Open The Armed Scholar: Spring 515 AV

[Aedifalse]

515-SPRING-06

Aedi grunted as he raised unlocked the doors of the showroom, letting himself into the Armed Scholar. Ever since the established smithy got their newest apprentice in the form of an Isur hailing from Sultros, it was determined that as the lowest ranked member of the seniority hierarchy, it was his responsibility to do the jobs that nobody wanted to do.

That included taking care of opening the store in the wee hours of the morning, since he had to begin heating up the forge to prepare for the forging work that was usually done in the afternoon. The schedule was like that as the bellows had to be prepared, and it usually took an average of five bells of feeding wood to the hungry flames to get a respectable blaze going.

The other members of the shop would come streaming in in the more normal time of the morn, though it was hinted that it was largely proportionate to one's seniority. The Isur shrugged, heading straight to the smithy that was connected to the showroom. He did not mind the hard work, for all Isurs were trained from young to accept the repetitive rigors of training.

The lumber had already been delivered the previous day as per the supply contract that Rals made with a lumberyard, and the pieces of metallic flint were laying neatly beside the mouth of the furnace. Fumbling through the pieces of lumber, he chose the thinner, smaller and drier ones.

While wood could be dry, they still contained a certain level of moisture within their bodies. Choosing suitable twigs as tinder made it easier to start a small fire and get a temperature high enough to withstand the moisture in the other pieces of wood.

The apprentice placed the chosen tinder into a pile at the mouth of the furnace, then picked up the two fire-starters and began the task of striking them together in the hope of creating sparks. Fortunately, he had the benefit of his arm which allowed him a greater capacity for strength, and he maximized this by using his other arm to strike the other flint as hard as he could while his blessed arm easily absorbed the impact.

A few sparks flew out and caught on the tender pile of twigs, and that was enough to cultivate a small fire. Carefully placing lumber of increasing sizes to act as fuel, the fire soon grew due to the Isur's nurturing attentiveness. Starting a wood fire in the forge was mind-numbing work, but entirely essential in order to conduct any form of equipment forging.

As the bells passed by, Aedi continued sustaining the fire through the timely delivery of lumber into the furnace, while keeping his ears out for the ringing that would sound whenever there was a new arrival into the shop. The symbol of Syna yawned as she started her ascent in the Zeltivan sky, and that was when morning truly began. The rest of the crew should be arriving any time soon, as would any potential customers.

The Armed Scholar is open for business!

[Lucy Colburn]

6th Day of Spring, 515 AV

The morning's sunrise was a breathtaking display of radiant colours. Bright streaks of pink and orange lit up the sky, replacing the blue and black hues that dominated the night sky before it arrived. The colours blended perfectly with each other, like a painting masterpiece on an artist canvas. Lucy got up from bed groggily, got dressed and prepared for the day ahead. After taking several ticks to freshen herself up with some water, she then stepped out of the door, taking some time to appreciate the gorgeous sunrise before getting ready to leave room at the World's End Grotto. Lucy was planning on getting employed as a mercenary really soon. But for starters, she would first need a weapon. Word had gone around that The Armed Scholar was a great place to get the weapon she would need for her job. No employer was going to hire a mercenary without a weapon.

Dressed in her usual outfit of a worn white blouse and brown pants, she left her cottage and made her way to the arms & armour shop. She had left her buckskin armour at home, not seeing the need for it just yet. Anyway, the morning spring air was cool and crisp, and she best enjoyed it, before it turned warmer later into the day.

Walking along the streets of Zeltiva, she headed towards the very edge of West Street. At the end was a medium-sized shop with a non-descript wooden sign identifying it to be The Armed Scholar. Despite its size, it was famous and extremely well-known throughout the city and anyone seeking any metalwork of any kind would not be in the least disappointed in any of the work produced by the smiths there. Those who sought new weapons or armour, would find themselves not waiting long, and pleased with their item, as The Armed Scholar took great pride on efficiency and customer satisfaction. As her first real weapon, the way she got the weapon was especially important to her.

Reaching the entrance the shop, she stepped through the doors, heading into the interior of the shop. Her eyes landed upon rows and rows weapons and armour, beautifully displayed on the shelves. These looked to be masterfully crafted, with a great amount of flair and precision shown on them. Swords, daggers, axes, helmets, gauntlets, basically any weapon or armour you could think of, you make. She was sure that although these looked to be show pieces, they were every bit as functional as the rest of the crafts the smiths churn out.

