Replacements For Broken Tools

Plat
A couple days pass since Esredes has been to the village he's used to going to. Carrying an unfulfilled promise on his back, the simple traveler makes his way into another one with a heavier belt than usual.

This one he's already aware of the existence of, despite this being his first time there. It was just another unnoteworthy human settlement. Somewhere the faction was in no hurry to destroy. So it would work as a replacement for a while, if it had what he needed.

He asks around a bit to obtain the information he needs, and follows a verbal set of directions towards the town blacksmith. As he observes the exterior, he only takes a second before going in. No intimidation, he tells himself as he goes in. No inquiries. No comments. This is for him, and only for him.

Audrey

The inside of the shop was surprisingly quaint. It was small, no wider than 10 feet either way. The walls of the shop had ivy vines drape from the ceiling all the way down to the floor and framed the only two pieces of furniture in the shop, which was a small bookshelf and the front desk.

The front desk divide the shop in half and only had a small chest on top of it. Behind the desk sported a large pipe that looked like it went from beneath the shop out through the ceiling. Low rumbles can be heard coming from it.

And next to the pipe behind the desk was a tall, pale woman who was reading before Esredes walked in. She looked up at him and smirked to herself before addressing him.

“Welcome to Lorea stranger. What brings ya here?”

Plat

His eyes scan the interior of the place and the human inside. It was a lot smaller than he expected in here. And what was with the ivy? It was abnormal for a human to mix the natural world with their ugly artificial one. But no matter, none of it mattered. Focus on the task at hand. "Hello," he says to her, his expression neutral but not distant. "Are you the village blacksmith?"

Audrey

She closes the book she was reading. “I am. Name’s Téa Gabris. You need something forged?”

Plat

Right into business. Yes, just what he needed. "Yes, I have a somewhat custom weapon I need to have made. Price is irrelevant, I will pay whatever you find suitable. Would you be interested in such a task?"

Audrey

She folds her arms and chuckles to herself, “As long as you can pay, I can forge anything you need. What exactly are you looking to have made?”

Plat

"I brought a prototype with me, so allow me to use it to explain the request." He pulls out a sword from a separate sheath on his belt than his normal one, and holds it out for her to see. It's a simple straight pointed sword with a bit of fancy designing on the handle. "This sword right here. The person it belongs to lost their thumb, and so can no longer use it. I want it to be either modified or replicated so it can be used without a thumb. In addition, I know this may be outside of the usual realm of your work, but do you happen to be able to make prosthetics...?"

Audrey

She holds out her hand “May I hold it?”

Plat

"Sure." He hands it off to her. Sorry, Enlai, I'll wipe it off later so you don't have to touch any traces of human.

Audrey

She lays the sword flat between her hands, looking like she’s weighing the sword. Then she takes a few steps back and takes a few swings with it, making sure not to hit Esredes although coming close with her last swing by an inch. She then tosses the handle back and forth between her hands.
Her eyes still glued to the sword she asks, ”This friend of yours is he left handed it or right handed?”

Plat

He did... not expect her to swing it around like that. When her final swing happens, his battle instincts activate and he takes a slight leap back to avoid it. "Wh- Watch where you're swinging it!" His startled and defensive stance only relaxes a bit when she alternates to tossing it. If she cuts herself Enlai can congratulate himself on injuring a human without even needing to have been there.

Audrey

Téa laughed. For someone who looks pretty battle harden, he jumped pretty quickly. “Sorry man, only way the get a feel for a blade I didn’t make is for me to swing it. Can’t help how small my shop is y’know? Only a few places I can swing at” she laughed again. She placed the sword in front of her and asked “So is your friend left handed or right?”

Plat

Esredes sighs as he relaxes his posture back into the way it was. It doesn't matter, he told himself once more. "He's right handed."

Audrey

“Alright” She lays the sword down flat on her desk and breaks her gaze with it and looks back at Esredes. Her arms back to being folded.
“So what kind of prosthetic are you looking for?”

Plat

"For the elbow down on a left arm. This person had a very terrible accident."

