Blood of a Dragon

The crowds were light today in the blacksmith's quarter of Radasanth. To be sure, there were more than enough people that William had to maneuver around them to keep his prize safe. And more than once he'd been forced to give a warning look to an urchin that had strayed too close while looking for fat coin purses. But these weren't the pressing crowds that could be found in at the morning market and William was glad for that.

A large burlap sack hung heavy over the revenant's shoulder. Since his objective today was to have a blacksmith take a look at the titanium breastplate that he'd had fixed up for himself, William had simp=ly dumped it into a sack this morning instead of strapping it on. Not that he was worried for his safety. The streets of Radasanth were well patrolled, and as long as a traveller kept to the main, well-travelled merchant streets, there was little chance of catching a knife in the back.

That was always a possibility that William had to worry about when he walked the streets in his human form. Not that a knife in the back would do more than annoy him, but he hated to have to deal with the fallout over tearing a man apart with his bare hands and wanted to avoid it if at all possible. Even in a city as complicated and diverse as Radasanth, being out in the open and covered in blood was still anathema.

William grunted and shook his head to clear his thoughts. It was one of the side effects of having so many souls bouncing around inside his head. It made it easy to get distracted. His inquiries had told him that there was a small blacksmith in the quarter that had the skills he needed. Soon enough he found it, sheltered between two massive forges that churned out mundane supplies by the crafteful every day to ship out to the farm provinces.

The small, sturdy building was set back from the main road and would have been easy to mistake for a supply warehouse for the larger smiths. A polished wood nameplate over the door announced the shop simply as Shoda's. William pursed his lips and nodded, walking up to the small shop. This was definitely the right place.

William was surprised to find that the front of the shop was limited to a small open space with a plain wooden counter. In other blacksmith's shops that he'd visited, the store owner had various wares on display, revealing their talent and hopefully enticing prospective customers to stay for business. Shoda's held none of these. One didn't come to Shoda's simply to browse. Those who came to this shop did so for one reason, and it was because they knew that Shoda was the best magical blacksmith in Radasanth.

Chewing upon the stalk end of a long stalk of fine Coronian barley, Shoda looked at the man entering. One arched eyebrow was all he gave as an indication to his reaction of the charcoal-skinned, golden eyed 'human' striding in with simple clothes and a burlap sack. Rarely did he express much, aside from that. He was was known as a stoic individual, but one to be trusted. He never overtly displayed his wares, nor did he ever seek to make them more than what they were. Instead he was honest. Brutally, downright honest and frank, not to a fault, but always to a reason. His reputation for a fair price and good product, passed from now three generation of Shoda's Blacksmithing, far proceeded him even beyond the Althanas Sea.

Picking out the barley from his mouth, Shoda stood and rested a heavy-callused hand on the worktop. The other he rubbed on the great, stained apron that adorned the front of his clothing. He had been working on polishing the handle of a very fine, gem-encrusted damascus dagger - one which now lay on the edge of the bench he always sat on, its sister rags, cleaning equpiment and liquids nearby.

Simply, Shoda looked at the man and nodded. He tilted his chin, his wheat-coloured hair catching the light that streamed in from the long window of the store front. Else, a faint hot red brightness came from a room behind him - indicating the incredibly tidy and organised forge behind him. He took a moment to survey the man, then grunted.

"You've been here before," he said, in a rough, but strong and bold voice, that matched his wide shoulders, greated height and steady build. "I never forget a customer. What can I help you with today?"

William nodded once. Part of the reason he came to Shoda's was the man's no-nonsense atitude towards business. It was clear that neither man had time to waste on the annoying trivialities that so many other craftsmen and patrons seemed determined to catch one another in.

"I have a heavy duty project that involves reforging and enchanting high end materials with rare components. The work you did for me earlier was of exceptial quality which makes me hope that you'll be able to do this job."

William slung the clanking sack off his shoulder and gestured at an empty space on the workbench. Once he received an affirmative nod from Shoda, William pulled his adjustable titanium breastplate from the bag and set it on the workbench. Then he threw the sack back over his shoulder and reached into his cloak.

The titanium breastplate was a prize, enchanted as it was to fit the wearer no matter what size they shifted to, but what he produced next was a prize worthy of a king's ransom. The jar that William pulled out was plain enough, though it was an extremely heavy-duty model and had been secured with measures beyond that. The fluid inside, however, was thick and so dark red that it was almost black. There was a generous amount in the jar, more than enough to cover the entire breastplate.

William held up the jar for Shoda to see.

