[Trade] Lucky Trinket Crafting for Bora

Khal stood in front of the large community center and stared up at the childishly painted sign that was hung haphazardly over the side entrance. In large shaky letters in bold clashing colors the words "Advanced Crafts Class!" was painted with a few hard to decipher simple paintings of vayrons holding objects on either side of the words. The old vayron let out an exasperated sigh as he wondered if this really was the right place. He had clearly asked the receptionist for admission to the community crafting courses for older reoseans, the courses that should in theory have had a more mature tone than kindergarten arts and crafts... As the dark vayron lingered in the cold snowy street, a few other students trickled into the building around him. As he watched he was slightly surprised to note that all of the vayrons entering were middle-aged or older, perhaps this really was the right class? Still extremely skeptical Khal decided to set aside his doubts and entered the class room as well.

Inside he was pleasantly surprised to note that the interior was modestly and tastefully decorated. Paintings of scenery or still-lives from past classes lined the walls and odd, slightly misshapen sculptures lined the shelves of the many book cases that took up any remaining wall space. At the head of the class room there was a large table with crafting supplies neatly arranged in a display of the lesson to come. Rows of tables filled the central space, each table having its own set of neatly arranged materials and its own private seating. Khal nodded in satisfaction as he found a suitable crafting station that was not yet occupied and settled in for the lesson to come. Throughout the classroom the faint pleasant chatter of other students filled the air as the other students mingled and discussed the lesson to come. The spot Khal had chosen was relatively close to the front so he could get the best view possible of the upcoming demonstration while also not being front and center.

After a while, every seat in the classroom was filled with students excited to learn how to craft the trinket of the day. The only thing left missing was the teacher and just as Khal started to wonder if it was normal for the teacher to be this late a large fluffy puller walked in from an interior door that the old puller hadn't noticed before. The fluffy puller was a light purple and pale orange with a mess of curly short hair tied up on the back of his to keep what was no doubt a mop of hair out of his eyes. The purple puller smiled broadly and greeted his excited students, "Welcome everyone! Thank you all so much for coming here today!" the class returned a hearty greeting and immediately cut the idle chatter that had filled the  air moments ago. Khal was pleased with how well the purple puller handled the class as they introduced themselves to the newcomers. "I'm seeing some new faces here today! For those of you who don't know, my name is Nephilian and I will be teaching you all how to craft an essential questing item! The Lucky Trinket!" As he finished speaking Nephilian, presented a finished lucky trinket for the class to see. The colors of the trinket matched the purple puller perfectly and it was obvious that the trinket was expertly crafted. An excited ripple of murmurs passed through the crowd as the students became more excited to start their lesson.

Nephilian set the trinket on a stand to display it for the class as he taught them. The purple puller returned to the teachers station and grabbed a large chunk of white quartz and stone and a chisel set. "We're gonna get the hardest part of this craft out of the way first! Forming the center piece of the charm, a carved vayron head with ears reminiscent of the peep ears of tyrians! Now, I am going to demonstrate how to do this by hand but those of you who can use magic are more than welcome to use your tools that way if you find it easier." With that said Nephilian began to gently strike the stone with his hammer and chisel, taking great care to display the proper amount of force and technique. The entire time he was working Nephilian was explaining exactly what he was doing and why. Khal lightly smiled as he watched the purple pullers diligent work, his teacher was barely a full adult and yet he was already so skilled and an excellent teacher to boot. The old puller's doubts about this crafting class were fully eased as he picked up his own chisel and hammer.

The sound of metal striking metal and bits of stone clattering to the desk filled the classroom as all the students followed their teachers instructions. After Nephilian had made a little progress on his stone, he set down his tools and walked through the classroom to assist any student that was having trouble. As he walked past Khal, he smiled and nodded as he saw that the old puller was doing an excellent job of shaping the stone. A few students struggled with chiseling the stone, accidentally using too much force and cracking it or out right shattering the soft rocks. But Nephilian had expected this and had prepared plenty of spares. Eventually all of the students managed to chisel out a very rough shape of a vayrons head and once they did so Nephilian returned to the front and continued his demonstration. Nephilian demonstrated the proper technique to quickly but delicately chisel out tiny bits of stone and add in more intricate details. This step proved to be much more challenging and Khal had a bit of trouble with properly shaping out the feathers, he found himself worrying about applying too much pressure. He didn't want to accidentally strike too hard and snap off the thin spikes protruding from the stone. Nephilian once more walked through and provided assistance where needed, when he saw the old puller hesitating he stepped forward and provided reassurance to him and guided his paws through the right motion that would allow him to achieve the intricate details he desired.

After a lot of nerve racking chiseling Khal set his center piece down on the table and admired his handiwork. It wasn't perfect by any means but it was an excellent first attempt, he was particularly proud of how smooth he had managed to get the snout. The older puller was one of the first ones done with this set and because many of the students were still struggling, Nephilian provided one on one guidance for the next step of the craft, sanding down the rough surfaces of the stone heads. Slowly but surely the class made it through the arduous process of shaping the center stone and smoothing it down and once everyone was finally at the same place Nephilian excitedly congratulated the class on making it to the easy part. "Well done everyone! All of your charms look amazing! Now that those are all nice and carved we can move on to the fun part- designing the rest of the charm!" Nephilian picked up some doilies that were sitting on his table. "All of your tables have a small selection of premade doilies to choose from, you are more than welcome to choose any that catches your eye. Or if you would prefer I can quickly teach you how to weave your own." None of the students raised their paw at the offer which made Nephilian chuckle and Khal smiled wryly, finding the youngsters hesitation amusing. The students quickly picked out the patterns and colors they liked and set them aside for the next step. "Next, you'll see there are also a selection of magically preserved animal fins. Feel free to choose your favorites from these as well." The students did so once more and Khal examined his choices with a smile. 

