Voyage Name: That Real Steel Feel
Location: Jordsand
Participant(s): With others
Description:

Sofia is going to meet up with Mashyuu, an acquaintance she got from her encounter with Hunter Jacquelin, so that she can get a custom set of armor made for herself. Together, they will design it and once all of the specifications have been made, it's up to the Skypiean's expertise to make the best result.

Reg: https://strawhats.rpg-board.net/t2268-that-real-steel-feel#14474

"Armor." she told herself, as she did sketches of a suit of it into her notebook. She wanted to get one that was really cool, but elegant too. Plus, she didn't have any smithing expertise, so she was really just guessing what would be feasible from a construction point of view.

"Maybe some... Pauldrons. Like this." she mentioned. "And a breastplate, like this..."

"How about a cape?" her Navigator asked her, from the room inside her head, as she spied on what she was doing through her pupil.

"Nah. Too much." Sofia replied. "I could trip or something. I get why you'd suggest it, though. It would look nice."

"Yeah, and wouldn't that make it worth it, hrm? You would look coooool."

"No, no. This is for fighting, primarily. Looks are secondary here."

"Meh, oh well. How about some plates over there, on the lap, and skirt?" the loli then suggested. "And then have it all be in a regal blue. How about it?"

"Oh, that could work." Sofia then replied. "And then maybe... Some of this..."

---

After discussing designs with Anna Blue, and getting some extra opinions from the Gruntson brothers, she went off to look for Mashyuu. She had heard that he was a smith, and she was interested in asking him to make her that full set of armor - and if she could get some extra stuff along the way, all the better. She was extremely rich anyways, and she felt like it would be a wise to invest into her own survival in this gritty world.

Mashyuu had finished taking down a small marine outpost on a small mountain range to the Skycleavers left only a few short hours ago. He had been standing in his pirate gear, a black pair of slacks, black boots, a pair of red gloves, along with a black padded vest and trench coat and his white and red mask over his face. He was pondering how to get in touch with Dai and Gideon back on Jaya once they landed, he needed to get a new den den, one that could make long range calls, his short range den den wasn't cutting it now that the crew were in three different locations. The stress was starting to get to him but only Harley had seen it, she had seen it every time he worried about the others but rarely said anything, afraid that it might set him off. Only when he was at his tipping point did she ever try to calm him down. He shook his head and sighed while walking to the gang plank where he saw a familiar face and let a smile plaster across his lips.

"Lady Sofia! I'm glad you made land alright. I take it my crew members and the beautiful Percila are all well? To what do I owe this honor?" Mashyuu asked while taking a bow that someone who had practiced thousands of times could only do. He then stood and placed a gloved hand to his freshly shaven chin while pondering. "Armor? Well my specialty is weapons but I can forge some armor. If you're okay with me putting my signature mark on each piece. I want the world to one day recognize my wares from the rest of the world after all." Mashyuu pulled his mask off his face and shoved it into his pocket and waved her up. "Come on, show me what you've come up with and we can figure out what we will need from there."

After looking over her book Mashyuu tilted it to the side and sighed with what was clearly a bit of annoyance and amusement. "I can do this but... I'll need actual measurements. Come down into my forge where my tools are and we can get started." He turned and led Sofia below deck, to the bottom of the ship where his forge was currently turned into a small box. He motioned for her to stay by the door and picked up a long tape measure, a small pad of paper and a pen. "I'm going to have to invade your personal space. As much as I'd like to say it's for pleasure I think my heart belongs to someone so I'll try to not enjoy this." He winked in a slightly flirty manner and lifted her arms out and measured her "wingspan." Next he measured the curve of her shoulders, length of each section of her arm and then her chest, the curve and size, continuing down to her hips, thighs and calves. He moved quickly and with practiced skill.

Slowly he stepped back and showed her the measurement he made and explained why some measurements needed to be brought out and others needed to be brought in. "I assume you already have the dress that the armor would be fitted to? I'm a blacksmith not a seamstress." He lifted a brow and started to remove his gloves. "Also I'm going to need some more iron ore and coal if you want this to be steel. So we are going to have to go get it. Do you have a bag or something to carry a massive amount of ore?" Mashyuu asked, even though he could pick up his box, his crafting tools and a pick ax and go to a spot he had seen near the mountain camp that the marines had in order to do his work. He wanted to see how much Sofia wanted the armor first.

"Signature mark?" she wondered, then scratched her temple as she looked to a side. "Well, that could be done..."

