The Forge of Koglan Ironweaver had gone quiet for a time. Mostly due to Siwa's visit and subsequent talk they had. But after Siwa had left Koglan is back on his feet and at the forge. The heat of the forge once again billowing up and about. Koglan has another project, something for the tribe this time. Something that would help the tribe as a whole, just as it would help two young goblins in their day to day life. This is the path of a Smith. And Koglan's energy is renewed, with the prospect that he can help another few members of the tribe.

A pair of knife billets, a foot and a half long each, , a half foot to be the tang and the handle. Good long blades, good for a fight and good for hunting besides. He nods, looking on as the metal heats, "I can see the blades already. Yes good double sided, cutting and stabbing, and will carry an edge well. Oh yes.

He pulls the chain on the billows and with a woosh the flames within the forge jump, the billets brightening. He reaches in with a tongs pulling one of the bright glowing red billets out, "And we begin." Over to the anvil, hammer in hand. The strikes of the hammer against metal. As he does a few young heads peek into the forge. One of the young goblins whispering, "Look at him go! Koglan must have had some kind of inspiration huh?" Koglan's arm descends again with a clang, smooth powerful strokes. He's got iron to weave again for a good cause.

Griz grew slightly pale at the mention of the word 'explode'. The word brought back painful memories from when he was still a youngling. The chaos of a raging battle. The exploding ball of fire. The pained screams of his mother and siblings. The heat of the spreading flame that nearly claimed him. Griz's eyes grew vacant for a moment. Looking forward but unfocused on anything in front of him, like he was looking beyond at something the others couldn't see. The memories went as quickly as they had come. It was only for a moment but, to Griz, it felt unnaturally long. It felt like he relived the day the adventurers came. "Ah...I'm sorry but...I'm not comfortable with explosions. Or large open flames for that matter." He then looks to Breden. "Breden, would you mind if you tested it out instead? I'll make sure to pay you back."

@AsheTheReborn

Breden thought about it for a moment. "I see. Sounds like it will be useful in a war. I'll do it. Just, if I may ask, what do you need us to do, Ashe? It sounds too dangerous for us to be hit directly by it. And we've had enough explosions around here. Too much for some of us" he added, not going into any details. He knew what had happened to Griz and didn't want to stir up any old memories. He looked at Ashe and smiled. She was pretty, but he got the sense that she wasn't looking to mate for a while. There was no way she'd dress in that much if she was trying to attract that sort of attention.

"Oh, and Griz, don't worry about me. If things get too dangerous, I'll come right back to the village."

@BigPapaBelial

"Oh Breden, I heard you and Griz just had a good hunt and-" he wasn't in his hut. A quick trip to Griz's place revealed that there was a good deal of meat, but neither male was there. Looking around carefully, she considered taking a bit of meat, but thought better of it. Koglan was already helping feed her, and she didn't need to impose on another goblin. Not yet, at least.

One of the young goblins, a boy, looked inside of the forge. He immediately ducked back outside when Koglan began to hammer his iron again.

@Searat@Aristocles
Ashe smiled at Griz quite apparent fear, it would make sense. He was afraid of her genius or maybe because, as he said, of the explosion. Not that it mattered for her, she needed both for her experiment and wouldn't take no for an answer.
She put a hand on the goblin's shoulder and with a calming voice, similar to how her human mother would sooth her when she had a nightmare said :

" I understand that you might be afraid. I am too, for not being afraid of the unknown or something that can cause you death, would mean you were stupid and you ain't. I've heard quite a few stories about you, brave hunter and warrior of the tribe. You won't need to do anything more than watch. I need your expert eyes and ears. "

When hearing Breden's words, she scoffed. "Directly hit by it". Not very smart. Why would she try to do that? She could've tested the potion directly in the village if it was like that and with a tone as if to teach a child, she said :

" Breden, Breden. I could've done that in the village if I wanted, wouldn't have I?
No, what I need you to do is to simply light the fuse at the end of it and use your young muscles to throw it as far as you can in a clearing of trees. After that I will calculate, using Griz's expertise how far the splinters flew, what direction and other similar stuff. It's just a test.
Also, I need some ingredients. Plants. I used a lot in making that test sample and if I works as intended, I will need to make a new one to show the chief. "

She didn't mention the fact that the plants would be bothersome for her to carry alone and the help of two goblins would make the task easier and safer.

