Scene #4582: The Best Thing About HeroQuest

Owner	Pose
Duet Fortuna	The chosen meeting place is easy to reach for a Spelljamming ship. One of the numerous floating islands in this area, which provides a nice little town on it for last-minute supplies as well. Duet is also super easy to spot, since she's quite distinctive. Sure, her clothes are normal, but the mask is kind of a stand out. Waiting by the skydocks, she also has a suitcase - not for clothing and staying, but for odds and ends - and is waiting with her legs swinging off the edge carelessly. She DOES have a sword already, of note. This one is a pretty typical one though, made of good quality steel but otherwise unexeptional.
Yukihana Masamune	It's not out of the question for the One-Eyed Jack to take to port so Yukihana can handle a commission. Apparently she has amused the all-seeing captain by starting something of a business from within his ship, but then again it IS also a good way to forge connections; and also get supplies legitimately as well. Even pirates need food and new equipment. Nevertheless once the ship is settled and the crew given some port time, this allows Yukihana the peace and space she needs for work. Even among the motley crew of kobolds, lizardmen, gorgon, gnome, and other completely mismatched salty space-dogs, Yukihana Masamune seems entirely out of place. Too prim, too proper, too pink. Pink, that is, seems to be the color of her kimono for the day as she beckons Duet join her on the ship, scarlet eyes looking to the sword already in her possession. "My workspace is ready if you are, Lady Fortuna." She says with a formal bow of greeting.
Duet Fortuna	Though she seems a little casual and even clumsy, Duet apparently knows very well how to bow, and returns it with a sweeping gesture. "Your time and commission are appreciated, Lady Masamune." When she straightens, she sees the look toward the sword and adjusts it. "A reliable weapon, but just one taken from the armory until such time as I can find one of my own. My own sword is... ah... a dark blade. It saps life force. Not really a sword that I like to bring out and use, nor suited for my general outlook on life these days." She does step on board, glancing around the Jack and chuckling. "Life takes us in strange directions, doesn't it?" She reaches into her own jacket and pulls out a small package. "If it is not too late to make a small addition - I understand you've been designing this in your head - this may be of interest. You are of course the expert, so please use only what you think will contribute to the blade. My only request is that my blood be used somehow." Her blood. That clears that up.
Yukihana Masamune	Vulpine ears prick, twitching at the explanation of Duet's current sword. No, not the one of utility she has with her, but her true sword. And for a moment, lips purse thoughtfully at the admission of the blade's dark nature. But then to further things, the source of the blood is given. Yukihana narrows her eyes thoughtfully, a fox-faced squint briefly overtaking her expression, before she turns and begins leading Duet into the ship, down below deck. "It is of interest yes. I believe that however will, in the end, be more beneficial than not." She says. "Considering the nature and quality of the components, it may cement a 'link' between you and the blade somewhat more easily." As soon as she leads into her workspace, it's like walking through a curtain of pure heat. She has prepared the forge. "Tea?" And she has prepared tea, using the heat of the furnace to warm the kettle set upon it. The furnace is not new. But it is new for the SHIP, looking completely out of place upon the spelljammer, the sacred forge burns with a brilliant white fire, which she strengthens with another puff of silvery foxfire from her lips. "If you would like, I shall begin now. I am ready."
Duet Fortuna	"Mn..." Duet nods. "A link can be a bad thing... but I think in this case it's what I want." She adjusts her sword belt uncomfortably. "The dark blade was a gift, if you're wondering, for a task long done." Not that she feels Yukihana is judging. The foxgirl does work with pirates. "Tea would be wonderful," Duet replies, taking a seat well away from the forge so that she can give room to work. "If there is anything you need me to do for this, let me know. I admit I've never been present at this. It's kinda exciting!" What an odd mix of formal and childish enthusiasm.
