Punished GN
Enzayne
Alby47
DX3214
King of Rats
DracoLunaris
Dezuel
Vec
Fetzen
Timemaster
Enmity
A large amount of Reshut had entered the grand palace for the dinner, the daimyo had explained to Tiamat as the dinner was prepared that the attendees were various retainers of the clan or members of its vassal clans. These kinds of dinners the daimyo had every two weeks or so, to ensure the loyalty of his realm. The grand hall had been filled with tables and cushions to harbor the vast number of attendees, Tiamat got the honor of sitting alongside the Kinoshitas themselves, sitting to the right of prince Tanehira, with his other siblings, and their mother sitting alongside them. A variety of food was laid out for them, despite Tiamat’s lack of a need to eat, fish, rice, roasted insects, and other delicacies of the isles could be seen.
“So,” Tanehira spoke, eating a rice ball just underneath his mask “How are you enjoying the Isles?”
“Though I cannot say I am made for the swamp, you have been most kind and enjoyable,” Tiamat responded, looking around the table. She did not even have a plate in front of her.
“I am glad you think so, though I am curious as to where you will travel to next” the Prince said in return.
Tiamat turned to look back at the prince, saying, “Perhaps I will stay here a while. Get to know your clan and your city more.”
He chuckled “Well im sure my father would be more than happy to let you stay with us,” He turned to look towards the Daimyo, who was engaged in a convo with another of his sons, who Tiamat had been informed earlier was the heir to the clan. “Though I hope he does not hark on you constantly about tales from the mainland.”
Tiamat giggled, saying back, “Don’t want him to hog me, do you? Perhaps I’ll have to sneak out to avoid being roped into telling tales instead of following you.”
“Come now,” He turned back towards Tiamat, giving her a playful shove, “It's nothing like that, I just wish for you to not get roped into an eons worth of telling tales to him, my father rarely knows when to quit when nothing else is bothering him.”
Tiamat continued to tease, “Yeah, solely for my benefit, surely. Don’t worry, prince, I’ll make sure I make time for you.”
She was sure that if the prince was not wearing a mask, he would be blushing deeply, though, she wasn’t sure Reshut blushed.
Suddenly, the Daimyo rose, ringing a bell to attract the attention of the crowd, “Gathered Lords and Ladies,” he spoke “I have a special announcement I wish to make,” he gestured over to Tiamat “Our most gracious guest, Tiamat, has told me grand tales of the mainland, and, it is my decision to officially announce that I, Kinoshita Narikazu, will be sponsoring a grand expedition to the mainland!” A brief silence followed, before a loud round of applause erupted from the assembled guests.
Tanehira turned to Tiamat “Huh, you sure convinced him, he’s been debating on that for months now.”
She whispered back to Tenehira, “From what I gathered, he wanted to do it anyway. He just needed a good reason to justify it.”
He shrugged “Sounds like my father.”
The Daimyo continued, “To lead this grand endeavor, will be a navigator from the eastern clan of the Ohta, who has offered her services to us, Ina Hikohira!” A female reshut stood, dressed in a fine blue silk robe, her mask had an interesting design of an anchor surrounded by water. She bowed to the cheering crowd, and was brought up alongside the Kinoshita. The daimyo continued “In short time the Reshut will finally lay their feet upon the mainland! A new age dawns for us!” More cheers, and the dinner continued, with a far greater spirit washing over the guests.
Hikohira spoke to the daimyo for a brief period, before arriving in front of Tiamat and the prince, bowing she spoke “Greetings, you must be Tiamat, I am Ina Hikohira, a pleasure to meet you.”
Tiamat stood up in turn, giving a curtsy as she said back, “Indeed I am. I am pleased to make your acquaintance, miss Hikohira. I am surprised that a visitor spinning tales merits the attention of an esteemed navigator and soon-to-be expedition admiral.”
She chuckled “From what the esteemed daimyo told me, he has been gathering many tales, but apparently you were the one to finally decide his mind about it.” She turned for a brief moment to look at the guests “But nonetheless I am honored to be chosen to lead an expedition, I must confess the idea of finally seeing the mainland is exciting and so, when Lord Kinoshita offered to fund my venture I jumped on the chance.”
