When Her Imperial Majesty and I were setting up our wedding, the Justice of the Peace who presided asked for a Shadowmaker as his fee. Shadow had a few in inventory that were not spoken for by anyone, and because he was a friend of mine, as a favor sold me one of them at a price I could afford. He died shortly after we were married, before I could commission him to make one for me, which I intended to make up for the loss he had to have taken on the one he sold me.
If you want to get an idea of how sturdy Shadow's blades were: His personal long knife or shortsword was named Stonebreaker. It got its name by Shadow's splitting a granite stone the size of a softball in half with a single stroke with it. The blade took no damage. He was the first bladesmith I personally knew who routinely worked in damascus steel. As a mark of the esteem in which he held me, he polished a rehafted tulwar blade that was upwards of 400 years old to a mirror finish and didn't ask for a cent even in materials. He felt that I deserved a "proper blade."
Like many in the Band of Fellers, he was a military veteran and a combat veteran (101st Air Assault in Vietnam); and again like the vets in the Band of Fellers, regarded me as a veteran too because of my service in the Merchant Marine. I was the only person at the Pennsic War who had not served in the armed forces who was welcome in Shadow's encampment when he threw a dinner for veterans. You may rest assured I felt humbly honored to be included.
I miss him still. He was one helluva man, and a true master in the art of producing edged weapons.
