Weekly Digest 92 - (#291 - #293)

Prototyping

The smithy was… probably warm, but Lori couldn't tell. It had lightwisps in the ceiling to brightly illuminate the workshop, with sliding covers should the smith need relative darkness to be able to properly judge the color of the metal they were working on. Bindings of airwisps circulate air, both to cool down anyone working there and to prevent deadly gasses from the furnace from gathering or worse, being pulled into her Dungeon. Like the lightwisps and airwips in the rest of her Dungeon, all these bindings were wired directly to her core, since it was close enough to do conveniently.

Despite all their discussion during breakfast, both Lori and Rian had been forced to agree that it would probably be best if they tell the smiths their intended result, though the list of possible approaches would still be brought up. Lori had a glass bowl full of samples, as well as the mortar and pestle to grind the samples down if needed, which it probably would be.

Several men waited for them in the smithy area, looking very professional, though some wore more shirt than she was used to with blacksmiths. Tools had been laid out, such as the ceramic crucible that had been used to cast the copper ingots back during winter, hammers, tongs, chisels…

"Your bindership, these are the metalworkers of our fine demesne," Rian said. "These five are our blacksmiths, these three fellows are redsmiths, and this good sir is a tinsmith, though they've all been helping each other with projects in the demesne." He sighed. "I'd introduce everyone, but they suggested I not bother since it would only get in the way of whatever work you wanted done."

Lori blinked. That… that was very thoughtful, actually. "I see. Thank you for your consideration," she said gratefully.

For some reason, Rian sighed before shaking his head. "Well, on to work, then. Her Bindership thinks she can make bound tools. Unfortunately, we don't have a glassworker in the demesne that I know of, and the closest we have is Jeordoj and Artelego knowing how to make tools for them." Ah! Well, that was useful to know. "So for now, we're going to try to do it with copper, since that will be easier to work than iron or steel, and easier to rework. Whatever we come up with will probably make someone who makes bound tools for a living cry at the amateurs getting above themselves—" there were some chuckles at that, though the tinsmith winced as well, "—but we don't care about them because they're not here. If we're successful, than it will be a good start to reducing our need for firewood, and will let Binder Lori have to keep track of fewer things. Personally, I'm hope it gets to the point we can all have bound tool lamps or warmers in our houses in the winter."

Lori shrugged noncommittally as everyone looked interested. The idea of a bound tool for such things was probably beyond what they had thought possible for themselves in their old lives, even ones for something as simple as heat or light.

Rian glanced at her, then at the sample bowl. She gave him a brief nod.

"All right. What we need help with is a way to keep some of this," he gestured at the glass bowl of white samples, "in place and not moving or rolling around in the bound tool we're triyng to make. Binder Lori has deduced that they use glass to hold it in place in bound tools, but…" he shrugged. "Whatever we come up with, it can't use water, and by extension any glue with water because that would ruin this white stuff. Binder Lori and I have discussed the possibility of pressing it between two sheets of copper and hammering that copper flat, but you would know what you can do better than I do."

The smiths crowded around at a gesture from Rian, peering down at the sample bowl.

"Is this salt?" one of them—Lori though it was one of the redsmiths—asked.

Rian titled his head. "No, but it looks, feels and acts like it. Some of you might remember this from the cracking we did last winter." That caused some looks, and every examined the samples again, recognition in some of their eyes. "Whatever method we come up with, it can't get wet at any point. No, don't try to taste it, we don't know what it does but best to assume it might be poisonous."

The one who'd picked up some between two fingers quickly put the samples back on the bowl.

"So, we need to put this… bead stuff… onto a setting?" one of the other redsmiths asked.

Rian frowned, then seemed to come to a realization. "Ah, no… although… huh, would that work, your Bindership? Just set one of the big shards like some kind of gem?"

