Norgan Hall
Sloping down before you is a large class room. A series of shallow steps lead straight to a lectern, standing upon a small dais. Behind the dais the entire wall is tiled with large sections of grey/black slate. On either side of the dais are sturdy wooden tables. Along both sides of the steps are tiered rows with sloped top tables and benches on one side, forcing the sitters to face the lectern.
There is a +view-able Plaque near the doorway.

Contents:
Lokee
Obvious exits:
Common Room

Lokee smiles at Annik. "Good evening, Annik." He is sitting, awaiting the lecture with anticipation.

Annik walks through the room carrying something large and made of iron. She sets it down behind the lectern and smiles. "Evening Lokee. How have you been settling in?"

Lokee tries to figure out what it is that Annik is carrying. "I've been settling in fine, thank you for asking. It's been a little bit of an adjustment, after all that time with the traders, but one that I welcome." He grins shyly. "May I help you with anything?"

Annik steps up onto the dais and shakes her head. "No, I've got everything covered, but thanks," she replies with a smile. "What do you think of the classes?"

Lokee groans. "The classes are hard!" He suddenly catches himself and blushes. "But, I'm glad to be taking them!" he exclaims, suddenly afraid he might have offended.

Annik grins and nods. "Good. I have /never/ met an apprentice who said that classes were easy." She looks around the room and notices the seats filling up. "Okay. let's get started," she says a little louder so the rest of the apprentices can hear. "Today I'm going to talk a little bit about wrought iron, how to work with it, what to do with it... all that stuff. Then we'll all go to the metal and glass workshop, and you'll each do a little project."

Lokee sits up straighter at the thought of doing his own project!

Annik begins, "Now, about wrought iron... Because it doesn't have much carbon in it, it's very tough, but easy to work and to shape. It is used for small items, or even gigantic gates that you would see outside major Holds."
Lokee writes a small note down on his slate.

Annik smiles and steps off the dais, walking back and forth in front of the room. "That's the beauty of it: it is so versatile, and not one of those rare, expensive metals. Wrought iron can be made into simple, plain projects or intricate masterpieces. It just depends on what outcome you want."

Annik brings the large iron thing out from behind the dais. "This is a firelizard perch that I made of scrap iron, when I was an apprentice. It may look like a lot of work, but it was really very simple."

Two long iron rods, twisted together, form the spine of this firelizard perch. At the bottom, four small feet, curled up at the end, keep the structure standing. More rods branch out from the middle; delicately thin, but strong. Directly above at the top, but set at a different angle, are another four perches. The entire piece shows the signs of extensive hammering, and it is clear that the feet and perches have been welded on.

Annik continues, "All it took was heating, shaping, and welding; the skills you will be using today. These are among the most basic skills of a metalworker, but it's good for any Smith to know how to do this."

Annik returns to the lectern. "You should all have an idea of how to heat--holding the metal over the forge until it turns red and gets soft--, how to shape--pounding it with hammers until it looks right--, and how to weld--when the pieces are all done, flip the welding torch on and wait till they melt and meld together."

Lokee gasps at the intricacies of the firelizard perch. "Oh, my, I don't know if I could ever make THAT!" he exclaims.

Lokee raises his hand..

Loren enters from the hallway.
Loren has arrived.

Loren nods to Annik and sits on a back row, quietly.

Annik takes a moment to grin at Lokee. "Oh sure you could. It really is simple. Just wait until you've been here a little longer, and you'll see that it's not as hard as it looks." Nearing the end of her lecture, she says, "The project you make will be easy enough for the Jr. Apprentices, practice for the Full Apprentices, and review for the Sr. Apprentices. You don't have to make a firelizard perch; use your imagination. And have fun with it." Then seeing Lokee's hand, she nods, indicating for him to speak.

Loren blinks. "Um... did I miss much?"

Lokee takes a deep breath, worried that his question will seem dumb, then asks, "You said we are to hammer it until it looks right...how will we know when it looks right?" He quickly looks down at his boots.

Annik nods at Loren. "Yeah, but it wasn't really that long." She smiles at Lokee and answers, "When it looks the way you want it to look. When you study it and can find nothing else that you want to do to it."

Lokee nods in sudden understanding. "Oh! That makes sense." He smiles.

Annik looks around and asks, "Any more questions?"

Lokee raises his hand again.

Annik nods at Lokee. "Yes?"

Lokee says "What if we have no idea what we should try to make?"

Annik smiles, "Think about it. Find something simple, something you think you want to make, or something you need."

Lokee nods, his face screwed up in thought.

Onyx enters from the hallway.
Onyx has arrived.

Onyx slips into the room.

Annik smiles and looks around once more. "Now, if there are no more questions, we can head to the Work Hall and start on those projects."