Tiamat responded, “Oh, I merely told him what I had seen. I would not take claim to such an illustrious position as having been the deciding factor for the works of a Daimyo. Nevertheless, the mainland is a large place, and I do not foresee you ever running out of places to explore. A dream come true, I imagine?”
“Oh absolutely!” The navigator’s eyes shined behind her mask “The chance to meet foreign cultures and races, to discover new lands, brave mighty storms, find hidden treasures! I can only hope the mainland meets all that I've dreamed it to be.” She paused for a moment, turning back to the guests, where a few had called her name, “Oh, I must get going, it was a pleasure to meet you Tiamat.” She bowed once more, before heading towards others.
“An interesting figure.” Tanehira added.
Tiamat turned back to look at Tanehira, explaining, “I gather she is leading the expedition for her own sake rather than the Daimyos’. Their goals align, however, so I suppose it is a victory for your clan and for her.”
The prince nodded “the prestige such an adventure would provide will definitely put us above the other clans, a much needed victory I must admit, as for lady Ina? I’ve heard good things about her, but I have no doubt she would’ve gone to the other great clans had we not gotten her first.”
She acceded, “Indeed. She has a wanderlust she is desperate to fulfill. Clan divisions are not an obstacle in that regard. That may prove favorable, though. She will be much more driven to reach the mainland.”
He nodded “quite, I must admit I am ever curious to see what she finds, but, enough of that, let us enjoy the rest of this dinner!”
A day after the dinner, the young prince was once more leading Tiamat through the city, this time around the prince had been given a sack of bronze coins for his own purchases, their adventure found the two in the docks of the capital, a vast array of ships, some bearing symbols beyond that of the Kinoshita, two of which Tiamat had been informed were the symbols of the Hashimoto and the Ohta. A few contingents of the Kinoshita forces could also be seen, armed with long spears and bows, to keep an eye on the other great clans she had been told.
“We tend to dislike one another, but that doesn’t stop us buying Hashimoto blades, or the Ohta selling us anything they can get their hands on.” The prince spoke, staring off towards the ships.
Tiamat pondered, “What is important in Hashimoto blades? Do you have forges? Surely the Kinoshita are capable of supplying blades as well.”
He chuckled “Well of course, but, as i'm sure my father informed you, the Hashimoto are masters of the blade, both of its construction and of its use, but, they are rare that's for sure,” He patted the blade at his own side “One of only 50 made, by one of the finest Hashimoto craftsmen, getting the supplies needed to construct such nice blades is difficult, we have little copper or tin, so making bronze is a rarity we reserve for only the finest of weapons or craftsmen.”
Tiamat turned to the Prince, and had she a way to show it, she would have visibly been confused. She followed up, asking, “What about iron? It’s difficult to find a place without iron.”
“Yes, it is common, but even the master craftsmen of the Hashimoto have little use for it, they can’t construct as nice blades as they can with bronze, from what I understand it’s too soft, not as durable for combat, so in effect, useless to the Hashimoto and even to the Ohta or us Kinoshita.”
Tiamat asked incredulously, “The isles do not know how to harden iron? You must take me to a forge.”
The prince looked confused, but accepted Tiamat’s demand. He led her through the docks to the artisan quarters, eventually arriving at a forge, where a reshutian blacksmith forged away at what appeared to be builder’s tools, the smith looked up as they two approached. “Hail young prince Kinoshita! What can I do for you today?”
“My companion wished to see your forge, if you are willing to show her.”
“Why, of course.” He looked at Tiamat and gestured towards his forge, “Tis right here, not the best but it gets my work done.”
She nodded at the forge, quickly launching into business, “I wish to show both of you a technique. Do you have a stock of iron rock?”
The smith and the prince paused for a few moments, before the smith finally spoke “Why..yes, it's right over there.” He jabbed at a pile of scrap where some iron rock could be seen “Don’t know what you want that for though.”
She did not respond to the jab, simply giving the order, “Bring a barrel of water and one of your molds for a blade. I want the furnace stoked to a heat suitable for the liquifying of metal.” She grabbed a furnace pot, stuffing iron ore into it rapidly.
The smith went about the order, a barrel was brought and a mold, stoking the fire to an intense heat, meanwhile the prince just watched, his curiosity growing.
