[Mechanical Marvels] A Matter of Thought [Kadurro & Karrin]

[Kadurro]

Kadurro took a seat, and let himself breathe deep. "Redemption is good," he said, letting Karrin and deGrey get on with their tinkering. He found his eyes wandering as he waited silently, gazing upon all of the foreign devices that graced the shop. I'll have to ask him what these things do, if I end up working here. Some of them are just downright confusing.

Kadurro began to wonder about his competition. Certainly a capable man. Bright enough? Perhaps; it is hard to say, when he talks of "gee ones" and "gee twos"...and what of deGrey? This place, full of his devices, is a testament to his skill, yet it is a skill that few see a need for. Kadurro made a quick glance towards deGrey, now tending to his furnace. A hard worker, surely... Kadurro bit his lower lip in concentration. Simply coming right out and asking wouldn't fly with him. And the thought of him losing his shop probably wouldn't help persuade him, either, he thought to himself.

Kadurro looked up from his chair, taking in the sight of the workshop, now illuminated by a lively flame, and let himself put out a sigh of exasperation. "Shame," he mumbled. He would make a fine accomplice, under different circumstances.

[Karrin]

Eyes glittering, Karrin took his design back, nodded at deGrey, and began working on making his design a reality. Glancing back at deGrey, he said "I'm not sure that will be necessary for now. Wood is my specialty, and besides, metal will be too heavy."

He started by looking for two pieces of wood that were about the right size. Using a quill, he traced a rough design of a hawk with wings outstretched on one. Once he was satisfied, he started cutting it, slightly bigger than the outline.

Once he was finished cutting it, he started polishing it, using gradually finer files before using an abrasive to polish it off. By then, it fitted the outline exactly.

Then, he did the same with the other piece, tracing, cutting, then polishing.

Shifting through a box, Karrin looked for two identical gears, and one smaller one. Setting them on the table, he went back to search for matching reels

(It's up to you if he finds them.)

[Alistair deGrey]

The bellows emanated a warmth throughout the workshop to accompany the angry glow of the coals. deGrey halted his pumping of the bellows, and decided that was good enough for the time being. Alistair saw Kadurro take a seat, and suddenly a seat seemed very appealing to the gadgeteer. He had been on his feet all day, and most of the night before. deGrey walked over to the area where Kadurro had sat and leaned against the wall about two feet away from the man, sliding down to take a seat.

deGrey opened his mouth to speak "So Ka..." Upon which he saw Karrin hard at work on his tracing. He scrambled to his feet again and walked over to the wood worker, casually glancing at his work from around his shoulder. Walking around to the other side of the table, deGrey saw he was working on the hawk design.

For the entire process Alistair continued watching Karrin, taking notes on a parchment. Woodworking was as foreign to Alistair as The Ancient Tongue, and he was enthralled with learning this. deGrey waited as Karrin began digging through the gears and reels. After a few moments of examining the drawing on Karrin's parchment, Alistair stepped over and plucked the few necessary components from the piles and set them on the table next to what Sonyn had collected. "Yes, I do believe this is what we require... Mmm, try those and we shall see if the sizes are correct." Alistair flipped over his notes and scrawled down the sizes he had selected, to ensure he would have the necessary components for future production.

[Karrin]

Karrin nodded in thanks to deGrey. He checked to see if it fitted. It did, with a little extra. Karrin thought for a minute, then scribbled down a note in the margins of his pictures to make an indent in the other piece of wood.

Measuring the circumference of each gear, he figured that it would take approximately 2.5 rotations of the smaller one to turn each of the bigger ones. He scribbled that down as well. Placing each gear in turn on the wood, he shuffled them around until he was satisfied with their position.

He was tracing where he would cut, when something occured to him. "Oh snap." He thought. but then retracted it. He could always extend the reel.

He spent the next few minutes putting everything together. Now, all he needed was the cat gut.

[Alistair deGrey]

Excellent, deGrey thought. This was developing nicely; however, it was now time to send these two louts off on their own. "My good sirs Kadurro and Karrin, I am pleased to tell you that this exercise has been very informative for me." He leaned forward over the table and locked his elbows, supporting him while he spoke. "However, we are not finished. As you may see, I have no catgut within my shop." Alistair tore off a piece from the parchment he had been writing on and began to scrawl on it. "I require you to do three things before you are hired: first you must venture forth and purchase the required catgut to complete the machine, then Karrin will complete his invention in the field, and finally Kadurro shall sell it." Alistair righted himself and handed the paper with the steps written on them to Kadurro over in the chair. "What you sell the machine for does matter, i've estimated the cost of this gadget at 10 gold rimmed mizas including materials and labor. Therefore, you need to sell it for anything greater than that. Bring me back the signature of the customer on the back of this paper and the mizas. You will be timed. If you bring back the mizas and signature within a sufficient amount of time, you will both be hired."

