The local blacksmith had his forge not too far away from the alchemist’s lab, probably for convenience of exchange between the two! Smithies always needed salts and oils of many different grades and purities, while an alchemist always would require new tools and flasks! It was a match made in heaven, some would say… if they ignored the huge hazard that it was having two very flammable businesses so close to each other.
At least Gabrielle was appreciative of not having to return to the thick of the crowd.
When entering the humble stone building, the first thing the three ladies could see were the many different pieces of weaponry available for purchase: from the humble shortsword to lances and pikes of different complexity, all hanging from wooden counters and just waiting to be bought and taken into new adventures.
Lucrece wasn’t really that interested; as a very responsible owner, she took religious care of her halberd precisely to avoid having to replace it! After all, every little piece of steelwork was quite expensive, sometimes to an outrageous margin! But she knew better than to question the prices of a blacksmith, specially when surrounded by his pieces.
Never forget: Blacksmiths tend to be proficient with every piece of work they produce, and they are not afraid to show it if angered.
“Be careful not to touch a thing, Gabi… Gabi?”
The lancer turned around only to find a distressed Hanna pointing onwards. Gabrielle had taken the initiative here of all places, already standing by the forge’s master: a short man around Gabi’s own size, of strong complexion and a fuzzy, abundant black beard that certainly made up for his head’s own lack of hair.
She spoke in a hurried yet hushed tone, trying not to disrupt the man too much as the smith studied her blade with a disgruntled look in his eyes.
“... and that’s when the blade got stuck in one of those bastards, they must be very thick blooded!” Gabrielle said, crossing her arms and shooting an angry glance to the side. “The steel is ruined now, isn’t it?”
“You haven’t been oiling this sword, at all.” The man commented. “No matter how thin blooded a creature is, this thing will get stuck on anything. But it is not ruined.”
“Can you fix it, sir Smithy?”
“I can certainly do. But only if you promise to take a better care of it from now on…”
“Teach me and I shall do so, sir!”
“Har! I ain’t got no time to teach, but I guess I can spare a few minutes…”
Hanna and Lucrece simply stared as the woman casually spoke to the hulking man, this had to be the most talkative Gabrielle had been in a while. She even paid for her own work with her own money.
“Oi!” Luci finally stepped on, growling slightly. “What happened to the whole ‘I have no money’ deal? Did you lie to me, you scoundrel?”
“I did.” Gabi showed no remorse. Honestly, the bluntness of it all made the lancer feel more proud than angry. “I am sorry.”
“No no, it’s fine. You keep your money hidden… but we are being sponsored today, remember?”
Hanna grumbled. She was perfectly fine letting Gabrielle solve her own costs, but she didn’t want to build a reputation as a lousy quest giver, so with a pain in her heart she returned the money to the redhead. Gabi wasn’t really sure what “being sponsored” really entailed, but she was happy to get her money back, quickly hiding it in a pouch hanging from her neck. Once again, Lucrece nodded in approval.
“The sword will be ready in the afternoon.” The gruff man gave Lucrece a curious look. Probably staring at that missing eye. “What else do you need, ladies?”
“Ah, right. I need my halberd sharpened, and my brigandine mended. Now that I think about it, my partner here needs one of her own, too.”
“Why can’t I get steel armour?” Gabi tilted her head to the side, but the gruff smithy shook his head. “No? You don’t make them, sir?”
“I do make them. But you don’t want that for killing giant rats.” He shook his head once again. “For beasts it is better to keep your armor light and resistant to cuts. Or else you will be battered and then opened like a can of spam.”
“I thought steel armor was the best!” Gabrielle’s eyes were opened once again to new possibilities.
“It’s the most sturdy, but it is also cumbersome, hard to maintain, expensive and such. Only buy steel when you have the money to spare.” Luci intervened in the conversation, nodding sagely along with the blacksmith.
“I see.”
Hanna had to loudly clear her throat to get the three to stop musing on armour and its usage. The man would grumpily get up from his stool and take Gabrielle’s measurements, noting them down on a piece of paper hanging from his belt. With all in place and all works paid in advance, the old smithy shoo’d all of them out of his workshop to get started. Things would be ready to be taken by sunset, he said! So for now, they could just trust the man’s word and wait.
