Solo A Taut Bow I

[Moritz Craven]

1 Summer 522

As Moritz worked his way into the outpost once more, stepping out from the opening door of the dovecote and shutting it behind him so someone else could travel through it, his mind shifted back to earlier that morning.

He had a vivid dream, which still to this bell stuck in his head. It was from the perspective of a person atop a building... Not too big, but fairly tall. At least in the part his perspective was viewing it from. All he could see was the road below in front of the structure... And the bow in his hands. A single arrow ready to be pulled but not yet set. The bow string not yet pulled tight and back with the arrow loaded... But almost... With an anticipation of doing it.

As in dreams he had little sense of time, though it had felt like a good bit of it passed before anything changed besides the bow holder slightly shifting and doing some small things.

And then... A man on a horse passed, and then another, and then a carriage with an open window and a man inside... Passing so close below the building... With practiced motion a hand moved. Setting the arrow. Pulling back the string... Sighting along the bow... Aiming... Carefully... Waiting for the right moment... And then when the angle was just right... When the carriage was just so along the road... The arrow was released and let fly.

It was at that moment that he had woken. He never saw the arrow land. Never saw if it hit its mark... The person within the carriage... But at the same time... From the perspective of the one holding the bow, the moment the arrow left it that person had known it was going to hit its mark. They were sure of it. It was an odd dream, one he could not shake off.

Still, mind on other things, Moritz tried to head inside the Outpost and put his mind to other things. To move on. But he was finding it hard to do. Did it mean something? He did not think he knew any of the people involved. Nor did he recognize the street. He was fairly certain it was not in Lhavit, and it certainly was not in Syka.

Waving at the man... Paul maybe? Who handed out maps and was currently busy Moritz moved on, once more heading to the bazaar. His feet carried him without thinking, having gone that route enough times that it was almost habit, and so he was able to let his mind wander to other things as he moved. He kept this distracted state until he was almost to the bazaar when he sensed someone moving towards him for a collision. Moving to the side to avoid them the other person did likewise, and then did so again as he moved the other way, until finally both he and the stranger collided and he was knocked onto his rear. The other man, not Moritz, who fell and rolled backward as he hit the ground, not quite stopping moving but turning the backward falling motion into a tumble. A moment later he was crouched facing the other person, a man, who was flat on his back.

WC: 546

[Moritz Craven]

Not really sure who was at fault, Moritz slowly regained his footing. Once he did he looked over to see the other person, a man who was normal enough. Average, non de-script, almost forgettable. Stepping over he offered the man a hand, pulling him back to his feet.

If anything both of them were at fault, neither stopping in time and both over correcting in the same way... Well assuming the man had not run into him on purpose. So far as he knew no one had mugged him in the past, nor had he been robbed in the Outpost, and it was his understanding the place had some strict rules about such things with divine enforcement.

With that in mind Moritz did not disregard it as a possibility, but neither did he find it too likely. Once on his feet the man bent over and recovered an item from the ground, forcing it into Moritz hand. "Ah, my fellow, I believe this is yours. Must have dropped it."

What Moritz found himself holding was a well made coin purse with a drawstring at the top. It was also certainly not his, let alone had he dropped it. A frown on his face Moritz tried to work out what was going on, but was unsure. He had thought it was possible the man was trying to rob him, but now he was not only not trying to take anything but was giving him something that was not his.

"Uh... What? No, that is not mine. It must be someone else's."

Not one to take something that was another persons Moritz tried to explain that the coin purse was not his, but the man seemed quite insistent on it. "No, no, I definitely saw it. It is YOURS. Take it..." Once more the man tried to force it into Moritz hands, emphasizing the face that it was Moritz possession.

"Look, you seem to be trying to help, but I'm saying its not mine... Maybe someone else..."

Before he could even finish speaking the man seemed to swell, not physically but in terms of his aura, bearing down on Moritz like a tiger about to snap up a small rabbit. "IT... IS.... YOURS... Now take it!"

With one final shove the man pushed the object at Moritz, before turning on the spot and walking off. Stumbling a bit from the object being pressed upon him so forcibly Moritz took a moment to orient himself, before turning to find the man... Gone... All that he saw in that direction was a bunch of people moving and entering or exiting the bazaar. But the man from before seemed to have melted among the crowd. Quite confused Moritz tried to find a passing guard, one of the people who enforced law in the outpost and was blessed by the local divine, but found he could not recall what the man had looked like. He had been so... Average... Had he had brown hair? Or black? What color was his eyes? Did he have any features that stood out. Moritz could not answer even one of these things. "So... Let me get this straight... A strange man gave you something, clearly a well made bag... You have no details about the person, what they look like, or any way to track them down... No crime was committed... The bag does not seem to have been stolen... So uh... What are you reporting?"

At a loss for words Moritz tried to explain, but found he had nothing to add. With a shrug the Keiss finally walked off muttering something under his breath to his partner, leaving Moritz standing there.

Finally recalling the item was a bag or purse Moritz pulled the drawstring, opened the top, and pulled out what was inside... Which seemed to be a large number of gold rimmed mizas. He did this a few times, but found the bag held more than it looked to from the outside, and he was having trouble finding the bottom. Clearly it was some kind of magical item, one which could hold a lot of money in it and already had some inside... But if it had been stolen surely someone would be reporting it. Normally people however did not give away well made magical items full of money. The entire event left Moritz feeling confused, but with a shrug he put the coin purse away among his things and decided to not dwell on it. He could tell nothing good would come of it.

WC: 757

[Moritz Craven]

Holding his newly gained money Moritz headed off into the bazaar, deciding in that moment to not dwell on what had happened. He had tried to explain it, had tried to make things right, and the man who had given it to him seemed to really want to have him have it... He did not see anything else he could do, nor did he think dwelling on it would help anything. And so, he would move on.

