Smithy and a Mission

“I can not believe it took us almost a third of our funds to get two outfits,” said Helen with annoyance as the trio departed the shop; she was in a dark green bra-like top with and battle skirt that stopped shy of her knees and slits up the sides. The outfit was unadorned but still looked nice.

“I think the seamstress did her best to keep things respectful on all the points you gave,” said Devallia as she came up next to the minotaur woman; Devallia was in a more effective adventuring outfit colored a blu that had a storm motif with green and magenta lightning bolts. “And these are an investment that should be well-spent, assuming you don’t turn your attire into rags before the week is out.”

“I’m not that much of a ruffian,” said Helen, “a lot of the bulls I know are, though.”

“Let’s see what else the town can provide,” said Keldan, “then we can set a new destination. Any suggestions?” He started heading down the path to the left when leaving the establishment.

“The druid and priestess both sound like they could be good options,” said Devallia, “it’s important to have reliable healing on adventures like this, and both could fill that niche pretty well.”

“Personally,” said Helen, “I think the Enchantress and Rogue would be good options; their skills and support abilities could prove beneficial in a variety of scenarios. But I will concede that having access to a reliable source of healing is always a good option.”

“I’m just amused it took you both so long to actually get the outfits,” said Rilkimsha as she trailed closely behind Keldan. Helen and Devallia shared a look before falling into line behind Keldan and Rilkimsha.

A few minutes later, the four of them started to hear the sound of banging metal that usually heralded an approach toward a smithing forge; Keldan made a comment about the smith banging away at steel on an iron anvil. When the party got a bit closer, the forge was in sight, and they could see the smith was indeed banging away on an iron anvil with whatever material they had been given. The man working the forge was a burly human with the kinds of arms you would expect from someone pounding metal for an extended period of time in light attire and a forge apron; his skin was somewhat lighter than everyone around him due to the forge being mostly dark, one of the walls of the forge was partially left open to the elements. On closer inspection, you could see a pair of large stone doors on sturdy stone hinges had been opened to open part of the forge to the elements.

“I hope that steel is quality,” said Keldan in a friendly voice as the party approached the smithy.

“It’s serviceable,” said the smith in a similar tone, with an accent that indicated he was from the northern mountains, as he banged away on metal. Now that the party was closer, they could see he was making a boar sword; an odd weapon typically reserved for nobility, the bottom half was a typical sword, but the upper half was basically a spearhead. It was a weapon that had decent penetration and piercing ability; it just looked incredibly mismatched, almost like the weapon had a midlife crisis halfway through the forging process or the smith forgot if they were making a sword or spear in the middle of their smithing.

“Do I even want to know why you’re making that,” inquired Devallia.

“The diviners made a comment about some large boar-like monsters coming in the wave,” said the smith as he inspected the weapon a moment before putting it back in the for a bit, “one of the newer arrivals is some noble brat whose parent thought the kid should get some combat experience, then sent them out this way for a few months.”

“Is that so,” said Helen, “he probably spent most of his personal finances on that thing, thinking their parent could just fill their coffers again in a few days.”

“More or less,” said the smith, “bitched about spending over thirty percent of their coin purse for a few minutes before trying to haggle it down a bit for almost half an hour; I shut down that attempt as best I could. My name’s Melvin; I’m the smith for the town; what can I do for an amusing lot like yourselves?”

“Just decided to get a bit more familiar with the town and heard you working,” said Keldan, “we just got in a little while ago.”

“In fact,” said Rilkimsha, “we just got out of the tailor’s place of business; these two,” she gestured towards Devallia and Helen, “were in need of some new attire.” Helen just snorted, and Devallia gave a short giggle.

“Any of you familiar with forge work,” inquired Melvin.

“Only in terms of literature,” said Rilkimsha.

“I’ve never seen anyone work metal before,” said Devallia.

“I helped bring materials for a forge a few times in the past,” said Helen.

“Yep,” said Keldan, “my mother was the local blacksmith; I learned the trade from her. But you know how it is with some smiths; they don’t like sharing their techniques with others, they want to keep some tricks in the family; ya know what I mean?”

“I sure do,” said Melvin, “so, you came from Marian’s shop, sweet lady. She also happens to be my wife, I hope you were well-behaved, would hate to introduce any of you to the business end of my tools.”

“We were all on our best behavior,” said Devallia, “and she is a lovely woman, very motherly aura about her. Anyone who tries to start trouble with that sort usually finds out why it’s a bad idea to mess with that sort.”

“Well, it’s nice to hear that from someone,” said Melvin, “I’ll share that one with her later; she loves that sort of stuff.”

“What do you need help with,” inquired Keldan.

“I’m starting to run low on charcoal and iron,” said Melvin, “the merchant caravan that usually brings in those sorts of supplies hasn’t been in for almost a week passed their usual arrival time. I would appreciate it if someone could look into it.”

“Gladly,” said Keldan, “we can discuss rewards and the like after we return, with either information on what you want to know or the supplies in question.”

“Thanks,” said Melvin, “take the pathway North out of town, then once you see the forest on your left, head in that direction. I find these sorts of instructions are easier to follow for most folks.”

“We’ll see what we can do,” said Helen as the group headed for the northern part of town.