Looking for Iron.

[The Mad Scientist]

A man dressed in a white shirt, blue overalls, a white labcoat walked down, and goggles on his head walked down the streets of the bazaar. He looked left and right in search for a metal shop. Where could one be? Dr. Steam thought as he made his way through the streets of the bustling market. Finally he came upon a blacksmith. Perfect, he thought as he entered The Metal Family's Forge.

When Dr. Steam stepped inside he noticed that the walls were filled with weapons of every type. Swords, spears, bows, arrows, axes, maces, every kind of weapon he could think of, Is that a gun? he thought as he looked at the curved weapon with a trigger on it, but shook his head as he refocused on why he was here. He walked up to the counter and rang the bell. When he did a group of children of all ages ran out to the front desk and fought over who would get to serve the customer. After a little while a woman who looked to be in her mid 20s walked out and said, "I will serve the customer! You all get back to practicing with the forge!"

"Aw but big sis..."

"NOW!" she yelled, her voice echoed in the shop.

All the kids flinched back and ran into the back with a, "Yes ma'am."

After all the kids were in the back she turned to the man, "I'm sorry for the wait sir, how may I help you?"

Dr. Steam looked at the woman and then leaned over the counter. "Well my dear, I need some iron ingots, and lunch with a fine lady. Know where I can find them?" he said with a smile. Who said he couldn't do business and maybe get hooked at the same time?

[Aurelianus Drak'shal]

Greta rolled her eyes in her head.

Great. Another fool trying to get his way under my skirt. Just what I need today.

It seemed like since Ma and Pa had died, all she did was look after the kids, work the forge, and fend off the advances of clumsy men thinking she was just going to give it away. But, she kept her face as civil as she could, knowing she couldn't afford to lose the business. Things had been slow recently, and winter had been rough on her and the kids.

"Well, m'lord, I'm sure we can help you," she caught the slightest glimmer of hope in his eyes and with no small amount of satisfaction, crushed it, "but only with the iron. Ingots are fifty gold a piece.." she paused for a moment, something occurring to her. "Er.. how many were you looking for exactly?"

[The Mad Scientist]

Dr. Steam's shoulders slumped when he heard she could only help him with the iron. All the good girls are already taken, he thought with a sigh. Then he heard the price. Darn it, I was hoping it would be cheaper.

“I guess four will have to do,” he said then turned around and leaned against the table with his head down. “Though I don't know what I'm going to invent with only four ingots.” One of which I'm going to have to turn into rivets. Darn you machine's why do you have to take so much metal.

He then thought of something. “Do you by any chance have bronze ingots?” he asked as he turned back to the young beauty. “And if so what is the price for one?”

[Aurelianus Drak'shal]

Greta almost relished the look of defeat on the man's face, but instantly she quashed it. It wouldn't do to drive away all the customers now, would it?

She nodded as he decided how many iron ingots he wanted to purchase; in a way, she was almost glad it wasn't a huge order. If she sold it all, she would have none left over for her own work. But, money was money, and with eight hungry mouths to feed, any business was good business. She toyed idly with an errant strand of hair that had worked free from the bandana covering her brow, her eyes dancing over the stock lining the walls.

"Bronze? Hmm.. hard to say. Don't get much call for it. Usually the adventuring types come in, and all they want is the rarer metals. If you give me a moment, I can go check," she smiled politely and ducked out the back door leading to the forge.

The kids were all clustered around the entrance, straining to overhear the conversation in the other room. They scattered back to their chores as soon as she entered, all of them smirking as if they had got away with some fantastic crime. She smiled indulgently, and shook her head. kids. What could you do with them?

Heading through the stifling heat of the forge, the girl emerged into the small storage shed out back, stacked full of nails, tools and raw materials for working. It took a few minutes, but eventually she returned to the store-front with two bronze ingots. She hefted them onto the table, blowing out a sigh of exertion. She remembered her mother had been able to lift crates full of metals with one brawny arm. In a way, Greta wasn't sure what worried her more - that she wasn't half the smith her mother used to be, or that she might actually end up the size of her one day.

"You're in luck, sir. We have two here, for only twenty-five gold pieces each."

[The Mad Scientist]

Dr. Steam looked at the two ingots then sighed. Well, that was a bust. Maybe I can turn the one into a boiler an the other be sued to make the rivets, he thought then looked up at the woman. "Okay then, I guess I'll take the two bronze and three iron ingots, if you don't mind?"

[Aurelianus Drak'shal]

Greta smiled and nodded, pulling out a cloth sack from under the counter. Packing up the requested ingots, she sat it on the counter-top, waiting for the money.

"That'll be two-hundred gold, please," she said in her most polite, pleasant tone. The man handed over a heavy pouch of coins, and in return, the girl passed him the goods.

"Have a nice day now, and thank you for visiting the Metal family Forge."

[Aurelianus Drak'shal]

Transaction complete.

200 GP to be deducted from The Mad Scientist's account.

[Lye]

Gold deducted.

Transaction Complete.