Smelters came in different forms based on their uses but this one was thankfully the sort that you put metal into the crucible and then shovel coal into the back of while working the bellows. Not nearly as good as a flowing smelter that separates the impurities in the metal through flow and gravity but good enough for breaking down armor like this. It took me a couple of hours to smelt down all the armors due to the crucibles material limit but I did get it done in the end. -
"You've worked a smelter before lad?" the smith asked after I was done.
"Yeah, learned a bit of smith work from Balimund in Riften growing up. I'm no dedicated smith but I know my way around a forge." I said as I tapped the now solid ingots of rough golden metal out of the molds. "Tch, cold cracked a few." I said clicking my tongue as I looked over the ingots.
"Balimund eh? Man's no Eorlund Gray-mane but i've seen his steel, solid work." the smith said with an approving nod.
"Don't tell him but his forge is wasted working common iron and steel. Those fire salt flames would be better served working silver, gold or ebony. Metals good for enchanting." I said with a shake of my head.
He chuckled "Can't really argue, that forge is something special alright. Not a smith in skyrim worth the name that doesn't know of it at least in passing. Story goes one of his ancestors was a mage that built it after hanging up the robes. It's no legendary forge like the sky forge but it's on the list of famous forges." he said in agreement.
"Of course there's a list." I said with a sigh.
He laughed "Perhaps an odd thing to keep track of but that's heritage, legacy. I've talked your ear off enough though, I'll buy those ingots off you ifin you're looking to offload them." he said frankly.
"I'm planning on keeping two of them but the other six you can have for say, seventy gold?" I made my offer.
"I'll have to resmelt them properly to get the cracks out, sixty gold." he said shaking his head.
I shrugged "Fair enough, sixty then." I said since it was still a good deal.
You might be wondering why I'd let the metal go for so cheap. The answer to that was depreciation. Secondhand armor was always cheaper than custom made. Actually forged metal pieces were also more expensive than raw ingots as well. Compound all that together and I had second hand metal ingots that he'd still need to expend even more resources to smelt down into solid uncracked ingots and THEN forge into something useful. Sixty gold for six ingots was not bad as a result. I didn't even get a chance to try and check into the inn before a guard approached me once the deal was done.-
"Jarl Ulfric has requested your presence in the palace of kings." the woman said before walking off since her job was done.
'Quicker than expected, that bodes ill.' I thought slightly concerned.
I didn't waste time and headed for the man's palace at the far end of the city. The guards were thickest near the massive building but considering the barracks were located inside it that was no real surprise. I earned wary looks as I towered over the guards with thick toned muscles barely contain within my mage robes fully visible. It wasn't fear in their eyes though but caution like the sort of treatment you might give a bear that crossed your path peacefully.-
Jumping directly to violence would be foolishness when that bear was probably just moving through and wouldn't bother you so long as you didn't give it a reason. That didn't mean you wouldn't prepare yourself for that possibility though. Ulfric must have thought himself clever because when I walked in the grand table in the hall was covered in food. The man himself was sitting at the head of the table with a grizzled old Nord in furs that was on the shorter side but absolutely thick with muscle along with an ancient looking Nord wizard and his steward.-
"Ah! And there's the lad himself. Alexan, please come and eat. I'm afraid the kitchens have gotten a little zealous this day and I'd hate to waste the food." Ulfric said with a small smile as he waved me over.
I looked over the spread and raised an eyebrow "I see your chefs have gotten their hands on my cookbook." I said after spotting no less than seven of my own dishes.
"You wrote that book? I didn't know you dabbled in the culinary arts." he said with surprise that looked genuine enough.
"Oh yes, there's something I deeply enjoy about carefully preparing ingredients and cooking them into something greater than the sum of their parts. Besides, traditional Skyrim cooking tends to boil down to stews, roasts and bread. A tad boring and bland." I said honestly as I pulled up a seat next to the old furred nord that was observing me appraisingly.
"Aye it's simple fare but much like it's people Skyrim's cuisine is hearty." Ulfric replied.
"So you're the one Ulfric's been praising for months now. You smell like blood." the grizzled Nord next to me said with a voice like the growl of an animal.
"Odd, I was thorough about getting any on me off." I said with a frown.
"Galmar means the way you carry yourself, not literally." Ulfric said with a chuckle.
"Ah, you'll forgive me the confusion. I've spent the last nine months roughly in the company of folk who speak very literally. Occupational hazard of being a mage, vagueness gets people killed." I said with an apologetic shrug.
"You can say that again. I must have lost no less than three apprentices from them not understanding simple metaphor." the ancient looking Nord wizard said gruffly.
"Destruction or conjuration?" I asked curiously.
"Both." he said with a humorless uptick of the corner of his mouth.
"You talk like a scholar but move like a warrior, why?" Galmar asked with a frown.
"I'm both. An unorthodox path I know but it suits me." I said honestly.
"Your confusion isn't unwarranted old friend. Alexan here is something of a prodigy in fact. Supposedly picked up a blade like he was born to wield it." Ulfric said with a glint in his eyes that spoke of mischief.
"Is that right? Well boy, think you can take me in a fight?" Galmar asked while his presence seemed to grow into something brutal and strong.
"If you want to fight we can always grab some wood in that training field to burn off the meal." I said cutting Ulfric a sharp look.
"Good! You've got a backbone at least!" Galmar said with a wide battle hungry grin.