Lori blinked, then looked down at the sample bowl with fresh eyes. The samples of white Iridescence were a variety of sizes, but the ones closer to powder had settled to the bottom, so most of what the smiths could see looked like pebbles and larger, though no piece was bigger than half a grain of vigas. "It might work mounted like jewelry…" Lori said contemplatively, "But even so, it would still need to be completely enclosed in some kind of capsule to keep water out. I'd prefer a solution that would work with the smaller pieces, though, the ones like ground sand. It gives me more to work with while potentially using less material. Still, we should test the idea for viability."

"We could make a cup," the tinsmith saidsuggested. He was the scrawniest of the smiths since tin was mostly worked cold, or cast in molds. "A shallow cup, say, just an indent on a sheet. Fill that with the finer pieces, the ones most like salt or sand, then use a stamp to press it down flat and crimp the stamp in place."

"That's far better than our best idea," Rian said. He glanced at Lori. "Shall we try both, then?"

Lori nodded.

"Very well then," Rian said. "What do you all need to be able to do both of these in the least time?"

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They all had to start with copper sheets and wire.

Lori still had coils of gold wire, and they didn't need all that much to try to wrap some of the larger samples in a setting that would hold it in place no matter the orientation or amount of shaking that it would be facing. 'Some of´ because Lori had to give the tinsmith and one of the redsmiths a few pieces so they could test the material's tolerances to being worked. It wasn't a hard rock, after all, and it was the first time they'd be working on it. Fortunately, they had a well-worn leather work sheet to lay out to catch any fragments that fell off for recovery—even small amounts of tin and copper couldn't be wasted, not in relatively poor edge communities—so they were able to recover the little bits of white Iridescence that they unfortunately removed from the samples they were practicing on.

Meanwhile, the copper sheets were being made. An ingot was slowly being hammered flat at one end, occasionally being heated on the furnace to relieve the work hardening that resulted. Once it was thin enough, it would be cut so that the smiths would have less material to have to hammer. The other smiths returned to work maintaining the metal tools of the demesne. Fortunately, none of it required the use of the forge, merely files to remove little nicks and other damage.

According to Rian, normally the owners of the tools could have done that sort of maintenance themselves, and some did, but not everyone had a file or a good enough whetstone to deal with such things. The smiths did, and so they were taking care of these little bits of maintenance. Fortunately, it was the kind of work that they didn't actually need to be in the smithy for, so those who weren't currently working on Lori's prototypes had dispersed to more refreshing places.

Lori, for her part, was also working. Using stone, she was making a die form that the copper sheet would hammered on to make the cup that would contain the Iridescence. It was shallow, only five chiyustri high for now, but the stone needed to be dense and hard enough to not crack under subsequent hammering… and she also wanted it to be as flat and even as possible. Once the die form had been made in the copper, she'd be able to make a stamp that would press down on the white Iridescence to keep it in place. The stamp wouldn't be completelycopper—it would be copper wrapped stone for mass and solidity—but it needed to fit snuggly in the cup full of white Iridescence to tamp it down.

Still, both projects felt like they had promise. Putting a relatively large fragment onto a metal setting was a relatively quick and simple solution, though on consideration, it probably wasn't something they could do with glass. In this instance though, such a mounting, sufficiently covered by a metal shell to protect it against water, would probably suffice for use in her demesne, provided it was secured to a solid base. The binding for such a thing wouldn't be something she'd have been able to easily make with Whispering alone… but she was a Dungeon Binder now, so that wasn't a problem.

The more involved procedure involving the container and stamp, however, seemed like it would be easier to integrate with glass, and having the white Iridescence as a powder meant they didn't need to be as careful with handling the samples beyond keeping water away from them. The maximized surface area and contact with metal might also be a boon. She wasn't sure yet.