She then looked at him with a worried face. "...Would it be possible to hide it, though? Because while I'm very fine with being around pirates, I'm also very much just a civilian. Having armor from someone with a bounty on their head could make things hard for me if they figure it out."

Sofia wasn't too comfortable with being a walking advertisement for the wares of a notorious pirate, as much as she was grateful to him for helping out with Jacquelin. It was social suicide.

She could try to lie about how she got the armor, for example, she just stole it. But that sort of excuse wouldn't work for something that will be and look to be custom-crafted to her body.

But then, she rose a finger. "But I have suggestion that could honor the idea. We could have the signature be in code, or hidden somehow. For example, when you put all of the pieces together in a certain way, you get an image - your signature. It's just that I can't let people easily know that I have an armor from you, because, well. You're a famous pirate, a criminal in the eyes of the World Government, which I depend on. Or, if possible, the armor could be anonymous... Whatever works out for you too. I understand that a signature could mean a lot to you, its your work after all."

Then, once he started to measure her, her cheeks reddened. She was actually bound down in a tight corset under her clothing, to minimize her bust and add padding to her waist to make it look wider, so that she could hide the tasteless proportions her body actually has - so her real measurements were different. She looked at the measuring Skypiean and then to the wall with a furrowed brow. "Just to mention that I'm in a corset right now" she mentioned. "I like to go around in it, I just hope it doesn't compromise the armor's design.."

"And yes, I can make the dress. I make my clothing quite often, heh. I know how to sew, so it's not problem." she replied. It was a common thing to teach ladies of the island of Sofia, given its Victorian-like society.

"And about the ore - I got you covered." she said with a grin. She actually had loads of raw materials, given her background in commerce.

Then, two of her grunts started to roll in a barrel each, which were full of ore.

"Would this much do?" she asked with a warm smile.

Total WC so far: 706

Mashyuu was hurt, since starting his career as a blacksmith he had worked hard to come up with a signature that was both beautiful and classy without compromising the wares he created and that would simply strike awe into those who saw his creations. Yet here Sofia was, asking that he either put his signature in as some kind of code or hide it. While his face flushed with anger and hurt, he understood the request and he couldn't hold it against her. "I promise, unless someone completely dismantles the armor, they won't see the signature..." His voice carried a hurt tone but remained professional all the same.

He glanced back at Sofia when she said she was wearing a corset and he pulled up a seat to pop a squat. "So what you're telling me is that you are hiding the glory that is your body behind a piece of fabric and string to keep your tummy tucked in? As hurt as I am. If you plan on wearing that corset under your armor than there is no worries. He flashed a wide smile and stood shocked when Sophia revealed she had the ore he needed already. "Oh sweetie, we are going to be the best of friends. Bring those ores down here."

Mashyuu watched as barrels of ore were rolled into his ship and set in the forge area. This would get him through the rut of not having ores to use for a while at least. he wouldn't have to use all of the ore supplied for the simple armor request. "Yeah that will do just fine. Now I'm going to have to ask that you stay near the door for a moment." Mashyuu requested as he strutted over towards a small box sitting in the center of the room while stripping off his jacket, gloves and vest, tossing them to rest over the back of the chair he was sitting in just moments ago.

His foot planted atop the box and he looked over his bare shoulder at Sophia. "Sophia, try not to be too impressed." He grabbed a handle that looked like a switch and yanked it out then turned it and pushed it back in. Quickly Mashyuu pulled away from the box as it started to tremble. The box split open, growing in size until an impressive forge that had a blue light cool to the touch glowing from the center of the furnace filled a good portion of the room. "Behold, a Skypiean forge! If you want to stay in here and see me work that is fine. If not you should leave now."

The smith seemed to misunderstand that she was using the corset to make her waist seem thinner, then it was actually there to hold padding in place to make it seem wider, because it looked too narrow. The heavens had given her a ridiculous hourglass figure which she disliked, almost as if it she had been drawn by a Wano comic artist for a serialized illustrated story about pirates. But, nonetheless, it seemed that it wouldn't matter too much.

"Ah, sure. I don't mind staying here. I'm curious to see how you work - I guess I could do some chores myself meanwhile too..." she answered, to then sit and pull out her purse, to then start to inspect her vials of antiseptic, antidote, and other medical wares. She had to make sure that they were all in order. One by one, she let a drop of it onto the back of her hand, to then give it a taste to see if it was still good to use or not. It was a bit of a barbaric method to tell if it was suitable for use or not, but in the time and age that they lived in, things of this sort wasn't uncommon.

