Chereads / Legacy of Eldric: A Tale of Ruler / Chapter 20 - [Winters Grace]

Chapter 20 - [Winters Grace]

  The night passed and the morning came. Just like any other repetitive morning the group started working on their chores and tasks, Eldric finished grooming and feeding the horses in the cavern before he walked toward the workshop with the two new blueprints that he was awarded with. 

Eldric could hear the rhythmic sound of the hammer falling. The workshop was filled with heat that no man would not work in but yet as Eldric looks towards Caspian, he could not understand how this man could do it in this unbearable heat with a smile on his face. The workshop was filled with newly crafted weapons, spears and swords could be seen lying about. 

Eldric saw that he had made around 10 [Snowflake] swords, the sword had etchings of delicate snowflakes dancing along its surface, glistening under the faintest light. The hilt, crafted from polished oak, is carved to resemble intricate frost-covered branches. A translucent pommel, crafted from a gemstone found in the water a few days back, emits a soft glow. 

The [Winter's Reach], was etched with intricate patterns resembling frosty tendrils. The blade is razor-sharp, resembling a shard of frozen moonlight. Adorned with delicate engravings of snowflakes, it sparkles with an ethereal glow. The handle is wrapped in supple white coated leather, offering a firm grip even in the harshest cold. 

"Caspian! Caspian!" Eldric shouted twice before he could grab the blacksmith's attention, "Haha, good morning, Patriarch. What brings you to my humble workshop." he smiled 

Eldric took one of the blueprints and handed it to Caspian, "Here, this is what I want to give you." Caspian took the blueprint and what became before his eyes astounded him, "Gasp" he inhaled an unsteady breath. 

"H-how in the world did you get this? And where?" He questioned, Eldric refrained from answering and only gave Caspian a light smile. 

The blueprint Caspian held was a low-grade rank 2 armor. The armor was called [Winters Grace]. It would be adorned with delicate frost patterns etched along the edges. Embedded within the breastplate glistening sapphire gems, reflecting the icy blue hues of a frozen lake would be placed. Intricate snowflake motifs would be meticulously engraved. The armor would also feature a high collar lined with fur, reminiscent of a winter's embrace. 

Caspian looked at the blueprint and finally sighed after calming down, "I don't know where you got this, but it would take quite a while before I would be able to craft a group of them." he said. "Why?" Eldric replied in confusion. 

"I lack a few materials, a few things could be supplemented and replaced but we would still need to find replacements. For example, I can create the armor itself but to complete the design I would need sapphires, but we don't have them, and they are expensive. The sapphires could be replaced by the Riverstone's we found that look almost the same, but my supply of Riverstone's runs low. The last issue would be the fur, we have nothing to replace it and we certainly don't have much fur. The fur from the Stoneback black bears could be used but we have too few." he replied honestly. 

"Counting the materials, is can only create two breastplates at the moment. Until we get more materials, I can't forge them. And if we sometime could get an artisan, it would be better. They would be able to create the design more meticulously than me, so try to get me an artisan to help, would ya!" Caspian said. 

"Certainly, hahaha. There should be a few more knights appearing in a few days. So, I suggest that you finish the two armors and try to forge more weapons. Me and the group will start to create and armory to store the weapons, the armory would be just behind the workshop for easy use, any complaints?" Eldric said with a laugh. 

"Certainly not" Caspian laughed in a boisterous tone. After talking to Caspian, he left the workshop and searched for Evander. Evander was tilling and watering the crops when Eldric found him. "Evander!" he shouted. 

"Morning Patriarch" he replied back. "Morning Evander. I want to give you this, it would be quite helpful I believe for our farming? What do you think?" Eldric said as he gave Evander the second of the blueprints-the construction blueprint. The blueprint was for the construction of Aquaculture Facilities and an extra section was used to describe the farm designs. Evander looked at the blueprint and then at Eldric, he did it a few times before saying, "Hah, this is indeed ingenious. If we could farm fish and aquatic life it could boost our supplies and agriculture and this, Norfolk four-course system. I have never even heard of it but to divide the field into four sections and rotate different crops in each section over a four-year cycle is simply brilliant. Whoever came up with this is simply brilliant." Evander exclaimed a few times before looking at Eldric. 

"So? Could we built, and do it?" Eldric asked. "Definitely! I would just have to find a suitable spot for the fish farms. The farm field would be easy to handle but building the fish farm would take a while and quite frankly a lot of manpower and resources." Evander said. "That would not be a problem" Eldric giggled and muttered under his breath. 

Evander was left to his own devices and with that Eldric returned to the House and started designing the interior and what would become of what. Halfway through his planning he could hear a commotion and a smile crept upon his face. 'Looks like the new recruits are here.' he thought and left the room towards the commotion. 

Eldric stepped outside and saw a group of 20 strangers dressed in rags and basic clothing curiously looking around. Eldric walked toward them and did the same speech, "My name is Eldric Snow. I am the head of the Snow Household and today I want to welcome you to our House. If you shall plead fealty to this house and its purpose, I welcome thee into the House of Snow." 

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I created a discord server to show designs and so on.

https://discord.gg/DdWHs6xg