Rian came to check in on progress every so often as he went about his usual chores around the demesne. He seemed to have assumed the smiths would be done far sooner, and that they'd be testing the resulting prototype that morning. Truthfully, a part of Lori had thought so as well, but the more work-experienced had understood that wouldn't be the case. The attempt to try and put some of the white Iridescence in a wire setting was unlikely to be finished before lunch at the earliest. Not when the two smiths involved had to fabricate something from wire using material they weren't all that familiar with. It wasn't anything as simple as drawing metal though a plate, after all.

Listening to the sounds echoing through the smithy, of metal being filed and hammered occasionally, of the occasional pump of the bellows to the furnace, of the indistinct voice just loud enough to reach the person they were meant for, had a soothing familiarity to Lori. While she had never done this sort of work in those places, the atmosphere gave her a rhythm as she worked, shaping the stone die form, measuring the lengths and angles with straight-edged metal rulers she retrieved from her own box of equipment, cutting and scraping out excess with her belt knife. It was… well, crude, but it was the best tool for the job since it was long, straight and sharp, and she was careful not to damage the edge while shaping the stone.

Once the shape was done, after one last measurement with the rulers Lori deliberately put her tools aside to resist the temptation to make it just a littlebit straighter and flatter. This was just a quick and dirty die form for the prototype, after all. If she wanted or needed better, she could have the stone masons chisel it out and flatten it properly, or have the smiths make it out of all metal so it could be used repeatedly for a long time.

Instead, she claimed the earthwisps of the stone of the die form she had just made and did something she hadn't needed to do in months: form them into a binding that reinforced the physical structure of the stone. After all, she didn't want anything to break in the process of the copper being formed. She then tested the resulting durability of the reinforcement by picking up the die form, turning it so that the shape she has made was pointed downwards, and then slammed it into the ground three times.

Fortunately, the impact was a dull instead of loud, though it still prompted the smiths to glance towards her. She ignored the sudden flush of self-consciousness at being under the scrutiny of master craftsmen—and one probably journeyman in the tinsmith, since he had neither the age or self-assurance to be a master, in Lori's experience—judging her crude method, and reminded herself she was a Dungeon Binder and a very experienced wizard. The reminder just barely helped, so she just ignored them and focused on her work. Focusing on your work made you look professional and capable, right?

The floor didn't crack, and neither did the die form, though the former ended up with three little white marks caused by the die form's corners striking the ground. Turning the latter the correct side up, Lori examined it for damage, laying it back down gently and using her fingers to feel at the die form's edges. She found no unevenness that implied anything had broken off, and all the edges and points felt as sharply defined as when she'd put away her tools.

Satisfied, Lori set the little die form aside for the moment, as she waited for the copper sheets to be finished. She was certainly not going to pick it up and show it to the smiths who would be using it like a child trying to get her mothers to praise her, and while the smithy had a wooden workbench along one wall, she wasn't going to put anything on it until the men who actually used it told her two. She was a Dungeon Binder, not delusional.

Resisting the urge to get her tools and flatten out everything again, Lori simply picked up the die form and continued to imbue the binding of earthwisps for when it would finally be used, and used her fingers to continue double-checking for any damage from her little impact test. Now it was only a matter of waiting to see what happened first: the tin- and redsmith finishing with setting a sample of white Iridecence on gold wire, the copper finally being beaten thin enough sheets or the call to lunch.

Staying in the little space of the smithy she'd claimed to work in, Lori leaned back against the wall and waited, her fingers still checking the stone die form for damage.

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The First Prototype

When it was time for lunch everyone put aside their tools, and the forge was banked to save on fuel. Lori wordlessly gave the die form she'd made to the coppersmiths, who wordlessly accepted it and, after examining it briefly and hitting it was few times with a hammer, nodded in satisfaction and acknowledgement. It was… probablyjust them humoring her, but at the moment it wasn't like there was any other way they could get a proper die form for something like this.

Lunch was unremarkable, save for Rian practically vibrating. He kept glancing towards the doors of the Dungeon, just beyond which was the smithy, as he gave his report on the demesne's condition.