“Well then, that should be all when it comes to sponsorship.” Hanna crossed her arms, she wouldn’t accept anything else on that matter. “I have to go fetch things for the tavern so, if you excuse me! We expect you two to come fully equipped and ready by sunset.”
“Or else”, the three of them thought at the same time. As the bigger lady left them behind, Luci couldn’t help but feel the weight of the chains hanging from both her and Gabrielle’s neck right then and there: if they did anything to upset that woman, she would report them to the Church and get them interrogated for possible witchcraft, and considering the times they were on, that would certainly mean torture…
If not death.
“Welp! There’s one place I need to visit before we get going to the parks Gabi, if you wouldn’t mind?”
“Do you want to buy more things?”
“Not exactly… I need to visit the Church’s healer.”
“They have a healer here!?” Gabrielle’s eyes once again opened like big plates.
“Most churches have at least one healer on duty, Gabi…”
That was true to the bigger churches, but Gabrielle had never even dared to step into a big city before that time, much less a church. Their steps soon abandoned the Great Market and after a little walking through the city’s main square, they would find the beautiful Church: a T shaped building as it was tradition with its head pointed straight to the East, right towards AlKairos. It was built with peach coloured brickwork and beautiful, white woodwork on its many windows. The Golden T, a symbol of the Saints, crowned each of the three towers on its points.
“There it is, ain’t she a beaut, Gabi?”
“It is certainly beautiful…”
“Alright. Ready to get in?”
Before the redhead could say anything, Lucrece took off her hat and firmly planted it on the girl’s head, making sure to cover as much hair as possible. It was a big hat, so it was easy to leave most of it obscured.
“There. Perfect. Just for today, you hear me?” The lancer turned right around and ran into the church, all while Gabrielle simply stared into space for a moment, hat on her head. She walked over to look at her own reflection in a nearby fountain.
She was smiling.
The local blacksmith had his forge not too far away from the alchemist’s lab, probably for convenience of exchange between the two! Smithies always needed salts and oils of many different grades and purities, while an alchemist always would require new tools and flasks! It was a match made in heaven, some would say… if they ignored the huge hazard that it was having two very flammable businesses so close to each other.
At least Gabrielle was appreciative of not having to return to the thick of the crowd.
When entering the humble stone building, the first thing the three ladies could see were the many different pieces of weaponry available for purchase: from the humble shortsword to lances and pikes of different complexity, all hanging from wooden counters and just waiting to be bought and taken into new adventures.
Lucrece wasn’t really that interested; as a very responsible owner, she took religious care of her halberd precisely to avoid having to replace it! After all, every little piece of steelwork was quite expensive, sometimes to an outrageous margin! But she knew better than to question the prices of a blacksmith, specially when surrounded by his pieces.
Never forget: Blacksmiths tend to be proficient with every piece of work they produce, and they are not afraid to show it if angered.
“Be careful not to touch a thing, Gabi… Gabi?”
The lancer turned around only to find a distressed Hanna pointing onwards. Gabrielle had taken the initiative here of all places, already standing by the forge’s master: a short man around Gabi’s own size, of strong complexion and a fuzzy, abundant black beard that certainly made up for his head’s own lack of hair.
She spoke in a hurried yet hushed tone, trying not to disrupt the man too much as the smith studied her blade with a disgruntled look in his eyes.
“... and that’s when the blade got stuck in one of those bastards, they must be very thick blooded!” Gabrielle said, crossing her arms and shooting an angry glance to the side. “The steel is ruined now, isn’t it?”
“You haven’t been oiling this sword, at all.” The man commented. “No matter how thin blooded a creature is, this thing will get stuck on anything. But it is not ruined.”
“Can you fix it, sir Smithy?”
“I can certainly do. But only if you promise to take a better care of it from now on…”
“Teach me and I shall do so, sir!”
