11/2/2007

================== Eldarin Calendar <in Sindarin> ===================
IC time is: Late Night < About 3:55 AM >
IC day is: Ormenel <Heavens-day>
IC date is: 2 Laer <Summer>
Moon phase: New <HIDDEN>
Earendil: Gil-Estel is not visible.
IC year is: Loa 18 o Yen 22, Nelandran o Endor <TA 3042>
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RL time: Fri Nov 02 19:18:30 2007
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Jewelsmith's Shop

You enter the shop of the jewelsmiths - a small room with an oversized window on the north side and smaller windows on all the walls. Under the large window is a long dark wooden table upon which parchment for designing, drafting tools, cutters, pliers and holders are neatly arranged for use in old scarred canisters and boxes. A stool and a comfortable wooden chair covered with finely woven red and gold cushions are pulled up to the table. Next to the table is large chest of drawers of dark wood and brass fittings that contains drawers of all sizes - from small to large - used to store gem stones and bags containing precious metals. Along the far wall is a small ceramic stove with several chairs around it and a tray with tea things.

Contents:
Galharth
Winuvielle

*tinktinktink..*

It is a simple little sound, but it is easily audible within the small shop... as the premises is fairly empty at this point in the day. Had there been many others here, maybe Winuvielle's efforts would go unheard... but now there is a lull, as perhaps the other apprentices have sought to retire for the day. The mood here is serene and quiet, save for the aforementioned tinkering of very fine tools. The solitary elleth currently sits at the long worktable, just near the largest window in the room... her dark head tilted downwards so that she may keep watch over her progress. Winuvielle was intent, her brilliant blue eyes trained upon this immensely delicate, almost circular piece of silver that she has tirelessly been moulding and tapping with a small hammer earlier on -- at high temperatures -- so that she may acquire that headband-like shape. For now, the piece of sterling metal has been cooled.. and the elleth polishes it with a soft cloth. At this stage, as mentioned, the circlet is still only in a rough stage, and Winuvielle seems happy enough with it that her expression brightens considerably after she gives it a onceover.

Leaning back in her seat, the elleth peered out the window at her side, her glossy locks obscuring her visage as she gazed for a brief minute. A moment of thought..? Or perhaps a breather..

"Do your thoughs wander already Apprentice?" Galharth whispers softly as he approaches the elleth gazing out the window. Leaning heavily on his staff the Tailor peers curiously at Winuvielle. Crystal blue eyes wander to the artiles that sit before the crafter, and the clothier lifts a brow. "What is it that you make?" He asks softly.

A slight jump as she was startled by the Tailor's words, but Winuvielle's overall reception of Galharth is respectful and kind. She turned to face him immediately after she was spoken to, and the elleth smiled wholly. "No, I just thought I would fixate my eyes elsewhere for a moment... my particular work at the moment is very fine, and I begin to almost fall into a trance as I get further involve. I wish not to strain my eyes." She whispered back, tittering quietly with subdued laughter. Despite her light heart, she looks every bit the studious apprentice; her eyes clear and awake. Winuvielle leaned back a bit so that she did not obscure her work from Galharth, extending a slender hand towards the piece in question so that he may openly observe it.

"You may even pick it up if you so desire, mellon. It is light but well made... a woman's article, but easily altered in another seperate project so that it may be masculine as well. But, this one.. again.. is for a female. So many have such beautiful locks; I do hate to see them tied back but long hair can be unruly. I thought about making a ware that could be set into one's hair, so that it may... mn.. accentuate." She explains quietly, but goes no further. She picks up the circlet herself and holds it up the master Tailor. The silver ware is, again, circular and thin.. painstakingly so as the elleth crafted and sealed small, leaf-shaped pieces onto the main body of the circlet.. the hairpiece resembling weaving, ivy-like vines. She even went as far as to detail 'veins' into the miniscule moulded leaves! However detailed, the piece is still very much the work of someone new to the craft.

Galharth says nothing as he peers over the circlet. From his intense expression to his moving eyes, it is clear that he inpects the work of the Jewelsmith. "It is quite lovely. That I can not deny." The Tailor says as his gaze moves to look upon the elleth's face. 'Tell me Winuvielle, have you begun to work with song as well as your hands?" The Craftmaster pauses and returns his gaze to the silver piece. After a moment he frowns and narrows his eyes. "I would say you have no." He says shaking his head. "I can tell you have a great love for the work, and yet that sense is absent when I look upon this circlet."