"This is the heart's blood of an ancient and powerful dragon. I understand that something like this is difficult to work with. Do you have the talent for that? I trust your word, but this is very important and if you end up being mistaken it would be terribly upsetting."

The clang from the setting down of the breastplate still reberveberated off the stone walls as Shoda bent down to peer at the thick-glassed jar.

A thick oozing crimson, the reddest type of red one could get, was purely contained within. A little amount of time had separated some proteins and fats from the water naturally within the blood, so there was a thicker, opaque mass at the bottom whilst strands of this darker, violent, liquid ran into the lighter red, thinner portion above. Light shone through in a myriad of spectacles, each as rich red as the sun, picking out each pattern in vibrancy. For some time it seemed did Shoda gaze into this container - never touching and only watching. His eyes were narrowed, his poise changed to see how the light from the single window would change it from this way and that. Silent was he, and unchanging in expression throughout the procedure.

Eventually he stood back up, mighty shoulders pulling his body back aloft.

"That is true dragon's blood, though more testing on the actual material will give me a greater account of its properties. Certainly it will owe some form of strength, possibily durability, a flame retardant ... what precisely are you wanting this blood to do for your chestplate there?"

He nodded down to the chestplate on the worktop, his hands also not daring to touch it until the customer agreed. For that was part of Shoda's way - do not ever pick up something that is not yours unless you gain permission. For a touch without first initialising purpose can always signify intention to work, even before price has been discussed.

"And yes, I do have the talent, to answer that question," he added in a matter-of-fact way.

Shoda's professionalism was one of the man's hallmarks, and Willilam appreciated the man's straightforward attitude. He expected a certain amount of bluster from larger shops or more inexperienced blacksmiths. But if Shoda said that he could work with ancient dragon's blood, William knew that the man could do it.

"Excellent," William said and put the jar of dragon's blood on the workbench next to the breastplate.

"In order to explain to you what I'm hoping to do, I need to tell you a bit about the dragon who's heart this came from. She was one of the great old dragons, and possessed of tremendous power. It took a cadre of powerful warriors to bring here down. Even so, an entire town in Alerar was reduced to rubble in the process."

"The reason for this was that the dragon had the ability to absorb energy, transform and amplify it, and to turn it back on us more powerful than before."

William shuddered as he remembered the dragon-mother simply absorbing a normal attack of magical water and using that powered up energy to flood the town and reduce it to a swirling whirlpool of destruction. He'd been caught in that whirlpool and had nearly been crushed to paste by the maelstrom of debris that had been caught up inside with him.

"I'm not entirely sure how all this works," William gesterured to Shoda and his shop, "so I'm not entirely sure what capabilities I can expect to draw from the blood. It was my hope that as the dragon's dying heartsblood it would possess a fraction of the dragon's ability."

A wry smile pulled at the corner of William's mouth. "And perhaps for some of the dragon's toughness to be infused into the armor along with that ability."

OOC:
First, I'm looking to have the armor enchanted with the ability to absorb energy from the wearer and infuse it into all of the wearer's other weapons and armor. For example, using my Burning Attacks ability to cover my arms and leg carapace in lava-like molten fire the armor would allow me to cover my weapons with that same fire.

Second, if possible, I'd like to have the armor upgraded to ancient dragonbone quality. I know that's not normally possible in the bazaar, but I windered if since I completed the dragon quest I could use the item for that bonus. If that's not possible, then upgrade the the armor to top-tier prevalida.

Thanks

OOC: Hi, I am just going to check the request about the dragonbone, then I will reply IC.))

Shoda scratched the stubble above his beard as he listened to the man's story. But by bit he began to piece together an image of the event in his head. Fire above, great wings stirring up a hurricane. Personally he never had seen a dragon but he did not doubt their glorious beauty.

As the man of coal black skin finished his speech, Shoda gave a great nod, but his features remaining stoic. Once more he gazed into the depths of the glorious red liquid before him, stuck in a jar of horrors. It shimmered in its depths, murky and delightful and speaking of a battle so bloody it could make small children faint.

"The ability you describe would be hard to conceive," he said in a low, rumbling voice. "But I could make you a suit of high grade prevaldia armour that would leave a strong man weeping. Tell me," he looked up to William.

"Your looking for this breastplate, aye, to be upgraded? The most you may be able to get enchanted also ... May be less than you wish for."

He took a moment to pause, looking back up to the man before him.

