Post by Arcadus on Mar 12, 2022 1:16:42 GMT -5
Smithing was always a calming activity for Arcadus. Making something bend and shape in ways he understood, it calmed him, and soothed that part of his soul that was disturbed by chance, by the infinite flow of things he could not control or perceive. As much as he was succeeding with his current work, the cult forming and organizing well, he needed time to himself. His lab, inside his floor in Los Noches, had really become a home away from home.
He was spending as much time in this place as he was in the compound. As much as he had delegated to running the compound to those 8, he wasn't sure if it was going to have to end soon, or if he could make that a permanent part of his actions. His position as purely the Tercera had granted him a lot of time and freedom, but now he didn't feel he was free to do much if he wasn't giving his pawns directions every few hours. Rolling his eyes, Arcadus focused on the piece of metal in front of him.
Well, metal was a strong word. It was a commission, and he was being paid an awful lot of ryo to make. It was supposed to be a staff made out of the bones of a martial artist, fused with the trace metals of that person's body and the extracted minerals of their body, as well as a gem that, according to the patron, held the remains of their soul. While he didn't sense a soul in the gem, he wasn't one to turn down a requrest. Looking at the ingredients, he'd had to make a few compromises.
He'd managed to form a flux out of the mineral dust that came in the urn, same as the ash, but it wasn't like that was going to get him much. They had shipped him an entire skeleton, clearly a beastclan's men from what he could tell. Teeth could be transmuted into a liquid state to try and make the caps or grips, but they were clear they wanted some kind to uniformity, like a proper quarterstaff. As much as he was trying to make this work he was running out of ideas.
There was enough material in the skeleton to simply fuse the bones together with a calcite bonding agent and call it a day, the caps being made of the mineral dust and the same bonding agent. Black epoxies would work, and give the bleached bones an interesting look. Valeron had been useful, giving up the secrets on different runes and rituals to strengthen the materials, but they weren't going to handle well and his test swings were going to simply snap the thing again.
Picking up his phone from across the lab, he looked at his options. Calling Kitai wasn't much of an option. They were likely going to be at odds after he had killed that preacher. He didn't really know if Nuala would care, but her expertise was in fish and engineering, not magicking materials into weapons. He could just order out for more spiritual steel and have his secretaries pick it up. That was the safe bet, and he'd want to play it safe for right now.
Opening a small gargaunta to get signal, Arcadus hit the button for Jane. She'd pass on the information, and as much as he didn't like having to send his secretaries away from their duties it was something he could really only trust to them to not get caught. "Hi Jane. I'm in need of a few materials, could you note them down and let the others know? Some of them are mundane, some of them are going to need to be from some more, "spiritual places." Let me know when you have them and I'll open a portal in the vault room."
It was getting more often she was getting calls from Arcadus, and as much as they could be menial chores, Jane was more than willing to listen to his voice and do his bidding. " Of course, I'll let the others know, and we should have those in by tomorrow, barring those other items. Is there anything else you need, is this for some kind of sermon?" "No, this is for a personal project, and its nothing massive. Most of these can be bought at a super market. Though I wouldn't buy them all in one place, so send them to different ones. "
Natalia grumbled. She and Andrew were picking up some ingreditents for thier lord, but they could spare a few minutes to grab some things for the compound as well. It was actually encouraged, but it wasn't like it was for ulterior motives. Boxes of matches were needed, but it was worth picking up a lighter or a dozen along with nicotine gum for the recovery clinic. They'd been focusing on public health recently, and smoking was actually quite common.
Getting into the truck, Andrew took a piece of gum out of the box. He'd been the first to suggest that clinic, and as much as he hid it, he really did struggle with the darts. Natalia patted his cheek, brushing his hair. The car shifted out of park, and they were off to thier second ingredient. Pulling up along side a small hobby shop, Andrew hopped out, with his partner sidling into grab the wheel and go park. Walking in, He was suprised at how large it was inside.