The elleth watches the Tailor as he looks at her circlet, a curious expression upon her face. She doesn't feel nervous per say, but there is a degree of wishing to please one who has a wealth of experience over her own abilities. Winuvielle folds her hands together upon the table, remaining quiet and attentive towards Galharth as he handles the simple headpiece. "Thank you Galharth," She states with a smile, but she has now adopted a very studious demeanor in lieu of her earlier -- albeit brief -- moment of carefree reverie. "But I fear that I have not attained the depth of devotion, of which you speak. Could you tell me more..?" The elleth queries, leaning forth with her eyes trained. "What further element does song incorporate into jewels...? I would truly like to know..! For I do indeed enjoy my work, but I wish to know what I could do to enhance it..."

"Your skills grow each day, and it is up to you to embrace what you learn and put it forth into your work," Galharth says as he reaches for the back of an empty chair. Pulling it forth, near the table in which the elleth works, he takes a seat. "Have you ever looked upon or touched something and felt a deep devotion, or perhaps adoration fill your heart and mind?" The Tailor asks as he reaches forth to trace a the edge of the circlet. "When you carve the lines into the metal, or mold the curve of this piece, did you feel anything within yourself?" Looking up into the Jewelsmiths face, he smiles lightly. "Please, continue with your work, and when you do so, let your love for the art, and your vision of the project you now work, come forth in song." He tilts his head slightly and again looks upon the circlet, "We in the Thein are hold a deep passion for all that we do, let this come forth Winuvielle."

The sound of murmuring is the first announcement of Lostiriel's arrival, and when she fully enters the shop, a furrow marrs her normally smooth brow. "And then of course, I really must speak with him about that...." Her sentence trails to a stop for a moment as she looks upward at the two other occupants. She offers them a distracted smile that soon turns into a real one and she nods first to Winuvielle, and then to Galharth. "Well met!" She haphazardly pushes back a stray lock of hair and moves closer to them, asking, "How are you on this night?"

"I felt curiousity when I started this... as simple as that sounds. But I'm certain that I could come to love this piece even more, if I really... think.. of what I truly want it to become." Winuvielle ponders, watching as Galharth traces the circlet. She follows suit not long after, taking it gently into her hands and just.. holds it! The elleth is silent now, as she REALLY scrutinizes the rough, half-finished hairpiece. She turns it once, twice; she watches the candlelight reflect off of the vaguely polished silver surface. "But truly, Galharth...? I began to feel true love for this project when I began to craft the leaves." Winuvielle admits, looking to the Tailor and smiling serenely as she settles the tip of her left thumb upon one of the painstakingly moulded ivy leaves. "I did not expect to add them at first, but I experimented with one... and I felt happy when it was completed. I thought back to times in my youth when my mother and I would traverse into the wood together, where she would gather materials for her own craft. She was a potter, she loved her work... and I remember the songs that she sang to herself when she worked. Everytime she did this she.. did.. so well. So much more, so.. spirited. So loved."

"Is that what song means, in a craft...? I think I see, but I must do more of it... but when I work on the leaves, I remember those memories.. I remember her song and sometimes I, too, sing it." THe elleth smiles again, and breaks off from her thoughts as she turns her blue-eyed gaze to the newest arrival: Lostiriel! Waving a slender hand, the apprentice jewelsmith greets the elleth warmly. "I am well, for I am learning from a master! How are you faring?"

Turning from the work table, Galharth's smile grows broad. "And well met to you, Lostiriel." he replies warmly. "I am well, and have nothing to complain about." Rising from his chair, he hobbles towards another one and begins to drag it back to the work table. "Come join us, Lostiriel. In exchange for news on how you are, you might learn something about crafting." With twinkling eyes, he pausea a moment before he continues. " One day, you might resolve some matter for the price of something we've made. For that alone it might be well for you to learn how things are made in Lothlorien."

Turning back to Winuvielle, the Craftmaster nods with understanding, "It is not the love of a project, but the love of brining forth beauty in creation. Each item represents that." Holding his words, he seems to consider the elleth's own thoughts before he continues to speak. "Sing forth the thoughts you just described when you craft, The beauty as yet unmolded, the sweet memories, and the visions of what might be. Bring all of this into song and see how it might affect your work."

"Master Galharth!" A young elleth calls out as he hurries from shop to shop.

"In here!" Galharth calls back with a pinched expression of worry. "What's wrong?"

Popping his head into the shop, the young ellon frowns deeply. "It's the squirrels sir, they've gotten into the buttons once more."

Quickly rising to his feet, the Tailor bows his head to each elleth before quickly following the young lad out the door, disappearing in a moments notice.

