As the group files out of the sarcophagus room, first key in hand, Alexis falls in beside Ethelred.
“Had a thought. You still haven’t made me that new focus… I’m working with whatever I can scrape together.” He pulls the coin from his pocket, the one they used on Hadonis’ demon. The one that cracked its prison. “When you carve me something for Raiden, work this into it. Seems fitting.”
“ah, yes. We haven’t had much downtime since you asked. To be honest it slipped my mind. I will get to work on it.
The coin, does it need to stay in tact? Rendering it down to dust and imbuing it into the wood would make the most sense, to me.”
Alexis thinks on this, rubbing his salt-and-pepper stubble. His Collegium ring catches the light.
“Whatever you think is best. I figured keeping it intact made sense. It was whole when it went up against that demon.” He shifts his boots. “There are other coins. Silver, gold. Those could be ground up and worked into the wood. Would it help if I did some of that? Grinding, prep work. Might make the focus stronger if I put in the effort myself.”
He waits.
Rask notices the conversation between Alexis and Ethelred and rubs the small wooden shield Ethelred carved for him. It has been a touch point for his prayers to Raiden and comforts him still. He nods in agreement feels some level of understanding of Alexis’ request and the conversation as a whole.
“Interesting. The whole coin. Maybe you could sketch out what you have in mind? Is the coin in the center of the shield, set inside the shield…? Do you want some other symbol of Raiden carved into it?
Having some other material that you feel represents or channels Raiden to imbue into the item would be helpful. Anything to attune it to your alignment with Raiden would been a boon.
Rask seems interested I could also work on adding some more material focus to his own symbol?
You all should discuss this and let me know what feel right for your own perspectives.”
Later that evening, the group gathers around the fire for food. Alexis pulls out a piece of chalk and crouches down by a flat stone.
“Been thinking about your question. Here’s what I’m seeing.” He sketches the basics: a rough shield shape with the coin at the center, an extra piece of wood to hold the coin in place, a channel running along the outer edge. “Since we talked about ground silver, I figured a groove here for it. Keeps it simple.”
He taps the chalk against the stone, looks up at Ethelred.
“Doesn’t have to be fancy. Just functional. Thoughts?”
“Hmm.. I can achieve something like this. It will take some time as I do not have a full set of tools. But long have I given up letting the lack of tools stand in my way. With some careful carving, some luck (he chuckles a bit flashing on when he first met Alexis) and a little extra focus I believe I can achieve something you will be able to use, until a proper focus can be forged.”