Forge of the Sun [ATTN: Solace]

[Dio]

Evening had fallen.  The last dying rays of the sun filtered through the great trees of the Leota, casting strange shadows upon the dusty paths that criss-crossed the forest floor.  Undergrowth was thin from the large, lush canopy overhead.  To Daedalus, that was perfectly fine.  He would prefer not to have to use a machete to carve his way through a jungle just to reach his destination.  Compared to the Brackenweald in Unyasi, this was a leisurely evening stroll.

 

The ground became rockier and more broken, rising into foothills and eventually sheer mountainside.  The trees fell away as forest soil gave way to sheer rock faces and massive boulders the size of houses.  Daedalus continued his journey, slowly scaling the rock face by following ancient stone steps carved into the cliffsides with crude tools.  Finally he arrived.

 

Barely visible from the valley floor, the Forge-Cavern now gaped before him.  The strange glow of arcane tools and magical furnaces lit the cave in an eerie shimmer akin to being underwater beneath the pale moon.  Speaking of which, it was nearly time.  Sunset would be soon, and it would be best to deliver the plans before the moon had risen.  Trotting up to the cavern entrance, Daedalus rapped gently with a hoof upon a reinforcing metal girder.

 

“Anypony home?”

[Solaria]

Solace inhaled deeply, her lungs filling with the clean air that permeated the mountaintops that surrounded the Sunforge. She stood on the wide sweeping vista that extended from her living quarters behind the main work area, the breeze ruffling her fiery mane as she watched the last vestiges of sunlight claw at the peaks in the distance. The day wasn't gone quite yet, but it was close. The magic hour had begun, and it was something she savored after a long day of work at the forge.

 

Not that the pegasus had really hammered out any new gear during her work, but the hardlight ingot supply had been getting steadily lower in recent months and they had to be replenished at some point. Thus the captain's day had started an hour before sunrise, with her seeing to the forge preparations so that everything was ready when those first rays crept over the horizon. Using the Sunforge's equipment to form light into a physical object with mass was hard work, perhaps even more so than shaping iron or steel. Surprising, for a source material that began as something intangible.

 

As she was contemplating just what the new supply might be used for in the future, Solace heard a questioning call echo through the cavern below. Uncertainty in the tone? Surely anypony who came to this place had to know what it was and who resided here. The pegasus's brow furrowed as she turned back into her quarters, moving right past her armor rack where her hardlight equipment was polished and stored, awaiting the new day for a fresh store of energy. Only a minute or two later, she emerged from the winding stone stair that was cut into the side of the forge's main cavern, her practiced eye sweeping the familiar environment in a split moment. 

 

No pony was there; they were at the entrance. With a confident stride the tall mare moved into the tunnel that lead to the bottleneck of the entry passage, her gaze quickly falling upon her unannounced visitor. A strange unicorn stallion, with a look that insinuated that he knew exactly what this place was. 

 

"Good evening," the Sunsworn captain greeted coolly, her tone even and collected. "Who might you be, and what business do you have at the Sunforge?"

[Dio]

While he was certain of the location and the product, Daedalus was uncertain of what to expect from the master of the forge.  A tattooed cenobite in saffron? A bearded clydesdale with a hammer in one hoof and a stein of ale in the other?  A masked mute with magical powers?

 

This… fine specimen was the last thing he expected however.  A leggy amazon with chiseled features, a fine mane and eyes that shone like fire was quite the surprise though not an unwelcome one.  But he was here to commission, not to gawk.

 

“Call me Daedalus,” he said with a grin.  “My business is… business.  I’ll be straightforward. I have received word that you forge the best armor this side of the Great Sea.  I’d like to see if that is true...”