[Flashback]A New Weapon and a New Price (Mazirion, Stranger)

[Carsten]

When the Isurian pulled out his hammer, Carsten lifted his hands. ”Calm down. I have a suggestion,” he said calmly, ”Craft the cutlass, and when you are done, we will duel. If I win, you will return ten gold mizas to me, I have no wish to swindle you, but if you win, I will pay the thirty I gave to you.” he said, while studying the Isurian. He did not look like a duelist; or a fighter at all. He would probably utilize brute strength, and little technique, and he had defeated those men many times. ”I know you were overcharging me, I have proof,” Carsten tapped the piece of paper that Haiduk had given him that showed it, ”But there is no reason to be violent here, let us duel over it in the arena when you have finished the weapon and is rested.”

[Mazirion]

Mazirion raised his eyebrow at the suggestion. Honorable duel? What a silly thought. The human expected him to fight fairly when he plainly knew how to use the weapon he had commissioned, after Mazirion had forged it? "If you wish to duel, human, we'll duel now or you'll die where you stand," he stated, calmly. Then he hurled his hammer at the human, full force, and sprinted towards him across the open floor of the tent. The surprised human deflected the flying hammer, but he didn't expect the punch from an Isurian smithing arm that followed it. Picking up his hammer and standing over the stunned human, Mazirion stood ready for the man's returning blow. "Do you still wish to duel with me?" he calmly asked, showing not a sign of his racing heart or his rapidly fraying nerves in the face of a battle he could only win by capitalizing on the fact that this human was defenseless now. But Mazirion couldn't do that - that would be illegal. He'd be lucky if he wasn't sued post-duel for this inauspicious start anyway. He cursed his luck and his lack of skill with the tool of his trade, having always used his arm to smith and his hammer to defend himself when he needed to, which wasn't often.

Common speech Isurian speech

[Carsten]

The punch hit him in the face. Even Carsten had not been able to avoid the punch; it had been vicious and strong. He could feel blood running from his nose and lip, but nothing felt broken at least. His mind was racing, what would he do. Go into fight with an angry Isurian with no weapon? No, that would get him arrested. Maybe call the guards, if they were not already on their way. But until they arrived, he had to survive. He looked up, and saw Mazirion standing over him with his hammer lifted. One hit would smash his head, one hit was all that was needed to kill him. ”Do not kill me.” he said, spitting out some blood. ”You know as well as I do that you would be executed as soon as the guards saw you. he slowly lifted his hands with his palms out, and got up, still holding his hands up. ”Return ten gold mizas to me, then forge the weapon and I will not press any charges. It was all an accident, yes?” he said, and studied the Isurian. Would he be foolish enough to attack once more? It was hard to say, this smith did not act logically, that was all Carsten had managed to figure out about him. ”But if not, I will press charges, and we will settle this in the arena. Where I will be armed.” Though it was said in his usual cold and flat voice, it did indeed sound like a threat, hoping Mazirion was not skilled in battle and would want to avoid it.

[Mazirion]

Mazirion had assumed the human would be smart enough to at least come armed with something in the absence of his weapon. He had once been told that even if the replacement is of dire quality, it is better to have at least a shortblade handy in between new swords. This human, though, was a duelist. He was trying to either find a peaceful solution or start a duel, with one side on the other, two men with weapons and nothing else. He had taken Mazirion completely out of context. Just because one has a hammer, doesn't mean one can't use it. "If you believe the quality of my work is not worth what I ask of you, you can go elsewhere or duel as soon as you are armed. I apologize - I assumed even a human would be smart enough to bring at least some weapon everywhere," he replied with little to no emotion in his voice. This human looked like the kind who liked the think of fights as dances. He'd taught men like him to 'dance' like real warriors before.

Common speech Isurian speech

[Carsten]

Carsten decided to try a gamble, this Isurian could clearly not be reasoned with, and he would clearly continue to try and overcharge him until the situation changed. Carsten jumped forward, and moved up close to Mazirion, and looked him dead in the eyes, with his dagger pressed against the Isurian’s stomach. ”You will return my money, and craft the cutlass. Stop acting like a fool, I believed Isurians were smarter than this. I know you are overcharging me, and you know that you are overcharging me. So I suggest you drop this charade right now. I could have stood here haggling with you until the sun set and rose again, or you can be reasonable and do your job. You are costing yourself more money by not starting to work than I am by asking you to forge a weapon.” he said. Some men did not react to reason; only fear or a show of strength could convince them to change their minds. He did not like it, it was primitive and uncivilized, but it would certainly speed up the process. He hoped it would work, at least. The dagger had never been a preferred weapon for Carsten, but he knew how to shove it into someone’s stomach to kill them at least.

[Mazirion]

Mazirion started. What a sudden move, for someone who was so recently reeling from an Isurian's iron arm to the face. He looked down at the dagger, and carefully weighed up his options. At this point, he couldn't afford to back down. His good name would be ruined unless he defended it, and losing at a duel would be better than never fighting one at all. Gently, he reached up his arm and took hold of the dagger. Forcing it down to Carsten's side, he sighed, pointedly. "Very well, we shall duel when you are ready. If you defeat me, I will give you ten mizas back and ask for no more. If I defeat you, you must pay me the final installment of ten mizas that I ask. Does this sound reasonable to one such as you?" Probably not, he realized. Still, all this was was two men defending their own purses. It was never a big deal. His hammer was in his holster now, though he did not remember it being there. He could quite possibly kill this man where he stood and be out of Riverfall before the sun went down. Still, he could never return here and this city was a wellspring of income for weaponsmiths, being isolated and populated by warriors as it was. Still, he didn't have much choice anyway. At this point the man was quite capable of blamelessly killing him without even the courtesy of announcing his intent. Silently nodding, the man strode out of Mazirion's tent, and Mazirion began his work. Marking was not an enjoyable process. The requirements of concentration had always been a drain on Mazirion, who preferred to think of other things during the more menial aspects of any kind of smithing. Instad, he was forced to endure the roaring of his own heart, head and soul at the outrage of putting more effort than was humanly possible into any one blade.

Common speech Isurian speech

[Stranger]

XP Award!

Carsten -
Socialization +1
Mathematics +2

Mazirion -
Socialization + 1

Notes: Sorry to see this end so abruptly. Hope the little bit helps!