He had picked out a pale orange doily with a star burst pattern and a set of fins with a marvelous orange and gold hue accented by pale stripes in a chevron pattern. He had never seen a creature with fins or patterns like these before but he was excited for the color scheme he had coming together for his charm. Nephilian continued with his instructions, "Next thing to pick out- Magic stones! In the little baskets on your tables there are a small handful of baskets with tiny little magic stones. Go ahead and pick out eight tiny stones and eight medium stones. They don't all have to be the same color!" Khal did as he was instructed and selected a pale blue for his tiny stones and a light seafoam for his medium stones. "Now," Nephilian picked up a fin from his table and a tiny magic stone. "You all are going to take your larger fins and your tiny magic stones and use the odd press looking tool on your desk to embed the tiny stones in the center of the tips of the fins like so." Nephilian did as he instructed, carefully placing the tiny stone in one of the fans of the fin and placing them both under the mouth of the odd looking press. With one paw he held the items in place while he firmly pressed down on the top lever with the other paw. With a loud cla-clk sound the press came down on the fin and when the teacher pulled the fin out to show the class, the magic stone was now firmly affixed to the fin. "Go ahead and affix four tiny magic stones to the larger fins just like this!"

The class quickly and easily replicated these actions with their own fins and Khal was pleased with how easy the press made this task. He wondered how people used to affix these gems before this lovely little tool had been invented, he chuckled to himself as he thought about how if he had tried to learn how to craft earlier in his life it likely would have been much more difficult. Once all the students had finished the large fins Nephilian instructed them all to do the same thing but this time with the smaller fins and the medium magic stones. Once that was done Nephilian showed the group how to layer the fins and the doilies and finally how to clamp the layers together, once more using the stone press. Now that all the layers were done Nephilian gave everyone in the room a broad grin before grabbing a large wad of string from his materials. "We're nearly done everyone! Now we are going to weave the rope! This will be super easy, first take a set of the metal clasps and place them on either side of a muzzles width from the center." The purple puller quickly demonstrated what he meant and laced a set of gold clasps on the rope firmly, the class quickly repeated this action with no trouble so Nephilian continued. "Next braid the rope on both sides of the clasps, any braiding pattern is fine, whatever you find easiest to do." The purple puller quickly braided his rope and then fixed the ends with more metal clasps before turning to the class to help any who struggled with braiding the thick rope.

Khal easily braided his rope and mimicked what he saw Nephilian do with the clasps. The old puller brushed his thick braided hair out of his eyes and he gave a self satisfied smile that he was already very familiar with how to braid. A few other students struggled with manipulating the bundles of strings with their paws but Nephilian was able to guide them through how to do it. Once everyone had completed their braids and had attached the bottom clasps to keep the ropes form unwinding it was finally time to start assembling the charm! "Next you all should see some rocks with crystal spires sprouting from it. Select which ever rock fits your fancy and then place your fans and center piece onto the center of it. If you can use magic the next thing you will do is pour magic into the crystals of the rock. Doing so will cause the magic stones to warp and almost liquefy. Then you press your center piece into the liquefied crystal and when you have the stone in the position you want stop supplying magic to the stone. The magic stones will solidify and your center piece will be permanently affixed to the rock! Don't worry, if you haven't yet awakened your spark either I or one of your classmates will be happy to assist you." Khal turned his gaze to the selection of rock bases and ended up choosing one with bright yellow crystals, he did as the teacher instructed and was amazing to watch the once solid crystal melt and become squishy under the influence of his mana.

Khal firmly pressed his fans and center piece into place and was very pleased with how the golden crystals that had not melted framed the stone head. His creation was already looking like a wonderful Lucky charm and the old vayron could feel excitement bubbling in his stomach. After the entire class had finally managed to get their center pieces assembled it was time for the last couple of steps. "Alright we're nearly there!" the class gave an excited cheer as everyone was admiring their handiwork, eager to see the completed pieces. "Next take your rope and fold it so that you have a loop with a good diameter around the center. Then take another metal clasp and fix the rope into place, you are going to attach this handle to the back of your charm near the top of your rock base using another magic stone." Nephilian demonstrated what he described and the class quickly replicated this before looking up at the teacher ready for the next step. "Now it's time for the finishing touches! You all probably noticed that your center piece looks a little empty compared to the finished version I have up hear." The purple puller gestured to the finished charm that was still on display. "Now it's time to paint on the accents and then finally last but not least, its time to embed the magic stone that gives the charm its power!" The class quickly got to work using the gold paint on their tables to add accent marks to their charms. Khal decided to paint on the normal under eye accent and an additional stripe on each cheek of the stone head. Nephilian then demonstrated to the class how to insert the final large magic stone into the forehead divot they had carved into their charms.

The gem sat loose in the charm, causing some confusion amongst the students until Nephilian explained that they needed to empower the magic stone. Doing so would not only fix the gem in place but would also activate the spell laying dormant within. Khal took his charm in his paws and copied what the purple puller had done once more. The old vayron was delighted to watch as the magic crystal lit up with his magic, the golden glow spread and rippled throughout the entire charm as the spell successfully took hold. As Nephilian watched the class room slowly fill with a golden glow he smiled happily and congratulated everyone on their hard work. "Congratulations everyone! You all have successfully crafted your first Lucky Trinket!" The class cheered happily as they raised their finished crafts excitedly in the air, happily showing off their hard work and chosen color schemes to those around them. Even Khal found himself feeling excited by finally holding the finished charm in hand. Perhaps these more delicate crafts were not as difficult as he had feared.