Blunted Order

Log Info

• Title: Blutned Order
• Emitter: Warrick
• Characters: Warrick, Ous, Verna, Schara
• Place: Lower Trades
• Time: March 15th, 2023
• Summary: Warrick gets a wrong order fulfilled from a delivery and Ous checks with him to make sure everything is well. Verna is around, shopping, and Ous is surprised to see that she has hair! Schara had gotten off work early, and Ous is highly suspicious of them being a golem.

Lower Trades, Midday

While the skies were overcast, the cool breeze snakes through the smitheries and foundries. A note that spring was coming in full swing very soon. Amongst these buildings, of course, were the scattering of different shops. One here namely was that of a store named 'Retzner's General Goods'.

The front door opens, instead of a clang of a bell, a number of mana lamps go off inside. Stepping out is a middle aged eldanar man clad in a grey overcoat with a longsword strapped to his back. He ambles over to a crate next to the front door. Cracking it open, pulling out a few full quivers of bolts and setting them aside, counting. He blinks. Squints into one of the quivers. Then groans, rubbing his face.

It's hard to tell weather Ous was coming or going. Truth be told, Even the ranger himself didn't likely know. Despite the fact that the air was still on the cool side, Ous made his way along the street sans Cloak today. Dressed in a pair of Woolen pants tucked into Fringed boots that came up to mid calf, he topped the enemble off with a Thick Shirt made of Elk hides and trimmed in Wolf pelts. A thick belt around his waist seemed to be there to both keep his pants up and to support myriad axes. A bearded hand axe tucked in front of the right hip, an ornately carved and etched Battle Axe tucked across the left hip, a pair of throwing axes crossed behind his back in a scout carry, and a long length of Spider silk rope wrapped around his waist like a second belt. top that off with a small knife sticking out of the top of the left boot, and one might consider Ous to be compensating for something. Possibly a case of small axe envy?

the way he carries himself with his gear speaks of another story though. there's no swagger, there's no constantly checking to see if the weapons are still in place, the tall Aesir born man moves as though he's been carrying this load his whole life. Bright Emerald green eyes peering out from between a thick beard, and an equally thick mane of Dark brown hair, he whistles a happy, tuneless sort of whistle as he moves, pausing as he sees the man in distress with his bolts. "Ye alright Mister?"

The lower trades boasts a number of items not so readily available in the upper districts, or offers the same are more reasonable prices. Verna takes advantage of the current lull in precipitation to attend to a few last-minute purchases. A simple basket hangs from the crook of her elbow as she moves along, cloakhood doffed in favor of the ...semi-sun.

Well, Schara was left with little to do for the time being. Sometimes when an artisan was at work, the best thing that could be done was to stay out of their way. So it was that the artificer was let off early to wander the streets of the district. The bronze covered figure was wandering somewhat aimlessly without a plan for being out at the time, which led them to come across the general store, and Warrick outside it. "Oh, hello Warrick, and someone I don't know." They greet in a low, staticky tone from behind the helmet. "Are you alright? Did you hit your face carrying that box?"

The middle aged human cranes his head up to the figuring towering over. "Yes," he sighs, looking down at the quiver. "Just have some extra work to do. Placed an order for some blunted bolts, but instead got my usual order. Need a hand with anything?"

His usual vigilance spies a robed woman, him waving a casual greeting. And there's the bronze clad figure. "Schara. I am fine. Slatesteel seemed to have been too focused today and misread my order." He pulls out a bolt, it a usual, tipped one. "Ordered blunt bolts for Cinny to practice. Doing alright?"

Nodding quietly, Ous seems to think for a minute. "Aye could use Arrows now tha' ye mention it. I dinnae suppose ye have access tae Silver heads do ye? Tall order Aye know."

Verna spies at least two familiar faces due to the attention the wave brings, with the third currently obscured. This may be the cause for her course adjustment, though her also possessing an order with the weaponsmith is not impossible, if improbable. "Good day to you all," she greets as she nears, snippets of the conversation caught. "Blunted bolts would make any accidents less uncomfortable." Her lips purse as she offers to Ous, "Silver may be at something of a premium, as of late, unfortunately."

The artificer crouches down to inspect the bolt, and Schara stays there for a moment, head tilting one way, then the other several times. "Well, she is fairly focused, that's for certain. Maybe she thinks that normal bolts are better for training? Blunted bolts tend to drag in the air more, and they might tumble if you aren't careful. Or she could be so focused it slipped her mind, I'm not sure, but it makes sense she would trust you know what you're doing with a crossbow so the latter makes more sense after all." They suggest. "Oh, hello, Verna! Good day to you, and yes, silver is hard to find sometimes. Miss Slatesteel could probably get you some though if you needed! She runs a smithy nearby, and while she does mostly blacksmithing, I don't think cold metalwork and casting is out of her capabilities at all."