Yukihana Masamune	"I was wondering." Yukihana admits rather candidly while pouring a cup of tea and sliding it over. "Though not for the reason you may think. You came to me for a blade, not judgment." Added on smoothly as she takes a moment of privacy behind a screen to change out of her kimono and into her her forge garb. White robes, with the sleeves tied back to give her arms freedom and a leather smock. "The entire process will take me three days." Yukihana notes. "Without pause for rest. I will not expect you to watch for the entire duration, but while you are here if there are any further requests then now is the time." She said she would begin. She begins. Grasping one of the steel ingots and thrusting it into the furnace, the white flames bringing it to a red heat surprisingly fast. This allows her to pull it free, tugging the aged looking hammer from her sash and striking the ingot upon the neavy anvil. The steel provided is of a high quality, there are only few sparks, if any, as the ringing clang of hammer on metal starts to fill the forge, taking her time to draw out the ingot-- then fold it on itself. Then draw it out and fold it again. It is a process that she performs and completes repeatedly until satisfied. "This will be the core. The steel is fine enough to make a blade on its own, but the mithril is hard by comparison. I put much thought into the design... How do you feel about a saber?"
Duet Fortuna	Duet stays there while Yukihana changes, sipping lightly. "Mn. Then why were you wondering, if I may ask?" She settles herself back, settling in to watch the start of the process with a curious eye. This is new to her, but she isn't without interest in it. As the forging begins, Duet nods. "A saber... I know that style. Single-edged, but familiar to me. I like it. There are advantages to single-edged blades, as I'm sure you're aware." She takes a sip as the folding goes on. "You aren't quite like I expected you to be, but who is in this Multiverse?"
Yukihana Masamune	Steel rings, and the process repeats, though the bloodstone dust is applied to the core before it is placed in the flames again for heating, used both as a flux and then folded directly into the hot metal. Then it becomes apparent how she intends to use the blood of 'Duet Fortuna'. The sizzling hiss of cooling metal fills the forge chamber with an acrid copper smell as she bathes the blade's core in a trough full of blood. She can return to that later. She moves on to the mithril. The silvery metal is laid out upon a sheet of parchment. The sheet is decorated in calligraphy; an elegant and ornate flowing script, which she dusts with that red powder and folds around the metal. It is, perhaps, writing familiar writing for Duet. It is a poem, titled ''Honesty''. She asides: "I will use the gold and red material for the guard and balance weight." Before there is a mild pause. "I was wondering, because all who take up the sword take it up for a reason. Curiosity. I wondered why one who writes of honesty would take up a dark blade." Clueless as to the masked woman's true identity, the poem-wrapped metal is next thrust into the furnace. "And you?" She prompts. "What did you expect?" Again mild curiosity there while the metal heats.
Duet Fortuna	While Yukihana may not know Duet's real self... it is likely that her identity would mean little to the newcomver to this realm. So Duet doesn't bother to explain that, but in the interest of having someone so fresh and pure in motives to speak with, she does give a little more. "Honesty includes being honest with yourself," Duet points out. "All people - or nearly so - have darkness within them. Jealousies, hatreds, envies... what have you. In some they are stronger than others. But... denying them lets them fester. I have my darkness, and whle I never wanted the dark blade, having it reminds me of the sins I have in my past, and the efforts I must make to be... a better person."
Yukihana Masamune	It is true, to hear the masked woman's true name would have little impact for the kitsune; who had spent most of her life living upon a mountain like a hermit, alone with her adopted father. And as such, she does not press for explanations at all, simply accepting what Duet chooses to tell her. "Father told me honesty is many things. But that which you speak is chiefest among them." She says. And then pauses. One scarlet eye peeks over a slim shoulder, and narrows again, once more the kitsune's face taking that contemplative fox-squint. 'All people have darkness within them'. It is a truth of the higest caliber, and one she seems to ruminate upon, turning back to her work only to stare at the metal beginning to glow as the parchment burns to ash in the flames. "I see." She says at length, halting again if only for a beat before she settles with much finality: "Then I shall forge you a blade worthy of that honesty. Return to me in three days."