WoW: Silly Discoveries

I was knocking about Tirisfal Glades and the Undercity this morning, completing some minor quests, visiting the bank, and smelting some copper, when I made a startling (to me) discovery. It seems that an engineer (like Gondul) can turn "rough stone" into "rough blasting powder". Odd though that may seem, I wasted no time turning all the rough stone in my back pack into blasting powder and then turning that blasting powder into sticks of "rough dynamite".

To quote a good old dwarvish saying (from Warcraft II in fact): "I like blowin' things up!"

Heh, heh.

And then, the technology failed...

I wrote three webpages related to my charcoaling project and uploaded them to the Glaedenfeld site. I'm sure I moved the pictures, too, but for unknown reasons, I see nothing but broken links instead of pictures. The alternative text isn't even displayed. This vexes me... I'm very vexed.

Homeward Tomorrow

Attended the funeral today. No reason to bore everyone with the details, but anyone interested can read the obituary.

Bad News

My grandmother never recovered from her surgery. She died at about 5pm EST today without ever waking up. I'll be driving home tomorrow for the funeral, which will be on Monday.

The Darth Side

If you haven't been following Darth Vader's Weblog, you need to get your browser over there and catch up right away. The diary is fast approaching its inevitable conclusion.

Excavation Accomplished

I finished digging out the charcoal kiln yesterday evening, and Fjorleif helped me sort the actual charcoal from the dirt. There was a surprising amount of actual charcoal in that kiln, maybe a cubic foot or so. Not bad from such a small original stack, so I call it a win.

Documentation, with pictures, in the form of a web page is in progress.

More Supplies

My good lady Fjorleif picked me up some gloves and plaster yesterday. I now have just about everything I need to start the casting project.

No, I didn't dig out the charcoal kiln yesterday. It was fencing practice, and it was getting dark by the time I got home.

It's Still Hot

Since I built a rather small stack of wood into my charcoal kiln, I figured it might have finished cooking by yesterday afternoon. So, I got out a rake and shovel and started uncovering it. I got out some nice looking charcoal, but it was still hot and I saw some glowing embers, so I covered it back up again to expire from asphyxiation.

I Have a Bar of Tin

And it has nothing to do with World of Warcraft. The pewter that I ordered has arrived. That means I need to get the rest of my act together and do some pewter casting. I have the face shield and carving tools, but I need some plaster to make preliminary molds (I'll graduate to soapstone when I know what I'm doing.

With my keen hindsight, I realize I should probably have paid the extra to have the pewter cut into smaller pieces. Chopping up that bar (about 8 inches long, 1.5 inches wide, and 1 inch thick) will be problematic.

Website Slowly Recovering

The server seems to be all updated and I've copied the site content files back up. The forums, unfortunately, aren't operational yet, and I still need to re-do all the shire emails. Still, it's progress.

Collier Blues

I have a new appreciation for just how tough life was in the middle ages; I hurt. I spent much of my Sunday digging out a pit, stacking wood in it, recovering said wood with earth, and then dumping burning coals into the stack through a hole at the top. This is my first attempt to create a charcoal kiln; how effective it will be remains to be seen.

Yesterday evening, my good lady Fjorleif noticed a bright orange glow coming from holes around the top of the kiln, which makes me think it was getting too much air. A few extra shovels of dirt eliminated that, but I won't know until I dig it out whether it will contain charcoal or ash. I suspect that the whole thing was rather smaller than it needed to be to make a good kiln, but I didn't want to go overboard on my first try, and the tiny kiln that I made took a lot out of me.

Well, this may be a mistake, but...

I have changed the settings so you don't have to be a Blogger member to post comments. I now tremble in fear of being swamped with spam.

Family Health Issues

I was hoping to be able to do something arts & craftsy this weekend, as well as go shopping for a hot tub with my lovely lady, but I may be heading back to Johnson City, instead. My grandmother is in the hospital with some abdominal issues. From phone conversations it sounds like they're under control, but it would probably help my mother to have someone to vent to.

Assuming I don't leave town, I'll try to be energetic enough to dig a charcoal kiln and cut up some of the trees that are lying about the yard under the pretense of being firewood. That would make two projects I could conceivably submit to kingdom A&S (assuming the charcoal burning finishes quickly).

WoW: Socializing

I decided to retreat from Loch Modan for a little while last night; the monsters there were just too tough, so I headed back into Dun Morogh for a while to finish off a lingering quest. While heading that way I met Lorrax, a nice gnome warlock who helped me whack the oversized Wendigo on the ridge above the ram farm. That is a very nasty beast.

