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The horsewoman's lips twisted into a smile. "I believe I see what went wrong," she began. "You do not know how to properly make a knife. Fetch me some materials of your choosing, and I shall show you how."

She raised her free hand and gestured towards the work bench, adding, "There are different ways to make a knife, of course. I have had little personal success with the method you demonstrated. Either the blade falls off, or the material is too brittle to use."

"They shall do," The clanswoman said as she accepted the materials with a nod, setting her finger-weaving aside to examine the materials. She held the leather first, running her fingers on it to feel the texture before tugging it from several directions to test its elasticity. This was set aside. The wood she also ran her fingers along, turning it to examine the grain before it too was set aside.

She held the stone up, tilting it to catch the light. "This is flint. Take a look at it. Whereas other stones are round, this one has sharp angles." She offered it to Shun to take a look, then waited until he returned it to her before continuing. "Creating a knife from flint is a matter of striking it in such a way that forms more of these angles. Specifically, enough to form an edge."

The clanswoman turned and beckoned, calling for something. Another clansman paused in their task, taking enough time to fetch it for her before sitting back down. "Observe," she began simply. She held another rock in her hand and began to chip slowly on an angle, pausing to hand the stone back to Shun. "I don't recommend you touch it," she added wryly, nodding towards the new edge she placed on the flint. "Even if it isn't that great, it's still rather sharp. But it is a matter of chipping away at it to form the blade. Do not rush with stone. If you try to chip at the stone at the wrong angle, you could very easily cause the stone itself to split in two."

She took the knife back and raised the other rock. "Because I am experienced, my speed has come from practice. Do not seek to emulate me." Her hands began to blur as she struck the flint stone again and again, quickly and efficiently forming a knife blade. Or what looked to be one. It was small and narrow, and rather long.

"I personally favor stability over blade length," the clanswoman explained with a shrug. "To me, a large knife is useless if it will fall apart quickly. Can you please fetch me a carving tool? The one I need is the bone with a leather-wrapped hilt with a blue feather on it."

Calder moved out from the table, inspecting his knife. It looked ugly. Even HE knew it was ugly, but every time he tried to stick on some beads or feathers, they just fell off as if refusing to be associated with his knife.

Frowning, he passed by and appeared before the leather mannequin. As usual, he tried to hit it with all his force, but unlike his stone knife from before, this wooden weapon splintered and snapped with the force of Calder's jab.

He gathered as much of the shards he could and came back. They seemed to be using a lot of the materials just to break them. Well, they were surrounded by trees. Guess wood wouldn't be in short supply.

She adjusted the blade to hold it as Shun had in the first round of crafting, lunging forward to once more slide at the dummy.


-Test 2-
Damage: 3 (Total: 7)
Knife HP: 4/8

Shun's words quirked another grin on her lips as she accepted the tool, putting the stone aside to pick up the wood. "There will be little reach on this, I fear. But that is not what we need it for." She turned the wood, studying it before clasping one end of it. She worked her fingernail under the bark, loosening it before peeling it away. Once the bark was stripped, she showed the result to Shun.

"Like the stone, wood also has ways that it needs to be tended. Look here, and here. Do you see the grain? The grain indicates the direction to carve. We want to carve with or against it." She maneuvered her position until she was sitting in such a way to press the wood between the flats of her feet, holding it steady as she held the bone tool and the stone-hammer from earlier in her hands. With rapid, light taps she began to etch out a groove in the wood, handing it over to Shun for inspection.

"What I am doing is creating a notch to place the blade in. The more bladelength there is in the hilt, the more stable it shall be." She gestured, and in her hands she beheld a knife. This she did not offer to Shun, instead angling it so that he could view the entire length of it. "With metal blades, they are forged in such a way that the metal of the blade is also the core of the hilt. This is where their strength comes from." She gestured, dismissing her weapon.

"Knowing this, do you see how your your blade snapped?" She asked as she took the hilt back and swiftly carved out the groove. With that accomplished, she handed both the blade and the wood together, handing them and the strip of leather to Shun. "Show me how you would wrap it."

And then the knife shattered, the splinters of seashells doing more damage than the stab she missed entirely.


-Test 5-
Damage: 1 ( Total: 12 )
Knife HP: DEAD/8

The knife that was offered was inspected, her fingers running along the joint of wood to stone bound in leather. She nodded sharply, handing it back. "The hilt is snug enough, and we do not need decorations for this. Now."

She considered, twirling the blade in her hand idly. "The blade itself was shortened in order to increase the stability of the knife. How would you attack with this?"

"Good." The clanswoman nodded, pleased with the answer. "That knife is made for stabbing. Note the length of the hilt, and the length of the blade. If you were so inclined, it would be possible to hide it here," She reached forward and touched Shun's sleeve lightly. "Though it is rather heavy, and may not be ideal."

"As for its use..." She shrugged. "The length of the blade is too short for most vitals. It would be enough to wound and cause pain, yes, but it would be most effective in one's eyes." The clanswoman didn't mince words, nor did she glance at Shun in any sort of meaningful way. She was merely stating the facts. "If you decide to try and throw it, be mindful of the weight in the blade."

The clanswoman stood up, glancing at the training dummy. "You should also be mindful of where you aim. I suspect that your blades snapped due to hitting the target by any means necessary, rather than by planning and aiming for the weak points."

"You may keep the knife. Perhaps it will inspire yourself and your companions concerning the creation of blades." She gestured, and several other craftsmen rose from their places and approached. "Take this to Radha," she instructed one, handing her half-finished project. "She will know what to do."

"And now, I fear we must be off. Strength to you and your companions, visitor." With a nod, War herself spread her wings and took off with her personal guard swiftly behind.

(Exiting)