RP:A Weapon to Surpass Tenbatsu Kaji

Summary: Seeking to forge a weapon to rival the power of the Tenbatsu Kaji, Quintessa commissions a master smith named Nikola to forge a katana made from an alloy of Mithril, Adamantite, and Groundium, and given a Ya-te-veo wood handle. Named the Jubaku no Kijo, Quintessa dubs the blade "Seika's little sister" and further seeks to empower the sword using Soul Bonding, a powerful art used by necromancers.

The Dragon's Forge

A lone building stands a few kilometres outside the city of Craugmoyle, only accessible by the mountain path between the dwarven city and Xalious, the city of mages. Though the road is rough or uneven by most standards, constant traffic from traders moving back and fro between the two cities made the spot ideal for someone to set up shop. An aging stone building stands by the side of the path, two large wooden doors and a sign hanging on the outside, an anvil and a hammer drawn upon it. Walls are covered in vines while a chimney roars smoke on top making one imagine the warmth such establishment offers to counteract the mountain cold. Behind the aging building however is a two story home, it seems to be built much more recently as the discrepancies between the two designs are pretty apparent, having a bit more of a homey look, like a retreat home rather than those one would typically find in the city. A stone path on the side of the front building, leading towards the one behind it. Inside the store however, one would find the typical assortment of goods they would expect from a smithery, armors positioned upright as they are held up by their stands, weaponry of various shapes and sizes are displayed on several racks. Shields adorn the walls while the cheaper items are stacked in a nearby barrel and the expensive ones are placed underneath a glass case, all have their own prices displayed before them. At the rear of the store, one would notice a large steel door, most likely leading towards the owner's home a forge roars mightily as stacks of materials are stacked nearby, metal ingots and sacks of coal sit in the corner near an anvil while a long table separate this work space from the store proper, a desk where one would barter gold for goods and services.

Quintessa Dragana had only visited Craugmoyle a handful of times, usually only passing through or because of some kind of big event that the changeling wanted to attend. Last time she had been a contestant in the Red Skull Arena, claiming victory over the Drow Matron Gevurah D’Artes after she was caught trying to murder her in cold blood. It was a hollow victory, but the memory of cutting the dark elf from hip to sternum made Quintessa happy none the less. Today the hex blade had neared the dwarven city for a very different reason, finding time away from her office in Xalious to visit the shop of the one known as Nikola. The description matched what was on the advertisement, the parchment filled in every direction with insignias from sources, mostly from lands far away and unknown, but one however, was the unmistakable Royal Seal of the Larketian King. "This is the place." Affirmed the changeling, sticking the paper back into her cloak pocket before her booted feet brought her inside. Mismatched eyes of blue and hazel gazed queerly at the shields that adorned the walls, her left hand idly finding the hilt of her katana to rest there as she explored the smithy. The weapons already created here were masterful, but Quintessa needed something a bit more specific- something she had been researching for months before being ready to collaborate with a metallurgist. While Quintessa wasn't a fan of Larket, Nikola must have been skilled at her trade enough to gain the patronage of the king, and thus the young Baroness was already entering this establishment with high expectations. She would need to be vetted, of course, but Quintessa expected Nikola's knowledge of alloys to far exceed her own, and thus she would be worthy enough to join this project with her. "Excuse me?" rang the slightly high-pitched voice of the changeling as she neared the desk where one would barter. "I'm looking for the owner of this smithy. It's Lady Dragana- I put out word asking for a smith who could smelt cobalt and you were quick to respond. You said then that you could trade work for prominence, so I'm certain we can come to an agreement."

Nikola was sitting behind the desk, it’s not exactly a big shop, and she never wanted it to be a large one. Large shops meant more work, more people to hire and so on. To ensure the quality of her products she has to build all of it herself, being a creature of long life, it is difficult for her to 'teach' someone all her knowledge as they end up dying of old age before learning all of it. Having a small shop makes it more... exclusive anyway. As the door opens, the saurian looked up from her book and welcomed the customer in, "Ah... The Baroness, yes?" she opens a small door on the side and enters the shop proper as she does not want to appear rude before her. "Cobalt... Yes, yes... Well, I do have a question for that... Cobalt isn't exactly the strongest of metals, even if one combines it into alloys, common steel would still be better. Cobalt is a fairly easy metal to mold and make, any blacksmith worth such title could do so... unless of course you want to use it for jewelry then I can't help you as I am a warsmith, not a jeweler" she ponders as to what other uses cobalt has, weapon wise it'll be such a brittle weapon compared to what common folk has, even bandits would have better equipment than cobalt based weapon. "Maybe it’s the color?" she asks herself, Cobalt has a tinge of blue which can be easily replicated through heat-treatment, "Maybe it’s not for her, a gift perhaps? To display upon one's living room? Maybe present for her son?" she is talking audibly, tends to happen when one lives alone in the mountain.