After the Wendigo, we started heading back toward Loch Modan; I figured that having a warlock at my back would make some of those monsters easier to handle. Lorrax had to handle some real-world issues for a bit, so I wandered around just east and south of the ram farm and discovered a quarry with two more quests! I was cheerfully mining and whacking troggs when Lorrax returned, and joined the questing. While we were in the quarry, we met Thazorin, a dwarf priest who joined the fun. Many troggs were smitten by our combined might, and some good loot came out of our cooperation. Those two are now on my friends list for future gaming.

Back by myself in Loch Modan this morning, I found that I'm now able to handle the bears and spiders on my own as long as I don't get mobbed. Checking my mail, I discovered that the leather pattern I put up for auction sold for almost 50 silver... SWEET! There are some castles or something on high cliffs around here that I really want to investigate, but I haven't found a path to them yet. There also seem to be plenty of mining spots, but they tend to be near Splinterskull Trogg camps, and I can't handle more than one of those beasties at a time; I'll have to group with somebody to get those.

BTW: Thelsarma is officially not so lame. There is a forge there, it's just in a weird location where you don't look for it and don't spot it immediately.

Dance Languishes On

Well, it still seems that no one can get away from mundania long enough for a dance class for one reason or another. School, work, and high-fuel prices seem to have everyone thoroughly tied up on Thursday nights. Well, I've reached the point where I don't get uptight about it anymore. I'm still wanting to go up to Murray to teach them some more dances; they're a good group, and I was sorry to miss their event a couple of weeks back. When is always the question. I need to check my calendar. Memorial Day weekend I'll be in Mobile; I wonder if the Barony of Osprey has anything interesting going on that weekend.

WoW: Ouchies galore...

Darzun took a griffon to Ironforge to conduct business this morning. I put a leather pattern he had in his bank box up for auction, then did some smelting and forging at the Great Forge. I have a quest to make some copper axes and copper chain belts; gotta get that belt pattern from a smith trainer. Darzun's not skilled enough to use the cooking recipe in his deposit box, so that stays for a while. Guess it's fire-building to build skill for a while.

Back in Thelsarma, Darzun decided to try some more mining and maybe hack down some of the local beasties with his new, self-made copper axe to build skill with it. Not such a good idea. The roaming beasties of Loch Modan are harsh on a Level 10 Paladin. Maybe he'll just go back to Dun Morogh for a little while before working those Loch Modan quests...

WoW: What's wrong with this picture?

So, after a bit of wandering, Darzun managed to find the road to Loch Modan and eventually ended up in the the village of Thelsarna (Is that spelled right? Whatever!). Along the way, he filled his spare bag with copper ore and stone, figuring to use the forge in the village to smelt out some copper bars.

BZZZZZT! Bad plan. It appears that this dwarven village doesn't have a forge! That is just wrong on many levels. Fortunately I have some business to conduct in Ironforge, and there's a griffon station in this otherwise under-equipped village, so I'll find a forge in the city to do my smelting.

Arts & Sciences

The pewter has not yet arrived. Just as well, I need to get plaster for cheap, practice molds and a face shield, still. Hopefully this weekend will be the weekend of my first pewter-casting efforts.

I still need to dig a charcoal kiln and cut up some wood for it. That project has been languishing for a while. Of course, finding a place where I can dig a sufficiently deep pit without hitting rock will be an interesting challenge in my yard...

Maybe Next Spring?

Well, it appears that Henry Horton is booked for November 19th, so if I were to bid for Iris Fair, it would probably have to be at Cumberland Centre. Not a bad site, but not one of my favorites for November weather. I could check with some other parks, I suppose, but frankly I'd prefer to have this event at a warmer time anyway. I guess I'll plan it for next spring sometime.

Iris Fair, Border Raids, and A&S

Well, the next weekend on the Kingdom calendar that I consider open enough to attempt is November 19th. That could be a very cold event. On the other hand, it might be perfectly comfortable. You never know in middle Tennessee. I've seen at inquiry to see if Henry Horton State Park is available that weekend; it would at least give people the option of retreating indoors (big hall, conference rooms, motel rooms, and/or cabins) if the weather was bad, and it's not really a bad site for an event (although the restaurant leaves a bit to be desired). Failing November, I'd say the next real opportunity is next April.

Border Raids is coming up down in Delvingrim, and I think we're going to set up a House Optimus camp. It should be interesting to see how well Cumberland Center handles such a large event. I will also be interesting to see how many Midrealmers make the trip. I don't see that it's a lot farther south of their border than Fort Knox is north of ours, but rumor has it they'll have poor numbers this year. Next year, of course, is the Midrealm's year to host, and the shire is considering bidding for it the year after (2007). I think we should, but whether the rest of the shire will go for it remains to be seen.

I put in my order for a bar of pewter last Friday; I expect it will probably arrive sometime this week. Then I have to get off my buttocks and start being crafty. First project is an Argent Comet medallion which I can hopefully turn out in bulk and donate to the Kingdom (less one for myself, of course).