Tiamat placed the pot into the furnace, watching the iron ore melt down. In the meantime, she took the barrel, moving it next to the anvil and placing a set of tools nearby, including a hammer and a pair of forge tongs. She then went to the forge’s equipment rack, taking a heat apron and a pair of thick gloves, putting them on. Once the metal in the pot had fully liquified, she reached in with the gloves, pulling the pot out and carefully lifting it over to the mold.
She carefully poured the molten iron into the mold, slowly. Once the mold was filled, she placed the pot aside and placed the mold next to a wind bellow, repeatedly stamping down on the bellow to cool the iron. Once it had solidified, but still glowed a fierce and angry red hot, she dumped it out of the mold onto the anvil. She immediately grabbed the hammer, bringing it down violently upon the edges of the blade, chipping away at the iron steadily.
The blade took form, as she flipped it over and chipped away at the iron on the other side, bringing the edges to a point. Once she saw fit, she placed the hammer aside and grabbed the tongs, taking hold of the blade and plunging it into the water with a plume of steam. Then, she lifted it back out of the water, and still carrying it in the tongs, placed it back into the furnace. She presented the order again, “Refill the barrel of water and return it to its place next to the anvil.”
The smith did so, seemingly taking notes mentally throughout the entire process, the prince meanwhile had summoned for a scribe, who arrived sometime during Tiamat’s demonstration, the prince was now recounting every last detail to them, still watching with pure fascination.
Once the blade was red hot once again, she took the tongs and pulled it from the furnace. She dropped it back down upon the anvil, and taking up the hammer once again, continued to beat at the edges. The blade further took shape, the edge becoming more and more prominent. She beat down the middle, carefully preparing a groove in the blade to cut its weight. Then, with the tongs she plunged it once more into the water, filling the forge with yet more steam as the blade hissed furiously.
Back into the furnace it went. She turned to the forgemaster and said, “Refill the water, and bring the handle and pommel.”
He did so, the prince leaned ever closer, the scribe writing down everything with a furious speed.
Once the blade was red hot again, she took the tongs and pulled it out, plunging it back onto the anvil. Another round of beatings with the hammer solidified the shape of the blade, and it took on a recognizable swordly shape. Once she was pleased, she took the tongs, and for one final time, plunged the blade into the water again with an angry hiss. She lifted the blade out, grabbing it in her hands as she walked over to the grindstone. Repeatedly depressing the pedal, Tiamat ran the edge of the blade against the grindstone, carefully bringing the iron to a sharp edge.
Then, once she was satisfied, she took the handle, fitting it over the tang of the blade. The pommel screwed to the end of the tang, securing the handle against the blade. Then, she looked to the prince, pointing the blade at his own, “Take your sword, and strike at me with a heavy blow.”
The prince unsheathed his sword “are you sure? I do not wish to end up harming you”
Tiamat raised her blade, saying, “You will not harm me. Strike at me.”
“Very well” The prince swung with his blade, striking towards Tiamat, but clearly not wanting to harm her truly.
She suddenly brought up her iron sword, bringing the flat of her blade against his sword. The bronze clashed into the iron with a flurry of sparks, but the iron did not yield. She had successfully blocked him, and the iron blade did not falter. She then sidestepped, slashing the blade across a nearby banner, cutting it cleanly in half. Tiamat flipped the blade around, presenting the handle to the prince, saying, “It is both sharp and capable of maintaining its shape.”
The prince, scribe, and smith were stunned, the prince carefully sheathed his own blade and took the iron one, testing it with a few swings before bringing it up to gaze at. “My my Tiamat, you do not fail to impress me,” he turned towards her, “Anything more you know you wish to grace us with?”
Tiamat immediately imparted, “That sword is not an exact analogue. It requires more care than your bronze blade, and it is brittler. It must be sharpened more often and it must be kept clean. Never sheathe it when it is dirty, or it will rust and crumble to dust.”
The prince nodded while the scribe continued to write the words down “I see, it is quite the effort, but as you said, iron is far more common, my father will most certainly want to hear of this, and I'm sure the other clans will pay a fortune to learn this.”
She bowed, “I would be pleased to accompany you to present the blade. I’m sure it will meet the Daimyo’s expectations.”