Annik steps away from the lectern as she sees no more hands. She notices a few apprentices slipping in late and repeats, "Make something simple and use your imagination."

Loren turns to looks behind him. "Ah, Onyx. Have you been giving much thought to your project?"

Annik motions for the apprentices to stand and follow. "C'mon, the tools are in the workshop."

Lokee stands from his chair and prepares to follow Annik.

Lokee smiles shyly at Loren, and then notices the girl that had just walked in as the lecture was finishing up.

Loren stretches while waiting for the hall to clear.

~*~*~*~

Metal/Glass Workshop
This huge sweltering room houses the forges for the metal workers and the ovens used by the glassworkers of the smithcraft. The forges are against the west wall of the room. Opposite the forges, along the eastern wall, the glass workers have their ovens. The low, almost silent, roar of the ovens and forges is a constant background to the other sounds of activity in the room. Piles of fine sand are heaped against the wall. Next to them stand various tubes and long pieces of glass.
A makeshift barrier of heavy wherhide separates the two halves of the room, a necessity if glass work is to survive in a room shared with flying shards of metal. Benches laden with various projects are scattered somewhat randomly across the room. Most of the projects have no discernable form yet, other than being a mass of twisted metal or an unfinished piece of glassware.
Contents:
Forge
Obvious exits:
Work Hall

Lokee comes in from the central meeting area.
Lokee has arrived.

Lokee looks around in awe, as he does each time he enters this room.

Annik watches the apprentices slowly file into the workshop. "I'll wait until everybody is here. Be thinking about your project."

Lokee gazes around at the machinery and ovens, his eyes taking in every item there is to see.

Annik walks to the forge, where there is a table full of scrap iron. "Here's the iron; pick whatever you need. The hammers and welding torches are in the back. Take turns with the forge, though I think there are enough anvils around for everyone."

Lokee follows Annik to the table and gazes at the pieces of scrap iron, dutifully picking out the pieces he'll need for what he has in mind.

Lokee finds the pieces he thinks he'll need, consults quickly with another apprentice for her opinion, the takes his pieces over to an anvil. He drops them there, goes to get a hammer from the back of the room, then returns, a glint in his eye as he starts pounding away on the metal.

You paged Lokee with 'Now you've got 30 minutes to desc a project. It can be less, depending on the skill of your character. When you're done, indicate that in RP and then you can emit it. :)'.

Lokee pages: Should I actually create an object, or just the desc?

Annik walks around the room, looking over shoulders and answering questions.

You paged Lokee with 'Just the desc.'.

Lokee pages: Okie-dokie. :>

Annik stops to assist a young apprentice with the welding torch, then continues on her rounds.

Lokee pounds a fragment of the scrap iron into the shape he wants.

Annik leans down to answer a question as a Sr. Apprentice raises her hand.

Lokee pounds a piece of the iron FLAT, the sounds of the hammer ringing off the walls.

Annik inspects a few finished projects as the apprentices bring them up to her.

More apprentices set down their tools and raise their hands for Annik to come look at their projects.

Lokee sighs at the thing he made, then raises his hand for Annik to come inspect it.

Annik walks over to Lokee and smiles. "Finished?"

Lokee nods. "Yes, ma'am. I think so. Anyway, here it is." He points to his table.

A miniature wagon, made from wrought iron, sits on the table. It is very crudely fashioned, with wobbly, only-slightly round wheels, and a lopsided, open frame. Six pieces of squared-off metal (not quite truly squared) make up the frame, one for each corner and one on each of the long sides. There is no bottom to the wagon. The top is a single piece of iron, hammered flat, and welded crudely onto the frame. It stands about 2 hands high and about 4 hands long.

Annik raises an eyebrow. "Now what did I tell you about calling me by my name?" Not waiting for an answer, she looks carefully at the project. She peers into every corner and views it from every angle before a smile crosses her face. "Well done. It does have a few errors, but that's natural for a Jr. Apprentice. It's very good for a first project."

Lokee breathes an audible sigh of relief. "Thank you, ma'am...er, Annik." He grins bashfully. "I hope to do better next time."

Annik nods, "Oh, I'm sure you will. You'll get better with each project you do." She smiles, "Now, why don't you go wash up. I know classes start early tomorrow."

Lokee grins broadly. "I like doing these projects! They're fun!" He bounces away, then returns. "Should I leave the wagon here, or take it with me?" He stifles a yawn quickly, hoping Annik didn't see how tired he was.

Annik smiles, "Just leave it here."

Lokee nods. "Ok. I'll see you tomorrow, then!" He bounces away, heading towards the dorms and the washroom, following Annik's orders to the letter.

Lokee heads out to the cooler work hall.
Lokee has left.