Madrick's Journal/Text

I spoke with a smith yesterday, and he eyed my blade nearly the entire time before he finally mentioned how impressed with the quality he was, and that he would offer to 'improve' it... whatever that means. Heh, in my younger years I would have scoffed at the old man... though something told me to listen to the words he spoke. Almost as if an ethereal presence guided me to him.

He spoke of how he could heat the blade to reshape it. He said that he could use a special forge, but even the heat from that forge would not be enough of its own. He claimed that a couple of wisps of lava from powerful elemental spirits would produce enough heat if thrown into the forge with the dagger.

He also mentioned some type of ancient temper... it sounded far-fetched, and I nearly turned away with what he said next. But still... I listened on. He said that he once met a ratman while traveling the icy north, which offered to create a temper for his weapons... the ratman required either a 'Symbol of Sanity' or a 'Symbol of Tears'... whatever that might be, the essence of a remorseful dragon shade in great anguish, the blood of a fellow rat, and the crushed powder of a Lavacore Stone - also carried by a fellow rat he could never kill himself. Heh, this part was almost too disturbing to be true... but so I followed his every word, as if it were some holy gospel.

Next, he told me of a rare alloy that he would use to extend the blade so that he could fit the gem properly. The setback to this, as he explained, is the alloy is made of two rare types of ore. The first is a special ore - known to be found in highly volcanic regions, and it would need to be mixed with pure chunk of a special dangerous metal called Yclistinite.

Finally, he simply stated I had to locate all of those materials, and he would 'work with them' in his 'special forge' to 'strengthen my dagger beyond compare'. Heh... all of that for a dagger? No thanks, I told him. He looked disappointed, then left on a boat to Erudin.