@Aristocles@Searat

The hammer descended again. A crash, the outline of a knife starting to take form, slightly different from the curved single edged things he usually makes for the hunters. But he feels abit of change would be good. It's an interesting thing to work metal. Many goblins who don't work it, who have never tried to shape it, don't understand that metal, iron and steel, and he hears that dwarven sky iron and their legendary Adamant metal, is the same way, but it's an interesting thing that metal has a prechant to want to assume certain forms. He'd always found that it would form knives better when he worked it, or the head of an axe. One stubborn billet he remembered went to a burly goblin some time back, the billet didn't form a knife or axe or sword, but had assumed the form of a great flanged mace.

And here now Koglan bangs away at the forming knife, shaping it carefully. There had been some tailings off this one, tailings he might be able to turn into those chimes and rings for Siwa. Heat them again and bend them to shape. But these knives they take priority. He thrusts the knife into the flames again and brings out the other.

His hammer comes down again, the ring of the hammer against the iron. He nods, then spots again the little head peeking again through the door. He hums, and waits, then darts to the door, looming over the young male goblin, "You have finished lessons with your mother then? And come to watch old Koglan at the forge?" He grins down at the boy, "Then come in, feel the heat of the fire, and observe the flash of the sparks from the iron. Perhaps you'll learn something today." He motions to the boy and points at a little wooden stool a few yards away from the worst of the heat, "Here, sit here. And watch, observe." He picks up his hammer and the billet again and begins to work. Yes these blades would need to be finished before morning in a days time after all. Yes. A gift for a good hunter and another for someone who will need a proper blade.

@AsheTheReborn

"Alright. I can help with that. Not sure what 'cal-cew-late' means, but it sounds important. Whenever you're ready, lead the way. I trust this won't take too long." Breden turned back to Griz. "Want to come? We can carry the plants together if you like." Breden didn't think he had a shot with Ashe right now, but if he ever wanted to get closer to her, this would be a good way to start. He had to show that he could be friendly to her before he could consider going farther, assuming this wasn't a matter of lust alone.

Siwa had looked through the village, trying to find Breden. She saw him and Griz at a distance talking to a heavily-dressed figure. Were it not for her green skin, long ears, and bare feet, she might have been mistaken for a small human at a distance. Already expecting children, Siwa wasn't in a competitive mood with another female when it came to attention from up-and-coming hunters, but she was interested in what this new girl was doing with Breden. She kept on eye on them and followed from a distance.

@BigPapaBelial

The boy looked up at Koglan. "I-I'm really not supposed to be here. My mother thinks I'm fetching some water. Oh, I'm not begging for anything, I just wanted to see what a sword looks like."

"I'll help you gather the ingredients but I won't be there for long afterward. I'd come back check how far the splinters go but that's about how close you can get me to participate in the testing." Griz says with a tone of finality. He had already compromised to help a fellow villager, hopefully she'd take his offer to help without a fuss. Regardless of whether Ashe took his offer, he would at least escort them to where the Nightshade grew. The night was growing closer and he wasn't sure if two lone goblins were enough to deter the interest of hungry beasts. Even less against a monster prowling about, looking for dinner.

@Aristocles@Searat

Ashe chuckled at Breden's attempt of saying "calculate" and smiled. He was cute goblin but knowing how goblin romance worked, she wouldn't make the first move. She was too busy at it is, science comes first.

" Leave the calculation parts to me, but, I'm willing to teach you and anyone else in the village for that matter. Smart goblins make terrible opponents in war from what I've heard. " said Ashe in a kind tone before turning over to Griz.

Griz was clearly uncomfortable with her experiment but still agreed to come. A useful goblin is a goblin that lives long and goes up in Ashe's books.
Nodding to him, as to acknowledge his help, she said :

" Griz, I don't need more than that. Your eyes and ears are all I need. Everything else I can do on my own. It's just faster to get your help, than doing it on my own.
After the test I'll have to sleep, if I remember to do that, then continue on some elixirs. ", after a small pause, with a face that showed how deep in thought she was, she continued :

" Who knows, maybe one of these days, I'll be able to make gold out of stone. If I only managed to do that, maybe, just maybe, we'd be able to unite the other goblin tribes and finally, have a place of our own, where we don't need to fear that humans, orcs or whatever else is out there can attack us at will. " her tone was dark as she remembered the first time she visited with her human parents the goblin village where she was born. Only ashes remained and some bones but it was enough to teach Ashe what was the fate of goblins that were too aggressive.

