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A Practical Guide to Forging

Author: unknown
Place/Gathering Discovered: Svartalvheim
Date: November 21, 1015
Transcribed by: Kwido Sedna
A Practical Guide to Forging for Young Dwarves

This tomb contains the information needed by
novice blacksmiths to first grasp the basics
of the Svartalvheim forges, and how to use
that information in order to create
Heilvapin.

Heilvapin can only be forged from the
empowered ore that can be mined here in
Svartalvheim. these blessed weapons could
not exist if it wasn't for the mystic nature of
our homeland, or the skills that we dwarves
have honed over countless generations.

[decorative image of anvil shapes filled in with Celtic knot designs]

This ore can be found in five different
varieties here in the depths of Svartalvheim,
differentiated by the veins of color in the
rock.

Raudrolót are the stones tinged with red
Gr�nnayttr are the stones tinged with green
Bl�rde are the stones tinged with blue
Yoseydir are the stones tinged with yellow

And rarest of all, Gullgrjot are the stones
that have veins of silver and gold set within.
Gullgrjot can be used in the place of any of
the other colors of ore during forging.

All of these magical ores are used in the
forging of Heilvapin, and each is unique and
irreplaceable in the design of these weapons.

Because of our immortal war with the black
elves, the secrets of how to forge Heilvapin
must remain protected. To that end, we have
devised way [sic] to encode all of our forging
patterns, and in order to learn how to forge
you must come to learn the way to read these
secret blueprints.

All Heilvapin patterns involve arranging
nuggets of ore on a ten by ten grid, etched
into the forge itself.

It is rarely the case that every part of that
grid will be filled, but the number and
placement of each kind of ore must be exactly
correct in order for that weapon to be
created.

[If you are familiar with picross, you can probably skip the next six paragraphs, counting the ones I've added.]

On the top and side of the grid, the code for
the pattern of that Heilvapin will be placed.
The code gives you two vital pieces of
information. The numbers and colors of all
of the ore that needs to be placed in the row
or column of the grid that lines up with the
numbers. The numbers themselves indicate
how many consecutive pieces of that color
ore are in the row, and the order of those
colors as well. So if a row was to have the
numbers 1 4 2 then the placement of ore in
the row could be one of the below examples.

[The number were blue, red, and green, in that order. Four examples are given. A row of 10 squares has coloured dots corresponding to coloured numbers. The first dot from the left is blue, the next four a red, and the last two are green. There are no gaps between the red dots, and there are no gaps between the green dots. Different examples show gaps and lack of gaps on the ends and between colours.]

These are but a few of the possibilities that
that combination could yield.

Because the pattern does not revel [sic] where
the gaps between colors are, or how big
those gaps are, you can only truly decode the
pattern if you compare and contrast the
numbers on the sides with the numbers on
the top.

A correctly solved pattern will satisfy the
conditions for both, as shown below.

[A ten-by-ten grid is shown, with coloured numbers along the top and left edges. Many squares in the grid have red, blue, green, and yellow dots, making a picture of a sword.]

When the entire pattern has been filled out,
strike the forge with a smithy hammer. As a
novice, the simple hammer that you have
been given will do little more than allow
the Heilvapin to meld together and form if
the pattern is correct. More advanced smithy
hammers, however, give their wielders
abilities that can make the forging process
easier.

If you strike the forge, and the pattern is
incorrect, the magical nature of the forge
will reveal to you which columns and rows
need nor be altered. Beware, however, if you
were to strike an incorrect pattern too many
times, the forging of the Heilvapin will fail
and you will lose all of the ore you are
committing to the task.

If you strike the forge after all of the ore
has been properly placed, the magical
energies will gather together and the ore
will disappear, leaving behind a completed
Heilvapin in its place.

With these rudimentary instructions, you
now have the most basic understanding of
how to use a Svartalvheim forge.

They are easy to learn, yet mastering them
can easily consume the long lifetime of a
dwarf. Good luck, young one.

[decorative image of a dwarf's head]
Tags: Confirmed, Primary Source
Created by Kwido (Pi Fisher) at 05-28-16 03:43 PM
Last Modified by Kwido (Pi Fisher) at 05-28-16 03:43 PM