Warrick scratches his clean shaven chin. Blinks. "Ah. My apologies, you are mistaken. I don't run the store. But-" he looks to Verna, then gives a sharp nod, "-that. Weapon's grade silver for weaponry might be a touch hard to come by."

He can't help but smile somewhat as Schara advertises for his friend. "Yes, it is different, but Cinny has been practicing more, and I want to give her some ammunition that isn't lethal just in case when I'm not there to supervise, that's all. She probably didn't catch that. She treating you well?"

Turning to look at Verna, Ous pauses for a moment and blinks. "Mourner Verna! Ye have hair. Might say ye're looking right fetching this morning!" Waggling his eyebros quickly and offering a grin, the ranger looks back to Warrick. "Aye'll try over there at some point then." It's about this point that it dawns on the Aesir born man that there is apparently a machine talking to Warrick as well. Squinting his eyes, Ous leans in closer to peer at Schara. He wasn't quiet about it, but he at least wasn't right in Schara's face either.

Verna nods. "I expect that recents events have placed a high demand in addition to its normal rarity. Mithral could serve in its stead, but is similarly uncommon." Another nod and a slender smile are given to Schara before she blinks and arches a brow at Ous. "Yes, I have hair ... and my thanks for the compliment." Perhaps not entirely consciously, or even self-consciously, one gloved hand lifts to her minimal white strands. "Perhaps it is more conspicuous as I allow it to grow longer? Aura suggested as much."

"Oh, that makes sense, but still, she should be careful regardless. It's still a crossbow after all, and it's still going to hurt if a blunt bolt hits something. Safer to load and unload, I guess though." The artificer continues to note. "Of course, miss Slatesteel is pretty strict but she means well and I'm learning a whole lot helping out even if she still won't tell me more about the metal she's working with but I don't need to know that to finish most of the products she needs my help with."

The artificer continues their rambling until they realize someone is staring at them. "Oh, hello again, is there something you needed?"

Warrick rises slowly, him tossing the quiver of bolts back into the crate. "Hrm. Mithral. Not a bad idea, Verna. Thank you." He ponders Verna's hair as he runs a hand across his. Shaved short on the sides, but the rest tied back in a small knot, like mohawk pulled back. "Easier to maintain if its short, but sometimes long can be nice."

He nods. "I know. And if she makes a mistake, it will just be a painful lesson. Can't tell kids not to do something without them going behind you and doing it anyways. Best to make sure they're prepared to screw up. I'm glad you're learning a lot. She'll loosen up some when she trusts you. Tiring work, right?"

Still peering at Schara, Ous leans a bit closer, staring into the glass lenses, the ranger sniffs the air slightly before speaking. "Aye've met 3 war golems in me life...2 of them tried to kill me...One was a librarian possessed by some sort of smoke, which was ultimately trying tae kill loads of people...But probably not th' golem's fault...Aye'm trying tae figure out if Aye should be concerned...but th' others here seem alright wit' ye, An' Verna seems tae be more level headed than most Aye've met."

As if deciding one something, Ous backs off a step again and his entire demeanor changes once more as he looks back to Verna. "Well. it suits ye." listening to the talk of Cross bows, Ous says. "Ye could restring it wit' a slightly longer string for practice. lighter draw, less twang, less likely tae skewer yerself in training."

"I guess that mithral would be an option, while it's still rare, it's going to be less impacted by the shortage due to it's already significant cost." The artificer nods along once Ous stepped back. "Well, I'm not going to try to kill you or loads of people, the idea sounds horrible to begin with, and I could never imagine doing something like that. But I'm also not a golem, and I understand biases for various reasons, but you shouldn't assume that a golem is going to be bad even if it's easier for me to say but harder for you to believe." They huff. "Long hair is nice, it's true. It usually looks nice and it looks nice on Verna."

Warrick's brows pinch a bit as Ous gets close to Schara, him subtly leaning towards the brass-clad figure. "Even if, war golems here are treated same as any citizen. I understand your worries, I can share sentiments about similar things. But, please," Warrick adds, gesturing to Schara. "It is as they say."

A light sigh escapes him. "Yes, I can use something with a lighter draw and what not. But teenagers are stubborn in their ways, and she won't use anything less."