With that Alistair reached into his pocket, pulled out three gold rimmed mizas, and gave them to Kadurro as well. "To cover the catgut, now off with you both."

[Kadurro]

Kadurro took the list and the Mizas, taking care to keep them seperate from his own. "Alright. Let's get to it, then," he said to Karrin. He had anticipated that he would be asked to prove his self-proclaimed talent, and while Karrin had been assembling his kite reel, Kadurro had been thinking about who would be interested in buying such a thing. And for at least 10 gold ones, too. Ultimately, he could only think of one group of people who would even be remotely interested in this particular item: people who fly kites.

Unfortunately, Kadurro didn't know anyone who flew kites. Still, there was a lot riding on this test; he couldn't back down now, not when he was so close to success. Opening the door leading out of Mechanical Marvels, Karrin right behind him, he left the shop, rereading the instructions that deGrey had given to him.

[continued here.]

[Kadurro]

[continued from here]

Karrin bit his lip as Sina named her price. Too much, he thought frantically. Kadurro, apparently, had also had the same thought. Clasped hands, a coy smile, a desperate expression, and he got the price down to 2 miza's.

"When you talk with your 'special someone', be honest with them."

Karrin grinned. Hilarious. Just hilarious.

"A job is a means to an end. So, what's your 'end'? What do you stand to gain from this place?"

He scowled as Kadurro asked this question. "What else am I to do? I'm a carpenters son, with no experience in anything else. I've got no other option." He said bitterly.

With that, he brushed past Kadduro into the shop. "We're back, Mr de'Grey." He said curtly. Walking to the work bench, he unscrewed the last gear, then turned to Kadurro for the Catgut.

Kadurro frowned as Karrin moved past him. No other option... He followed behind Karrin, still carrying the lengths of wire. Stuck somewhere because he doesn't know of any other way...he reminds me of her. "We're back, Mr. deGrey," Karrin said curtly.

Kadurro set the wire down at the work bench next to Karrin, who was already busy unscrewing parts, and fished the last gold Miza out of his pocket. "Your 'catgut' cost 4 gold, but I was able to get it for 2 gold and my dignity." Funny, I always figured my pride would have been worth more than 2 gold Mizas. When he saw Karrin turn towards him, looking for the wire, Kadurro pointed towards where he had sat them down on the bench. The kite reel was nearly completed, and all that remained was to sell it to someone. Kadurro didn't know anyone in particular with a penchant for flying kites, but he wouldn't let that deter him. How hard can it be?

[Karrin]

(OK, Alistair doesn't seem to be posting.)

Karrin turned back to his kite reel. Winding the kite string around the gears, he closed it, then winded it slowly.

What was that just then? What happened? Why did it bother him so that Kadurro had asked? It was just that. He had no other options. So what? ........ So what if this was the only place he could find a job? Kadurro didn't have to rub it in like that. Expecially after his little show with Sina. He had choices. Karrin didn't.

He was done. "Come on." He muttered, trying to keep the bitterness from his voice. He was only partially successful. He walked out the door, nodding to alistair on the way out.

Stopping outside the door, he turned to Kadurro. "Where to now?"

[Kadurro]

"Where to now?"

Kadurro started walking, and Karrin followed behind him. "Now, we find someone who flies kites. You wouldn't happen to know where we could find someone like that, would you? Unless, you were making a kite reel for no particular reason." Kadurro had a plan for selling the reel, but it was hinged on finding someone who needed it.

Kadurro stretched his arms above his head and let out a sigh. This whole exercise is going to leave me in a foul mood, I swear. I can run errands, but selling things on demand is like commanding fish to jump onto spears. The only way to do it easily is to lie to the fish. Kadurro couldn't help but think about Karrin. He would have preferred to go out alone; if that were the case, he could have wandered around until just before the time limit, signed the paper in illegible scrawl, and paid the ten Mizas himself. But he doesn't seem the type to just let things like that slide by unnoticed, he thought. Which meant he would have to be persuasive and deceitful. Still, it won't make a bit of difference if we can't find someone who would be interested in it.