As she talked, they reached the clearing in the woods where the experiment would take place. A small place, hidden from view but where a lot of plants would grow and a place which Ashe found by mistake when she first went to explore the surroundings of the village.

When they reached the place, the sun was slowly going down already and they had to move faster otherwise the whole experiment would fail as she wouldn't be able to see anything.
From the bag she carried, she produced a small vial, round made of leather. Opening the lid on it, a wrenched smell came out and with a quick practiced hand she put a fuse inside it, completely drenching it before removing half of it from the vial.

" Griz, I need you to take some distance and watch. Breden, I want you to take the vial, put a small flame at the top of the fuse. Hold the vial for 2 seconds, as if you'd tap your foot twice on the ground then throw it as fast as you can in the middle of the clearing there. " her voice was all business now, no longer her voice was easy going and kind and her eyes were fiery as this was all she lived for.

@AsheTheReborn@Searat

"I've never heard that, but I suppose it doesn't hurt" Breden replied skeptically.

"Getting gold from a stone? Maybe the humans like that sort of thing, but it's not exactly what we like around here. The shaman says that a field of good soil is worth more than gold, so maybe a fertility potion would help more? I dunno. I'm not the al-ki-mist."

He walked with Ashe until she stopped and he was given the vial. "A flame? I can build a small fire for that." He proceeded to do so, still possessing the tools Griz had given him for that same task a bit earlier in the day. It took a bit longer than he had thought it would, but withing a short time, he had put a flame on the fuse. He tapped his foot twice on the ground, then threw the vial as far as he could. It went fairly far, but many a warrior in the village could have thrown in yards more.

Siwa saw what was happening from about 50 meters away. She was hidden in the bushes, so no one saw her yet. She'd have gotten closer, but she wouldn't dare until it was safe, given that she also had to think about the safety of her unborn young as well as her own well-being.

@Aristocles

Koglan looked down at the young goblin, "Ahhh shirking your errands a little." He chuckles, "It's fine. Everyone needs a break." He walks into his forge then quirks an eyebrow, "You wanted to see a sword?" He hums and looks about his forge, "A sword...goblins don't use swords very often my young friend." He hums looking about somemore. Seeing finished maces, axes, small knifes, a spear or two, and armor that needd to be fitted for this warrior or that. Then he hums and the old Goblins face lights, "I have a secret to show you." He waves the young goblin in, around the forge and then up to a darker area of the forge he kneels and pulls up a small wooden bench down by the floor, "This...is something I have shown only one other person. I hid it because...I don't know if anyone could ever do it the honor it deserves."

Out from under the bench comes a 3 foot long, maybe 4 inch wide cloth swaddled thing. Koglan brings it out, "I want this to be a secret between us." He pulls the cloth back, bits of dust and dirt falling to the floor, as he reveals a curved steel sword, made in the goblin way, but with ornamentation that is very rare, "I made this as my Master Work, young goblin." Koglan explains, "The item I forged with my own hands that denotes my rise to being a master weapon smith." He pulls the rest of the sword out and then carefully sets it on the floor, "My Master, the late Smith Dunst, said it was one of the greatest weapons he ever saw made." Koglan smiles, "One day I hope to give it to someone. Someone who will care for it, and use it wisely in defense of the tribe." Koglan hums, "Maybe you one day young goblin." He chuckles, "Remember, this is our secret." He pats the boy on the shoulder, then starts to wrap the sword back up, "One day it will be in the hands of a great goblin warrior. On that day and only that day will I be fully satisfied with my life as a smith I think."

Koglan carefully puts the sword away, "Run along now young friend. Get your mother the water she needs. And remember this is our secret." He stands slowly and smiles at the young goblin.

"I'll be a distance away alright." Griz says as they walk through the woods. The twilight shining the rays of the setting sun just well enough for them to navigate without issue and gave Griz an advantage on keeping an eye out for beasts or monsters that may want a three-course goblin meal for early dinner. Thankful to his lucky stars, there were no incidents that occurred. But now it would be time for Ashe to conduct the weapon test. While Breden was making a flame to ignite the weapon, Griz walked back 20 meters away and hid behind a tree, only letting an eye out of cover. Close enough for him to see the weapon's effects but far enough for him to feel 'safe'. Any closer and he was almost sure that the explosion would have triggered a PTSD episode.

