At work (OTA, tag Will Stanton)

[annatar_s]

Annatar had several projects that he was working on. The spray of orchids was almost finished and back in his rooms, though he had an extra set of flowers here to look at as he worked on the mosaic grip of the knife for Guy--the technique was very similar. The blade itself was done and waiting to have runes etched on it, a phonetic rendering of the

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[young_oldone]

Will had put the eagle statuette into a simple box and taken it to the forge. He shifted along the way more into the Old One side of his nature. Such seemed more appropriate when interacting with the ancient Elf. It was still Will, of course. The two sides of his particular coin were not entirely separate.

He arrived at the forge at saw that Annatar was indeed at his work area. Will approached and nodded. "Good morning."

[young_oldone]

Will took a closer look at both pieces, then focused on the blade for a moment. "I can sense the energy of magic, yes." He frowned. "The purpose isn't clear, though - some kind of focusing enchantment, I would guess. Is it intended for a specific wielder?" For a moment, Will found himself wondering what Annatar would make of Eirias. For some reason, though, it felt better not to mention the blade.

[annatar_s]

"Yes. I am making it a gift for one man and I wouldn't want anyone else to take it from him." And people would want to. "Much as I will put magic into a pair of wedding rings I'll be making--so that they will be difficult to lose, both from their owner and each other."

He smiled.

"The designs are being approved and I'd like you to observe when I make them. It is one of the simpler spells, to enchant a piece so it is not likely to be lost, and the one I do the most." This was actually true.

[young_oldone]

Will nodded. "The Signs were enchanted to be drawn to a specific person at the right time." He smiled. "Myself, actually."

"Do you need a token of the people to be associated, when you perform the enchantment, or is knowledge of them sufficient?"

[annatar_s]

"Knowledge of them is enough. I made the engagement ring in advance of the wedding rings and I have not yet met the young man who should even now be wearing it." He smiled, just because Draco had that effect on him. "Young people can be so anxious at times."

[young_oldone]

"Have you ever crafted puzzles?" Will asked. "My father would make interlocking puzzle rings sometimes, or more involved shapes which would open onto a set piece when the puzzle was solved. I helped craft the pieces on occasion, but the work was rather involved."

[annatar_s]

"I have made such things, though they were toys more than anything else--curiosities." It wasn't something he bothered with and such things were very rare. "I suppose because we do not have many young people, so they are not popular with us."

After a few hundred years, any interest had long passed.

"Did you do such things often?"

[young_oldone]

"No in some time, no." Will said. "I believe there was a surge of interest in such things for a time. As a shopowner, my father's choices were often directed by what he believed he could reasonably sell. The work was interesting because of the precision involved, at least."

[annatar_s]

"My work requires precision. It took a long time to find the correct colours to match perfectly to make only a few orchids. The stones are easier as they are not intended to be entirely smooth and the way they are set together will help with that." The tiny grooves in the sides made each little 'tile' interlock with those next to it and the colours would thus blend slightly at the edge.

"Of course to own a shop you must make what sells, though what the jeweller here in the village thinks I do not know. He has so many things and all much the same." Annatar found them painfully dull. And he didn't even make them himself!

[young_oldone]

Will nodded. "In my world, at least, most people had very simple tastes in jewelry. This was in part for reasons of relative wealth, but I think also just due to experience. In my own shaping of stones, that which I conducted here, the greatest challenge was in making the imperfections ideal. I know we discussed that before, of course. Here, we needed be concerned with having flaws unless the nature of the work calls for them."

[annatar_s]

"Many stones will have flaws. They can be cut away or covered with a bit of decoration." Middle-earth had no created stones, after all. "Or I can fix them myself."

He frowned.

"Many things I do are simple and elegant. That is what Elves prefer." It had nothing to do with relative wealth. "The pieces I have seen are boring, all the same. A large stone is set out vulgarly as though the only important thing about it is its size--or cost."

They were ugly things, with hard edges and no grace.

[young_oldone]

Will smiled. "As I may have said before, my world is unfortunately ruled by merchants, and often the cost of a piece is seen as the measure of its quality."

[annatar_s]

"That is not my way and thus it will not be yours either, should you choose to follow me." Cost is nothing, quality was quality. Everything he did was made with equal skill and precision because he was making it and no other reason was needed.

"Perhaps it is because I give so many things away that cost means so little. Most could not do this, I understand, but I would expect the same skill for everything that you do." He looked at the mithril sculpture. "You have set a high standard for yourself. Can you keep to it?"

[young_oldone]

"I believe so. I hope so." Will said. "You shall have to be the judge of that, of course."

[annatar_s]

"We shall see." Annatar paused and smiled slightly.

"Come, let me see how good your eyes are, and your colour sense also." Will could help choose the stones for the mosaic, looking for exact colour matches and similar ones for blending--not a simple task.

Fade for eye-blinding work?

[young_oldone]

[ooc: agreed, thanks *g* ]