Quintessa frowns. Obviously she had been short-sided in her research and had neglected to properly look into the practical uses of the metal. "I see," the studious girl says, lifting her satchel to rest on the desk as she shifted through it. "I was concerned about that, but no-no-no, common steel won't work. I need something with less iron- none, in fact." The changeling trails off as Nikola does, her lithe hands producing a small notebook from her bag. "I only looked into making a cobalt alloy to save costs... The Tenbatsu Kaji was only made of common steel, so I figured I didn't need to spring for Mithril, but since I'm trying to emulate a piece of Elvan history perhaps it's fitting that I use that instead."

Baroness Dragana closes her notebook to trade it for a folded up piece of paper, which she unfolds to place on the desk for Nikola to see. "So, I've created a concept sketch. The Tenbatsu Kaji had a 71 centimeter long blade- I want something slightly smaller; a 68 and a half centimeter long blade." Her finger traces along the katana drawn on the paper, tiny notes and measurements added where she could fit them. On the top of the page the sword had been affectionately named 'Jubaku no Kijo'. "The handle I'll want made out of a 23 centimeter long piece of Ya-te-veo wood- which I'll be providing for you. As you see, I've styled it off of the old Sylvan Empire, a dark reflection of Yamamato Silverleaf's creation... Well, it was... Can you darken Mithral? It's important to me that this weapon serves as both a weapon and a symbol."

"Mithril is fairly cheap here in Craughmoyle, mostly because it is quite difficult to work with. Though many dwarves here could use the material, most of them are bought by Cenril to arm their soldiers. But of course in reply to that, mass production keeps the price low." she inspects the piece of parchment on her table as the lady describes her order. "Typically a sword of this type weighs about a kilo, or a kilo and a half... but Mithril is a fairly light metal... I guess I could mix in heavier metals in it to bring it to 'common weight'." if the weapon is too light, it'll place stress upon the user to strike harder, it'll be like trying to inflict heavy damage while wielding a feather. Though the sword would be sharp, the strike won't go deep. She ponders for a second before reply, "Ashen black or reflective black?" Either way she'll need to mix in more carbon onto the Mithril to bring out the desired shade, although mixing it with Adamantite is also a preferable alternative. Swords such as these typically have a strong blade with a soft back so parrying would not cause the blade to brake in half. "Maybe Ghroundium for the edge..." it'll serve as both the weight and strong metal for the sharp edge.”Swords of this type typically comes with a sheathe made of wood. I... presume I'll just build one out of standard material that I have, yes? And the handle is traditionally wrapped with leather from a sea creature, a ray. Unless you have other materials in mind, can I also presume I'll also be providing such?" Of course she has to verify beforehand, she'll need to add all of the material cost to the bill... Wait, she did say she chose cobalt to lower the cost... could she pay for this? She is a baroness right? Of course experience allowed her to keep a straight face while waiting for the woman to reply, not wanting to appear rude.

"Oh, is it? I've only checked the Vailkrin prices and they can be a little high. It can be difficult to ship things in sometimes, you know how it can be. Bandits, highwaymen, that kind of thing." Quintessa decides to endeavor not to get too derailed and waves her hand to dismiss her concerns about materials getting stolen, remaining quiet as Nikola continues to explain. "Hmm..." The baroness considers her options, tugging thoughtfully on her bottom lip as she thinks it over. "A Ghroundium edge? That sounds perfect, actually. Gives the blade more balance. And the leather, does it have to be from a ray? I've been experimenting with other leathers and I have found a suitable replacement; the rare Hellfire Salamanders from the volcanic tunnels of Rynvale. I haven't hunted one down yet but I've have the materials ready for the completion of this sword." Quintessa lifts the paper from the desk and puts it away, assuming Nikola has looked at it for a sufficient amount of time. "Oh! You asked me a question about the reflectiveness of the katana? Try to make it look more ashen, though I suppose it doesn't matter overly much if the sword looks glossy or not."