"—never handled bound tools outside of the demesne," he said, even as his gaze was towards the door. Lori was very tempted to use the distraction to take his bread for herself. "Not even simple ones for making light or heat. They used oil lamps for that. Though he tells me he's heard of bound tools being used outside of the demesne, but it was always the equivalent of rumor story. Someone heard from someone who heard from someone. No confirmed primary sources, that sort of thing."

"I see…" Lori muttered. Well, at least that told her it was… well, not exactly possible, but probable. Though if the onlysource was stories… "Are there anystories of people using bound tools outside of a demesne? I don't mean confirmable, factual stories, I mean the nonsensical ones."

Rian actually looked at her as he visibly considered this. "Not off the top of my head, no…" he said slowly. "It's always finding cores buried somewhere and somehow becoming the most powerful and competent Dungeon Binder in the world, with a demesne so big they're clearly compensating for something, amazing magic they just made up that apparently no one has ever thought of doing like that before, and killing everyone who's so much as looked at them funny. We're all very glad you're not like that, by the way."

"You don't think the magic I've done is amazing?"

"I refuse to answer that. That's clearly the wizard equivalent of 'does this dress make me look fat'."

"My mother told me the response to that is 'take it all off, I need to compare'."

"Please tell me they waited until after your growth spurt to tell you that. Lie to me, if necessary."

"She waited until after my growth spurt to tell me that. You don't think the magic I've done is amazing?"

"No, that dress doesn't make you look fat."

Lori gave Rian a flat look that was returned in kind.

"… anything else?"

"Karina has been seeling. A lot. Seeling enough for it to be notable."

"I believe she wishes to bring some of what she caught here to River's Fork to make up for her time away, hence why she is trying to acquire a greater bounty than is usual for her," Shanalorre said from beside Lori. "At least, that is the conclusion I came to. She has not actually said so."

"Yeah, it is! Can I, Lord Rian? We always have room on the boat when we go there, and people always need more food!"

"She has said so," Shanalorre said blandly.

Rian glanced at Lori. She waved a hand dismissively. "Binder Lori says she doesn't care, so we can try, Karina."

There was a pleased exclamation from behind Lori.

All in all, there wasn't much change from how the demesne had been earlier that morning. The crops were well, the chokers were under control, the choker eggs had apparently hatched and the juvenile chokers were carefully being raised to try and domesticate them. The young beasts didn't need a Deadspeaker to make them lethargic and less aggressive, and the ones tending to them were hoping to train them to accept only food from them and to be better behaved as they got older.

"Though they might need a secured dragon shelter pen for when dragons pass overhead," Rian finished.

Lori stared at that last. "What?"

"A dragon shelter pen. You know, someplace we can secure the chokers when it's dragon time. I don't think you'd want them in the dungeon with everyone else, especially since they might get violent surrounded by people they're not used to, but we can't just leave them outside. It would be a waste of the time and effort invested into them, and they are food, after all."

Lori groaned, letting her head slump down.

"You don't need to do it now," Rian said. "If something happened to pass by tomorrow, we can just stick the chokers in one of the incomplete tunnels on the third level. Or better, just make a pit in the third level and throw them down there. We can worry about cleaning it out when everything's down. I'm just saying, when we finally do have a decent number of domesticated beasts, they'll need somewhere to be safe."

"Noted," Lori sighed. "All right, when we have something bigger than a few chokers, I'm building one. For the moment, however, they're going into a pit."

With her luck, a dragon would arrive tomorrow, requiring her to, in fact, excavate a pit in the third level.

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Fortunately, her luck held enough that a dragon didn't make it's coming known during lunch. When she returned to the smithy, she found the tinsmith and coppersmith already at work putting a large piece of white Iridescence into a gold wire setting. The wire appeared to have been hardened by the expedient of hammering gently hammering the wire, taking pains to not get it so flat that they could turn it in its side to continue hammering. Even so hardened, the gold was still soft enough to be shaped by their tools.

