Tina Writes

Not without either the giver or the holder dying in the process. It’s not something to be done lightly (hence why a good number of the old hands won’t do it), as it’s binding until death.

Outside of the crew chiefs, the workers generally learn on the job, under the supervision of a more experienced mentor (like the aforementioned old hands) until they reach a certain level of proficiency, preferably enough that their mentor is confident they’re unlikely to hurt themselves.

The oaths means that the various other smelters that have been set up essentially had to figure out their own recipe from their best guesses as to what went inside. Sometimes they get close, but usually the blacksmiths can tell - sometimes for the worse, other times the better.

The crew chiefs are chosen partly for experience, but more heavily for their loyalty, so just being at a certain level doesn’t guarantee you becoming one. Quite a few of the seasoned old hands have zero desire to become crew chief, as they’d much rather not give oaths or suck up to those in charge.

This is where we get into another piece of magic that does actually have major impact in my story - oaths. The crew chiefs that know the recipe only learn it after they give an oath never to tell anyone else, or use that recipe at another smelter. Oaths are unbreakable.

Everyone that works around the smelter knows has an idea of metals go into it. What they don’t know are the proportions, especially of the smaller percentage additions, which the crew chiefs add themselves. That can have quite a substantial impact on the resulting alloy properties.

#Marchistics

The process is fairly well known among those in the industry. There’s enough manual labour going on that, given enough years in the industry, and a witch or two that knows what they’re doing, you could set up your own smelter/refinery.
What is secret, are the recipes for the alloy.

“Now that,” Xyd said, “I believe wholeheartedly.” He turned half-around, so that one of his eyes faced her direction. Side-facing eyes, Yana thought—prey eyes. “I do not wish to be misunderstood. I think it’s a wondrous thing, the way your own unconscious mind protects you, cares for you—tries to, anyway. I shall do the same, and rein in my curiosity.” “Habitat.” “Hm?” “I come from a Space Station called Habitat. I was a researcher there—epidemiology.” “I have heard of Habitat,” Xyd said. “Is there much demand for epidemiologists there?” “No, but I had prior work experience.” “Homeworld?” “Yes,” Yana said. “Vara IX. Are you familiar?” “Wholly unfamiliar, I’m afraid.” “Look into it,” she said with a bitter smile. As always, summoning memories of that chapter in her life was torture—and yet, leaving Xyd guessing felt worse. “Full of anthropological lessons, that one.”

Post every single chapter heading, you say???

Follow-up from a previous #WIPSnips. The fun thing about writing novellas is that you can sometimes string these together and make a big snip. A megasnip, if you will.

#FirstLight #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Black text, green background, “chapter” highlighted pink Kaylie doesn't need to hear me. She acts like her car is Greased Lightning, and we flee the campus. Blake opens the book, and I shiver just from the sound of flipping pages. "I think I saw a CHAPTER on exerting control over ghosts," he says, searching through the middle. I place my hands over my ears, but those words from earlier swirl around in my head. I long for Joy to sense my distress and say something comforting, but she's leaning forward in her chair to try and read over Blake's shoulder. He hates that, but he's too engrossed in the book to notice. I close my eyes and sing loudly in my head to block out the sound of the working. I'm Blake's. He'd never use those words against me. He's just searching for a way to save Kaylie, to find the truth. Once we find a way to exorcise her ghosts, she'll be safe, he'll be safe, and I'll be safe. I just need to endure the book's presence until then.

Ren has more faith in Blake than you should, based on yesterday’s snip

The book they’ve stolen from the university also holds the working that made Ren a ghost, & he was spooked when Blake read it earlier

#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity
From A Paranormal Bromance (1) 👻🏎️

#WIPSnips | chapter

The climax of Silver in the Ashes, and Fest being the only member of the crew not actively involved in the ritual doesn't mean he escapes having to deal with the side-effects

( saranadosfiction.com/2025/01/03/s... )

March 10th – chapter

Only one use of this word that isn’t a chapter heading.😂

Avrinly was keeping *someone*...safe for Queen Istaria of Esrasea.

They have now gone missing, and there is little Istaria won’t do to retrieve them.

#DawnsBlood

#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

#WIPSnips - no “chapter”, but we’re keeping the same book-ish vibes with this “section”.

We’re in the epilogue for this one, because draft 1 got *finished* last night. 😁

#WritingCommunity #WriteSky

Their product is still lightweight, but easier to work and temper, and is less brittle. Plus cheaper to make, as a few of the local salamanders help them manage heat from the volcano instead of burning burn fuel.
Perhaps it’s the preferred option for our blacksmith mage anodising colourful weapons?

One particular smelt house, based out of neutral territory on the edge of the “wild” volcanic region, is starting to get a very good name. The owners of the main smelters want to get the operation shut down, but being where it is, they can’t easily do that. However, that also makes it hard to buy.

As for whether the product from the main smelters actually *is* the best is debatable. It’s arguably a marketing/branding thing. Some smiths do prefer ingots from one of the smaller establishments, especially those with more specialised products, but to get it you need a very trustworthy trader.

For most, no, because they’re trying to sell under the same name as the main smelt house. The main smelters is the biggest because of its strong reputation for being the best. Most smiths will figure it out if it’s not what it’s sold as, as the different grades work differently.

March 9th – screw

#AnthropomorphicNovel, today!

If you were wondering why Simon had blood on his clothes, well, he is having kind of a rough day.

cw: blood, injury

#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Most likely, though not at the moment. Zoraam/maraam are just alloys that are a majority enthalaam. I feel like with a bit more experimentation of what other metals you include (or if it becomes a minority part to a totally different alloy) you could end up with all sorts of interesting materials.

Now that *mercury* is in my head, I’m unconvinced about the idea of ingesting this stuff 😬 I presume it’s somewhat less toxic than that if people are eating it?

I like that - like his own personal dehumidifier.
Does this cause problems for the final pieces? Like do the final owners have to keep them carefully so they don’t get too humid?

😂 yes, people could go from Earth to Fae and vice versa, so the the knowledge could be swapped that way. It would probably be the most efficient way to do it. Though, if you plan on coming back, you might not want to hang about in Fae too long. A few weeks in Fae could be months on Earth.

I love that you have art for these sorts of things 😊

For some reason, I love that they’re called hatcheries. Like the battleship is just a little bird.

I obviously missed how bright they were before!
How do the sculptors manage to work with them if they’re so bright? I’d assume they could only dye them after they had formed the final shape? Or is it porous enough to let the dye through at an earlier stage?

Oh cool, so if Shellsalt doesn’t react with anyway, is it pretty much infinitely reusable/recyclable, or does the process contaminate it in some way that it needs replaced every now and then?

This sounds like such a cool idea. Does the volcanic rock wear out with time, or is it hard enough that it’s only the moonstone that wears? How do they stop it from getting blocked up with old moonstone dust?

Oh Earth has its own witches 😁 the tech is just cheaper and more reliable when you’re talking large-scale. Besides, most witches hide their magic as they’d rather more traditional “witches work” than overextending their magic in a hot, potentially dangerous metal factory.

Not as long as I thought, it turns out.
8/8 🧵

Thankfully, this part is easier than the refining process, and requires no magic at all. The metals are simply dumped into the smelter in the right proportions, along with something similar to borax to reduce oxidation & remove further impurities, melted down, and poured out into ingots.

The exact alloy recipe of maraam and zoraam are well-guarded secrets. Most zoraam is made at a single refinery, under the oversight of a select few who know the recipe. A little is made at smaller, bespoke refineries, but these usually have slightly different mixes, and therefore properties.