He then saw Breden toss the object. Griz braced himself for the inevitable explosion.

@BigPapaBelial

The boy nodded at Koglan. "Give me a couple of years, and I'll be the one using that sword, just you wait and see! Thanks for showing it to me. Oh, my name's Tareth" he explained, pronouncing it 'tear-eth', as one would would tear a piece of paper. "That thing is amazing!" Reluctantly, the boy began to leave the smith, taking one slow step back at a time. He was hardly the image of a warrior, being a slim little goblin, clad in only a single strip of fabric which covered his privates. Still, he had time to grow.

"Bye! I'd better get to the well for that water!" He ran off, not wanting to be later for that chore than he already was. Tareth would remember this day and that sword.

@Searat@Aristocles

Ashe smiled at Breden's apparent foolishness, he didn't know how humans work at all. A fertile terrain is good but means nothing if you cannot defend it against invaders which are better equipped and better trained than any goblin ever.
" The shaman is wise, but, he never lived between humans. He doesn't know that greed is everything and anything that motives most of them.
A fertile terrain is useless if no one knows how to tend it properly or if a orc war party finds it.
Gold would make the humans protect us against whatever we cannot. Not due to our combat skills, but, due to our nature. " her voice was low and dark, soon she closed her mouth and looked for a minute into the horizon.

A few minutes later the vial was in flames and thrown towards the middle of the clearing, Ashe was watching with interest. Every leaf, every blade of grass and every sound that her goblin ears could pick up.

Midway through the throw, the vial exploded. Launching tiny spikes in every direction and an area of around 5 meter was covered spikes, all smoking from one end and each of them still burning slightly.
The problem was, some of them were pointed towards where Breden and Ashe were standing. As soon as the explosion triggered, Ashe jumped on Breden pushing him to the ground in a tumble.

Soon after the smoke was gone and Ashe realized that she was still on top of Breden. Quickly standing up, she brushed whatever dirt and ashes were on her clothes. A small trickle of blood could be seen on her hand but she simply ignored it.
Her face was nothing as what one would expect, she was excited.

' By all the great alchemists! That was great! A bit too much powder and the fuse was clearly too short.
Griz! Tell me, how far? How long was the flight? Tell me everything you could see! "

It was far worse than Griz could have imagined. He had braced himself for the torrential influx of abject terror and panic, but this was almost too much for the older goblin. Bullets of cold sweat dripped down his body, his heart paced as fast as a jackrabbit, his breaths were shallow and ragged. He did his best to will his composure back long enough for him to successfully identify how far did the spikes go. Lo and behold, focusing on something else entirely helped Griz regain his grip on reality faster.

For once, he was happy to be willingly distracted.

He was about 20 meters away from the explosion. He could see the devastating effects of the weapon by the mere sight of the destruction within a 5-meter radius. If this were ever to be approved by the chief, it would give their tribe a well-earned advantage against hostile tribes. Griz had regained most of his composure when he saw a couple of smoking spikes lodged into the bark of a tree around 5 meters away from him. Ashe would call out and ask Griz for his assessment. "I-I can see a spike lodged in that tree." Griz points to the aforementioned tree from behind his own. "Ha-happened too quick for me to see. One moment its whole, the-the next its gone. Terrifying destructive power." Griz gestures to the destruction within the 5 meters the bomb was tossed. "Is a-anyone injured?"

@AsheTheReborn@Searat

"Griz? Griz!" Breden saw that his older friend was having something of a panic attack. He ran over to him to make sure he was okay before even thinking about responding to Ashe. "I"m fine. No one got hurt. That thing was more powerful than I imagined it would be, but nothing bad happened. You got this?" He turned back to Ashe, raising his voice so she can hear him. "Griz will be fine! He's just a bit shaken!"

Breden walked back over to Ashe once Griz began to calm down a bit. "I think we've done enough with the bombs today. They work, and I'm sure they'll help. Now, maybe we can get back to the village? I'll walk you home if you like. Maybe we should take Griz home first. In fact, how about we go to his place and have some of the venison we caught? I'll let you eat out of my half if you like."

