AN: Forgive me if I made a mistake with the forging, I am not a blacksmith. From what I understand, optimal cooling is even and slow. Fast leads to brittle material that needs to be tempered.
The smith stood stock still and did not speak for a series of moments. "How much?" the question was repeated. Though no ill-intent was in the tone of the question the smith was immediately gathering their thoughts.
"Uh! At least five ingots worth." the man in almost panicked confusion at his situation quickly found and held up a small rough ingot. "Give me that and you can use the forge with your own labour, the materials you use will have to be self-provided if you don't pay me more."
The hood of the robes seemed to nod in ascension. "Tell us," the sentence fragment was enough to grab the entire attention of the smith, "do you have any tools useful for the carving or chiselling of stone?" the question struck the smith as odd, then again this was entirely odd to the smith.
"Uh, no. I think there is a mason in the city though I've never met-" the sentence was cut short when the robe lifted their arm in a gesture that spoke of power.
"It is quite alright, we shall make do. I shall return with our materials as well as what you have requested." the robes moved, it was then that the smith noticed that they were in fact floating. Before the trinity left it stopped and turned slightly, "We know you have no reason to believe us, but we are not an evil spirit. We shall explain more in future should you be so inclined to know."
The Machine God may not be a master of the skill, but gaining an understanding of a person is not hard if one knows what to look for. The smith was not a scholar but they would want answers and providing him such knowledge was what they wanted. If to try to gain another follower if nothing else.
The smith was put into the back of the deities' mind as they left the city. First, they had to find iron, not only for the trade but for their own project. After what was to them a short flight, though given their speed it couldn't be counted as such, mountains were now in front of them.
By focusing on the mountain the lord of knowledge began to send vibrations through the earth. The purpose was to sense the different densities within the ground. It wasn't guaranteed but finding metal ore was more likely. It took about half an hour for the deity to find and extract what they needed.
Aside from iron, they also found their second material, granite. Two types, the colours were important. The first type was black with minor white spots, and the second was white with black spots. The invading colours were small grains in the overall colour, but still present in the granite.
But they still had to dig for their final material, coal. It wasn't difficult though it did take more time. Now in possession of the proper materials, the lord of all machines began their slower return to the city.
Early dawn had begun not long ago. They would have to be more careful this time, causing a panic in the city with their presence was possible. All the items they were holding would make it harder than if it was just their cloak/robes. Regardless it had to be done.
The cloak folded around itself to become as small as possible. The ore and granite were not small, to say the least, the amount of ore within the rock was spread out, and it would have to be purified before being traded. And the granite would have to be cut into specific shapes for their purposes.
It was large and floating, but getting it into the city could still be done. Walls were managed by guards but there were gaps that could be exploited. Once over the walls in a still rather unoccupied part of the city, they began to slowly move their way towards the smith.
The going was indeed slow; the objects had to be stuffed in an alley often. That or put on the ground, both because a person's steps were heard. Eventually, the distance was shortened to arrival. Once the trinity was there the cloak was once again draped to imitate the human form.
The Machine God saw the smith, they appeared to be working on the same thing that was in the forge this morning. A distant and disturbed body language, "We have returned." the words gave pause to the man. He slowly put his tools down.
"Ah, so you have." the slow turn to face where the voice came from was met with the robed figure and floating chunks of rock. "Huu-"
"We shall refine the ore, don't worry. As for the rest, it is for our own commission. While I work on separating the ore from rock and then melting it into ingots. You may ask me questions. Knowledge will help ease your worries." the smith watched as wood was put into the forge by invisible hands.
At the same time coal, if the smith was not mistaken, was added to the forge, and moved by the same non-visible appendages. Both of these were seeming without effort, no movement came from the robe. Though it could simply be their focus.
The tone was meant to be reassuring but the smith was at this point nearly faint with fright. Hesitantly the man spoke, "W-what are you? You've said you're not an evil spirit, are you some sort of monster or user of dark arts and magic?" the last words were just above a whisper, the trinity heard them none the less.
"No, we are the lord of all knowledge and all machines. We have always been the Machine God, though we suppose we will have to simply call ourselves a god. It is a new experience for us. We have never had to think of ourselves as anything but the definitive God." the man was no longer afraid at those words, though he was still as tense as before. The only difference being that fear is replaced by confusion in many-fold.
"But you did not ask for us to ramble. Tell us, do you worship Hephaestus. We can not find a shrine to him in your shop." the smith seemed to freeze, unsure of how to properly answer. At this time he did not notice many of the coals being removed from the growing fire.
"Ah, ah, no. No, I didn't see the point. Offerings can only do so much, working hard and practicing the craft my father taught me always seemed like a better use of my time. I'm not very religious regardless." the smith decided that lying would be unwise. Those who lied to the gods were left off worse than those who didn't pray to them. After all, what is one mortal not praying to anyone, compared to a mortal lying to your face?
'Although, I can't see his face. His? Is it a man or a woman? And is it a person? It speaks as a group.' his facial expression soured at the thought before he asked, "M-my lord if you don't mind the question. Why do you refer to yourself as 'we' instead of 'I'?"
The question was mulled over for a silent second, "Because we are more than one. We are the Machine God, the Motive Force, and the Omnissiah. I have a question of my own, do you really not consider yourself religious?"
