Chromatic Warrior of Justice

Artemis walked through the small opening of the mountainside and into what appeared to be a quiet and dusty shop. The room seemed almost entirely empty, with just a small countertop with a bell set upon the marble surface. A sconce directly at the top of the domed room bathed the space in golden light. No shelves were set into the rocky walls and the room felt cool enough to chill raw meat. He walked over to the small bell, giving it the gentlest of taps, and waited.

Seconds passed and a short elderly man appeared, melding through the stone wall behind the counter. His head glistened, its smooth surface reflecting the golden light. His eyesbrows and beard were thick and white, framing his squinted eyes in such a cliche way that Artemis couldn't help but smile at the man. The little man stepped up some blocks set behind the marble surface, raising him to eye-level with Artemis.

"Hello," Artemis began, "I hear that you are the man to seek when in need of extremely rare materials and crafts."

The old man grumbled quietly in acknowledgment, nodding without looking as he leaned his hands upon the marble table.

"I'm looking to craft a rather unique set of armor. I'd like to use scales of ancient dragons, of all five chromatic types, to create a new set of full body armor that will not impede my movement or agility at all. I thought to connect them together, perhaps with n'jalian spidersilk for its tensile strength, and sew them into a bi-layer of sifan cloth and young drake hide for its flexibility and durability. Is this something you could help me procure, or recommend any changes to my design?"

As Artemis finished, he placed a scroll onto the marble table and unrolled it for the old man to see. He knew this was an expensive endeavor, but his leather armor had lasted him long enough. He needed an upgrade.

A set of brass chimes jangled as the shop door closed behind the stranger. A moment later, the now bewildered shopkeeper looked up from behind the counter, eyes widened by the sheer scale of the request.

"The materials you seek for this item are not exactly commonplace," came the inevitable advisory as the old man scratched his head. Pulling a piece of parchment from a shelf under the counter, and a pencil from behind his ear, he did some quick mental arithmatic and sighed heavily as the nib crumpled under the pressure of his final digit. "To make something like this would take time, care and Whitevale's treasury, my friend. I also know you are no fool - clearly someone with such a design in mind has the money and the means to deliver it."

A final stroke of his ageing features signalled the shopkeeper had reached a price.

A heavy one.

"This would be the best armor I have ever made. It's going to cost you, kid. Ten thousand, seven hundred and five gold pieces. In some places, that's enough to buy a goddamned ship. But, you get what you pay for. Here, you'll get the best - as long as you aren't wasting my time."

Out of Character:

Felt like RPing the post after our talk. Can delete if need be.

Artemis couldn't help but smile at the man, realizing he had under-quoted him quite a bit.

"I think you may be using young dragonscale in your calculation rather than that of ancient wyrms. Truth be told, I'm not sure where you'd even procure them. Based on my estimates and study of the mythical beasts, a single undamaged scale of each chromatic type should be sufficient raw material to begin with."

Artemis sighed heavily, feeling disappointed in just how much this would run him. He hadn't even brought up the additional details yet on the piece.

"A scale of an ancient dragon of each color will be hard enough to find. But with their combined benefits, it should be quite formidable. The defensive and offensive boosts would be tremendous. I'd need to cover my torso, forearms, arms, thighs, and calves, with the scale fragments shaped into small enough discs to create an almost mosaic of armor. This will allow blue, red, green, white, and black dragons' powers all in one armor."

The old man looked at Artemis wide-eyed, almost alarmed at his request.

"Well, yes, I didn't take into account an ancient wyrm. I'm not sure even I have the resources for such an endeavor, or even if I am able to point you in the right direction. Is that the entire project you had in mind, or is there more?"

"There's more," Artemis laughed, then taking out a second scroll from a pocket. "Once it's threaded with the spidersilk to the sifan cloth, I'll want to dye the fabric black and then coat the scales in an alchemical substance I've developed. It's inspired by a material known as rhythadine that was used to coat my daggers. It will give the scales a matte black finish that doesn't refract light, without using magic to do so. It simply removes any smoothness of the armor's polished surface, replacing it with something more coarse to the touch, while not damaging the raw material."

Artemis continued to smile at the man as the elderly shopkeeper unrolled the second parchment, reading over the ingredients and process of brewing the substance. "Anything else?" he added, almost mockingly. He couldn't imagine the man could want anything more for this masterful creation.

"Yes, I want to enchant it so that it can repair itself over time, say roughly a day or two. That way, if it is somehow damaged by any means, I won't be out of luck and having wasted resources on a suit of armor that got destroyed."

The man looked upon Artemis, staring into his blue eyes. This must be a farce. He couldn't fathom what kind of mind would imagine such a piece, but there was something to the young warrior that seemed both comfortably at ease while exuding a sort of power that he could not shake.

". . . Anything else?" the shopkeep added, almost reluctantly.

"No, that I think covers it all. How much would that cost me? And if there are any ingredients you're missing that even money can't buy, perhaps you know some vendors that could help procure them? I'd be happy to run some errands if need be."

For the first time in many years, the shopkeeper's jaw literally dropped, gaping open.

Out of Character:

Once this is fully priced, please let me know if this is available in the bazaar. If not, and if I have to quest for it, once we finalize that value I can work out a solo where I go gather the materials to bring to this merchant to craft the items.

Out of Character:

I'll edit this later to add more "detail". More concerned with getting the price out there.

The shopkeeper closed his mouth slowly, licking his dry lips before shakily scrawling sums across a piece of parchment. The complexities of the item were mind boggling, but not as much as the sum.

"Thirty-thirty thousand, three hundred and seventy gold pieces, s-sir. That's what it will cost for such a premium item. Are you absolutely sure?"

Artemis rolled his fingers along the cold marble table, his gaze distant as he mulled over the price tag. He had expected such an artifact to be quite expensive, but this sounded like a fleet of ships. He could imagine that such money would do far more for a charity than for a single suit of armor. Then again, he remained past due for an upgrade. Not to mention that given the increasing danger thrust upon him, and his recent engagements, staying alive seemed more important than the gold with which he'd part.

"Well," Artemis began, sighing heavily, "that does sound fair at least. Maybe even a touch less than I expected if I'm being honest." He stepped back from the counter, running a hand through his short brown hair. "I imagine most of that cost is in the dragonscales, correct?"

"Well, yes . . . " the shopkeep replied, furrowing his brow. "Dragons of that size and age aren't around these days. At least, I'm not aware of any. So procuring such material will likely cost quite a bit of resources on my part."

"Fair," Artemis nodded. "Tell you what. I will see what I can do on getting the scales. I may even have some spare spidersilk, though I'll have to double check. Daros may have used up all of the last silk gland I brought him. I don't exactly want to skimp on labor or the enchantment though, as your hard work will be immensely appreciated and quite pivotal to my safety." He laughed, giving the merchant a warm smile that he couldn't help but return. "How much would the bill be if I provided the scales? And how much more could you knock off if I find that spare thread? You'll still have to provide the sifan cloth, the enchantment, and the work to put it all together."

As Artemis finished, he already found himself wondering whether Daros or Graxis had any idea of where he might be able to get some ancient dragonscales. If anyone in his life knew, it would be the eccentric wizard or the gold dragon himself - likely the latter.