Audrey

“Hm, I see.” She brings her hand on her chin and pauses for a moment. “It’s been a while since I’ve made a prosthetic but that definitely sounds doable.” She’s says more to herself than to Esredes. “Yeah definitely! I can definitely do that!” She says with more confidence.

“Do you happen to know the measurements for his arm?”

Plat

"Hm, I didn't think to try and get them. If they're crucial to the process, I can have them when I next stop in here for the sword." It would ruin the surprise, but that was relatively less important.

Audrey

“It’s alright. If you tell me how tall he is and how built you’d say he is, I can guesstimate and just fine tune after the fact. Of course, if that’s the case that’ll just be another charge down the line.”

Plat

"That's fair enough. He's about five foot seven and an average build for a..." He pauses, trying to think of the human age equivalent here. How old exactly was Enlai? He didn't know. "young adult." he settles on. "Like someone just reaching full physical maturity young adult."

Audrey

“So a young man in his early 20s then?”

Plat

"A little younger than that." I think. "He's still basically a kid."

Audrey

“Oh! So a teenager then? ... poor kid.” Téa now looks a little saddened by that fact.
She clears her throat after a moment “So a modified right handed sword and a full left forearm prosthetic. When would you like these done by?”

Plat

"Well, let me put it this way, I'd rather he not be without the sword for too long, but I would also prefer it done well. The prosthetic is less urgent, so could you get the sword done within, say, a week?"

Audrey

“Oh I can definitely get the sword done in a week!” She’s folded her arms again and has taken a very proud stance. “Now all that’s left is your payment plan.” She places her hand on the chest that sat atop the front desk. “Since you’re making two custom orders, I’ll be needing a down payment from you.”

Plat

A little dramatically confident, isn't she? I can appreciate that... Except for when she's holding a sword in her hand. But regardless, now he was close. "That's no problem. What amount do you need?"

Audrey

“Well since I’ll most likely need to remake the handle of the sword and make a custom mold, I’d say 40 gold would be fair. And as for the prosthetic, since I don’t usually make prosthetics I might not have every mold I need for that either. I imagine you’ll want it to perform a full range of mobility as best as it can so that’s gonna be a little more tedious.” She pause for a second to think what would be a fair price for that. “Let’s say... an even 450 gold for everything then. Is that within your price range?”

Plat

Oh my, that was pretty expensive. No wonder Levi and Alise travel all the way to Verbinden to make a few prosthetics. Human currency was so much work. "I don't have quite the full amount of it on me, but I can pay a bit more than half right now and bring the rest next time. So yes, that's fine with me."

Audrey

“That’s perfect then!” She clapped her hands together and then opened the chest that was on top her desk. “So I’ll take what you can give right now and by this time next week the sword should be done and I should have at least a prototype of the prosthetic ready to look at.”

Plat

"Wonderful. Here you go, then." He removes a small bag from his belt and opens it, handing over 240 gold, which appears to empty the bag, with no hesitation, as if he has no second thoughts about throwing this level of money around. His appearance already doesn't indicate anything about a large source of income, so she can only wonder where it all comes from.

Audrey

“Not gonna lie, it’s not often I get this sort of pay out, living in a small village and all. Don’t have many folks who can afford stuff like this so easily.” She double checked the coins, making sure everything was there and that nothing was counterfeit. Once she determined nothing was she was satisfied, put it all in the chest, and closed it. “Well stranger, I’ll get to work on these right away.”

“Before you go though, can I get a name for my records?”

Plat

"The name's Licano," Esredes replies without hesitation. "It's a pleasure to do business with you."

Audrey

“Well Licano, I look forward to seeing you again in one week!” She reached out her hand of a handshake goodbye.

Plat

Another handshake. Thankfully she was wearing gloves of a different kind as well, to keep his luck going. He takes her hand and gives a confident shake, but not one too firm. "You as well. Take care until then."

Perfect. After all that went down with Levi and Alise, it was such a relief to return to his natural usage of humans. He exits the small shop after that, glad to have found exactly what he needed so easily.