"So." she then said, as he held up a small vial of sedatives. "Would it be possible to..." she started off. "Make these into bullets? Darts, maybe?"

"It's a sleeping agent." she then added, looking over to see him work, hoping to give him some conversation - if it didn't bother him too much, of course. "I was wondering if we could perhaps make this into a sort of... Projectile weapon."

WC: 992

Mashyuu picked up his leather apron and a heavy set of gloves. Quickly he turned a nozzle that was hooked to a faucet on the side of the ship. It opened a small metal portal on the outside of the ship and let water pour into a large bucket under the faucet. Once it was full Mashyuu cut off the water flow and lifted his brow at her question. "Sure, you could turn it into a projectile weapon. It might be easier to just lace a dart in the poison though if you need to inject it into someone. Otherwise you would need a hollow point bullet fired out of a gun that wouldn't have a chance of backfiring. It wouldn't be easy and I don't know if I'm at that level yet. But I know I'm getting there. If you want I can make some practice rounds to see what I can come up with. I'm also going to need to find someone who knows how to make hollow points, I don't know how to load the liquid into them." Mashyuu explained.

The Skypiean pulled his wings back and grabbed up a large lump of coal and ore, put them into a mold and slid the mold into his kiln, letting the blue flames melt the ores and swirl them together. Quickly he used his magnetic powers to pull the mold out and dunk the mold into the water. A thick steam rose from the water as the steel cooled completely. A moment passed after the steel cooled, and the Smith withdrew the metal and laid it out on his anvil. He filled the mold again and repeated the process until he had twenty ingots of steel to work with. "So I see you aren't using a helmet, I'm going to add a small bar to the breast plate to stop a sword from taking your head off from a stray strike over your shoulders. It won't block view or your mouth but it will come up just over your collar bone. It won't compromise the armor and it won't reduce your mobility and it won't protect from a wide array of attacks but it will give a little support." He went on while he hammered the ingots a little to make sure the steel was pure.

"Got it." Sofia replied, as she continued to sort her medicines. "Those plates sound like a good idea."

She relied on being able to talk and look at people in order to perform a couple of her "special" abilities. She knew she had a way with words, and if they couldn't see her face, it was going to be a lot more difficult to make those abilities effective. She was really tall though, so most people were going to have a hard time reaching her head anyways.

Sofia did sort of hope she could get some protection for her head too, though. But while she had a lot of ore, she didn't have a lot to simply throw away on stuff she might not later need.

Plus, she could always get more guns from her contacts in Sabaody. The issue was, if wanted something custom, she wouldn't be able to get any through them, so this was her chance.

...But he didn't seem all that experienced enough to be able to make advanced stuff, given his comments. So perhaps it would be just better to ask him to do other, more simpler things, for now.

"Oh!" she then mentioned. "This dress I've got on me - it's actually a brigandine. But just the torso part here. Would it be possible to make it full-body? So that it covers me entirely, and like that, I've got both the 'hard' layer of armor, and the 'soft' layer that goes underneath it."


WC: 1250

"Well.... yeah everything you're asking me to do is possible to do. I can make whatever. If you want a full body suit of like leather armor I can do it. I need your entire measurements though, how thick your legs get when you flex or move, how tall you are from ankle up to hip... I'll get to it. Besides it will help with the dress, if I have those we can make sure that the body suit helps support the weight of the armored dress." Mashyuu went on.

The Captain took his hammer and spun it around in the palm of his hand, glancing out the corner of his eye at Sofia. "Are you wearing it or is it in that bag of yours?" Mashyuu questioned while he caused the still hot and soft ingot of steel to stick to his anvil. The man flexed his shockingly massive arms and brought the hammer down on the first ingot he planned to use. "You want a sword with this? I have a vision in my head, of a gleaming and golden blade..." He asked while knocking the armor to a four inch thick surface that wasn't exactly flat but it didn't need to be yet. He then floated the object back into his hot forge and removed another ingot, doing the same to it. "This breast plate is going to be the hardest part. The way you have it in your sketch is actually sort of advanced. It's less of a dual pieced shell and more of plates with splits in it to allow for better movement at the cost of slight protection. Keep that in mind when you fight." The blacksmith warned Sofia.