The capsule-like copper protective shell that was meant to go around the setting to protect the white iridescence from water and contact was still in the process of being made, but it was almost finished. The smiths had even taken the time to shape the other end of the gold wire on which the sample was mounted into a spiral that formed the shape of a little saucer to better held bead. Rian must have been the cause of that.

A part of Lori wanted to take the setting as soon as it was completed to start anchoring bindings on it, but she repressed such childishness. Without the shell, it was basically just another demonstration of bead seepage. No, any subsequent experiments would need the copper shell around the setting.

Belated, Lori realize they hadn't specified some sort of support rod for the thing, meaning the gold wire would be bearing the weight of the setting and shell. She considered having a copper rod fabricated, before dismissing the idea. She'd just do something with bone or stone. The setting would be used in controlled conditions—or at least, conditions she controlled, which was much the same thing, in this instance—and as Rian had said, as the only Whisperer in the demesne, she was the only one who could make any bindings that might interact or intersect with the experimental prototypes anyway.

While she waited for the shell to be finished and mounted, Lori positioned herself near the two coppersmiths working on the rest of the sheet metal copper. They were using her die form to shape the sheet they had, which they had first bent and folded in a close approximation of the intended dimensions, before beginning to hammer down the other two sides. It was awkward work, as they didn't have a clamp to hold the sheet in place, meaning one of them had to press down on the sheet while the other hammered. Still, they seemed to be making progress. Lori didn't interfere except to make sure the stone die form was imbued and reinforced as strongly as possible.

When the first prototype was finished, Lori had Rian called. It wasn't out of sentimentality or anything of the sort. She merely had need to a capable note-taker! When he arrived holding his tablet and burnt stick, she handed him one of the bone tablets she had made and a new stylus, a beast tooth mounted on a rod of bone. "Write on this," she said. "The side of the tablet facing you has been soften so you can write on it directly."

Rian took the stylus and tablet, and thankfully didn't turn it around so as to potentially lose track of which side was which. Instead, he used the stylus to make a few test lines on one of the tablet's corners, presumably to get used to the feeling of writing on it. "So, I ask you to erase any writing errors I have or do I just strike it through and live with our notes having indelible corrections on it?"

Lori twitched at that. "Don't make any mistakes," she said sternly.

"You realize that means I'll have to write slowly and carefully? I'm still getting used to this, after all."

She frowned, but… well, she supposed that was only reasonable. "Fine, fine. I'll try to speak slowly." She cleared her throat, preparing herself to dictate as the smiths who had made the prototype watched, waiting to hear what she'd say of their work. She hadn't really examined it yet, not wanting to have any thoughts on it before Rian arrived to record them.

Only now did she look at the completed prototype. Well, almost completed. It would have to be put on a base and there was still the bone rod to give it support, but for all intents and purposes, it was completely. "The first prototype consists of a white sample, measurements approximately three yustri long, one yustri thick in all its other dimensions, securing in a setting consisting of hardened gold wire. The sample and setting were then covered with a copper shell that completely encases the sample but does not make contact with it. The only point of contact is along the length of gold wire connected to the setting, which has been reinforced with copper sheets that have been folded and pressed to provide reinforcement."

Lori glanced at the two smiths, who nodded in confirmation. Rian was still writing, so she waited for him to finished before continuing. "The whole prototype is approximately thirty yustri long. Original length of gold write used was approximately forty-five yustri, but some length was lost as a result of hardening for the portion that could make the setting. The remainder has been shaped into a spiral saucer…" Lori described the receptacle for containing beads. It currently wasn't ideal, but that wire wasn't hardened and could conceivably be reshaped, so that was fine. "Gold wire is not perfectly straight, but has been straightened for the purposes of presentation. Wire has not been hardened. Quench hardening was not possible while sample was not yet encased." She looked at the two smiths, gesturing to Rian to let him know not to dictate what followed. "As it is, do you think you can quench harden the wire without damaging the casing or letting any water inside?"

