Seeing Triple (Montaine, Anselm)

[Anselm]

Seeing Triple The morning of the 37th of Summer, 512 A.V. The Zeltivan Glassworks The workshop was a noisy place. All three furnaces were in use and several men were moving from place to place making use of various pieces of equipment whose exact purposes were a mystery to Anselm. He saw Montaine on the far side of the large open space, using a pair of tongs to remove something from one of the furnaces. Johann Calbert stood in the middle of the room overseeing an apprentice who appeared to be etching a design into a rectangular piece of glass; a window perhaps. Calbert eventually noticed Anselm and approached him. “Welcome to Zeltivan Glassworks,” he said in a louder voice than Anselm thought necessary. “How may I be of service?” “I am in possession of a pendant,” he said, producing the glass dolphin. “I would like to have two exact copies of it made.” Calbert took the figurine out of Anselm's hand and examined it. “Nice enough piece of work,” he said, returning the piece. “I can do that for you but I'm a bit backed up just now. I might not get to it until the middle of next week. Is that acceptable?” “Ah, I am afraid I need it done sooner than that. I want to give them as a gift to a set of identical triplets on their birthday, which happens to be tomorrow.” “Hmm ...” Calbert thought for a moment. “Let me see if one of my apprentices can spare a few hours.” He turned toward the glassworker Anselm had hoped to avoid. “Montaine! Could you come over here please? I have a rush job that might interest you.”

[Montaine]

Montaine almost didn’t hear his boss calling. The heat of the furnace was blasting over his skin and sweat was rolling down his forehead. He could just spy a drop making its way down his nose and collecting at the tip. The air was sweltering, boiling, burning and it felt as though the tips of his fingers were being set aflame. The piece he was working on was small, a tiny, glass cup with a delicately curving handle. Unfortunately the piece had cooled too swiftly and the handle had gain too much rigidity too fast and refused to contort with the careful manipulations of Monty’s jacks and as such he had to warm it up again, but not so much that he could simply leave it in the furnace. It was a quandary. He could either have sat it on the rack to potentially melt into a formless puddle of gloop, or he could roast himself standing awkwardly within the blast range. He opted for the latter. Calbert was forced to call twice more before he finally looked up and though he couldn’t hear precisely what the man was saying over the all encompassing music of a busy workshop he could see a customer waiting. He could see who the customer was. Petch. He pulled the cup from fires and grabbed his jacks, quickly tugging at the more malleable material before handing it over to Banden to place in the annealer. He grabbed up his stick from where it rested against the marver and hobbled over, his body still not fully recovered after his particularly powerful episode earlier in the summer. ‘Let’s go into the office, see what needs doin’,’ he said to the fortune teller, nodding towards the door to Calbert’s workspace, ‘I got the time,’

[Anselm]

They sat facing each other in the small office. A random thought flitted through his head: Anselm and Montaine, Private Investigators. Then it was gone. Had he any sense of humor to speak of, this would have struck him as funny. But he didn't. So it only struck him as odd. He handed the glass dolphin to the glassworker. “I wish to have two copies of this made. I must have them tomorrow. Can you do it? And what will it cost me?” OOC : Give me one more post to get a small shopping trip in for Anselm and then you can go to work making dolphins and XP. Just let me know when you want Anselm to come back. I'll be following the story. I really enjoy your attention to detail. I have been trying to mimic it in my own writing.

