LE - 50 made
The Daughters of Midda edition features Amber glass fused onto solid copper in a 1500 degree Fahrenheit furnace. Since this coin is solid copper and not merely plated, over the decades and centuries, it will develop a patina prized in the art community, but it will never lose its genuine coppery luster. The borosilicate glass will resist scratches, thermal, and chemical assaults better than any other geocoin finish. This edition is for the discriminating collector who wishes to own an artifact that will be passed from generation to generation.
*** Narrative ***
Math sat on the bed in his simple room changing out of his work clothes in order to get some sleep. Tomorrow would be busy with furnace repairs. The bricks were beginning to fall apart and would need to be replaced so that he and his men could make more brass and tin. His life was a grey and smoky series of melts, pours, and endless metal shaping. Life was tolerable and it was the transformation of ore and ingots into tools and vessels that gave it some meaning. He knew that there was a world out there where people smiled and the thought that his metal made their lives better gave some color to his days.
Math removed his belt and let the sizable knife attached to it drop to the floor with a thud. The knife was a bit of vanity that he allowed himself. His excuse was that it was used to cut rope and countless other things that needed slicing or hacking on any given day, but simply it made him feel like a man and though he knew it was silly, he wore the big oversized knife whenever he worked.
He stared at it for a moment on the floor when he noticed a pocket on the sheath. He had seen that pocket every day, but never thought about it and what it might be for. Was it supposed to hold a whet stone? It made sense that you would be able to sharpen the blade at any time. With a bit of curiosity, he bent over to grab the knife and solve this minor mystery. The pocket was secured by a leather flap which as soon as he began to lift it, he knew that whatever was inside was too thin to be a whet stone. He removed a copper coin with a nine pointed star, various symbols, and runes on one of its faces. yellowish glass had been melted to the surface in two places to highlight the fire symbols under the glass. Math’s muscles tensed nearly to the point of pain as the memories and emotions grabbed hold of him.
The day he had been given that coin had been a very good one. In the last several months in the Dwarves’ city, they had seen him no longer as a foolish student. He had grown in their eyes to be a capable foundry operator and a representative of the human world. But that was not why it had been so good. He had won the love of The Daughter of Midda. Yaffah Shadeed was not a warm person but she did have an intense passion for her duties. She was the chief of a sisterhood of Dwarf women who were methodically learning the secrets of The Maker. Through, trial, error, deep thought, and heated discussions, they were learning to understand how everything in Midgard fit together. To most Dwarves they were best loved for their ability to make very strong metal and very strong drinks using their marvelous retorts.
Yaffah Shadeed, like most Dwarves, did not care much for Elves or Humans. She thought of them as a stain on Midgard, but hearts are complex things and she found a way to love Math in spite of his humanness.
Math thought back to the first day he had seen her dagger. He learned that many if not most Dwarf women keep a wicked blade strapped high up on their leg underneath their skirts. After all, one never knows when protection will be required. Yaffah had invited Math into her chambers to look at something, What was it? . . . Ah yes, she had wanted to show him the different ways that glass can bend light. She had given a deep sigh and said that the blade was cutting into her skin. She flashed a sheepish smile that Math did not recognize was meant to be alluring and she asked Math if he would help her unstrap the blade because her back hurt. Math was quite pleased to see how high up on her leg she kept the knife.
Hours later, as the two of them lay relaxing on her bed. Yaffah leaned over and removed a coin from the table next to the bed and handed it to Math. She explained, “My aunt was the previous Daughter of Midda. When she died and I ascended to be chief of all of the Daughters, the king minted these coins for everyone in the sisterhood. I want you to have this one. It is copper and glass and the copper has been protected from tarnish. It will still be in Midgard long after you and I have crossed over The Western Sea.”
Math didn’t quite understand and Yaffah saw his confusion. She explained, “Math, what can be more solid than the Earth? but even the earth shakes and fissures open up. I do not know where you or I will be next year or the year after, but when you look at this coin, I want you to remember how our hearts are entwined.”
Yes, their hearts became entwined and choked one another to excruciating pain and nearly death. Math sneered as he remembered that there had been a death, a murder. Yaffah had killed the child that resulted from their love and she had nearly killed him with that knife she hid under her skirt. He would bear the scar of her knife until the day he died. Damn those women! Damn that evil group of witches!
Math considered using one of his tools to destroy the coin, either a hammer or a pair of snips would do the job. He wanted to destroy even more than that. The people of the realm loved his metal and he was rapidly becoming a wealthy man. Could he hire a band of soldiers? Could he storm the Dwarves mountain and demand that they send out Yaffah? No, he knew the Dwarves would refuse. Could he trick her into coming out of her lair? He wanted to hurt her very badly. Death was too good for her. He knew that she loved her work and he wanted to take that away from her. He wanted to immobilized her and tear off her thumbs. Without her thumbs, she would no longer be able to create her treasures.
Math looked out the window and saw that the furnace was still glowing from the day’s labor. The Dwarves has taught him how to make that furnace and how to find the best ore. The Daughters of Midda had shown him their libraries and all of their wonders.
Math held the coin in his hand. One day he would die and much later Yaffah would die too, but this coin would be in Midgard long after they were gone. It would be a testament to the Daughters of Midda and their efforts to understand the mind of The Maker. He squeezed the coin very tightly and thought of how their work was so much larger than his pain. He thought of Yaffah and her sharp mind. He thought of how she had looked as she unfastened the buttons and laces that held her clothes in place and how beautiful she had been.
Math’s workers must have thought highly of him because no one teased him or said anything the next day about how they had heard him sobbing in the late hours of the night.