[Gift] CRAFTING: Zataro Armor - Khal/Zanril

When Zanril arrived to the workshop today, the air smelled different. There was a musk in the air from some kind of animal, and the sour sting of something hitting his nostrils. Walking inside, she found Khal already inside, washing up some leathers with Dhaoragan. The colors were odd for any usual animal, with white skin and green tones blotched across. Furs were rolled on the table aside, with the same green, white and wine colors coloring the hairs. Bundled up like cords were some kind of antennas with hooked spikes at the ends, and large talons, bigger than any gryphon she’d heard of. 

“What’s all this?” She ran her hand through the coarse furs. 

“Zataro hide,” Khal said as he stepped away from the spread out leather set out to dry. “I brought some from the hunting guild, to be used as a material here by Dhaoragan. Tough leather, heavy fur, strong bone, all of it good for armor.” 

Maybe it was the mention of hunting, or the conjured image of Khal facing this Zataro creature, but Zanril took better notice of the old Vayron’s scars. He was battle worn from however many years ago, but it mustn’t have been a recent hunt. 

Dhaoragan got some scrapers and handed a pair to Zanril and Khal. She couldn’t help but notice the lack of students here today. Sure, she’d come at the usual time, but why wasn’t anyone else here? Dhaoragan seemed to read her mind with how conveniently he answered her question. 

“These materials are to be prepped before we begin today. I got a hold of everyone to let them know we start late today. You, on the other hand, are a hard woman to get a holdof, so you get to help out here before the others come.” Dhaoragan smiled while scraping the leather clean. 

Khal joined the effort, with Zanril picking up the task after a disgruntled look. She could have slept in today. 

Tossing water over the leather to wash clean the muck and layers of fur, the leather megan to glisten clean white, and ready to be set out to try. Khal and Dhaoragan carried the piece out, before coming back with an already dried roll. 

“We’ll be using this today to demonstrate the use. It’ll be more extensive of a lesson, since it’ll be for a saddle.” Dhaoragan explained as he spread out the leather. “You see those antennas coiled up over there?” Zanril nodded, looking back to the table. “Venomous, they are. One poke and you got paralyzed. Ferocious beasts with ferocious means to fight off any offender, Zataros.” 

Venomous, you say? Maybe that venom could be useful for something of her own making.. She’d have to ask Varrick to obtain some Zataro venom for her. 

“We’ll pad the saddle with the furs, line it up nice,” Dhaoragan listed as he looked over the materials one by one. “And the hide will make a nice seat, and blanket.” 

When the class finally arrived, Dhaoragan, Khal, and Zanril were putting on the demonstration of how to handle the Zataro parts and use them as thoroughly as possible. No waste was allowed for such a rare material. Khal told some tales of hunting those beasts many years ago when they first arrived, and how massive and aggressive they are. Seeing them turned into armor now was a stark contrast to the mental image. 

Cutting through the dense hide took great effort and Zanril had to huff and put her might into cutting through the buckle holes and make the sheet into strips. Not to mention getting through the fur to sew it into place tidily. Dhaoragan was a master at his craft for a reason, with how easily he handled the dense furs and sewed through the leathers with a large needle and thick thread. He made sure to tell the group all about every detail of the process, with some flavor context from Khal regarding where the parts came from and how to handle attacking them in a battle. It was all so informative.

Hide was sewn into a blanket, leather bound and padded into a beautiful fur and leather saddle, with buckles and straps made of the same materials provided. The fur lining the seat was thick and coarse, mostly for style points, but suppose if you were in Roenden, the fur could work nicely to keep the saddle warm for the rider. The antennas were saved for another demonstration, likely a weapon if Zanril had to guess. 

After the saddle was complete, Khal modeled the piece, and other students were able to come take a close look at the finished piece. He seemed quite comfortable wearing armor, to no one’s surprise if he was the famed hunter he said to be.