"If you bring that drawing over here, I can explain and point out what I mean while I work on the pieces." Mashyuu finished Mashyuu took the first piece of metal he worked out of the furnace and cooled it with the water then began to work it into the shape of a diamond. It still wasn't perfect but it had the base shape while he began to explain. "There are ton of types of breast plates depending on where you go. What you're asking for isn't like any of them.. but is similar to all of them at the same time. So the back will be three solid piece of steel, it's going to be hard for you to bend your back completely but it will offer some range of movement. However.. this piece here is going to be your actual chest guard." Mashyuu pointed his left hand at the diamond shaped metal and floated it over towards Sofia, his right hand moving as if to warn her not to move.

Silently he started to look it and her over, walking around to get her at a profile. "At the risk of sounding like a creep, are you breasts pushed up or settling naturally? If they are settling I need you to push them up for a moment." He waited, made sure he had the proper dimensions then went back to his anvil to start curving the diamond shape out at its center to fit around the curve of her chest so that it wouldn't constrict too tightly and cause pain when worn.

"...OK." Sofia replied, at the request of getting more measurements from herself. This was a bit awkward, but nonetheless: necessary. How else would he be able to make the best armor possible for herself?


"Oh, I'm wearing it, haha." she replied. "You wouldn't expect that its armor at first glance, perhaps."

"And a sword?" she answered, after the mention of it. "I... I could, yes. But I'm not so much into using weapons. I've actually practiced not particularly much with them! Like, I have done my fencing lessons as a noble, so I'm not totally new to it. Just, I wouldn't consider myself much of swordswoman, heh."

"I see..." Sofia then said once he said the details about the breast armor. Then, he followed him as he went on about his explanations about it, and nodded now and then to indicate that she was following him on what he was saying.

"Neither. They're binded down by the corset, for propriety." she then admitted with a sigh, at the question about her breasts. Her huge meat balloons couldn't be taken seriously, and she very much preferred to be considered (and look like) a proper lady. "If possible, I'd prefer the chest armor to keep me looking modest as well. I can still breathe fine though with this corset and all, don't worry, heh. I'm already really used to it. It's like if it wasn't there at all for me."

She then continued to sort out her medical supplies, and started to prepare some ointments for later, trying to ease the awkward air by doing something else.

WC: 1567

Sky blue eyes blinked at the sight of Sofia in her under armor. It wasn't a look of lust on his face but one of curiosity. "OH! I started making a vest like this for Gideon out of gator skin. Yours looks like basic leather that has been colored. It's a near full body suit too. When you make the dress, leave some holes in it here, here, here, here, here...." Mashyuu went on, talking about places to leave holes in her dress. "We can hook up loops and clasps on your brigandine to help support the weight of the armor itself instead of leaving it all to the dress. Trust me it's gonna help." Mashyuu pinched the leather work and tugged it a little at her arms and legs to test it's weight and toughness. "Whoever smithed this was good. It's light but not flimsy, feels almost Skypian in make. I met a half Skypiean, half Giant on Skypiea, did he craft this?" He wondered while returning to his armor job.

He continued to use a small hammer to knock the shape into the breastplate so that she would be able to take breaths of air in a comfortable way. Once that was done Mashyuu held it to her chest and made sure it would fit. Without saying a word he smirked at Sofia and removed a chisel and a small hammer and carved a set of angel wings into the inside of his work, he showed Sofia and shrugged his shoulders. "That's my signature. I didn't think it would be such a big deal." He joked while pulling the back piece of armor out of the forge and held it close to Sofia's back to make sure he was leaving room for her shoulder blades to move and her back to twist.

Once the two largest pieces were hammered into shape he made smaller sections to protect her ribs, abdomen, lower back and the space between her shoulders and chest so that she had a full range of motion with her arms, leaving small holes in each section of armor to link it all together with a thick metal ring that would lay near flat on her dress and under armor. "Alright that is done, do you have the dress? I'd like to fit the back and chest pieces to it, in order to make sure it fits correctly before we move on, then I'll do the shoulder guards, and move down to the skirt, and finish with the gloves and boots."

"Loops and clasps? Alright." Sofia mentioned. "Yes, that can definitely work. We could also probably hide them in these big frills that the dress has... Like this..."

And then, she started to make a quick sketch about how it would be all done, so that her dress could still look like one, while still being viable to be used as an under-dress for her plate armor.

"And, I see. I've met a few of the rest of your crew, but not everyone yet! I sure hope to, though, because you all seems so resourceful." she admitted. "I'd like to consider myself one too, to be honest, heh. If you ever need medicine, just let me know. I'd be glad to help. You have my Den Den, yes? If you don't, we should definitely exchange contacts."