Offering a warm smile in return, Lostiriel sits upon the chair that Galharth brings, her eyes sparkling as she listens to both Galharth and Winuvielle speak. "I am also well... I am busy, trying to discover the best way to go about planning this trip... I feel as if there is much to do, and...well, I am just trying to find the best approach. But I am very well." She finishes her sentence with a happy sigh, clearly excited about her task, and a flush rises to her cheeks as she shakes her head, returning to Galharth's previous statement. "I may indeed learn something of crafting, if you are willing to take on a scattered student..."

Listening to Galharth speak to Winuvielle, Lostiriel tilts her head to the side, clearly intrigued by his words. "I can only begin to imagine what beauty and significance such an act would make." Growing thoughtful, she nods slowly, the blue in her eyes growing deeper for a moment. "You are making a circlet?" she says to Winuvielle, studying the piece through admiring eyes. Then, watching Galharth quickly walk away, Lostiriel's eyes dim with disapointment for a moment, before returning to the elleth.

The insightful glimmer within the elleth's cornflower blues is now rather conflagrant with this newfound excitement! Winuvielle offers a spirited nod, her ebony locks dancing and twirling along her shoulderblades throughout such a gesture. Leaning back in the chair, the elleth settles her palms together in a gesture of thoughtfulness. "Thank you, dear friend!" She exclaims, but is by all means not loud; her voice is kept low and respectful within these halls. "I was worried that this recollection of those songs of yore were but a recollection of nostalgia... something romanticized, but the idea of continuing to involve song into my work... it intrigues me. Perhaps in a day or so, if you look upon this piece, you shall find something.. new." She chimes. Winuvielle pauses, however, once Galaharth is beckoned off to deal with a squirrel raid! Aeeei! Such brazen little creatures... Winuvielle smiles at the thought, and of the mental imagery. However, her thoughts are brief.. and the elleth grows excited once more, upon the prospect of meeting someone new.

Turning to face Lostiriel, Winuvielle beams and bows her head in greeting. "Good eve', mellon." She offers again, leaning back so that she may grant full view of her incomplete work. For it is indeed a circlet in the making... a sterling, delicate band with crafted silver leaves fastened along the meandering band. Has potential.. but still fairly rough. "And, yes.. a circlet! I am enjoying it so far; I like to think of how it would look in one's hair, when it is complete." Winuvielle chimes, taking note of Lostiriel's halo of golden tresses. "It's a work if progress... but! Who might you be, may I ask..? For we haven't met, milady... and you speak of a trip, or sorts? You seem very enthused about such!"

"Lostiriel," the Courier introduces, nodding politely. "And yes I am planning a trip. I was recently promoted to first ranking courier, and my first duty is to plan a trip to Imladhrim." The furrow works its way back into the elleth's brow again for a moment, then clears as she takes a deep breath. "It is quite a bit of responsibility. I need to speak with Maglind...as a member of the guard, I greatly need his assistance... Anyway, the trip is intended to gather news, and I am quite sure it will be productive."

"But forgive me, I am running on. You have yet to introduce yourself. But the circlet you are making is very beautiful, and shall be very becoming in the one who will wear it." Lostiriel's smile is sincere, and her grey-blue eyes study the piece intently.

Flushing slightly as her work is complimented, Winuvielle smiles once more. "Thank you, truly... I'm still new to the craft and I have a long way to go, but it will come in time. The opinions of others matter greatly." The elleth states, gathering a soft white cloth that she discarded shortly after speaking with Galharth. Acquiring it, she gently goes about polishing up the would-be circlet, but her attention remains fixated upon Lostiriel with much curiousity. "Lostiriel," She echoes, making sure she pronounces her newfound acquaintance's name correctly. "You may call me Winuvielle." The Jewelsmith offers, once again smiling brightly. "Worry not about running on, for I am moreso curious about who you are and what you do! I know myself well enough.. I hope!" She chimes.

Setting the circlet aside carefully, with the cloth folded beneath it, Winuvielle leans back in her chair and tilts her head to the side inquisitively. "You have me quite intrigued, now! But allow me to congratulate you on your promotion... your title surely holds responsibility, yes... but..." Winuvielle's eyes brighten, and she leans forth slightly. "Surely it is exciting in a way? You get to travel, to hear about other places firsthand?" She pauses, and rubs the back of her head. "Ah, pardon.. it seems that I am getting carried away. I wish not to burgeon you with questions.. so answer only as you wish. I have never left the wood... it's really interesting to hear of a job, such as yours!"