“Of course! Come follow me.” The prince quickly led Tiamat back to the palace, with the smith and scribe following quickly behind them, both curious to see what would occur. They wound through the muddy pathways of the city, on the way, Tiamat spotted someone else wielding a bag of the bronze coins the Reshut so commonly used, they were counting some when suddenly, one dropped, falling into the mud and sinking away rapidly, with the Reshut seemingly disappointed, but making no great move to search for the coin.
Soon enough, they had found their way into the palace, passing by the guards and entering the great hall, the prince practically bounded in “father! We have something great to show you!”
The daimyo looked up from his work “What is it my son? Another wanderer you’ve found on your travels?”
The prince looked at Tiamat, handing her the sword “You understand more than I do, you should be the one to present it.”
She took the blade, saying, “Very well,” before kneeling and presenting it to the Daimyo, saying, “I have shown the Prince a new method of forging to make use of the waste iron your mines produce. Through heating and cooling the iron rapidly, it is possible to harden it into a usable form.”
The daimyo pondered, picking up the blade, and testing it himself, “My my Tiamat, did the mainland show you this? This technique is most intriguing, if it truly does what you say it does, it'll most certainly change things around here.”
She remained kneeling, answering, “It remains largely unknown upon the mainland as well -- at least, when I was still upon the mainland. The electric barons understood well how it worked -- being so closely tied to the constant as they are -- but had little enough use for forged goods that they never ran short of their bronze. It is a technique used only rarely.”
“I see, well, I most certainly thank you for this Tiamat, your stay here has been most useful to us.” He spoke, bowing towards her in thanks.
She looked up towards the Daimyo, saying next, “If it may please you, I have another consideration for the clan.”
The Daimyo rose “And what would that be?”
Tiamat explained, looking back down, “On my way to the palace to present the blade, I witnessed a man lose a bronze coin in the mud. Though those losses are relatively small, collectively, should a number of people lose a coin here and there it should add up to thousands in lost coinage.”
She paused to let it sink in, then continued, “When I was presented with your temple, I discovered you had a secret method to produce the fiery red dye used. Were you to dye strips of silk with that method, it would be most difficult for others to recreate. You could be assured that any such strips produced would be produced only by your clan.”
Another pause, then she finished, “If you were to peg these strip silks to the value of your coinage -- say, certain lengths of silk are worth certain amounts of coinage -- and permit any in possession of the silk to turn them in for coinage, or any with coinage to turn them in for the silk strips, you could have the rarity and value of coinage with the lightweight qualities of silk. You could not only carry more silk, but if dropped it would not sink into the mud and be lost to your people.”
The Daimyo thought further, letting the entirety of Tiamat’s proposal sink in “I see, that would be, certainly useful, and would ensure we no longer had to deal with counterfeit coinage, I shall most certainly consider your idea Tiamat,” He gestured towards another scribe, who wrote it all down. “If you have any other grand ideas, I will certainly listen, you continue to impress me.”
She snuck a glance at the prince, before saying, “I humbly request I be permitted to continue my walk of the city with the prince. Perhaps I shall think of more things during such a walk.”
The Daimyo nodded “be on your way.”
The prince lead her once more back to the docks, as he still had business to be done, once more by the ships and the soldiers marching through the streets, they eventually found their way to silk merchants, the prince spent quite some time figuring out some more silk to be produced into some robes for the royal clan. While the merchant went to check his stock the prince turned towards Tiamat “Any further ideas of that great mind of yours?”
Tiamat pointed at the ships in harbor, asking, “Do all your vessels look like that?”
“Yes they do, until recently we’ve had no need for anything beyond the isle’s waters, which are, as I assume you’d guess, shallow compared to the waters probably around the mainland, we haven’t tried the waters beyond the isles but, we haven’t had a need to, until recently.”
She shook her head, “Those shallow vessels would not survive in the harsh ministrations of the open ocean. What is their superstructure like?”
The Prince thought for a brief second, gazing at the ships, “If i recall correctly, there is little of such superstructure in many of these ships, the Ohta are the only ones with a noteworthy amount to them.”
“I need a scroll and some ink. Where may we get some?” Tiamat asked, suddenly.
The prince tossed some coins to the returned silk merchant and told him to have the silk delivered to the palace, he led Tiamat to another merchant, one who sold scrolls and some ink. He quickly bought some and handed it over to Tiamat “I assume another of your great ideas?” he asked.
