an affinity towards nature--in which I must emphasize that such an affinity is a necessity, unless one prefers risking death in this.

[Hoisting his free arm up, Lancelot raised a short-sword with a gleaming red blade, fairy letters written down the length of it. Visibly, the sword seemed to have been vibrating somewhat. Anyone with magical affinity may even hear a soft, hollow sort of noise coming from it as well.]

To those who can assist me in these favors, I can repay you with the fruits of my labors. Wrought iron, enchanted by fairy-magic. I cannot promise the best of weapons at this moment, but if you aid me in this, I will create a finer reward for you.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ katsa has an affinity for neither, but— ]

That's a beautiful blade. Fair, unfair magic, or however it's been wrought.

As it tends to be, all magic is unfair. All the same, fairy-writing can be considered the most unfair in use, but the most difficult in practice. Striking the anvil was not the difficult aspect of it, my lady.

[ she'd misunderstood his comment about fairy magic, so katsa's only a little bit more confused than she was initially. still, it's easy enough to learn more. ]

What is it, then? The most difficult aspect.

Speaking and thinking in fairy-words. Swinging a hammer is on gesture you can train, but fairy-words are rather difficult to use consistently.

Their words are made of power, so it can be exhausting if you're inexperienced.

Words made of power. [ instinctively, absently, katsa can be seen checking the dagger hidden in her sleeve, trying hard not to remember the picture of a man who spoke words of power, with her knife in his open mouth pinning him to the seat behind him. ] How does that apply to forging blades?

The words you speak in your own mind affect your actions. When you look upon something, your mind associates a word with the familiar object before you.

For a normal smith, you would try to simply make 'a sword'. In fairy smithing, you shape the word in your mind and apply it as you press the hammer to the iron. I think 'this object will now become the word that I am thinking of'.

[What he was describing was absolutely the same as insanity. Insanity which was 'doing the same thing over and over expecting different results', actually making those impossible things come true--]

[ that sounds like a grace, what he's describing, but katsa feels frustratingly as thought she's missing something. ] So what's the difference between your blade and another smith's? Is he not thinking the same—to make a sword?

Magical law. Intent and will are two separate things. Intent gives you a goal, while will gives you the means to carry it out. As such, a smith whose arms are weak cannot properly temper and shape a sword.

In the same vein, a smith with a weak will cannot put magic in the blade. The only difference is--when putting fairy magic into a blade, you must have strong will and an affinity for understanding the language.

Having been raised by fairies, I can speak their language the same as any other.

You were raised in this land, then?

[ she'll just.... persist in asking questions until she feels she understands it as best she can. she thinks she's getting it. ]

No--though, I was raised by a fairy. [Calling her a 'fairy' was an understatement. The Lady of the Lake was somewhat closer to an angel.]

I spoke to them often when I was a child.

What did you talk about? Is that typical where you're from? [ there's a hint of amusement in her voice, but she's honestly curious ] To speak with creatures of magic, and to live with them, and speak their words?

[ BARRAGE OF QUESTIONS ]

No. If anything, I was an oddity. Even in Albion, fairies would rarely speak to human beings. It was hundreds of years after they decided to make distance from people.

[It was weird even in Arthurian legend. Lancelot was a freak of nature just because fairies were comfortable around him.]

Video; Available only to the Unseelie

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