Needing a Skilled Craftsman

[Storm Veritas]

Strolling about the Bazaar on an otherwise sunny morning, Storm Veritas was dismayed. His head slunk, chin to chest as he observed a row of craft carts manned by a row of pedestrians that looked no more skilled than a child with a toy drum. The finesse, the expertise he sought would be hard to come by given the array of slack jawed, Jack-O-Lantern faced buffoons on display this morning.

Hitching his overpacked satchel taut under his dress shirt and fine satin vest, the magician strolled carefully, meticulously eyeballing each seamstress, craftsman, and laborer who managed to find the light of day. At last, he settled upon a more wizened set of eyes that seemed capable of housing competence. It would have to do.

He dropped his long gaze, pinching the scales of Moonwing through the hearty leather of his satchel. It had become a nervous tic; he needed to know he hadn't lost them. Raising his head once more, he smiled a brilliantly white, charming smile, his eyes sparkling with blue as he did his debonair best.

"Good morning, my friend. I'm hoping my judgment has done me well. I need fine work done, and only a fine worker will be able to accomplish the work that needs doing. I hope you have some hard-punching needles!"

Gently, he laid his bag on the smooth oaken surface, withdrawing two brilliant, reflective dragon scales (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?30785-In-the-gaze-of-the-moon/page5). They shone with an unrelenting beauty, and were both extremely firm. Only slow working of the scales would allow them to mold to form, as they had deflected metal many times before.

"These scales were taken from Moonwing - the Nightmare of Jormungstadt. They are very tough, barely malleable, and seem to absorb evil energies. I'm not kidding - I know that sounds positively absurd, but I've seen it."

His eyes caught the skilled workers quickly, locking in with another convincing smile.

"I'm looking for bracers - essentially fingerless gauntlets. I need use of these magnificent hands here, but I'd like something light and strong to fit under a dress shirt and give me something to block with."

Naturally, the wizard expected some confusion, and wasn't disappointed; it was an odd request.

"Look I need at -least- one from the two big bastard scales. If you can make a pair of them, all the better."

Storm worked to steady his breath and heart rate as he awaited response, carefully not to tip his poker face. This little help could go an awfully long way.

[Cards of Fate]

The man glanced them over and grinned slightly. This wasn't the sort of stuff you could buy legally off a boat, it was exceptional, the sort of thing that legends were made of.

"I can make you a pair...and becuase you brought me such exquisite material to use I will only charge you a fee of...one hundred crowns." The man took the scales and glanced them over once more.

"Sound fair?"

[Storm Veritas]

A sneer, and a coy smile. Storm Veritas reeled back in feigned horror, trying to visually object to a price that was actually very reasonable. Of course, there would be complications in working with the fine scales; and a hundred crown pittance would turn into a two-thousand crown debacle if the experienced man managed to flub up the ordeal. No; Storm would ensure that he got what he came from.

"One hundred crowns, you say? I'd remind you of how far that might get a man in a Radasanth brothel..."

A smile for the old man, who appeared to be holding a poker face of his own. "Of course..." Storm returned, a dispassionate sarcasm in his voice. "Of course I'm sure you wouldn't know the first thing about that."

The wizard wouldn't wait for a reaction to the crass statement. It was a dangerous venture to speculate on the morality of the unknown.

"Tell you what..." Storm began once more, looking sharply into the eyes of the shopkeep. "One hundred crowns, cash, on the spot. An extra twenty if you can show some craftsmanship with this material. In exchange, you get it RIGHT. I wouldn't begin to tell you what I went through to get these damned things. If you should f*ck it up..."

As he spoke, his fingertips, which housed a handful of gleaming golden trinkets, began to spark and crackle white light as the ozone-rich scent of electricity populated the air.

"Well, let's not get macabre here. Don't f*ck up, and we all win."

[Cards of Fate]

The man raised an eyebrow for just a moment, the wizard before him had gone on some strange tangent about whores and he had tuned out.

"Did you just...haggle me up on the price?" The craftsman asked raising an eyebrow.

[Storm Veritas]

Either the craftsman was extremely good, or extremely shitty, and it upset Storm that he couldn't quite decide. Was it supreme confidence that gave the old man a sense of entitled indifference to the concept of insurance, or was it an unskilled buffoon that was trying to hedge his bet on performance by charging a surprisingly reasonable fare?

There's no way he doesn't see me as a mark, right? Fine crafted linen shirt, custom-cut satin vest, practically have gold falling through my fingertips... what's his angle?

The wizard hesitated a moment, a finger on his chin as he carefully considered his retort.

"If you want to look at it that way, so be it. I had a price in mind for quality work, and this area comes highly recommended. One hundred crowns DOES seem steep, but not compared to what I had to go through to get these materials.

"Now if I've upset you by offering a slight premium for the promise of high-end work..." Storm's eyes sharpened into thin slits as the air seemed sucked out of the short expanse across an oaken table between the two of them. "I'd be happy to take the opportunity down the row, and find someone that can do an average job for less."

His eyes caught telling clues about the pop-up stand the craftsman used. Although the tools seemed sharp and well cared for, the old man's satchel, shoes, and gloves were nearly threadbare. One hundred twenty crowns would replace an awful lot of worn leather, or at least go a ways towards thinning the elder craftsman's liver, should he choose to forget to reinvest in the aging business of craftwork.