Taking the resin out of the miniature model's section, Andrew marveled at the amount of things people were willing to make, adn the price tag. If he'd wanted to have an army size like he saw behind the glass displays, he wasn't sure what he was going to have to do, but getting a job was not going to be enough. Shaking his head, he took the resin up to the counter. Ignoring the cashier's attempts to upsell him, Andrew wondered on what someone like Arcadus needed resin for.
James was normally in charge of grocery runs, so picking up some Alum for it was no issue. Though he wondered if he was always sent because they were jelaous of his devotion, or if they simply found him annoying. He'd found purpose here, in service to this wonderous god, but he wasn't sure that those around him were on board with his devotion. Picking up the alum, it was an off white color of small crystal. He was told to get some amounts of it that could fill a mixing bowl.
Looking at the register, and the ninety dollars this was going to cost, James really hoped this was for a good cause. He had been told to make sure it wasn't iodized, and thankfully that stuff was much cheaper. Getting weird looks for both his purchase, and for the fact that he'd been an incredibly vocal advocate of the cult before being inducted as a secretary for it, he had made himself quite the outcast in town, and particularly after he had divorced his wife over it.
The triplets had all been given the more mundane of the tasks, but it was in securing it they were going to suffer. Making their way to a manufacturing plant they saw the drums of ammonia. Eyes open for construction workers or manufacturing workers, they drove closer with their truck, backing up to make the most of their stealth. They weren't going to be strong enough to lift this up on to the truck bed without one of the stronger fullbringers like Natalia.
Luckily, they had arrived with boards from a prior project, and had they planned to use that to roll the barrel up onto the bed of the truck. Spying one of the barrels out in the open, they began to creep closer to it, Kayden staying in the truck and slowly backing up. Braiden was holding the boards and sitting in the bed of the truck, ready to make the ramp. Aiden made his way ahead, grabbing hold of the barrel, and seeing the cap was on, began to tip it over.
The barrel proved to be heavier than Aiden anticipated, and, toppling it, some of the security shouted. Scrbambing, Brayden set the planks and got alongside Aiden to move the barrel up onto the bed. Betting it in, The hopped into the bed, foot over the liscence plate as they sped away. Checking the cap, and tying down he barrel, they slid into the cab through the back window, and sped towards the compound again. The guards had wandered off, not bothered by a single barrel stolen.
Jon had one of the easier ingredients but he wasn't bothering to pay for it. He was fast, and that training in the night desert had made him really fast on his feet too. He had a bunch of bottles of bleach, and, running out with a shopping cart full of them sped down the highway with it, people in their cars calling him a crackhead, or bleach man. He laughed the entire way there, and, despite a small issue of having to go on two wheels for a minute to fix a rotating wheel, he made it to the compound in record time.
Back in Hueco Mundo, Atlas had started on the last of his daily duties, dusting the place top to bottom. Now, a three story residence would normally be far too much for one person to dust and sweep in a timely manner of a few minutes. However, Atlas had a special trick for that. Tensing his hand and arm, finger's splayed apart, he thrust forward, as if to stab some imaginary enemy in front of him. A gust of wind could be heard, as the shockwave from that swept outwards.
Atlas was incredibly adept at forming his shockwaves into gentle, subtle breezes. This particular shockwave, he prepared for by opening every door, barring Ser Trecera's lab, and folding down all the bedding tight. This shockwave swept through the house as a set of twisters, gathering up any dust or trash that may have accumulated, and depositing it in front of Atlas. With dustpan and broom in hand he waited as each twister made its way down the stairs, and deposited it in front of him, sweeping it and tossing it into the wastebin.
Wrapping up his duties, Atlas prepared to bring up his lord the usual afternoon tea, when he heard a knock at the door. Not many people managed to make their way up to this floor, so he was curious as to who it might be. Pacing over, the clack, clack, of his stride could be heard behind the door. Cracking it open to see who was behind, He came face to face with a young man, a fullbringer by his estimation. Looking him up and down, he noted this fullbringer seemed to be from the human world, and not one of the few who lived in Hueco Mundo.