"No, not really... Its just that ray leather has this... 'texture' in it that promotes grip. Though I am not familiar with the texture of hellfire salamander hides but if you think such is comfortable enough for a grip, feel free to acquire so and I'll make the grip for you. However tanning from a fresh kill takes time." Its probably better to either purchase one that is already made, maybe trade a 'kill' with a cured hide? The baroness would most likely have her own connections and would sort it out herself. Looking up to her as he takes the parchment away, She already made note in her memory of the woman's specifications for it. "Well stealth wise, reflective blades tend to make night missions a lot more difficult, Avians' True Steel is far reflective than anything else, typically using them to blind their opponents as there are plenty of sunlight in the sky for them to utilize in combat." pondering for a bit as she continued, "A cow hide takes nearly two months to be tanned, could be more for a rare beast like such lizard... which would have been fine as traditionally swords are forged then reforged countless times to ensure its strength, two dozen or more smiths working on it for half a year, maybe more... however that is 'traditionally' Using modern techniques, it could be done in a week, However... I can make one in a matter of hours." She looked upon her with all seriousness, "I am a blue dragon you see, a creature that could manipulate lightning." demostrating so as an arc of energy jumps from her thumb to her index finger. "With enough time, my hands could melt any metal and my grip strike harder than any forging hammer." scales began to from out of her skin and wrap around her hands, transforming her limb to its draconian like form as to convince the baroness of her claims. "Though we would bottleneck on the hide, its not uncommon for some swords of this type to not have a leather grip at all, mostly due to conflicts or lack of supplies, some combatants utilize what they have... which becomes a problem when their hands get a bit sweaty or bloody but what can they do. I could leave the grip leather-less till you are able to acquire some." she finishes her little rant as she looked back to the woman, hopefully this does not deter her from taking her services.

Quintessa nods her head in agreement. She might not have known much about smiting, but leather working was a different story. The changeling had a knack for animal hides and plant fibers, and made clothes and bags often in her free time. It was perhaps the only thing she learned from her father, who was a woodsman, and had made Quintessa help him skin and tan leathers. "Yes, I'll have that handled myself at a later date. For now just use whatever grip you have handy. Small customizations and enchantments can wait." The changeling's mismatched eyes light up with curiosity as Nikola explains her draconic lineage and she nods her head enthusiastically, easily following along. She had studied the sciences and naturalism, and memorized many texts written about saurians and dragons in her endeavor to raise a young red dragon back at her manor. If the supposed vampire had any prejudice regarding dragons it didn't show. "That's remarkable! So, when can you get started? I'll send for the wood right away if you have the metal handy. This is Dwarven Territory, correct? They should have what we need if you don't already... What would it cost to import it? Gold is no object to me."

"If I rush it, it can be done today assuming you'd return with the wood later today. Ghroundium is the hardest part to forge and would probably take the time longest. I also need to make an Adamantite and Mithril alloy, melting metals and then molding them to shape typically takes days to anneal to ensure the metals bond correctly but if... let say, 'someone' can directly inspect these said bonds and dip their fingers into the scorching metal to manually correct these flaws, then the annealing process could be expedited, ignored even." She ponders what else to say before she continue, "I have the materials, could do ray leather temporarily but can't exactly attach it without the wood." she glances at the woman and frowns a bit. She has been taking about what is 'traditional' for the past few hours with the baroness and it seems her train of thought simply drifted toward such direction "This weapon is typically worn by a certain clan of humans... I'm not sure it'll fit your current aesthetics." One would wonder why she is even saying these; she is a blacksmith not a fashion designer. "A rush job would cost twenty, fifteen if you give me two days, ten if you give me three days and wear a kimono when you return here." Of course she is talking about thousands of gold right now but the audacity of this woman to 'demand' a baroness, she is an outsider after all, she is not exactly 'bound' by the laws of this country let alone its aristocrats. Even the King Macon of Larket or Shar Uriphiel of the Avians didn't escape her weird 'quips',