Right in front of her stood a sturdy wooden counter, with a small bell placed on the side. She guessed that the bell was there for any customers to catch the attention of any of the apprentices manning the counter. Through a tiny slit in the doors behind the counter, she caught a glimpse of a bright orange glow of which she assumed would be the forge. Ringing the counter-top bell which rang with a series of chimes, she then yelled, hoping to get the attention of anyone inside. "Hi! Hello! Is anyone there? I would like to get a sword made."

[Aedifalse]

The bell rang, and Aedi's attention was immediately brought to the showroom behind him.

A new customer!

For a fellow employee would of course not ring the bell, unless they were trying to mess with him. Through his constant efforts the forge was slowly raising to a proper blaze, and he figured that it would not require as much attention as it would in the beginning. In that respect, he supposed that it was similar to raising a child.

Clapping his hands to remove some of the accumulated soot and sweat, the young smith headed out to meet his new customer. The first thing he noticed was the height. It was hard not to as an Isur living in a human majority community. The average man towered over him, and most females would either be at his height or slightly taller. It was one of the things he found difficult to adjust to, having lived amongst peers for the better part of three decades.

Still, she had rather elegant features; an aesthetic pleasing enough to be appreciated by even a different humanoid race. He also noted with universal male glee that her silhouette was rather generously well proportioned. Some things really do not change with guys.

Aedi cleared his throat as he looked up to meet her eyes. It was becoming a habit that he had to literally keep looking up to meet the eyes of the humans he conversed with. He did not mind keeping his eyes level though, but as a female she might take offense to that. Fortunately, he found that he could minimize the head cranking if he kept a distance, then he could more or less look straight more ordinarily.

"Welcome to the Armed Scholar. If it's metal you require, it's metal we deliver!" He declared, reaching below the counter to bring up an aged catalogIt's basically the Price List made of leather and yellow parchment. Within its faded pages it contained the details of the inventory available within the shop.

"You could pick up a sword of varying designs that we have already precrafted, and of different materials if that's what you want," He added. "Though if you want a blade crafted according to your preferred weight and specifications you'll have to wait until we're done making it."

He pushed the catalog forward helpfully as he offered it to her for per perusal. At the same time while her glance lowers away from him, he pushed djed into his eyes apprehensively. He was always a curious individual, and he had a strong compulsion to figure out the aura of strangers he met to fulfill some sort of strange curiosity.

He could feel a slight tingling within his temple before a constant buzzing noise settled around him, though this noise was only one that he could hear. The world around him began to blur as colors began leaking into numerous shades, and he quickly directed his gaze onto the human before him. He learned early on that trying to see everything at once gave him a blinding headache.

Instantly, he caught a whiff of sweet summer tinged with the undercurrent of danger. Peaceful serenity as the calm before the storm. There was no sense of djed residue or hints of magic within her. Still, the contrasting aura made her rather interesting, and he memorized these details immediately.

The Isur blinked several times to shut down the djed connection, shook his head as if to wring off the last remnants of djed flooding into his head and smiled brightly, asking, "So what does my lady require?"

[Lucy Colburn]

Looks like she caught someone with the attention of the bell. It was good to know that the bell was more than just an ornament. Walking through the doors, brought a shorter stocky man into the counter along with a gust of warm air. He had a black arm with silvery veins and an accompanying dour look to match. His hair was jet black, and so was his eyes.

They were as black as night. His hair and eyes contrasted deeply with his pale complexion, enhancing his facial features. He must be an Isur. Her father had told her of them, a powerful race of skilled metalworkers, they came from the mountains, were used to cling to knowledge and secrets that they had pre-valterian. This was the first time she had laid eyes upon one of the Isur, and to say she was not in the least bit fascinated by the scene was wrong. Lucy noticed the man staring at her, and so she gave him a smile and gave him a quick wave of her hand as a greeting. "Hi there!"