Tiamat responded, “One that will save the lives of your expedition. Your vessels are shallow, and will be drowned by the waves. And presumably your superstructures aren’t sturdy, and will be hammered and smashed into pieces by the water. If you take logs, and keep them whole..”
She drew a blueprint, of a vessel’s superstructure, deep-bottomed and hewn entirely out of thick logs. The logs lashed together and criss-crossed, sturdily linking together, and she explained, “If you place the planks atop this superstructure, it should be sturdy enough to withstand water hammers, and sit high enough in the water that the waves should not drown it.”
“I see, it would, most certainly be useful for our expedition to not drown in the waves as soon as we go beyond the Isles, once more, you impress me Tiamat, shall we deliver these to my father then?”
Tiamat nodded and said in return, “Very well, let us present them to your father.”
The duo once more headed their way through the winding streets to the palace, this time, Tiamat overheard something, two soldiers of the clan, both with bows strapped across their backs, speaking to one another.
“My arms really started to ache after a while, now I can’t even perform basic actions without my arms shooting out in pain every now and then, not to mention pulling this damn thing back.” One of them spoke, clearly speaking of the bow attached to him.
The other one responded “You’re telling me, but you have to admit, being able to kill a bandit from yards away is incredibly useful.”
“Ya I'll give you that.” the first one spoke once more.
Tiamat couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation before she was dragged away by the prince. Once more they returned to the palace, the guards at this point now bothering to hail them and just waving them in. They found the Daimyo once more, sitting in his more personal chambers this time around.
“And what do you bring to me now?” He asked, not even looking up from his work.
Tiamat kneeled once more, presenting the rolled-up scroll, saying, “I have designed a vessel for your expedition, that will survive in waters your current coastal boats will not.”
The daimyo took the scroll, unraveling it to investigate the contents, he whistled upon seeing it “This will, most certainly be a work to design, but,” He set the scroll down, looking up at Tiamat “Another of your ideas that will aid us, im sure Lady Ina would appreciate having a ship that could actually survive the endeavor.”
Tiamat simply responded, “I am happy to provide assistance, sir.”
The daimyo bowed to this “In that case, if you have any of your other ideas, feel free to stop by, already the ones you have given to us will be more than useful, the other clans will be eager to learn them.”
“If I may be granted another scroll, perhaps I may present to you another design that may help your troops,” Tiamat requested.
The daimyo merely pushed over a scroll, “Now this one im sure to be interested in.” He spoke, Tiamat could tell he was only half joking while saying it.
She took the scroll, laying it down as she spoke, “The bow has its advantages, and indeed still will over the design I am about to present, but it presents itself as a viable alternative.” She drew an odd design, a block of wood with a groove cut into it and two wooden fringes expanding out on either side, bowstring tied through them. They attached to a piece of bronze that could slide up and down the groove, and Tiamat placed a bronze assembly in the back. There was a trigger, that when placed into position would lift another piece of bronze up to force the sliding assembly into place in a taut position. When depressed, the trigger would drop the blocker and the slider would release its pressure, propelling an arrow forward.
She presented the design, saying, “The force by which the arrow is launched is greater than the bow, and will prove better against armored targets. It also spreads out the exertion of drawing the strings into manageable chunks. You press the device against the ground and use both hands to pull the slider back. Once it is at full tension, you impress the blocker upwards and force it to remain tensioned. Place an arrow into the groove, against the sliding block. Once the blocker is depressed, it launches forward with a mighty heave.”
“I see, an interesting and strange design I will admit, though I'm sure we will begin to test it out, there are still bandit camps to clear out.” The daimyo looked up at Tiamat “And what do I owe you in exchange for all of these beautiful designs?”
Tiamat said back, “If the prince be willing, I wish for us to join the voyage to the mainland. It has been long since I was there, and I wish to make contact with those I knew once again.”
The prince’s eyes lit up, the daimyo sighed, “Very well, but please, do keep an eye on him, he is my flesh and blood after all.”
Tiamat elected to compliment, saying, “He is extremely capable. I suspect he will be the one keeping an eye on me, rather than the other way around.”
Tanehira was bubbling with excitement “I shall not disappoint you father!” He turned towards Tiamat rapidly “Oh this shall be so fun!”
