A call to craft

[Azrael Blackburn Rare Rare]

That morning fliers had been posted up at the dining pavilion looking for assistance at the Arts and Crafts Center:

Help Wanted!
Assistance to craft new training dummies for melee practice.
If you have time to spare Camp Councillor Azrael would appreciate
Volunteers to help with the creation of new sackcloth dummies in
preparation for Nemesis cabin offering more in depth Melee Training
to all cabins interested.

 

Within the Centre itself much of the standard fixings and supplies had been moved carefully to a side to allow for the piles of sackcloth and wooden staves, outside was a big pile of hay next to one of the camp vans.

Laid out across a couple of the tables were some trimmed sack cloth cut into basic shapes while at the other end of the area were a few basic stick constructs little more than wooden scarecrow shapes waiting for the padding to be added. pinned to the wall behind them were the basic plan and a more elaborate one based on the cow beast Katobleps as a different challenge.. around these tables were stacks of various craft tools, from leather crafting needles with twine to big staplers and all sorts of materials to complete the construction work with.

Azrael had been wary to approach a specific cabin for assistance, he know his own would be easy enough to rope in but he didnt want to start off his time there making demands, then there were those versed in crafts, Athena could do human crafts of beauty but these would face the brunt of the camp's swordsmanship, Hephaestus would be able to sort metal behemoths but those  were risky and probably something to work up to. He had settled on looking for volunteers - those who might be interested in helping. Hopefully the other cabins would not mind a little disruption and this seemed like an active enough goal as it was.

He had been serious about considering the leadership of the cabin but had been dwelling on his long absence and trying to get to know the next generation of campers, he guessed Lithe had realized how long he would dwell on it if she had not started the process rolling while he had been away seeing if Vienna could be pulled away from the roman partying to come visit. He still hoped she would turn up but for now he couldn't dwell on it. He had training dummies to construct and would be glad of any assistance that showed up..

Edited December 14, 2022 by Azrael Blackburn

[Zoren Panganiban Rare]

Zoren had been brushing up on his knowledge of Greek mythology with some reading in no thanks to his inherent ability to understand the Greek language. He wasn't exactly fluent in it but he could read it! At least, that is something he could find himself bringing it up a conversation with a stranger. The young man can be found at his mother's cabin sitting crossed legged with the book in hand while a portal gaming console sat on the nightstand. He was planning on playing a game after he finished reading a section but one of his siblings came by and brought up a new ad of sorts that was posted in the bulletin board in the Big House. It was Azrael asking for volunteers to help craft wooden dummies and their words etched a smile on his face. It's right up his alley and something he could gladly spare some time over his leisure. Zoren left the cabin to inspect the sheet of paper elaborating the ad in search for more details. "At the Arts and Crafts Center..." He spoke to himself- parading towards there in the next moment with a backpack of personally procured supplies.

It didn't take him long to arrive at the center and after a quick glance at the area, it seems like everything else is ready save for some preparations that was not yet done. All a camper needed to do was to start working upon given instruction. But first... Azrael. Dressed in skinny jeans, a regular ol' camp shirt, and a pair of sneakers, he approached the older Nemesis child. "I'm here to help! I could get to work right now but if you have any instructions you want to give since you made the ad... I'm all ears." 

[Azrael Blackburn Rare Rare]

Azrael turned to look at the helper, hopefully the first of a few to come along.. he just about recognized him as one of the Athena cabin but not one had had gotten a chance to speak to during his short first trip back to camp. This was as much a chance to get to know a few more of the current generation of kids around camp now that he had made the commitment to being here and to take up teaching.

"Appreciate you showing up.. Zoren isn't it?" he had his backpack that looked to have supplies and was in gear ready to work. "Sorry we haven't had a chance to speak - I'm Azrael - recently added to the training roster and working up some dummies for practice" He put out a hand in welcome.

"I am no master craftsman but most designed I could find were a combination of stick structures, cloth and padding. Happy to hear discussions on improving it but I did pull together some basic diagrams" the designs on the wall that he waves to are all pretty simple, a wooden structure and some sack cloth shaping filled with straw: a couple of different sizes showing.. "Though I would remind you these are likely to take some solid sword attacks - you might not want to get too attached to any of your constructions."

Azrael looked around at the half finished dummy in front of him, he had also looked at some of the solid wood blocks but those would take more scavenging for some naturally fallen trees if he didn't want to annoy the dryads. "I know we are well stocked for tool here but I gathered those I felt easiest to work with for the project. Let me know what you think." he said with a smile.

[Zoren Panganiban Rare]

Zoren didn't know what the man had looked like until now and impression he had on him based on word of mouth had sunk in as he approached him. It felt odd but he could not help but smile. Definitely has years of experience under his belt when it comes to combat and perhaps a strategist in the making. An opponent to be reckoned with in Capture the Flag, it was a shame he did not get to meet him in battle. He isn't going to let his loss influence him. And even then, he was qualified to be a leader of his cabin- an achievement only a select few can do.

"In the flesh." The young man moved to extend a hand to give a firm shake Azrael's out of pure respect. "I figured as much from the constructs. It's a good thing that you put out an ad instead of calling a specific cabin for help. Other people could get the impression that you favored one over the other- and that's not a good start for a newly appointed cabin leader, right?" He smiled once more. His voice was nothing but cordial. "Congratulations by the way. You earned it." And humble too.