"My aesthetics?" Quintessa looks down at her current garb; her invisibility cloak draped over her shoulders, her combat leathers, boots and runic goggles. "Yes, I suppose you're right." When the young baroness looks back up at Nikola a cheeky smile has spread across her face. "You are very educated- I like that about you, so I'll agree to your terms." In truth Quintessa was happy to show off some of the designs she had been working on. The amateur seamstress had on two separate occasions won awards for her dresses, but a traditional style kimono? She was excited for this opportunity. "The Ya-te-veo wood and 10,000 gold pieces will arrive in a few hours, and I- dressed in my favorite kimono, will return in three days to pick up your finished work." If there was nothing left to discuss, Quintessa would bid Nikola farewell and return to Vailkrin to set about her affairs, first collecting the sum the smith required and sending it along with the Ya-te-veo wood in the care of Syndicate smugglers. The changeling could not trust such a big shipment leaving in an armed stagecoach guarded by her vassals, that was asking for trouble, so her clan would assist in this matter.

Within a few hours Nikola would receive her payment and the wood necessary for the project, delivered by a pair of human men in black leathers who weren’t at all interested in sticking around after the dragon had what she needed. During the three days she was told to wait, Quintessa would use her vast wealth and influence to gather the materials needed for her kimono. As a young, unmarried woman, the baroness found it appropriate to wear a Hōmongi style kimono, meaning she would have to acquire silks from the elves of the Sage Forest, an easy enough task. Staying true to her creepy nature and dark fashion sense, she paired shades of black and grey with dark crimson, giving her outfit a foreboding aura. For her motif she chose something fitting for a distinguished member of the Necromancer's Guild, a smoldering skull, a smoke pattern flowing across the back right shoulder and back right sleeve, the front left shoulder and front left sleeve, and across the hem. Over the hem she sewed a red lotuses pattern lining, one that matched the sash she tied over her obi. The obi in question was one that secretly designated her rank within the Syndicate of Shadows; The Ravens. The carrion birds overlooked a battlefield, the sun setting low in the clouds behind lifeless trees, a beautiful, if eerie, sunset splashing the background with brilliant reds and purples. After three days pass an ebony and silver palanquin arrives, carried by undead vassals that wait patiently for Quintessa to return as she steps out of the transport and enters Nikola's shop once more, smelling of cherry blossoms and sweet peaches. “Nikolaaa~” rang a familiar voice as her zori clacked across the hard floor, “I’ve returned, and dressed in the outfit I promised you.”

Nikola would wave the baroness her farewells, allowing the large store door to slowly close, stiffling the cold mountain air as it shut. As soon as the woman is no longer around, the dragoness began moving around things. Shelves, armor stands and various stacks of materials was soon pushed around for a trap door to be revealed somewhere on the store's floor. Using her magnetism, she moves the locking mechanism about, allowing her to finally open her vault. A folding step ladder leading to what one would call... a mess. There are too many things in here, various sets of armors, weapons, shields, all in various shapes and sizes, there is even horse armor made out of engraved metals with gold gildings. Clearly a stockpile of arms. However all of them are all shoved in there, at first one could see shelves and chests properly stacked one after another but it seems the dragoness eventually gave up and everything is now everywhere. A dragon would normally hoard precious things, the gems and materials that made the entire arsenal is comparable to such hoard... one would just not prefer to sleep on it. Nikola grimace at the sight before her, "The more I look, the more I want to move down the 'clean the basement' on my things to do list. She shivers in the horror thinking of 'cleaning' this place. One would wonder why is all of these here? shouldn't she be selling these? Equipment that find themselves in this vault falls into several categories, One. Its cursed, Two. Its costs more than entire countries, Three. Whoever ordered them vanished or died before claiming the item, as Nikola is a dragon, it took her centuries to realize that whomever bought them are most likely dead. There are some in there too that is either too dangerous or too complicated for the younger races to use but that is not what Nikola is currently looking for at the moment. As her energy escape her, the air began to feel tingly, as a dragon who commands lightning, her energy began to lick upon every metal in this room, crawling through every one of them as the dragoness has her eyes closed, looking for something. Searching through the pile, a small box soon came toward her, dislodging several things from its wake as the Warsmith reach for it and open, "You are perfect..." smiling as she close the small box and climbing out of the vault before returning everything back to its place, hiding the trap door once again.

