To Speak of Trinkets (open)

[Niphanos]

Hmmm... what to make next...? Niphanos thought to himself as he flew across the land. Searching for inspiration for another piece, he notices a large volcano, and the bubbly, frothy lava catches his eye. He vaguely recalls that some gems can only be found in volcanoes, and he's been wanting to try something new for quite some time now. He lands between two flows, and quickly scans the area. To his surprise, he senses many gems nearby, and goes to investigate.

[Moon_Song]

Acala sat perched atop the edge of the volcano. Her thick crystalline hide protected her from the intense heat of the lava that flowed below her. Her grey eyes scanned the horizon. She was tired from her long flight and she was glad for the rest, but she had fallen into one of her observation-trances.

Her focus was only broken by the sound of wing beats in the distance. Another large flying creature, probably another dragon, was on it's way. Just what I need...she thought to herself.

Eventually the other dragon, blueish-green in coloring, came into view past the soot, smoke and ash of the volcano. From the looks of it he wasn't too old. A rather young dragon. Then again, everything was young when compared to her. She waited for the other dragon to notice her. She did not feel like instigating a conversation at the moment. If the other did, she would talk, but she would not start. She could not risk a fight if the other dragon was violent. Not that she couldn't take him, she was just not in the mood.
I'm too old for this.

[Niphanos]

After picking around a bit, it is clear to Niphanos that he is going to have to find a cave, or at least some softer rock, so he starts looking around. By a crazy random happenstance, he notices a brilliant white dragon watching him as he looked around. Amused, he begins to go towards her, then stops, remembering that not all dragons are kind. He half-heartedly starts looking for the cave, all the while taking glances back at the other dragon.

((Lol, I feel inadequate, my posts being so small. ))

[Moon_Song]

((OoC: No worries =) so long as your posts make sense and advance the plot it's not a big deal ))

The other dragon began to walk toward her, then seemed to think better of it and began to search for something. What exactly she wasn't sure. She followed him with her eyes and toyed with the red and blue gems that hung from her gracefully curved neck.

What is he looking for?

As she waited she flexed her wings, spreading them open and closing them back to her sides.

[Niphanos]

After several moments of distracted thought, Niphanos decided to confront the mysterious dragoness. He stood up straight, head high, determined. As a safety measure, he used his magic to reshape one of his less intricate trinkets into a sort of spike. The trinket's shape grew soft, then liquified entirely. As if there were an invisible mold, the metal ran like quicksilver into the shape he wanted. He is careful to keep this hidden beneath his wing, however. ((Yeah, I just put that in there because I felt inspired by the imagery. :P))

Flying up to the dragoness, he politely dips his head in a bow, and introduces himself. "I am Niphanos, a Loka dragon of the Azano clan. I am an artisan and a metalworker," he said, "I couldn't help but notice that you were watching me." All the while, he was sending out small pulses of his magic to keep an image of where the metals and gems were, in case he would have need of them.

[Moon_Song]

Eventually the young dragon began to approach her. Her blue gem began to sing to her in that pitch that only the truly gifted could hear, indicating that the male before her was using some sort of magic.

When he spoke finally, she understood. He said his name was Niphanos and something about a clan. Were the dragons forming clans now? Huh, none of her business anyhow. He also mentioned that he was a metal worker, which explained the magic.

As he spoke Acala watched with stoic indifference. His last line made her raise a brow, but she made no comment. She sensed that, not unlike herself, was on edge.

"I watch many things, young one."She spoke with her deliberate slowness that emanated her wisdom, experience, and age.

[Niphanos]

((Hah, I hadn't thought about that aspect of her crystal... the fact that it is a crystal.))

That's odd... Niphanos thought to himself as she spoke. The gem about her neck seemed... fuzzy. Blurred. He was curious, but felt it rude to pry. Determining no immediate threat, he began reshaping the "spike" into a simple bangle, so he could put it back on. Of course, it is still under his wing. Out of sight, out of mind, he thinks. He gestures to sit near her. "May I?" he asks.

[Moon_Song]

((OoC: It's all in her profile))

The gem's humming song shifts-he is using magic again-but it soon quiets to a quite buzz that is hardly audible even to her. The other dragon seems to eye her gems. Not that surprising for one who works with such things. He's probably curious.

With his gesture Acala simply shrugged. "Do as you will." She really didn't care too much, so long as he didn't try anything. if her senses were not as strong as they were she would never let him that close, but she need not fear.

[Niphanos]

((Yeah, I know. I read it. That's why I used past-tense ))

As he came down to rest by the female dragon, Niphanos watches her, deep in thought. What is she doing out here? he thinks. Seeing the way she seems to ignore him, and simply stare out at the lava plains, he does the same. He manages almost half an hour, before the jewel buried just behind him starts to really bug him, like the sun glinting off of some shiny object.

((Hah, it took me so long to type this, I am really off today!))

[Moon_Song]

He took a seat beside her and did...nothing. He took on her same gazing stance and said not a word. While she remained still as stone, though, he grew uncomfortable. She could feel it resonating from his being.