She then pulled out her Den Den from her purse, which, if Mashyuu agreed to it, she would have her Den Den connect their antennae to theirs so that the contacts could be exchanged between them.

"And if you have any further contacts that you'd like me to have, please have your Den Den link it up to mine too." she added.

"And yes, I've got it all here." she then chuckled, to then help Mashyuu with whatever he would need to get the dress and armor on herself. "Does it all look good so far?" she would mention, to then turn around a bit so that he could get a full view.

WC: 1822

Mashyuu gestured towards a wall where he kept his den den when working in the forge so Sophia could connect them if she wanted to, not really caring to stop what he was doing at the moment, once he had started to craft something he didn't like to stop if he didn't need to. The young pirate continued on about his work, smoothing the metal pieces out and hooking loops in them so that they would fit together correctly. The man smiled at the work he had made while Sofia pulled the dress out and put it on. He walked up to her and once the armor was cool floated it into place on her body, constricting it to the point that was almost uncomfortable. "Deep breath... Again.... One more time... Perfect." With each breath, Mashyuu moved the armor out until Sofia was breathing comfortably. "Well... that is the first major piece. Fell okay?"

The smith stepped back and twisted his hand, moving the armor off the dress so that he could set it aside for a few moments. It wasn't hard to make, it was actually fairly simple compared to the things he had been making as of late. Still the skirting and side pieces needed to be made. "The skirt is going to take some time, I'll need to wrap each piece in clay to get it to bend correctly, is there anything you didn't put on the sketch you want me to include in this?"

Mashyuu picked up an ingot and placed it in the furnace to heat it up. Three sheets of metal needed to go on each side of the dress, wide and tall, each piece over lapping the other up to her hips. Mashyuu pulled the ingot out of the forge and began to hammer, building a heavy sweat over his body with each strike of his hammer until the metal was only two inches thick and nearly the length of her calf. once it was done he repeated the process to make a second piece, one for each leg and then began to wrap the pieces of metal in wet clay. Once it was dried he placed the steel in the furnace and waited till it began to cook. He withdrew the armor fragments and used tongs to hold the metal out away from him. The clay started to drop and bend the metal just enough to give it a curve to Sofia's calf. Once it curved Mashyuu chipped the clay off the steel and set the two pieces aside.

Sofia connected her Den Den to his, and got all of the contacts she could. Then, she helped him out with fitting the armor onto her, along the breathing instructions, to then give him a thumbs up. "It's all good!" she then replied.

"And, I think that's all." she then said, when he asked her about anything not included in the sketch.

Then, she got back to doing some basic pharmacy as she waited for him to work. She started to mix ingredients into a small flask, to then pour some water into it so that it would all be dissolved and ready to be consumed. But she had ran out, nearly. It was quite hot on Jordsand, and she had been drinking the water herself.

"Could I... Use your water?" she asked. "Just to prepare some medicines meanwhile."

Then, she would pull out a small mortar and start to crush some medicinal herbs. She didn't have to crush these, though. But it did help their digestion and made taking these a lot easier, because they were so hard on the stomach and the palate. Sometimes, Sofia wished she could've learnt how to be a cook so that she could make medicine that didn't taste so horrible, but for now, just these small parlor tricks to make the treatments more bearable would do.

Once the calve part was done, she went over and checked it out. She could see how well they had been forged, just like her armor dress - which she didn't actually know who made it, originally. Just that she bought it from a noble friend, back on Marie Jois.

WC: 2104

"Water? If you want, but I wouldn't use the water in here, it's going to be super hot and have metal shards and coal in it. Not to mention the salt. If you go into the engine room though, right out those doors, there are barrels of water. Help yourself." Mashyuu continued to work, forging a pair of metal bands like the calf guards only this pair were to protect the sides of her knees and a little below and above that. It was the exact same process as before and to anyone not interested in crafting it was terribly dull. He finished by looking at his measurements of her hips, and making one last pair of armor sheets for her thighs and hips. With that done he took a few steps back and admired the work, inspecting the sets of metal for any imperfections or hiccups in the design. Once he was satisfied with that he motioned for Sofia to come closer.

"Alright now this is going to be the hard part.... " He muttered while looking at her dress. How was he going to affix the plates to the blue dress without ruining it? Mashyuu searched the dress for straps to hook the armor up to and furrowed his brow. "Do you need fabric to set the armor up with? It's gonna have to be tough, like leather or this won't support the weight." Mashyuu reminded Sofia while taking a step back from her and sighing. It would be easy to hook everything up but not without the straps at least coming through the body suit she wore.