The answer was barely an answer, it left only more questions. The smith would have to stifle them for now, "No my lord, I don't make offerings to any god. I don't pray, there are so many people that my prayer being answered is unlikely. So what is the point, instead of praying I could work at what troubles me." the man wasn't certain why but he felt the desire to speak his mind and heart. No sugar coating, only heartfelt truth.
"We see the merit in that, but you are wrong. You are religious." the man felt a small flash of annoyance at being told he was something he had just said he wasn't. If he didn't do any of that how could he be?
"You may not worship any god or even anything else to a large degree. But you are religious, look at your tools. The care and craft you have given to each. The dedication to your own craft is easy to see. You work, your skill and trade are your source and focus for your religious dedication." the man heard what was said, but was distracted as the flames of his forge burst brighter than he had seen them before.
The trinity took the now separated ore and placed them in the contained fire. This multitasking was difficult but necessary, not only had they used force to separate the rock from ore while talking.
But also built up the forge's flame into a furnace-like blaze with fuel and fresh oxygen from the forge's billows. It of course was not designed to be a furnace, thus their focus also had to contain the heat of the fire.
As well as the heat, keeping new air from touching the ore. "What are you doing?" the man's words were concerned and scared once more. The ore was kept floating with the flames, starting to turn orange from the heat.
"Refining our metal, and making your ingots. I have little use for your furnace, it is too small, and does not fit with my process" this furnace was a small brick structure that resembled an oven. Resembled being the keyword.
The mass of metal began to melt into a liquid. From there the iron was then mixed with the previously removed coals. The floating molten iron mixed and churned to an even distribution. Not that any who saw it, but the deity could tell.
To bond, the carbon from the fine coals with the iron required immense concentration. Keeping oxygen-rich air from flowing into where the iron was required it to be stopped. Thus superheated air was being held in place around the iron, now crude steel. All of this immensely difficult and near impossible for even the deity was they were.
The fires began to die down as no more fuel was added. And fresh oxygen was no longer pumped in by the smith's bellows. Their focus went to the shaping of the metal. The bottom of the floating metal seemed to extend. The molten metal was kept in shape by the deity's push. The force formed into shapes as the metal flowed down into these invisible moulds.
Once the moulds were focused and formed in the air, their focus turned to the granite. Each of the two colours was cut into matching shapes and sizes by unseen tools. The various moulds were now filled with metal. The remaining metal was separated from the odd pieces.
The smith watched all of this in awe as before his very eyes the burning metal took a new shape. As for the remaining and now separated metal, he could see it start to turn into the recognizable form of ingots.
The fire was near gone now, the lord of machines began to slowly and evenly leach heat from the metals. Each of the twelve objects began to solidify in a painstakingly slow transition. The man was silent but he heard the voice of this self-proclaimed god in hushed tones, "Twelve, sacred in number. Five ingots in payment, four amulets for my followers. Three shrines for both them and those to follow in their steps. Four and three in groups, twelve be found here again."
The robes' hood turned to the stones, the man followed the line of sight and found the granite still being cut into shapes, with only a few floating half-circles of granite. The man moved closer and time seemed to pass quickly as the rock was cleanly removed by an unseeable force. The stones were all smooth and with a mark upon their surface faces.
Of course, the man was so enthralled by the process he hadn't noticed that at least an hour had passed before the stones were finished. The man gave a quick count once the stones were finally all calm and cut. His mind came back with three large half circles in each colour. And four pairs of these same half circles in small form.
These rocks moved to the still soft metal, it had cooled to a point where its bright orange glow was now near gone. Once the rocks were within the seeming metal cages, four arm-like apertures, they crossed and met near the center of the now circular granite. These arms ends now met and the man could have sworn the very tips glowed for a moment before they seemed to be connected as one.
The stones were now completely within the deity's work. The large and small seemed to share some features, while the two groups were identical to the others in that group. On the seeming front of all these works was a circular shape made of the metal frame. Squared teeth came from this circle.
It almost reminded the man of a stylized sun, though he doubted it was. Four of these teeth connected to the round outer circle which contained the granite. These extended teeth were at the top and bottom.
As well as to each side at ninety degrees to the top and bottom teeth. The back of the works had the previously mentioned arms that connected. There was no center symbol on the back it seemed, only the framework.
The last addition the smith noticed was a small three-millimetre circle at the top of each of the smaller commissions. Of course, the smith had no idea of the actual measurements of any of the pieces' components. But his eyes could still see them for their size.
The metal was still hot, but it had cooled to a significant degree. The granite was at no risk of melting to be sure. The smaller projects were about seven centimetres in diameter. The outer metal was around two millimetres in all areas. The granite fit in the metal and both were one and a half centimetres from front to back.
The three larger commissions were different from the smaller works in that there was a flat metal base at the bottom of the outer metal circle. The base was fifteen centimetres wide and about five centimetres tall, coming out about three centimetres in the front and back.
The base was of course to sit the even larger work. From base to top the diameter was twenty centimetres. This held true from all angles. The outer metal circle on these pieces was about four millimetres thick.
"Tell me, smith," the man turned from the works to the crafter, "do you have a name?"