The redsmith frowned. "It might be possible, your bindership, but since you specified that the shell be air- and water-tight. Heat might case the air inside to expand."

Lori nodded. "Very well. It might be necessary to harden the length of the wire at some point. If it can't be reasonably work hardened, we might need to quench it. At worst, removing the shell and setting might be needed. Do you think you can rebuild it needed?"

The two exchanged looks, then nodded.

"Very well. I shall have Rian inform you should it be needed. Thank you for your efforts. This is fine work. I will provide compensation as soon as I am able. You may return to you normal work."

Gently, she picked up the prototype. While it didn't matter if the wire was bent, that seemed… unseemly. "Come Rian. We need to test the prototype."

"Your Bindership?"

Lori paused, then turned towards the tinsmith who had spoken. Well, she supposed she hadbeen talking to them. "Yes? Was there anything else?"

The man hesitated, glancing towards Rian. The latter, for his part, had smiled and nodded, which seemed to encourage the man. "Could you… could you tell us how well it works, when you're done doing… what you're going to do?"

Lori blinked at the request, but… well, she supposed it was only natural for two craftsmen to want to know the quality of their work was. "You will be informed," she said, then couldn't help adding, "I might have notes for improvements of the next iteration of the prototype."

Thankfully, the two had nodded, seemingly accepting that the prototype was unlikely to be perfect the first time. At the very least, even if Lori's experiments were successful, changes would have to be made to use fewer resources and make production easier.

Lori waited, but smiths said nothing more. She turned away. "Are you done, Rian? We have experiments to do."

"Ready, your Bindership," he said cheerfully. "Uh, could you remove this correction? And, uh, this one? And…?"

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Testing the First Prototype

Lori's first instinct was to put build a stand to put prototype on to satisfy her aesthetic impulses. However, in practical terms all she really needed was the prototype to conduct her tests and experiments. She weighed pragmatism and perfectionism, but eventually decided to put build a stand for it after all, if only so she wouldn't have to keep holding it while experimenting.

The resulting stand was just a rock she had grabbed from the third level—pulled from the walls of one of the unfinished excavation tunnels—and stuck gold wire into, with a bone molded to keep up the end with the copper-sheathed sample.

"Rian, stop laughing," Lori sighed as she finished adjust they little spiral wire receptacle to her satisfaction. "Yes, I know it looks like a male pelvic organ. What exactly is so amusing about that?"

Rian didn't respond with anything more intelligent than slapping a hand over his mouth to try to stifle his laughter, turning away so he wasn't looking directly at the first prototype. Eventually, he got his laughter under control, though he still had on the stupidest smile on his face.

"Are you done acting juvenile?" Lori asked, her flat tone more unamused than usual.

"No, but I've stopped laughing and can still take notes," Rian said cheerfully, and therewas the annoying tone that said he was doing it deliberately! "Go on, your Bindership. What are you doing now?"

Lori huffed impatiently. "Don't make so many mistakes this time."

"I can't promise that, sorry."

Shaking her head in annoyance, Lori pulled out a bead she had gotten on the way to the alcove, as well as a pair of metal calipers. . "Take note, then. Beginning first experiments on first prototype. We will be using a wispbead that is—"

"Wait, let me do that," Rian interrupted. "You have that warming thing around you, remember?"

What… oh. Right. "Fine, you measure it," Lori said, handing him the metal calipers.

Rian measured the bead, doing it several times to be sure that the calipers were measuring the widest point of the bead. Finally, he set down the bead and calipers. "Bead is three yustri, three chiyustri wide," he said as he wrote down his measurements. "Finer than that, I can't really make out."

"Sufficient," Lori said. She reached out and laid a hand on the copper shell of the prototype, ignoring Rian's snickering at the gesture. Why did her lord act like a child about the strangest things? "Stifle it, Rian."