[Montaine]

Montaine propped his cane against the boss’ desk and took the tiny figurine from the fortune teller. He placed it in the palm of his hand and brought it close to his face, inspecting the shape and detail of the piece. It was so small and really a very simple design. Already his head was running through the required motions, the necessary amounts the particular strengths behind each careful tug of molten glass to form a perfect copy or two. Obviously it wouldn’t be an exact replica but the glassworker was adamant that he could make it near as made no difference, so that only someone with a trained eye or magical aid might know the difference. He was an artist, after all. ‘Seems simple enough, not much glass so the material costs’ll be minimal, an’ the design’s no problem. Small enough as it’ll not take long to cool either. Won’t take the whole day, shouldn’t think,’ he nodded, not taking his eyes off the pendant, ‘Come back this evenin’ an’ it’ll be done waitin’ for you. Cost-wise we’re lookin’, maybe ten suns? Aye, ten gold rimmed mizas an’ it’ll be waitin’ for you,’ Still Monty didn’t meet the fortune teller’s gaze. The old creature disturbed him with his stony, immutable stares. The little cetacean in his palm, however, reminded him of brighter days. He’d seen dolphins a few times, out in the bay. The first time had been with the sailor, he’d spotted a pod diving off near where the harbour met the ocean and so eagerly tugged on the seafarer’s clothes to point them out. They got to go anywhere. Lucky petchers. ‘Two of ‘em, perfect copies, five mizas each, that alright by you, old man?’

[Anselm]

“That will be satisfactory,” said Anselm. Then he left. It is unlikely that anyone in Zeltiva had ever seen Anselm wearing anything other than a long black cloak with a deep hood, with the exception of Fiera who had been present when he had acquired this particular body and had therefore seen him in his previous body, that of a Svefra in his mid-twenties wearing a simple white shirt, light blue pants, rust-colored leather shoes and a large broad-brimmed straw hat. He had had the Svefra's body for only a short time, so it had not yet deteriorated to the point where it could no longer be disguised with make-up. He had been quite satisfied with that body. Unfortunately the storm and subsequent shipwreck had left it damaged beyond repair and he had been forced to take the only usable body available; the old, broken body he now occupied. It had deteriorated badly since then and could no longer be easily disguised. He should have replaced it by now, but acquiring a new body was a tricky affair. Not the actual acquisition, but the problem of suddenly appearing in a different body, likely one that the local town folk would recognize. As a general rule, changing bodies also meant changing locations. But Anselm did not want to leave Zeltiva. Thus it was that he found himself in a quandary. The glass dolphin was his passport to a secret and, he presumed, not altogether legal auction of rare artifacts. Guests were required to wear masks so as to disguise their identities. In Anselm's case, a mask would not be a sufficient disguise since his long black cloak and hood made him one of Zeltiva's more recognizable residents. Thus it was that he spent the rest of the morning shopping for new clothes and a few other odds and ends required to create a new identity. LEDGER : Mask 3 sm High boots (black) 5 sm Velvet pants (dk blue) 4 gm Leather belt (black) 2 sm Silk scarf (lt green) 3 gm Velvet vest (lt blue) 2 gm Silk gloves (black) 15 gm Broad brimmed hat (lt green) 8 gm Velvet jacket (lt green) 8 gm Silk shirt (lt blue) 10 gm 1 oz perfume (lt apricot) 1 gm 1 simple makeup kit 10 gm Common rug(tan, blue swirls) 2 gm Small steel mirror 10 gm TOTAL 74 gm

[Montaine]