Koglan smiles and nods, "Tareth I have no doubt that you will be the one who will wield that sword come the day you are grown into a mighty warrior of the tribe. I hope, I am still here to hand the sword over to you." He nods, "And you know what, to make it true, I have spoken on this. Tareth, shall wield my sword. This I know." He nods, then motions to the door into his forge, "Be safe young goblin. And come and visit again if you like. Just don't shirk your chores or errands."

Koglan watched the young goblin run off, waving as he watched the young goblin turn to look back. Though soon Koglan heads back into his forge. And resumes work.

As he does he hears in passing from a pair of hunters passing by coming into the village, "Did you hear? That new comer, Ashe? Talked Griz and Bredan into some strange kind of experiment outside the village." The second of the two hums, "Isn't she the one who was raised by the humans? Surprised the elders and chief let her stay. She's an odd one. Not bad looking but an odd one." Koglan hammers at the metal steadily, "A new experiment...odd I never knew goblins who experiment...or well I'm wrong I'm doing something new now. Those bits of fine ornaments. Interesting."

@AsheTheReborn@Aristocles

"Going back t-to the village would be good." Griz says as he finally managed to calm himself down. Ancestors above, he never wanted to experience that again anytime soon. He'd hoped that he would have never experience that again, but it was too effective a weapon and he was almost sure that the chief would approve of the weapon without a second thought. Griz looked towards the setting sun and estimated how long until the woods would be enshrouded in shadow. "If we move now, we would reach the village just before the stars appear in the sky."

(I was going to wait for Ashethereborn to reply, but it seems that is delayed. I'll reply here now.)

@BigPapaBelial@Searat

Breden nodded. "Right. Let's get going. Ashe! We're heading into the village again! You can come with us if you like. We're doing to Griz's hut!" He didn't want to rush off, but it was getting late and once the sun went down, the forests around the village became much more dangerous. It was rare to find any goblin traveling alone at night, and most who did go out alone were male warriors or hunters, and even those tended to travel in groups when it was that late.

The three of them made it to the village without incident, and it was easy for them to maneuver through the dirt paths which served as "streets" in their hometown. Apart from starlight and the half-moon, there was very little light to go by.

"Almost there, Griz. Don't worry. Ashe, you still there?"

Once they managed to enter the village, the worry left the older goblin. "Thank the Nature Spirits that we didn't encounter anything." He finished with a relieved chuckle. Ashe had been awfully quiet the way back, likely thinking of things that would only confuse Breden and him if she were to share. None the less, the smell of the smoked deer meat signaled to them that they were near his hut. "All that experience worked up quite an appetite in me. Sure hope that I don't eat my half in one sitting." It was an exaggeration but he was really hungry and it wouldn't surprise him if he ate more than he expected that night.

It'd been an interesting two days. As Koglan went about his forge sweeping and preparing for the day. With Siwa coming in almost daily for food, and staying for a time so that she and Koglan could talk. He enjoyed the company, it's no secret the old goblin spend alot of his time alone after all, and Siwa filled a void he didn't know he had.

But that's not all. The old Goblin smith had taken on a task, a quest almost, a crafting quest. To create knifes for a pair of goblins in the tribe who, by his eyes anyway, have earned his iron. so even as he sweeps and cleans making ready for the day to come and a new order from the chief, he stops and runs his hands over a pair of daggers on the workshop counter. They aren't paired but they very well could be. They could make a perfect paired weapons for some silly goblin warrior. But no, these knifes atleast to Koglan are new master works. Seven inch long blades, hilts long enough to fit the plam of a goblin easily and snugly, wrapped in cloth and leather, with a screaming mini goblin head on the pommel of the knifes. Straight backed with curved blades, perfect for cutting and slashing.

It's a pity he made them out of iron now that he thinks of it, they would have been prime for the steel. Ah well, next time.

As he sweeps the last of the dust and debris into either the fire or next to the door of the forge to be picked up later he nods, then waves down one of the young goblins who are walking by this early. He hands the young girl goblin an apple from his stores and smiles, "Here, I have an errand for you. Fetch me Hunter Griz and Young Brendan to me. Tell them Koglan Ironweaver the Smith has something for them. Do not take no for an answer. They must come." He nods and motions for her to go.

The old braided smith grins, then goes and covers the knifes with a length of dark cloth. Then goes to his forge. Moments later there's a thwump-thwump-thwump which is followed by the roar of flames as the forge comes back to life. Coals heating and the raging fire within the forge seeming to growl in joy at the work to come.

@Searat@Aristocles