"Y-yes, your Bindership."

Shaking her head, Lori focused on her awareness of the wisps in her demesne. The metal shell was no impediment to it, and she could feel the airwisps and darkwisps around the white Iridescence and its setting. For a moment, she considered using them in er experiment… but no. Best to go on as she had planned.

She rubbed her hands until they grew hot, and claimed the firewisps that resulted from it, which she formed into a binding. "First experiment," Lori dictated, and Rian started writing. "Using a binding of firewisps to warm the external shell of the copper casing, and by extension the air within, to reveal the firewisps inside the casing. Firewisps in the space within the copper casing revealed. Proceeding to claim and bind the firewisps inside the casing. Anchoring binding inside the casing to the white iridescence sample mounted on the setting within the casing, taking take to ensure the binding is contacting the wire of the setting. Internal binding of firewisps currently generating a mild amount of heat." She hesitated. "Rian, hold out your hand and confirm that the binding of firewisps is active. "

Rian dutifully held out his hand, slowly moving it towards the copper shell, and stopped just short of touching it. "Yes, it's hot, though I'm not sure if that's a result of the firewisps you used first, or the firewisps inside it."

Ah. "I'm increasing the output," Lori said, during just that.

Rian hastily withdrew his hand. "Yup, it got hotter. What now?"

"Now, we wait for the imbuement to be consumed completely," Lori said. "In the meantime… continuing first experiment. Wisps are currently anchored to the white Iridescence. White Iridescence is secured onto a wire setting. First experiment, testing whether this configuration is more resistant to the effects of violent physical agitation."

Lori picked up the first prototype by the weighty stone base and then, after considering the prototype, took hold of it in both hands and began to shake it up and down.

"Rian, if you somehow manage to choke yourself on your own spit, I'm not having Shanalorre heal you," Lori lied to threaten as her lord apparently found this gesture uproariously funny for some reason.

"S-sorry…" he managed to say, as he slowly took proper hold of himself, the childish laughter… well, he was trying to keep his lips squeezed shut, even as a too-wide smile stretched across his face and his shoulders continued to shake. "Just… keeping talking, I'll write…" He squeezed his lips shut once more, cutting off his words as more shaking came over his shoulders.

Lori considered kicking him, but given the way he was holding the bone tablet with their notes, she didn't want to risk it. Sighing, she continued dictating. "Experiment successful. Compared to the control, the mounted sample of white Iridescence was not displaced, and the wisps anchored to it remain in place. The setting seems to have sufficiently secured the sample such that the sample did not fragment because of the agitation. At the very least, the prototype has proven to be an effective design to prevent the anchored wisps from being displaced."

"That's what we were trying to go for, right?" Rian said.

"Yes, but it doesn't matter if it will limit us to only one kind of binding," Lori said. "The uses of firewisps in this demesne is limited."

"As someone who can feel the cold, I'm perfectly fine with if all the prototypes can do is use firewisps, but I can see your point," Rian said.

"The experiments aren't finished yet," Lori said. "Once the imbuement in fully consumed, we need to conduct the physical displacement test agai—Rian, stop laughing!"

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Once the wisps were no longer imbued, Lori repeated violently shaking the prototype after she made Rian stand outside of the alcove to listen to her dictation. The result was the same, thankfully. With the sample of white Iridescence being all one piece and secured in its setting, and the copper shell as added protection, any binding of wisps anchored to the sample wouldn't be disturbed. While Lori still wanted to use glass, and suspected there was probably a verygood reason for it, at the moment it would do for her purposes.

"Test three," she said from where she sat next to the door so Rian could hear her. "With the imbuement expended, I am placing a wispbead on the bead receptacle to test the effectiveness of the prototype as a bound tool. Rian, if you can stop yourself from laughing, you may come inside to assess the current temperature of the bound tool."

"I'll be good…" Rian's voice floated in.