Listening as he finally examined the area, he was sold on his intentions to supervise this volunteer work. It could even be a class should he turn it into one. Zoren walked around with his permission, lowering himself to place a finger or two on the materials, the constructs, and finally, some of the diagrams that were laid out on a separate table. There were several copies, each hand-drawn, just waiting to be passed out to more people who decided to spare their time. This work should be without difficulty for any cabin but he figured he could add in a child of Athena's touch.

"Honestly? I think this is impressive. Well stocked and all the right materials that match the specifications detailed in your diagrams. You can find straw anywhere. The cloth and padding could take some time, but it's nothing many could not handle. These are for bare handed combat, right? Any weapon could tear the cloth off. I would suggest adding hardwood to the padding if you wanted a more cheaper solution since the arena has Greek armor." Zoren grinned. "We train to fight monsters. We should be able to strike without hesitation. 

[Azrael Blackburn Rare Rare]

Azrael was glad to see Zoren was taking the time to think through his steps - he had always been methodical in his planning and execution and could not help but smile as he ran through the logistics for his notice for general assistance. 

It was only once the conversation turned to the purpose that his gap in construction knowledge as he had been planning for these to be used with melee weaponry but he had to agree that these would be pretty quickly torn apart if used for more full on weapons training. He thought for a moment about trying to cover with the discussion of adding armor but ultimately decided this was a situation to be open about his experience.

"To be honest this is not an area I have much in the way of experience in. I was looking to pull these together for melee training but I see what you mean. Any suggestions to improve them enough to stand up to a few sword blades?"

[Zoren Panganiban Rare]

It was very much a good idea and it could turn out to be a thrill for his half siblings if they showed up as well.

"A solution I can think of is the padding itself. You want the dummies to deal melee and weapon strikes at the same period of time so I ought to give them protection while leaving room for your fists. Like wearing light armor to prevent limiting your mobility. The same can be applied to our dummies and we also want to focus our weapons towards the padding where the strike is fatal. It could be a hassle, but another idea is making the padding interchangeable. We face a lot of opponents and every one of them has different weakness. And even perhaps not in the shape of our constructs too but different beasts. You don't have to do this, but for other constructs is a challenge reserved for the ambitious and capable. With the dryads permission and the help of Demeter children, we can procure wood for our padding. Then there's the question of the type of wood... I would say red oak is the best material. It's often used for wooden weapons professionally but we can also explore other types for different attacks..." 

[Azrael Blackburn Rare Rare]

Azrael took the time to listen to Zoren and was slowly realizing this was a chunk more complicated than he had originally planned for and that he seemed to have stumbled into an expert planner. He smiled as Zoren talked through the steps and logistics for smoothing, strengthening and toughening the dummies. "All Solid improvements and suggestions" He said approvingly as the camper outlines some advanced steps and future plans that could outline a craft program for the new camp year.

"I can definitely talk to some of the Demeter campers and see what can be sorted in the most environmentally friendly way." He thought through the logistics of this one, for that he might be able to plan for less rickety structures and maybe some actual strike targets at various heights, it had been beyond his means so far due to the need for a vertical core needed to pull one together.. he just had to be use not to irritate the dryads with those steps.

"If you don't mind holding the fort here I can see what e have in the way of dented and busted breastplates and similar defenses over at the armory, worst case for now we can add those on directly and see about some long term solutions. I think the main priority is holding up to Weapons blows, though if hand to hand can use any then all the better." he was quick to pull the design planning back to the classes he had actually agreed to organize, sure having dummies that Dustin could use in close combat lessons would be good but he wanted to avoid seeming to take over the arena logistics, especially if that came from him not knowing the best way to pull together these simple constructs.

He realized how fortunate he had been that the Athena representative had shown up before his simple plans were in full swing and had probably saved him from being headlong into a plan he didn't have all the reconnaissance for.

[Zoren Panganiban Rare]

"What?" Zoren wound up lost in his own train of thought until it was halted by the man's voice. He had put much thought into how he would improve the schematics of the training dummies that he had not realized he was running is mouth off again. It was clear that the boy is dedicated to his craft and as such, this way became a splendid idea to lend his expertise and for certain lend a hand. He's no builder like the children of Hephaestus but he is versed with woodwork. "Oh, thank you. I just thought I'd lend my opinion on this. You're very kind." And no matter how many times someone is going to say it, he would feel flattered.

"Environmentally friendly way is the right way." He happily added. "The Demeter children will be happy to direct you to a center for recycled wood. It's were I get my materials too but there are other sources like local city building projects. You can talk to the contractor and see if you can get some old lumber off their hands. They may have plans to reuse them so it's always better to ask first. The last resort is actually paying for the reclaimed wood and none of us teens have income for that." He gave him a coy smile. "I have my ways. Being environmentally conscious is good for your health, or so I was told."

"Yeah, I don't mind. You go ahead and do that. I'm sure the kids over at the forge would be thrilled to use the extra metal for the dummies. In that case, I'll reach out to my contacts to procure the wood. It's going to be a little bit difficult considering the type of lumber we are using but I'll give it an attempt. We're all training here after all - hand to hand and weapons alike. When someone else does show up, I'll show them around, let them know what you want, and kick start this thing. Maybe even make it a class to teach them to care for the dummies. Everyone's going to use them." Zoren lost count on how many were torn apart and broken from all the training the campers had done over the years but he thought it's time to dive deep into it and make improvements. He did ponder on that... but he overlooked in what action to take.