"Young man, might I ask you as to why you're here. The Lord Trecera is busy at the moment, and if you are here to challenge him for his position, I recommend coming somewhat better prepared. Now, do you have any business here besides that?" The man taking up most of the doorway was tall, and even under the suit, incredibly well built. His angular white beard framed his face about as well as any jay,and his gold eyes contrasted, practically shining despite the shade.
He was spending as much time in this place as he was in the compound. As much as he had delegated to running the compound to those 8, he wasn't sure if it was going to have to end soon, or if he could make that a permanent part of his actions. His position as purely the Tercera had granted him a lot of time and freedom, but now he didn't feel he was free to do much if he wasn't giving his pawns directions every few hours. Rolling his eyes, Arcadus focused on the piece of metal in front of him.
Well, metal was a strong word. It was a commission, and he was being paid an awful lot of ryo to make. It was supposed to be a staff made out of the bones of a martial artist, fused with the trace metals of that person's body and the extracted minerals of their body, as well as a gem that, according to the patron, held the remains of their soul. While he didn't sense a soul in the gem, he wasn't one to turn down a requrest. Looking at the ingredients, he'd had to make a few compromises.
He'd managed to form a flux out of the mineral dust that came in the urn, same as the ash, but it wasn't like that was going to get him much. They had shipped him an entire skeleton, clearly a beastclan's men from what he could tell. Teeth could be transmuted into a liquid state to try and make the caps or grips, but they were clear they wanted some kind to uniformity, like a proper quarterstaff. As much as he was trying to make this work he was running out of ideas.
There was enough material in the skeleton to simply fuse the bones together with a calcite bonding agent and call it a day, the caps being made of the mineral dust and the same bonding agent. Black epoxies would work, and give the bleached bones an interesting look. Valeron had been useful, giving up the secrets on different runes and rituals to strengthen the materials, but they weren't going to handle well and his test swings were going to simply snap the thing again.
Picking up his phone from across the lab, he looked at his options. Calling Kitai wasn't much of an option. They were likely going to be at odds after he had killed that preacher. He didn't really know if Nuala would care, but her expertise was in fish and engineering, not magicking materials into weapons. He could just order out for more spiritual steel and have his secretaries pick it up. That was the safe bet, and he'd want to play it safe for right now.
Opening a small gargaunta to get signal, Arcadus hit the button for Jane. She'd pass on the information, and as much as he didn't like having to send his secretaries away from their duties it was something he could really only trust to them to not get caught. "Hi Jane. I'm in need of a few materials, could you note them down and let the others know? Some of them are mundane, some of them are going to need to be from some more, "spiritual places." Let me know when you have them and I'll open a portal in the vault room."
It was getting more often she was getting calls from Arcadus, and as much as they could be menial chores, Jane was more than willing to listen to his voice and do his bidding. " Of course, I'll let the others know, and we should have those in by tomorrow, barring those other items. Is there anything else you need, is this for some kind of sermon?" "No, this is for a personal project, and its nothing massive. Most of these can be bought at a super market. Though I wouldn't buy them all in one place, so send them to different ones. "
Natalia grumbled. She and Andrew were picking up some ingreditents for thier lord, but they could spare a few minutes to grab some things for the compound as well. It was actually encouraged, but it wasn't like it was for ulterior motives. Boxes of matches were needed, but it was worth picking up a lighter or a dozen along with nicotine gum for the recovery clinic. They'd been focusing on public health recently, and smoking was actually quite common.
Getting into the truck, Andrew took a piece of gum out of the box. He'd been the first to suggest that clinic, and as much as he hid it, he really did struggle with the darts. Natalia patted his cheek, brushing his hair. The car shifted out of park, and they were off to thier second ingredient. Pulling up along side a small hobby shop, Andrew hopped out, with his partner sidling into grab the wheel and go park. Walking in, He was suprised at how large it was inside.
Taking the resin out of the miniature model's section, Andrew marveled at the amount of things people were willing to make, adn the price tag. If he'd wanted to have an army size like he saw behind the glass displays, he wasn't sure what he was going to have to do, but getting a job was not going to be enough. Shaking his head, he took the resin up to the counter. Ignoring the cashier's attempts to upsell him, Andrew wondered on what someone like Arcadus needed resin for.
