Chapter 90: Imprinting Press
Inside Borin’s office, RIku took a piece of charcoal and began to sketch on a fresh piece of parchment, not the talisman formations this time, but a diagram of a sturdy, powerful-looking press with a large lever and a heavy plate.
"Imagine this," Riku explained, pointing to different parts of his drawing. "This is a powerful press. We would first create a ’master die’..."
Borin leaned closer, his brow furrowed. "A master die, Master Riku? Like a seal, but for metal?"
"Exactly like a seal, in principle," Riku affirmed. "But this master die would be incredibly hard, perhaps made of specially treated steel. And the crucial part is, the runic formation on the die would be engraved as a negative image – like a mold. So, where we want a raised line on the talisman, the die would have a recessed groove, and where we want a groove on the talisman, the die would have a raised ridge."
"Ah, I see!" Borin’s eyes lit up with understanding. "So when pressed into softer metal, it leaves the positive, raised pattern of our runes on the talisman itself! Clever, very clever."
"Precisely," Riku continued. "Then, we would need ’blanks’ – simple, flat pieces of copper or silver, cut to the rough shape and size of our talismans. Your smiths are already skilled at producing such basic forms, I imagine?"
"Aye," Borin nodded. "Cutting and flattening metal into uniform shapes is simple enough work for any apprentice. We can produce those in quantity. We had no challenges when we did that for the earlier talismans."
"Good. Now, before we can use the press," Riku went on, "these blanks need to be heated to a certain temperature and then cooled down to make the metal softer and easier to work on. Do you understand what I am saying, Elder?"
Tharin stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Hmmm.. Normally, we would just work on the heated metal as it is easier to work on."