The Isur then spoke "Welcome to the Armed Scholar. If it's metal you require, its metal we deliver!" He reached an arm below the counter, bringing up an aged catalogue made of leather and yellowed parchment. Flipping the cover open, and looking within the fades pages, she noticed it contained the details of the inventory available within the shop. He then proceeded to inform her "You could pick up a sword of varying designs that we have already pre-crafted, and of different materials if that's what you want. Though if you want a blade crafted according to your preferred weight and specifications you'll have to wait until we're done making it."

Lucy began studying the plethora of weapons contained in the ancient looking tome. She poured over the pages, taking in the assortment of weapons, ranging from daggers, axes, swords, maces, hammers and many others. There were a whole section dedicated to armour as well, but she didn't focus her attention to that bit, as that was not why she was here. After several chimes of flipping through several weapons and pages, she found what she was what she was looking for.

The weapon she had in mind was a sword. She had already decided that she wanted a sword, not an axe or a mace nor a hammer. Not a dagger. Not now at least, she needed a main weapon first. A dagger in the future, maybe. The particular type of sword she had in mind was a gladius.

Gladii were two-edged swords that excelled at slicing, stabbing and thrusting. They usually had a solid grip provided by a knob hilt added on, possibly with ridges for the fingers. She preferred it to normal long swords as her father used to use one, and he had often commented on how their “wasp-waisted” edge that convexed in the centre of the blade helped the blade to slice providing more momentum as it slashed downwards.

But first, she wanted to find out what making a custom weapon entailed. So she asked him. "What does it take to make a custom weapon? How long does it take? I presume it costs more than one simply bought off this book here?"

[Aedifalse]

"A gladius huh?" Aedi wondered.

It was not a very common weapon, and he found that it tended to be used by few, even within those experienced in combat. The most common weapons sold were daggers that were mostly for self protection. Among the groups that lived by the blade, the most common weapons were that of the short and long sword. A gladius was neither a knife or a sword but occupied its own world in between. In that regard, it provided the flexibility of mobility of a dagger but also the strength and damaging power of a sword.

"We don't have that many of that here, since it's not a very common weapon to have in stock," He admitted readily.

"But as per our policy, it will cost the same provided the specifications you're looking aren't already available. If you want custom enhancements, extensions, or modifications, or of a different material other than steel, then refer to the additional pricings here," He continued, pointing to a section that said "Weapon Extras" in the bottom right corner of the catalog that he handed to her previously.

The Isur thought for a moment as he tried to recall where the current stock of gladius were kept, and he appraised Lucy's height and estimated her weight. He might have appraised the latter a bit longer than required, but he distracted her with another bright smile uncharacteristic of his sullen personality and said, "Give me a moment, stay right here!"

Leaving the customer in the show room, he headed straight to the supplies room where the majority of weapon stock were kept. The show room tended to only have the flashier and more elaborate pieces to garner attention, and more of the common types of weapons and armors around, so they did not have any gladii on display.

In the supplies room, he rummaged through the various crates that held different types of weapons haphazardly bundled together. The organization freak within him tutted at the messy and somewhat unordered way the items were categorized, but also realized that now was not the time to fix that.

Maybe later, he surmised.

Based on his estimates of what Lucy should be comfortable with, he took three of what he thought of what was the most appropriate blades and brought them back up to the show room. Beckoning her back to the counter, he laid out the three gladii and gestured towards them.

"Why don't you try out these blades first? Swing them around a little, maybe try a little of your footwork. If any of these are acceptable then we can complete the transaction right now. If not, we will just pick the nearest one and I will do a little adjustment according to your needs, and it should be available for picking up in a day or two. For such orders, we accept a 50% deposit first, and then you pay the other 50% when you pick up your order."

He pushed a gladius nearer to her and continued warmly, "Here, why don't you try swinging this around?"

OOCYou're free to decide on the lengths and weights of the three gladii, and also to decide if they fit your specifications or not.

[Lucy Colburn]

Lucy acknowledged the Isur's question. A gladius was exactly what she was looking for. She had no other weapon in mind. At least not for now. She knew that the gladius was not a weapon normally used by people who favour blades, as those who used swords tend to either favour the more common long or short swords, the bigger bladed cutlass, sabres or falchion, or the thinner blades like the rapiers.

Daggers were also a really popular choice among blade lovers as they were easy to keep and conceal, and didn't necessary require a lot of skill for self-protection. Excelling at the weapon, however, was a totally separate matter.