She doubted that would last long.

Still, except for a small, annoying smile, he didn't react as he held out his hand to the copper shell on the end of the bound tool. "A bit warm," he said, "but not as hot as when it was imbued previously."

Lori nodded. "All right, out with you, then."

"But I'll be good…!"

Lori gave him a flat look. "The next time you laugh childishly, I'm kicking you."

"…fine, that's fair."

She placed the bead on the receptacle of spiraling wire as she dictated what she was doing to Rian. Even though she wasn't touching the metal, thought her awareness of the demesne's wisps, she was able to perceive the metal seeping magic from the beads, and imbuing it to the binding anchored to the sample of white Iridescence. Rian was able to confirm the heat after a few moments, then again confirmed that heat was no longer being produced a few moments after she removed the bead from the receptacle.

"No visible reduction to the dimensions of the bead as yet," Rian reported as he measured the bead again with calipers.

Lori nodded, and handed him the tablet and stylus again. "Beginning test four, then. Reconfiguring the binding of firewisps to include firewisps both inside the copper casing and firewisps in the metal of the casing." She already knew the result of this, but she needed to be methodical about the testing procedure. It was how this worked, after all. "Firewisps in the metal casing have been successfully integrated into the binding. Placing bead in receptacle to imbue binding." A pause. "Seepage has been initiated. Binding is being imbued and functioning. Rian, confirm that heat is being generated."

"Binding is hot, your Bindership."

The bead is removed from the receptable.

"Beginning test five. Reconfiguring the binding of firewisps to include firewisps inside the copper casing, firewisps in the metal of the casing, and firewisps in the air outside of the metal casing." A pause. "Firewisps in the air around the metal casing have been successfully integrated into the binding. Placing bead in receptacle to imbue binding." Another pause. "Seepage has been initiated. Binding is being imbued and functioning. Rian, confirm that heat is being generated."

"Binding is hot, your Bindership."

Lori removed the bead from the receptable.

"Beginning test six. Reconfiguring the binding of firewisps to include firewisps inside the copper casing, firewisps in the metal of the casing, and lightwisp in the air outside of the metal casing."

Rian looked up from the bone tablet, the annoying smile finally wiped off his face. "Wait, you can do that?"

Rolled her eyes at the interruption. "Yes, otherwise I wouldn't be doing it." Then she conscientiously added, "We are confirming that current prototype can imbue the binding in this arrangement. If successful, it will increase my options when constructing bound tools."

"You have a glorious gift for understatement, your Bindership."

Lori rolled her eyes. "Lightwisps in the air around the metal casing have been successfully integrated into the binding. Placing bead in receptacle to imbue binding."

The air around the copper case began to glow with a pale white light.

"Seepage has been initiated. Binding is being imbued and functioning."

"And we have light…" Rian said, voice hushed as if reverent. It was a tone that clashed with the wide grin on his face.

"Rian, confirm that heat is being generated."

"Huh? Ah, right, right. Um, binding is hot, your Bindership. Uh, is it supposed to be?"

"Of course, Rian. There are still firewisps anchored to the white Iridescence, as well as in the copper shell, and those are also being imbued." Lori reached out and removed the bead. The light around the copper shell of the prototype vanished.

"Beginning test seven. Reconfiguring the binding to reduce the heat output of the firewisps inside the copper casing, and the firewisps in the metal of the casing. Lightwisps that have been incorporated into the binding will remain unaltered." A pause. "Placing bead in receptacle to imbue binding. Output of lightwisps remains unchanged. Rian, confirm whether or not heat is being generated "

"Uh… it doesn't feel as warm as it did last time, your Bindership."

Lori removed the bead from the receptable.

"Beginning test eight. Reconfiguring the binding of firewisps to include firewisps inside the copper casing, firewisps in the metal of the casing, and airwisps in the air outside of the metal casing…"

"Wait, wait, I'm running out of room to write!"