With her little present ready, she began working on the blade, creating the sword is pretty straight forward. Having done so a thousand times before, the 'three days' was merely there as so she would not feel 'rushed'. She began by feeding more fuel into her forge that roared as heat continues to climb inside the store, a knock on her door made her stop what she was doing, the delivery from the Baroness, wood and gold. She says her thanks to the men that delivered the goods before returning back to work. As the flames are still roaring, she used several air pumps connected within the blast furnace to increase the heat, pumps are typically controlled by hand but Nikola forged the handles out of metal, allowing her to control them using her magnetism. She inspects the material and began her measurements on it, she could try to salvage some of it to create sheathe as well but should that be not enough, she could always layer it up with some Xalious wood. Marking the wood about with a pencil before setting it aside for later.

She soon pulls out several ingots of Mithril and Adamantite, she needs to find the perfect mixture to prevent the metal from degrading while keeping the desired color. Typically one would add oils upon the metal to acquire the color but she find that 'temporary' as they end up being scrapped off after being polished 'several' times, Then again it might just be Nikola, a being of short lifespan would dedicate 'quite a bit' of polishing to scrape off color. With the forge still going strong, she prepares a basin and placed the ingots into the flame, it would take some time for them to melt.

Making sure the pit is well stocked with coal, Nikola started off with the Ghroundium. A slab of it was placed against her table which groaned upon its weight. Using her magics, she began to trace the metal's structure. The reason why Ghroundium is frowned upon by most is because its bonds are too sturdy, making it next to impossible to forge, Ogres on the other hand wear them... if you call wearing slab of metal with some straps as 'wearing' then sure. Molding the metal into shape is difficult, but the dragon could see its bonds as electricity surge on the metal, know its weaknesses and slowly bit by bit, allowing her claw to dig into the metal, her nails superheated, enchanted with her lightning magic as it continues to dig through the slab, taking a piece that would be the sword's blade and core. She then spent the following days heating the Ghroundium with her magic before hammering it down with brute force. As the core finally come to shape, the mixture of Mithril and Adamantite has melted evenly, placed upon the forge for three days straight passively shoveling coal and pumping air into the furnace while working on the Ghroundium is quite a multi tasking feat. If the Baroness has chose to rush it, she would've just melted all with her magic, expending so much more mana in the process. Still, the mixture is ready and she pour it into the mold, two halves of the side of the blade which would meet on the top, she did add some coloring agent to it have that 'ashen' look. Waiting for it to cool down, The dragon then began working on the wood, preparing the sheath and the handle for later. When the metal is cool 'enough', she breaks the mold revealing two white hot metal parts. With her scaly hand, the dragoness fearlessly took them and began inspecting her work, even dipping her nails into them as if fixing something. This is how Nikola expedites annealing, instead of calmly waiting for the blade to cool down and allow the metal bonds to 'hopefully' stabilize, Nikola manually fixes them, same reason why all her products are of high quality. Once satisfied, she prepares the Ghroundium core and sandwiches it between the two, still heated pieces before quenching them into a tank. The cooling seals in the material together before the heat attempts to fold itself, creating that traditional curve, pulling it one and inspecting her work. The Warsmith soon commands a small cloud of metal dust, sharpening and polishing the blade into its perfection. The metal is ashen while the sharp edge itself has this serrated edge looking blade, only visually however, most likely because of the metal used on it. There is a bit more Ghroundium on the rear near the handle as to keep the blade balance. A simple handguard is placed before the wood is bound against the metal with a simple set of pins and then being wrapped in ray leather in the traditional patterns. The wood provided was then adjusted and polished to shape using the same cloud of metal before adding some laquer and varnish as to keep its color dark. Once everything is done, Nikola seems satisfied of her work before cleaning the store and herself up.