[Storm Veritas]

Rapping his fingers on the table, Storm stared down the old man. They appeared to be locked in quite the battle of will, but the resolute electromancer would not yield easily. Nonetheless, he wavered a bit in the face of adversity. It had been damned near a month since he sought out the bracers, and Veritas really needed to leave the table to pee.

[Storm Veritas]

Bored halfway to tears, Storm smashed both hands into the table, palms flat with a thunderous clap shaking everything atop the platen. Eyes wide with shrapnel of rage, his voice boomed.

"HELLO! Sorry to wake you, but how about some work here?"

[redford]

John was perusing the old man's wares in the next room when the sound of thunder, indoors, broke his concentration on an ingot of steel. He bent his head around the doorway to see a man he'd met in battle before. Storm Veritas hovered over the countertop, appearing to slowly go mad. He approached the two slowly, as they were still staring at each other. From his height he could see the white dragon scales that Storm had brought, almost gleaming on the countertop. He broke the silence after the thunder.

"Moonwing's?"

[Storm Veritas]

A relieved smile broke over Storm and waked him from a state of furious frustration. It was the big beast of a man he had worked with before, enormous and powerful, who had been quite involved in the felling of Sunwing and contributed to the retrieval of Moonwing's scales.

"Yes, I presume you're one of the very few people walking that could identify them. Can you help me?"

[redford]

Let me know if the whole grabbing Storm's forearm is ok in this context. If not I'm happy to change the post.
Also let me know if you wanna RP this out or just get a price quote.


John offered a faint smile back before picking up one of the massive scales, though, he thought absently, they were definitely more massive to Storm. He turned the thing over with a curious, thorough eye.

Good color, no cracks or impurities. He probably wants bracers if he's only got these two.

The half-giant snapped his fingers and a cigar appeared in his hand with a little pop. With a second snap it was lit and in his teeth, and he reached for Storm's forearm, turning his arm palm upward and holding the scale close. He hmmm-ed to himself as he sized everything up, slicing the scale into sections in his head. There was easily enough for a pair of bracers, and if the lightning-thrower was very lucky, there'd be enough for a little more.

"Aye. Bracers, yes? I can make them. Maybe even gloves to match, if you've got the time to wait."

[Storm Veritas]

The thought of gloves hadn't even occurred to Storm; he wasn't sure how a craftsman could possibly be that good. The scales were hard to move and ultra strong; Storm had to work just to bend them at all.

Upon second thought, he couldn't well bend iron without use of his abilities either, so perhaps he was just stupid with relation to the skilled arts.

"That would be tremendous; I can be flexible with coin if you are as good as you seem to think you are. My lone request is that the gloves be separate from bracers. There are times I will want just the bracers so I can wear them under dress clothes; discretion isn't as possible with gloves on. Other times, both will be very useful."

Storm Veritas found himself full of unusual optimism at the promise of more work being turned over.

[redford]

John grabbed the other scale, holding it up in the light like the first. If the wizard had enough dragonscale, John could make the segmented bits necessary to cover his fingers and craft a pair of gloves.

He nodded to Storm, taking his instruction. He'd have to make them smaller to fit under clothing, which actually worked in his favor.

"If you've got enough scale here, I think I can. I'll get some leather for them, arctic beast would work best for the gloves under the scale." He raised an eyebrow at the sorcerer. "If you're flexible enough with the coin."

[Storm Veritas]

The confidence and keen eye of the blacksmith was reassuring. The small conformations of his hand and ad hoc measurements that John was making lent a great deal of effort to fine details; it was clear he was collecting sufficient minutiae to execute. Storm was a little concerned about the cost, given the difference in complexity. Regardless, the value was clear.

"You can see the scales I was able to pluck. The rest of the scales were being burned in Jormungstadt, so I'm afraid what you see is what you get. In terms of flexibility, I can go up a good deal from the 100 I had mentioned. That said, I don't let anyone f*ck me unless they buy a dinner and bottle of wine first."

Storm joked, but kept his eyes serene and fixed on the blacksmith. The titanic worker seemed as though he was being straightforward, but if he grew nervous, it would be a dead tell that he was hiding exorbitant costs.

[redford]

John raised an eyebrow at Storm. Though a little surprised at his remark, the half-giant could hardly blame him for trying to ensure good craftsmanship at a fair price. He spoke to the wizard as plainly and honestly as he could.

"Didn't plan on it. A good piece of hide'll be about one hundred, call the work worth one-twenty-five, and ye'll have yer bracers, plus a pair of shiny gauntlets. I'll need to get some tools, but that's something I been meaning to do for a while."

He turned the scales over, mentally slicing them apart into the pieces that would become the sorcerer's bracers. He was convinced he could do it.

[Storm Veritas]

It seemed too good to be true, but he wasn't about to tempt the fates. If the blacksmith was as good as he estimated, the job would be within his means.

"Done." He smiled as he stepped back politely, releasing his fingers from the ultra-precious scales.

He smiled as he popped out his cherrywood pipe; within seconds a thin plume of blue-grey smoke wafted up evenly aside the booth.

[Storm Veritas]

(Is this done?)

[redford]

(I thought so, let's finish it out.)

So agreed, John gets the allotted gold, and Storm gets the specified items.

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

Transaction complete!