Rather unwilling but feeling obligated to, Acala finally spoke aloud after the silence grew too thick. "Is there something you needed? Or did you simply feel the need to sit beside an old dragon as myself?" Normally she would not be so terse but she did not enjoy the heat. It did not hurt her, but the energy it took to make sure the heat stayed at bay. With that distraction, she tended to be a tad less patient.

[Niphanos]

Surprised by her curt comment, Niphanos looked around, mildly bewildered. "Oh, I'm sorry, I just... ah, you seem quite wise and I do not meet many dragons, as I said..." he said, attempting to repair the situation. Shifting and sitting back up, he says, "I am sorry if I am bothering you. The truth is I am looking for inspiration for a new piece, and I felt many gems in this area." He nervously looks at the ground between his hands.

[Moon_Song]

This male seemed quite shy. He shifted nervously as he tried to explain himself. Attempting to seem less of and angry old dragon she replied "Felt them, did you? That is an interesting gift. I'm sure it serves you well in your craft."


no muse today, sorry

[Niphanos]

"Oh, yes. There are a great many more gems than many of my fellow artisans know. In fact, there is one just to the left of my tail, only a little way down." With this, Niphanos gestures to the spot by poking the tip of his tail into the thin layer of volcanic ash, just above the stone where it lies. After a pause, he continues, "I saw you simply sitting, looking around... I had figured some form of enlightenment would come of that, so I tried it. As I am sure you had noticed, it was not long before the gem distracted me." He accompanied the last statement with a self-deprecating chuckle.

Looking back up at the wise dragon, Niphanos says, "If you will please excuse me, I would like to see what type of ruby it is." He begins making the metal bangles he never put back on into a crude, claw-attatched shovel of sorts, and digs through the ash and into the stone. As he does this, he explains, (As he has a bad habit of overexplaining) "I send out a magical pulse and feel for it reflecting off of the gems. By comparing the area around the reflection to the size of the reflection, I can tell what general type of gem it may be. This one is some sort of dense ruby, with a thick stone casing. It may have been dislodged in some sort of earthquake, and fallen into one of the flows of lava to be brought up to the surface..." While he wiggles and dislodges said stone, his monologue drops off until he pulls it out, "...and here it lies." He lifts a medium-sized black stone from the hole.

Sweeping the dug up stones and ash back into the hole with his tail, he places the stone near his new acquaintance, and turns around to place his hands on the pile. "Despite all of my other skills, I still think this one is the most impressive." With that, he pushes down slightly with his hands and the whole pile quickly flattens out to very nearly the same shape it was before. Picking up the stone once more, he reshapes the "shovel" into an odd device, one that is designed to open a specificaly shaped rock. This can't be done with even modern human technology, as there are too many things to account for. Since Niphanos can quite easily reshape metals, this is no trouble at all. Cracking open the stone much like an egg or a clam, Niphanos pulls the gem out of the middle, holding it betwixt the tips of two claws. "Now isn't that a beauty..." he says. marvelling at the deep maroon color, and the brilliance of its possible cuts.

[Moon_Song]

His passion for his skills and craft were admirable. As many who are proud of their craft do, he wen to off in an explanation of how he works. Acala said nothing and simply listened. She had had an idea about, through her own intuition and her stones, but hearing the explanation cemented her suspicion.

She waited and watched with trained senses. His gaze at the raw gem that he had pulled from the earth was an intensely passionate one. The sparkle in his eye and the concentration on the stone emphasized the ideas that must have been racing through his mind.

Through her interactions with others of the like before him, she knew better than to interject while ideas flowed. She simply waited patiently for the other dragon to come back from his creative mind. Although, she had to admit, the raw gem he held was of very good quality. The color remarkable. It was similar, but the same to her own gem. The few gem dragons she had let examine her jewels had always been stumped by her pendants, for neither were like anything they had ever seen, and they had experience far past this youngster.

She wondered for a moment what his ideas were for that particular crystal, but she would wait to see what he would say next before she interrupted his creative process. She shifted her wings once again and absently toyed with the pendants around her graceful neck.

[Niphanos]

((Trying a new color, I'm using a hex colorcode instead of "color=teal" now, hahah.))

As he gazed at the crystal, Niphanos saw that it had potential for a cat's eye cut... it also had a yellow undertone. Yes, it was deep maroon, but the undertone few can pick out unaided is quite plain to his eye. Due to this yellow, it could be mounted in gold, if applied correctly... Mayhap some sort of chest ornament? It is hard to tell without seeing his available materials. Noticing that his recent acquaintance has said hardly anything, he shifts his focus slightly from the precious gem to her. "I suppose it is a good thing I had met you. I did not feel this gem until I sat beside you," he says, "and knowing the manner of thought I had at the time, I would have shortly left the area. Unless, of course, I had found a useful supply of metal." Looking down momentarily, he lets out a self-deprecating chuckle. After a pause, he says to her, "So what do you think of the gem?" A multilayered question, no doubt, though what he could hope to learn from it is unclear, even to himself.