Mentally focusing on it for a moment he imagined the thought like a waft of air floating around his head, and then he pictured it... Floating away like a bit of water on the tide.

Shaking his head afterward he once more got his bearings and delved deeper inside. At the moment though he was not paying much attention, moving past one booth. A stand. Some pottery. Some jewelry. None of it seemed right and so he kept on going past these looking for other things. As he thought on the wares his mind drifted back, back to the dream he had that morning on the roof of a building... A bow in his hand, a arrow readied and loosed... As he thought back on it he stopped moving his feet and realized he was standing before a booth with bows. He had been to the bazaar many times so perhaps he recalled where things were... Or he had perhaps just stumbled upon it and stopped upon seeing things. Or perhaps a bit of both, since he did usually go looking at weapons when he came.

Going from one bow to another he saw some small, some bigger. Some were a single piece of wood, not currently looking like a bow really since they were unstrung. Others looked like they were made of bone or horn and bent oddly compared to the others... They looked like a bow even then, not needing to be strung to appear as one since it was permanently formed as that.

It was as he was passing a particular one that he truly froze, his eyes staring intently at a single weapon. It was a large bow, and with the permanent bends... And it also looked just like the bow from his dream. Perhaps it was made of the same material? It did not seem to be like the others around it, and it was clear the horn or bones of the creature used to make it had to be quite large. Something felt... Odd, about it. Unique. It was not quite like the others. Though why or what it was made of he was less sure about.

Turning to the owner of the stall Moritz pointed his hand at the bow.

"That one, it seems kind of... Different... Whats its stories. And also, do you have any Voril weapons?"

With a smile the man looked at the weapon in question, eyeing it carefully. "Yes, that is an odd one, just finished it a bit ago. I had a supplier bring in some odd material, and it seemed just perfect for making a bow. Try picking it up. Its oddly light, but also strong for its size. For how dense it is you would think it would have quite a heft. It was a pain to work the material, but I think the final product speaks for itself. As for Voril, I'm not familiar with that, I don't have any such things. But if you like this bow, perhaps we could look more closely? I have all the things you might need for starting archery. Consider it a... Starter package for a newly minted archer."

WC: 607

[Moritz Craven]

Carefully picking up the bow Moritz inspected its length. It was not currently strung, but he could see how it would be. He tilted it one way, then the other, the shopkeeper watching with an smile as he perused his wares. He seemed genuinely happy for someone to like his wares, and excited about the prospect of Moritz learning or bows. Which was odd since Moritz had only just met the man, But then, he seemed to also have an aura of contentment about him, one who loved his work.

Of a medium build, he had longish hair that was red for the most part but was showing signs of greying as he was not so young as he used to be. Still though he seemed quite firm and strong, and when Moritz handed him the bow back he showed Moritz how to string the bow with his arm muscles straining and showing their power. The first one was easy to get on one end, but it took some muscle to get the second one on. Once that was done he unstrung it again and handed it back to Moritz, giving him a chance to do the same.

With quite a bit more effort Moritz worked at duplicating the action, stringing one end of it before moving to the other end. He had to strain both arms to move the gap, and ended up missing the loop on the other end several times. Again, and again, his arms starting to burn from the strain, putting in his full strength as he tried again and finally the other end fitted into its spot and landed in place, tightly placed on the bow. He held up the bow for a moment and watched it, seeing how the string was taught but gave room to pull it, and could tell it would need a lot of arm strength to pull this well. Of course, he had been meaning to train his muscles and his arms, so this was as good a time as any...

After a bit he unstrung the bow, much easier than stringing it though also requiring caution. He could feel a bit of ache in his arms, something he knew would pass in a bit, but it clearly showed that this bow was not meant for a person without some grip strength.

"How much do you want for it?"

Not trying to bet against himself Moritz had the man make the first offer, though he seemed like a good person who would not overprice him. "Well, this is a composite longbow, a beauty of one... But admittedly, I got the materials for cheap, so I can sell it to you for the same price as a normal one. One hundred gold mizas, and I'll call it a sale. Oh, and I also have some other things you will need. Arrows, holders, guards, the like. Just give me a moment and I'll tally you up and get it all rounded."

With that the man dove behind the counter, taking out one item after another and showing each to Moritz one by one. A set of twenty arrows for a longbow, one gold miza. A case to store the bow in when it was not in use made of wood and with a soft lining, twenty gold mizas. Likewise a quiver to hold the arrows was another twenty gold mizas... Moritz thought that was it but the man kept pulling things out one after another. He also had a glove with leather on only a few fingers, to keep the fingers from being hurt by the string, but Moritz already had a pair of fine leather gloves and so did not need them. Lastly was an arm guard to protect the users forearm from the bowstrings kick back. This was also a single gold miza, and erring on caution Moritz bought it as well.

Pulling the money out of his new coin purse Moritz paid the man, adding it all up in his head. One hundred... Plus twenty and twenty... One hundred twenty, on to one hundred forty... And then one and one, making... One hundred forty two gold mizas total. Paying the man Moritz put the things away, the bow and bow string in the case, the arrows in the quiver which he put on his back next to his pack, and the arm guard he put in his pack. As for the bow case he simply carried that, planning to take it home now with him.

Thanking the man one final time Moritz nodded and headed off, satisfied with his purchase... And feeling like he had appeased his odd dream in some way. Though surely that was not the case, after all a dream was just a dream and nothing more... Right?

Purchase :

Longbow, Composite- 100 gm
Longbow Arrows (20) - 1 gm
Bow Case- 20 gm
Quiver- 20 gm
Archer's Arm Guard- 1 gm

Total - 142 gm

WC: 802