Grinning at Schara, Ous shakes his head, "I dinnae say I was prejudiced against War Golems. th' 2 that tried tae kill me were completely fair. They were working for a mercenary company, an' so was I, but we were being paid by a couple of lads that didn't get along. so It was jes' their job. Dinnae hate them, jes' had bad luck wi' them." Pausing for a moment, he adds. "Ye sure ye're not a Golem?"

Looking to Warrick again, Ous nods quietly and holds out his arm showing a long scar along the inside of his forearm. "Aye know that one. Da told me not tae mess with his axe when Aye were little. Carved me a couple out of wood tae practice with. First time he turned his back, I grabbed his. ye could have shaved with Da's axe."

The artificer shakes their head once. "I'm not a golem for certain, this is true. If the others reason to harm you, why would you think you need to potentially be concerned about me? If I was a golem, it's not like ever war golem is alike, there were dozens of different forges working back in the day anyways." They answer.

"I guess she is pretty enthusiastic about things when she's interested in them, I guess. Maybe you could get her something of her own that would be better for her to practice with? If they wouldn't just go and use yours anyways, at least?"

Warrick relaxes and rests on his back foot. "They aren't a golem," the man assures. "I know them." He nods slowly, looking at the scar. "We all were kids once, doing stupid things. So I'm just doing what I can do keep the damage to a minimum."

He turns to Schara. "I... am." He looks around, as if searching for his daughter before mentioning: "I ordered one for her, and will gift it to her when she manages to learn how to use it safely and consistently," he says, a tinge of pride creeping into his tone.

Nodding quietly at Schara's words, Ous grins even wider. "That's good tae know. Very interesting. As to me being Wary...Imagine every time ye walked into a room, Someone threw an apple at yer head. Apples are great. Aye love apples. but if someone hurled one at me everytime I encountered one, Aye'd be wary about Apples too...and people in general if it comes down to it...That's actually a bad analagogy...Aye'd be more suspicious of people carrying apples..."

Looking around again, Ous seems to be considering something as he removes a pouch on a string from aroudn his neck. In a set of motions so familiar to him that he doesn't actually have to look, the Aesir born ranger pulls out the makings for a cigarette and begins to roll one. "Was good tae meet ye both. Good luck with the kid with the crossbow, an' good luck with." Here Ous pauses. "Not being a war golem...?"

Schara stands back up, slowly, and the artificer leans against a nearby wall. "I guess that I would be wondering why people are throwing apples at me, it's not the apples fault people are throwing them. I think that not being a war golem should go well, at least?" They agree, before they look to Warrick, and back around as the guard seems to be looking for someone. "Oh, you're getting her one? That's a great idea, I'm sure she'll like that a lot. I didn't know you were planning that, but it makes sense."

Warrick wafts a hand, conceding. "I understand. As mentioned, I have similar hesitations. But, good look in your search for silver weaponry."

He puts the lid back on the crate, him standing up face Schara as Ous ambles off. "The man was proposing an analogy, Schara. Not unlike your dislike of clergy." He nods slowly, smiling slightly. "I know she will like it."

Looking back up to the general store they were in front of, he gestures towards the building itself, a sign hanging on the shop that says 'Reztner's General Store.' There is a small placard on the front door that reads in both tradespeak and khazdul: 'Owners are deaf, press button for service.' Below it was, indeed, a simple mechanical button. Schara could readily and easily see it was connected to a string of mana-lamps within the shop. "Since you're here, do you want to help put that coil in?" he asks, opening the door to the shop. The mana-lamps flick on a few times, and he shoves the crate in with his boot.

"I guess I understand what you mean, and I understand that." Schara nods with a small sigh. "I should be fair to them like I would hope others would be to me."

The artificer looks to the door, and back to Warrick, and the elf huffs. "The coil isn't installed yet? Of course!" They answer readily, sounding more than a bit surprised. "We aren't out of winter yet, I don't want your family caught off guard by a cold snap. It's a good thing miss Slatesteel let me off this afternoon, so I have time to do it, though I could have done it tonight too. Let's get it taken care of alright?"

They leave their spot at the wall, and peer into the shop. "Should I press the button or should we just go in? I don't want to bother them unless it's necessary. I think I'll just head in, I'll do some shopping another time so I don't need to bother them." The elf considers before squeezing in ahead of the guard.

"No, we haven't installed it yet, since you wished to do it," Warrick mentions before holding the door open for Schara to let them in. He shakes his head, gesturing for them to get in there. "Just go in. It's my parents shop, and my childhood home. Besides, my parents get the evening shift, right now its-"

"Well. Well. Well..." a woman's voice rolls through the store.

A long, tired sigh escapes him. "-... my sister."

-End Scene-