Refreshed, her hand back to its typical human form she sat quietly by her desk as she await for the appointed time. She soon hears the vehicle stop before her store, prompting her to stand and open the door excitedly, "Oh you." she bites her lower lip from as she looked upon the woman from head to toe, Nikola does not care, oogling at her as she try not to let her emotion take over her. "Come in, come in." realizing she has been staring at her for far too long, letting her freeze out there in the mountain cold. The two is not 'close' yes? but the dragon does not again, clearly unaware of how proper interactions work. "I... I have a present." she fishes the small box out of her pocket as she said, "Few... 'decades' ago, a client ordered this from me. It is quite rare for me to make something as small as this but I was curious and want to take the challenge." as she opens the box, it was a Lotus hair pin, A dark shaded lotus with a black stem behind it. "This weapon is requested by a well know assassin a few cen.. I mean decades back to a point I no longer remember her name." awkwardly smiling, ofcourse no woman would want anyone to know their age. "A length of mithril string is stored within the Lotus, held by a spring." She pulls the largest petal of the Lotus, revealing the thread for the Baroness, the petal quicky reels back in as soon as she freed it from her finger, the spring works still it seems. "She attempted to kill me, thinking she could use her skills to get a freebie I suppose." thinking she no longer needs to continue the story as she is alive and have the hairpin. Looking up to the Baroness and said, "I want you to have this." smiling as she offers the small box to the woman, inside the small box, underneath the main piece are more 'stems' it seems, replacement? most likely. "And ofcourse, your sword." sitting on her table, waiting for its Master. "It does not have a name though."

Quintessa Dragana is not naïve to the fact that she is attractive. On the contrary, it's something she puts great effort into at times- this being one of them. As Nikola stares, Quintessa gives her a little twirl, holding her lithe hands close to her body in a hyper-feminine fashion. "You like it?" The changeling gives the dragon a little wink, knowing full well from the look on Nikola's face that she was pleased with Quintessa's appearance. At the mention of a gift, the young spellcaster is truthfully surprised. "Oh?" Her wooden sandals click on the floor as she enters the shop proper, mismatched eyes filled with curiosity as she wonders what kind of present Nikola prepared for her. The object of beauty contained in the box the blue dragon opens for her further takes the changeling by surprise. "It's-" Her mouth drops open in awe, "Beautiful!" Quintessa's delicate fingers reach out for the box, her head lowering into a bow as a show of gratitude. She was exactly proficient with such a weapon, but she would not dare refuse such a gift. "Might I...?" The changeling wasn't sure if it was rude to equip the hairpin right now, but she could not resist. Gently lifting the lotus from the box, Quintessa pins it on the right side of her head where her hair parted for her fringe. It fit in perfectly with what she was wearing.

Now, however, it was time to collect what she came her for. "Yes, my sword." The rate of Quintessa's heartbeat increases with her excitement. For months she had dreamt of what her katana would look like when it was finished, and now Nikola had forged it for her. The hex blade approaches the table and sets down her empty bow as pale hands caress the sheathed weapon. "She has a name," Quintessa begins, "The 'Jubaku no Kijo'." The young woman lifts the sword with reverence, already noticing the difference in weight and balance from the other katanas she had wielded in the past. Her fingers wrap around the grip and she slowly draws the blade, chills running down her spine as the elegant yet foreboding design is revealed to her. Once the sword was fully freed Quintessa places the sheath on the table and runs her fingers down the false blade to feel the superior alloys held within. "You're perfect," The strange woman whispers to Jubaku no Kijo, cradling the weapon as if it was her child. Quintessa is almost brought to tears, choking up as she looks back at the woman who had 'birthed' her child. "Thank you, Nikola," She says, a genuine smile on her pale face. "I know this is your job, but you have created a masterpiece for me. Once this blade has been fully enchanted your name will go down in history as the one who forged the sword powerful enough to challenge the Tenbatsu Kaji." Quintessa grins darkly at the sword in her hands, "No, my darkling," she whispers to her sword once more, "When you are given a soul you'll be even stronger than your big sister."

The spare stems inside the box looks like chopsticks, one could probably use them as such even. But in truth, it is more of a style decision as people would prefer to alter their 'style' or look everyday and wearing the Lotus hairpin all the time might affect the wearer's public image, to combat that, spare stems were added, some designed with floral markings along its length but all lacks the mithril thread the large ornament offers.... could still stab someone with the stem however, the tip appears blunted but Nikola remembers that she made sure the tips would break when appropriate force is applied, revealing a sharp point underneath... She is a warsmith after all. Smiling at the woman as she twirl about before her, "I do, I do." checking a few more. Nikola always loved seeing clothing such as these, sadly however due to her long age, even if she kept one in her cabinets, it'll get ruined with age, this is why she prefers metals as they last longer... and also why she prefers other wearing it on her stead, so she doesn't have to feel sorrow watching such fine clothing getting destroyed over time. She takes a step back as the woman's kimono is amplified with such simple hairpin, "Oh, Beautiful."