Monty watched the fortune teller leave. The strange creature never ceased to befuddle him. What little he knew of the old man suggested that he prized items for their uniqueness, their originality, their distinctive inimitability. What little he knew of the old man suggested that he would have little interest in three identical glass dolphins. It was peculiar, intriguing. He found himself staring at the exit of the workshop long after the cloaked seer had left and shook himself from his reverie. Trying to figure out the inner workings of the fortune teller left one liable to straining the brain. Perhaps he felt the tent needed a delphine motif, perhaps the glass figurines were some sort of secret symbol to an underground society. Monty snorted, both sounded ridiculous. Instead of dwelling further on the motives and methods of an ancient oracle he decided a better use of his time would be the fulfilment of an order for an ancient client. He stroked the dolphin pendant with his index finger, feeling the gentle arch of its back running it down the smooth, glass tail. Working on such a small piece would mean getting very close to the material, which meant a higher risk of burns. Still, nothing new there. He set the item down on the marver and grabbed a rod from the tool rack. He selected the shortest he could find. It wasn’t one of the glassworks’ pipes; there was no need for one of those after all. The piece was so tiny that even the slightest puff of air would likely have blown it out of all proportion. Instead he had chosen one of the rods more commonly used for transporting hot pieces from a pipe to the holding oven and nodded at Mory to open up the hatch to the batch, allowing him to ease it in and collect the tiniest amount of molten glass at the end of his tool. Despite the miniscule amount of material, Monty was still forced to spin the rod slowly in his hand to counter the effects of gravity. There was so little glass and yet the gentle pull of the earth would still warp it enough, cause it to droop enough, so as to make the replicas imperfect. He slid his hand along the pole, getting as close to the burning red end as he dared, the blistering heat beneath his fingers searing his nerves and tempting him to let go. He inhaled deeply and put the pain to the back of his mind, grabbing the jacks and pinching the glass, teasing it ever so carefully. The piece was so small that each fin required merely the lightest squeeze, the lightest tug. He stretched out one end and used the jacks to press in tail fins. They were then dropped on the marver and the shears taken up to quickly break the piece off the rod and deposit it on the cold stone. It stood quite happily on its newly formed tail so Monty gripped the other end and pulled out a snout, using the shears to snip off a little excess glass and bending the whole piece into the correct shape to mimic the pendant. Happy, he gouged out two little eyes and watched it cool and lose its orange lustre. It continued to radiate heat, but was cool enough to sit out. Fogle looked up from his etching and grinned at it. One down, one more to go.

OOCFeel free to pop back and change the time to mid to late evening for collection.

[Anselm]

Toward the end of the day, Anselm stopped by the Glassworks to assure himself that the work was proceeding apace and was pleasantly surprised to find that Montaine had finished making the copies and that they were ready to go. He carefully examined the three dolphins and was again pleasantly surprised. “I am impressed,” he said to Montaine. “I cannot tell which one is the original. You have done a remarkable job.” He counted out ten told mizas and placed them on the table, taking the three tiny figurines in exchange. He started toward the door but then paused and turned. “Perhaps I will have occasion to seek out your services again sometime in the future. For now I wish you a good evening.” He turned and walked out of the shop and into the warm evening air. OOC : Much thanks for doing this little thread with me. I'm going to submit it right away, but feel free to add a post if you want Montaine to reflect on the old Nuit's extraordinary display of friendliness.

[Arcane]

Rewards and Treasure! ThatCreepyZombieSeer;) : Experience Points n/a Lores Zeltiva: The Zeltivan Glassworks Miscellaneous Ledger: -84gm +Inventory: 2 Glass Dolphins +Inventory: Refer to Table (items only, costs already included above and is for individual reference) Mask 3 sm High boots (black) 5 sm Velvet pants (dk blue) 4 gm Leather belt (black) 2 sm Silk scarf (lt green) 3 gm Velvet vest (lt blue) 2 gm Silk gloves (black) 15 gm Broad brimmed hat (lt green) 8 gm Velvet jacket (lt green) 8 gm Silk shirt (lt blue) 10 gm 1 oz perfume (lt apricot) 1 gm 1 simple makeup kit 10 gm Common rug(tan, blue swirls) 2 gm Small steel mirror 10 gm TOTAL 74 gm Comments I was actually wondering what the glass dolphins were for. Until you explained it. Wooooo Anselm the Spy! MontyPython : Experience Points +1 Glassworking Lores Zeltiva: The Zeltivan Glassworks Anselm the Customer Making Small Glass Dolphins Miscellaneous Ledger: +10gm Comments I'm afraid I can't give you too much glassworking because of your expert status. However, I appreciate the amount of detail in the thread, as well as the eloquence in the writing, so that qualified for the 1. In Conclusion Short but sweet. How does it feel OOCily to have Monty possibly being implicated in this dubious spy operation?