"What I can offer is thus: the breastplate could act as a ... conduit, for example. Easily I could come up with something that could make the breastplate immune to any of the powers you possess." He took another moment, considering, "And with another adjustment extend that enchantment as a sort of aura around you entirely, so making your other items immune also. In the same way that the dragon's blood is immune to the magical fire that all dragon's possess that would be possible, I think ... I know."

He fixed him with a stare. "Other things you would be looking at ... an illusionary enchantment, say, to seem it like you were wearing something else, now that would be possible. Simple illusion, nothing more. With such a feat ... considering the prices here ... you are still looking at a lot."

"Say this amount?" And with that he snatched a piece of leather and tailors chalk from under his table, onto it drawing a figure. With a small momentary sigh he turned the leather around to show his workings and the mark, '10,074 GP.'

Quote:

---

The cost includes the bay back price of the armour (at 1182 GP) from the overall cost which would be 12,375 GP. It also includes a reduction for excellent RP on this thread. The cost is high because of the three enchantments requested on it:
1) To immunise the breastplate from effects of the wielder's abilities.
2) To spread an aura to immunise all other items of clothing from the wielder's abilities, using the breastplate as a focus.
3) To create an an aura that allows an illusionary type magic (no effect other than that) for the items of clothing connected to the wearer to change in appearance. This is limited to changing the colour, appearance of the material and minor details. Does not allow for any additional armour to appear, even if illusionary, but just what the wielder is wearing.
The breastplate is also upgraded to prevaldia.

If you want to get the cost down I would suggest tying the illusion (3) to a pendant for instance, rather than the breastplate, which is a lot larger so costs more and is high material.

---

Shoda listened to the man's alternative suggestions and huffed for a moment before nodding.

"Right, so, if you just want the illusionary enchantment, the one to change how you look, all your items ..." he tapped a hardened finger on the worktop, "Well, you could get cost down to 1975 gold only. But that is just an illusion. None of your excessive immunisation."

He stood back up and regarded William with two full, dark eyes.

"The alternative is having your remarkable armour without the illusion ... making your armour around 8050 gold. And then you could tie the illusion to a pendant or some such ... a charm, you see. I could get you that for a small fee of 225 gold. If it was just a nugget of gold, or a piece of eklan wood. That would work."

Quote:

---

These are the numbers as talked over in inbox messaging. Remember you also have your AP, which can be converted at a rate of 1 AP for 100 GP.

---

William nodded as he listened to Shoda's words. The man's work was pricey, but it spoke for itself in quality. It would take a master to infuse the dragon blood into his armor with any sort of effect, but the effects were doubtless to be legendary.

"The third option seems like it would work best," he said. "Infusing the dragon's blood into the armor to harden it and to tie it and everything else I wear into my aura. And that's a nice touch thinking to use what's left of the blood to enchant a brooch with the illusory enchantment I wanted. " William handed his purse to Shoda, knowing that the contents would cover the costs of the legendary smith's work, if just barely.

Quote:

---

I'll need to convert 11 AP to gold to cover the costs, but I'll go with the second option above (third option?). Thanks for working with me on this.

---

Shoda nodded and wrote the final price on the bottom of the leather piece. Looking at it for a while he seemed thoughtful as he re-checked the calculations. From the dying light outside the jar of crimson blood seemed to grow in length and power. It was if it knew it was going to be used for a future powerful purpose - strong and consuming and undeniable.

Silence passed as the master smith worked on his numbers. Then, with a single nod he slid the hide over to William, his handwriting a scratch on the old animal skin.

"8275 gold," it said.

The huge man leant back and fixed William with a knowing look. "Come back in two days if you agree," he grunted. "Then your armour will be ready."

The light coming through the jar stretched, alighting his neck and chin in a bloody haze.

Quote:

---

Revenant acquires the following:
A prevalida breastplate, with straps to adjust the size as William goes tthrough his different forms. It has the following two effects:
1) To immunise the breastplate from effects of the wielder's abilities.
2) To spread an aura to immunise all other items of clothing from the wielder's abilities, using the breastplate as a focus.

Revenant also requires a small golden pendant, with the following enchantment:
3) To create an an aura that allows an illusionary type magic (no effect other than that) for the items of clothing connected to the wearer to change in appearance. This is limited to changing the colour, appearance of the material and minor details. Does not allow for any additional armour to appear, even if illusionary, but just what the wielder is wearing.

He no longer has his titanium breastplate, which was traded in to make the prevalida one.

Cost: 8275 gold.

11 AP converted into gold and then Gold deducted from Revenant's account.
Includes a 10% discount for RP'ing it all very well.

---