“Har! I ain’t got no time to teach, but I guess I can spare a few minutes…”
Hanna and Lucrece simply stared as the woman casually spoke to the hulking man, this had to be the most talkative Gabrielle had been in a while. She even paid for her own work with her own money.
“Oi!” Luci finally stepped on, growling slightly. “What happened to the whole ‘I have no money’ deal? Did you lie to me, you scoundrel?”
“I did.” Gabi showed no remorse. Honestly, the bluntness of it all made the lancer feel more proud than angry. “I am sorry.”
“No no, it’s fine. You keep your money hidden… but we are being sponsored today, remember?”
Hanna grumbled. She was perfectly fine letting Gabrielle solve her own costs, but she didn’t want to build a reputation as a lousy quest giver, so with a pain in her heart she returned the money to the redhead. Gabi wasn’t really sure what “being sponsored” really entailed, but she was happy to get her money back, quickly hiding it in a pouch hanging from her neck. Once again, Lucrece nodded in approval.
“The sword will be ready in the afternoon.” The gruff man gave Lucrece a curious look. Probably staring at that missing eye. “What else do you need, ladies?”
“Ah, right. I need my halberd sharpened, and my brigandine mended. Now that I think about it, my partner here needs one of her own, too.”
“Why can’t I get steel armour?” Gabi tilted her head to the side, but the gruff smithy shook his head. “No? You don’t make them, sir?”
“I do make them. But you don’t want that for killing giant rats.” He shook his head once again. “For beasts it is better to keep your armor light and resistant to cuts. Or else you will be battered and then opened like a can of spam.”
“I thought steel armor was the best!” Gabrielle’s eyes were opened once again to new possibilities.
“It’s the most sturdy, but it is also cumbersome, hard to maintain, expensive and such. Only buy steel when you have the money to spare.” Luci intervened in the conversation, nodding sagely along with the blacksmith.
“I see.”
Hanna had to loudly clear her throat to get the three to stop musing on armour and its usage. The man would grumpily get up from his stool and take Gabrielle’s measurements, noting them down on a piece of paper hanging from his belt. With all in place and all works paid in advance, the old smithy shoo’d all of them out of his workshop to get started. Things would be ready to be taken by sunset, he said! So for now, they could just trust the man’s word and wait.
“Well then, that should be all when it comes to sponsorship.” Hanna crossed her arms, she wouldn’t accept anything else on that matter. “I have to go fetch things for the tavern so, if you excuse me! We expect you two to come fully equipped and ready by sunset.”
“Or else”, the three of them thought at the same time. As the bigger lady left them behind, Luci couldn’t help but feel the weight of the chains hanging from both her and Gabrielle’s neck right then and there: if they did anything to upset that woman, she would report them to the Church and get them interrogated for possible witchcraft, and considering the times they were on, that would certainly mean torture…
If not death.
“Welp! There’s one place I need to visit before we get going to the parks Gabi, if you wouldn’t mind?”
“Do you want to buy more things?”
“Not exactly… I need to visit the Church’s healer.”
“They have a healer here!?” Gabrielle’s eyes once again opened like big plates.
“Most churches have at least one healer on duty, Gabi…”
That was true to the bigger churches, but Gabrielle had never even dared to step into a big city before that time, much less a church. Their steps soon abandoned the Great Market and after a little walking through the city’s main square, they would find the beautiful Church: a T shaped building as it was tradition with its head pointed straight to the East, right towards AlKairos. It was built with peach coloured brickwork and beautiful, white woodwork on its many windows. The Golden T, a symbol of the Saints, crowned each of the three towers on its points.
“There it is, ain’t she a beaut, Gabi?”
“It is certainly beautiful…”
“Alright. Ready to get in?”
Before the redhead could say anything, Lucrece took off her hat and firmly planted it on the girl’s head, making sure to cover as much hair as possible. It was a big hat, so it was easy to leave most of it obscured.
“There. Perfect. Just for today, you hear me?” The lancer turned right around and ran into the church, all while Gabrielle simply stared into space for a moment, hat on her head. She walked over to look at her own reflection in a nearby fountain.
She was smiling.
