MasterSmith Jadria

Colors: Bright red and white.
Emblem: Bright red anvil on white background.

Main Crafthall Location: Central Hold.

On SouCon, the SmithCraft is based in the Unified Crafthall and is under the direct auspice of the Craft Wizard. To become an Apprentice, Journeyman or Master please read through NEWS CRAFT JOINING. Characters may also request a posting to any open Hold or Weyr.

Within the SmithCraft there is an endless search for efficiency making it one of the most progressive Crafts on Pern. The techniques used are in a constant state of flux, with new technology being south to create the best and fastest, with the most sparing use of precious raw materials.

The SmithCraft and MineCraft work closely together, one supplying the raw materials while the other supplies the tools for the first to do its job. Although the previous hall on the Southern Continent was situated in the mountains near some Mineshafts, the new Hall, built in the Tenth Interval is further west. It is still close to the necessary ore and raw materials, but now it is close to the Delta River, which runs swiftly at this point and runs out to Big Lagoon. Water wheels, designed on those at the Northern Smith Hall, have been installed to drive some of the large machinery. The great barges now run from Drake's Lake, where the MineCraft load them, and then down to the new Smith Hall, before the refined materials and finished goods are shipped down to Big Lagoon Hold.

Processes that were lost to the colonists are now being slowly rediscovered, tackled with enthusiasm by the various Journeymen and Masters of the Craft. The Smith's motto is "If it has been done, it can be done again", something on which they pride themselves. Ancient discoveries are eagerly appropriated by the sometimes over eager Smiths as they seek to find other ways of doing the same things.

Under the direction of MasterSmith Fandarel, in the Ninth Pass, distance viewers were recreated, as were improvements to the Oldtimer's Flamethrowers -- using agenothree (HNO3, Nitric acid) as a combination Threadbane and airborne fertilizer.

There are many specialties within the SmithCraft. Masons, who construct a building, may come from the MineCraft, but the SmithCraft conducts the analysis of stone stress and foundations. Others concentrate on making tools and practical metalwork, including the manufacture of cooking vessels of all sizes some with nonstick coatings to ease their cleaning. Other Master MetalSmiths concentrate on the creation of metal Crafting for such specialized jobs as distance-viewers and microscopes as well as for jewelry.

GlassSmiths, also a part of the Smith Hall, may work in everything from ceramics, to lead crystal, to porcelain. Their glassblowing ranges in complexity from flasks to bottles, to windowpanes and lenses for the distance-viewers and microscopes. Apprentice jars and bottles can always be distinguished from those made by Journeymen -- the pale green tint which hints of impurities in the glass as compared to the well-blown glass which is perfectly clear. Colored sands are occasionally used to produce tinted glass, as are certain metals to create cobalt, also known as Harper blue, cranberry and ruby shaded glass. Leaded glass is fashioned occasionally, as is carnival glass and plate glass. During the Tenth Interval glass began to replace many of the water and wine skins, and was even cut for windows once more. Stained glass became fashionable in some of the more affluent Holds, Halls and Weyrs.

There are also those Smiths who have a talent for chemistry and they spend their time formulating stains, dyes, varnishes and cleaning compounds. They also experiment with explosives, generally some distance from the Hall just to be on the safe side.

Apprentices may spend a great deal of time washing, cleaning, sifting sand, sweeping, or sorting ore for the Glass and Chemical Smiths and working the bellows for the MetalSmiths. Journeymen take care of the uncomplicated and heavier work, leaving their Masters free to practice their skills.

During the Tenth Interval, the SmithCraft began numerous experiments in metallurgy now that ores were mined and refined faster, the MetalSmiths attempting different combination of metals to produce a new array of alloys. They also found that a mix of 12-13% chromium in steel yielded something resistant to corrosion. They named this Sorbon Steel after the Smith who discovered it. Metal implements: scissors, hammers, needles, etc. became more common, most individuals owning their own instead of borrowing. The main doors on Holds, Weyrs and Halls also became covered in thin sheets of metal to protect them from Thread.

SubCraft

CrossCrafts

The SmithCraft is already very diverse to start with, with a great many directions to be found within the traditional boundaries of the craft. But this available diversity seems to encourage CrossCrafting, rather than inhibiting it. Glassmakers may choose to work with Lenscrafting Subcrafters from the Starsmiths, to the betterment of both of their arts. Wrights might choose Carpentry, to combine the metalwork and the wood it supports. Casters find themselves working with Printers to punch and pour type. Still other Smiths take up with the Miners, in search of the ore and gems that supply their craft.

Jadria hails from Central Hold. Daughter to a pair of farmers, she was never particularly fascinated by raising crops, though. Her interests lay in first the tools that were used in the FarmCraft, and her parents were often chagrined to find that she had taken them apart. As she grew older, she learned to put them back together again as well. Then she started to improve upon them. She was eight years old when she first started paying attention to the technology at Central Hold itself, especially the power created by the great waterwheels spinning on the Delta River. She was hooked. The girl began pestering the Hold's Smith at every chance, then her parents for their permission to join the SmithCraft. They made her wait until the age of thirteen, but then she was finally on her way. Learning the Craft was the easy part; learning how to get along with her fellow Crafters was another matter entirely. Jadria was never a particularly friendly child, finding the company of tools and metal more amenable. Her gruff demeanor eased somewhat over the turns, but it was generally accepted in the Craft that her duties would lie withing the Crafthall itself, developing SmithCraft innovations. That certainly set well with her, and over the turns she has happily plied her craft with little thought to even a social life, though there are rumors that she has been in a quiet relationship with a Monaco Weyr brownrider for a couple of decades. (The rumors are wrong -- the rider is her favorite uncle.)

Considering her nature, she may seem an odd choice for a Craftmaster, but Jadria's sharp mind is well-suited to the ins and outs of Craft politics, and Faranth knows she's not one to back down under pressure.