Blinking a few times as she remember the reason the woman is here, "Right, right." she turns to the sword as the woman reached for it and inspect her craftsmanship. The weapon itself was of masterwork quality, something that Nikola is quite known for... though maybe not in this country. She bows and said, "You are too kind." as she listen to the woman, she tilts her head and frowns, "The... Curse of the demon?" unsure if she got the translation right, it has been a while since she has visited that side of the world. She turned about and raises her hand and a book from a shelf slowly levitated from its cradle and found itself upon the dragoness' hand. The book cover has metal housing on it, maybe that's how she was able to manipulate it. "I do hope you carry a seal with you." Its not uncommon for a person of peerage to walk about carrying a seal with them, some simply uses a signature but the saurian seems to be hopeful atleast. She flips the book open revealing pages upon pages of seals and signatures from past client it seems, skimming quickly through them as she try to find an empty page. "Ah, here we go." she takes a jar of ink, a stick of wax and a candle from her table before starting to fill in the base details. "Today at blank...." it seems each page has pre-prepared message where one simply needs to fill in the blanks. "One, Ka-ta-na.... Mithril, Adamantite, Groundium.... ten thousand gold... and there we go. Please add your name here, And stamp your seal here... and repeat that here and here as well." looking up to the woman as she push the book closer to her side of the table. If one would glance toward the shelves, similar looking books are stored there, clearly collected through a long life of trade.

Quintessa gives the blue dragon a grin of all sharp teeth, her eyes gleaming in the light of the room. "Very close!" The scholar seems impressed, "A Kijo is a very specific creature; The daughter of an Onibaba- a hag." Quintessa returns the Jubaku no Kijo to her sheath and slides it into her sash on her left hip before approaching Nikola. "I am one such creature; A changeling- though I bare the curse of Elazul, I wouldn't call myself a demon." Mismatched eyes of blue and hazel watch curiously as the smith slides the book in her direction. Without hesitation, pale digits elegantly sign the name 'Quintessa Dragana' where she was directed and her hand covers the spot her seal would be left. With a small bit of concentration Quintessa's personal seal would be etched with magic, leaving behind her crest, a 'Q' and 'D' held together by a loop of flowering, thorny vines. With the request fulfilled Quintessa gives the blue dragon a smile as she slides the book back. "Anything else?"

Nikola began moving her nail through the parchment and with a light scent of burning, she was able to perfectly tear away a third of a page from the book, it might be the reason why she had her sign the page so many times, She pulls out what looks like a picture frame and seals the paper into it before sliding it toward the woman, "This contract acts like a 'pedigree' for the blade, proof that I forged it." The parchment does bear the warsmith's insignia after all, the picture frame does have seals and runes engraved upon it as if to preserve the parchment from the elements. The book slowly floats back to its shelf as she reply, "Nope, that's it. A pleasure doing business with you Lady Dragana, I do hope I have provided adequate service." she stands up, fixes herself and takes a bow. "If you ever need more made or fixed, you are always welcome in my store." smiling at her.

Quintessa returns the bow politely and for a moment it looks as though the young woman is about to leave, but she hesitates as she bites her bottom lip. Something was clearly on her mind. "So, Nikola," Quintessa leans her elbow on the counter and leans a bit closer, a mischievous smirk on her face. "My office at the Mage's Tower isn't very far from here. Perhaps I could stop by and pay you a visit? If you are much too busy I understand..." The changeling idly twirls her hair as she addresses the dragon. "You are a very talented woman. I admire that."

She was moving a few things here and there, cleaning up one's store as one would usually do when there is no customer, though she did not move from her seat, mostly allowing cleaning tools puppeteered with magic to do the work for her when the baroness returned, "Hm?" listening to her speak before she reply, "Busy? Hardly, my services are expensive and therefore not many actual clients... I do enjoy quite a bit of free time and wouldn't mind utilizing such with someone." she smiles at the pretty doll before her. "You are always welcome here mi'lady."

Satisfied with Nikola's answer, Quintessa pushes herself off the counter and steps away, flashing back a glance from the corner of her icy blue eye. "I'll be seeing you around then. Good day, Miss Nikola." If nothing more was left to be said Quintessa would return to her ebony palanquin and order her undead to return her to Vailkrin. She had much to research on Soul Binding and the Black Library was the only place to learn it.