Upon learning of her choice of weapon, he replied with much affirmation. "We don't have that many of that here, since it's not a very common weapon to have in stock, but as per our policy, it will cost the same provided the specifications you're looking aren't already available. If you want custom enhancements, extensions, or modifications, or of a different material other than steel, then refer to the additional pricings here" He then pointed towards a section in the catalogue indicating the information regarding "Weapon Extras".

She then noticed the Isur's eyes fixed onto her, checking her out for a few chimes. He gave her a bright smile, taking her slightly aback, due to the sharp contrast in which the smile conflicted with his dour personality that he had shown so far. Recovering, she reciprocated with a bright smile of her own. "Like what you see?" Her question went unanswered, as all he said was “Give me a moment, stay right here!"

He headed into supplies room on the side of the building, probably looking at his store, for whatever supply of gladii he had available. Lucy walked around the show room, just looking around further to see how intricate some of the designs were on the hilt of the weapons and the engravings on the armour pieces. The Isur then returned with three gladii in hand. He beckoned her to return back to the counter.

"Why don't you try out these blades first? Swing them around a little, maybe try a little of your footwork. If any of these are acceptable then we can complete the transaction right now. If not, we will just pick the nearest one and I will do a little adjustment according to your needs, and it should be available for picking up in a day or two. For such orders, we accept a 50% deposit first, and then you pay the other 50% when you pick up your order." He then proceeded to push one of the gladius towards her, saying "Here, why don't you try swinging this around?" Taking one of the gladius into hand, she gripped it firmly, feeling how it felt in her hand. Satisfied with the grip, she took several steps back, and took several swings with the sword. It felt pretty comfortable in her hands, and wielding the steel blade among her fingers invoked a warm feeling in her. It made her feel powerful.

She then began testing out several of the sword moves she regularly used, which included a forward thrust, a downward slash, and upward strike. Delighted with her selection, she presented the only one of the three that was presented to her to the Isur in front of her.
"I like the feel of this one. I'll take this."

Gladius MeasurementsThe gladius she chose measured somewhere between sixty to sixty five centimetres(twenty three to twenty five inches) and weighed around seven hundred grams(one to two pounds).

Payment-40GM Deducted from Ledger

[Aedifalse]

Aedi watched carefully as Lucy went through her various stances in getting a feel of the gladius. The two main reasons were so that he could try to see if he could learn anything new from her stances and swings as he had no combat training, and the other was to ensure that she did not accidentally break or cut anything in the shop.

He did not fault her and gave her her time to do so, for he knew that the familiarity of a swordsman with his weapon can spell life and death in the moment of impulse, where that fragment of weight might be responsible for the split-second of haste or impediment.

After she declared her choice, the Isur cocked a brow at her, and gestured expansively at the other gladii, as if to pointedly ask her if that was her final choice given that she had not even tried out the other two weapons.

"Are you certain you are comfortable with your choice then? Care to try the other two? If not maybe if you think you might require a little adjustment to be more comfortable?" He asked, just to make sure. Buyer's remorse was a very real thing, and it was his job to minimize it as much as possible.

If there were no other things, it would be the end of their transaction, after accepting her gold of course. However, he paused for a moment, as if to remember something. His face brightened as he remembered what he was missing out.

"Would you like anything else to help you in your adventures? A good defense tend to serve well as a great offense as well," He suggested archly, since she did not seem like she might have any armor.

Of course, there was the chance that she did not simply wear hers, but as Rals said, cross-selling was a great strategy to have repeat customers and satisfied coffers. Other than good service and high quality gear.

[Perplexity]

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Notice

It is with deepest regret that I must inform you the contents of this thread have been rendered null and void. All instances of roleplay within the domain of Zeltiva concerning the characters of Telor Riptide and Aedifex are to be ceased immediately. This is due to multiple infractions upon the rules governing the utilization of Mizahar as a website which are as follows:

• Players are allowed a maximum of 5 active accounts.
  
• Two PCs from the same player cannot be in the same Domain at the same time unless they have a really good reason and permission from the location's DS or a Founder.

This decision has been reached after extensive investigation. It is final.

Sincerely,
Perplexity- DS of Zeltiva

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