James was normally in charge of grocery runs, so picking up some Alum for it was no issue. Though he wondered if he was always sent because they were jelaous of his devotion, or if they simply found him annoying. He'd found purpose here, in service to this wonderous god, but he wasn't sure that those around him were on board with his devotion. Picking up the alum, it was an off white color of small crystal. He was told to get some amounts of it that could fill a mixing bowl.
Looking at the register, and the ninety dollars this was going to cost, James really hoped this was for a good cause. He had been told to make sure it wasn't iodized, and thankfully that stuff was much cheaper. Getting weird looks for both his purchase, and for the fact that he'd been an incredibly vocal advocate of the cult before being inducted as a secretary for it, he had made himself quite the outcast in town, and particularly after he had divorced his wife over it.
The triplets had all been given the more mundane of the tasks, but it was in securing it they were going to suffer. Making their way to a manufacturing plant they saw the drums of ammonia. Eyes open for construction workers or manufacturing workers, they drove closer with their truck, backing up to make the most of their stealth. They weren't going to be strong enough to lift this up on to the truck bed without one of the stronger fullbringers like Natalia.
Luckily, they had arrived with boards from a prior project, and had they planned to use that to roll the barrel up onto the bed of the truck. Spying one of the barrels out in the open, they began to creep closer to it, Kayden staying in the truck and slowly backing up. Braiden was holding the boards and sitting in the bed of the truck, ready to make the ramp. Aiden made his way ahead, grabbing hold of the barrel, and seeing the cap was on, began to tip it over.
The barrel proved to be heavier than Aiden anticipated, and, toppling it, some of the security shouted. Scrbambing, Brayden set the planks and got alongside Aiden to move the barrel up onto the bed. Betting it in, The hopped into the bed, foot over the liscence plate as they sped away. Checking the cap, and tying down he barrel, they slid into the cab through the back window, and sped towards the compound again. The guards had wandered off, not bothered by a single barrel stolen.
Jon had one of the easier ingredients but he wasn't bothering to pay for it. He was fast, and that training in the night desert had made him really fast on his feet too. He had a bunch of bottles of bleach, and, running out with a shopping cart full of them sped down the highway with it, people in their cars calling him a crackhead, or bleach man. He laughed the entire way there, and, despite a small issue of having to go on two wheels for a minute to fix a rotating wheel, he made it to the compound in record time.
Back in Hueco Mundo, Atlas had started on the last of his daily duties, dusting the place top to bottom. Now, a three story residence would normally be far too much for one person to dust and sweep in a timely manner of a few minutes. However, Atlas had a special trick for that. Tensing his hand and arm, finger's splayed apart, he thrust forward, as if to stab some imaginary enemy in front of him. A gust of wind could be heard, as the shockwave from that swept outwards.
Atlas was incredibly adept at forming his shockwaves into gentle, subtle breezes. This particular shockwave, he prepared for by opening every door, barring Ser Trecera's lab, and folding down all the bedding tight. This shockwave swept through the house as a set of twisters, gathering up any dust or trash that may have accumulated, and depositing it in front of Atlas. With dustpan and broom in hand he waited as each twister made its way down the stairs, and deposited it in front of him, sweeping it and tossing it into the wastebin.
Wrapping up his duties, Atlas prepared to bring up his lord the usual afternoon tea, when he heard a knock at the door. Not many people managed to make their way up to this floor, so he was curious as to who it might be. Pacing over, the clack, clack, of his stride could be heard behind the door. Cracking it open to see who was behind, He came face to face with a young man, a fullbringer by his estimation. Looking him up and down, he noted this fullbringer seemed to be from the human world, and not one of the few who lived in Hueco Mundo.
"Young man, might I ask you as to why you're here. The Lord Trecera is busy at the moment, and if you are here to challenge him for his position, I recommend coming somewhat better prepared. Now, do you have any business here besides that?" The man taking up most of the doorway was tall, and even under the suit, incredibly well built. His angular white beard framed his face about as well as any jay,and his gold eyes contrasted, practically shining despite the shade.
