April 10, 2039

As they walked back Aaron pointed to one of the rats running around. “Mind sending Siri to play with that one? I’d like for you to arrive with about three rat pelts.”

With a shrug, Mack pulled out his crossbow. He pointed the crossbow at a rat and yelled “Fass!” Siri charged that rat. He swung the crossbow to another rat and shot it. The rat flew over and fell to the ground. Siri had reached her target and finished it in on bite and shake. He then sent Siri after a third rat. A few short moments later, there were three rat bodies on the ground nearby.

Walking up to the first rat, Mack looked at Aaron. “Now what?” Aaron handed Mack the skinning knife. “Go to loot it, while holding this. Then, just follow the dotted line.”

After carefully following the lines, Mack held up the rat pelt. He nodded in satisfaction. “Skinning level 1. Not bad” He got up and walked to the next rat. Aaron finished looting the rat and followed. In a moment, Mack had his three pelts and Aaron had a tenth piece of rat meat.

They walked past the gate and Aaron walked down the hill towards the river. He picked up one of the empty baskets and handed it to Mack. Then, he pulled off the hook from the line and filled the basket with water from the river. Mack did the same and they brought the baskets up towards the workshop .

James was cleaning out the inside of the stone vat when they walked into the outdoor section of the workshop. “Hey James. Sorry to take your help earlier.”

The Black Dragonkin looked up from his task and waved his hand dismissively. “It was not a problem. It’s good for them to get some experience so they can keep leveling their trades. They both have capped their tanning and skinning a week or so back. We just have not really had a chance to go out and grind xp. There just always seems to be plenty of work to do.”

“Speaking of plenty of work, I want to introduce my brother. An impressive level 15, but he’s never done any skinning until the walk over here. I figured that you could educate him and give him a job fetching some interesting pelts.”

James smiled and reached out to shake hands with Mack. “Your brother works fast. Ninety minutes ago, I asked him to find me some more people who wanted to make some money. Lexen here has already seen my dog and pony show, so I will not bore him with the details. Head on inside. Molly wants to talk with you.”

At that moment, The other three members of the party came walking back from the city. “I will in just a moment. I need to check on Karion.” James tossed a gold piece to Aaron. “Give him this. You still owe him one more.”

As Aaron walked away, he heard his brother ask about the gold piece. Then, James answered. “You’re smart, just like your brother. You see gold changing hands and want in. Let me show you what I do around here.”

Aaron walked over and was glad to see that Karion had all his gear back on. “Karion, I’m sorry those spiders got you. I know they said that you never use a shield, but I wanted to check with you if you want it,” Karion waved the offer away. “Nah, need before greed. I’d just sell it. Mark tells me that you kept trying to keep the spiders off of him and William. You have the makings of a tank. A tank needs a shield.”

Mark reached over and handed Aaron a gold and six silver. “It’s not much, but that is split four ways. Throw in the three web lurker items and we did well! We need to get you geared and up to level 4. Then, we grab a healer and go camp those things.”

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“Boys! Mack brought us some pelts. Come show him that you do more than just bother the spiders.” James yelled from the outdoor workshop, Mark and William hurried over. As they went, their clothes suddenly turned into the work outfits Aaron first saw them in.

“Why do they need to change outfits?” Aaron asked Karion. “There are a few reasons. The main reason is the acid. If too much gets on their armor and it will start to damage the gear. Special attacks like that can be dangerous to you too. Other than that, Uncle James likes them to all look uniform. It’d be odd to see a guy in wizard robes working the pelts.”

Remembering what happens next, Aaron pulled up his options screen. “Karion, how do you video? I want to see his face for this next part.” The tanners had just poured the water into the stone vat.

“It is actually always recording and will save two hours of history if you need or want it. It’s under history in your menu options.” Mack stumbled back with a curse and tripped over the little half wall as the three Black Dragonkin breathed their acid into the stone vat.

“Thanks. That gives me an idea actually. Here’s the two gold I owe you. I appreciate the coin pouch.” Aaron clapped Karion on the shoulder and walked into the indoor portion of the workshop.

Molly looked up from the leather chest piece she was working on. “Lexen! Good to see you again. I wanted to thank you. First off, for bringing your friend Sevona here. She made a significant purchase and commissioned another piece. Second off, Sevona’s buff lasted long enough for my boys to get a good amount of xp and your friend helped them to get some better gear.”

The door opened and Mack walked in.”Oh, I’m far more than a friend. My older brother here wouldn’t even know his wife if it wasn’t for me. Saving him from being spider chow doesn’t hold a candle to all of the other things that he owes me for.”

Pointing to Mack, Aaron introduced Molly. “Aunt Molly, I’d like to introduce you to my younger brother Mack. Ranger extraordinaire and all around pain. If ever I got in trouble growing up, you can bet he was involved in some way.”

Molly stood and walked over to Mack with her hand extended. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Please call me Molly. Thank you again for helping the kids here with the spiders.”

Laughing at his brother’s expression, Mack looked around and let out a low whistle. “This is quite the shop you have here. Mind if I look around?”

Molly smiled and waved her arms to invite him to shop her wares. “I can also make custom orders if you are looking for a specific piece. I can also enchant the armor with attributes that would fit you best,”

Mack stopped and looked at her when she mentioned custom orders. “Can you make different pieces than usual? I’d love to get some armor for Siri. Yeah, I’ll bring her in so we can do a fitting. Hier!”

Some of the fabrics rustled and were pushed apart as Siri crept out from one of the tables that had fabric draping down to the floor. After being surprised for a moment, Molly rushed over to Siri. “Oh my gosh! She is adorable!”

Molly sat down in front of the dog and wrapped her arms around the dog and nuzzled the dog’s neck. Mack coughed lightly. “Umm, yeah. So this is my ferocious attack dog Siri. As you can tell, she is truly a terror to behold.”

The ferocious attack terror had laid down and rolled over onto her back. She seemed to be thoroughly enjoying her belly rub.”I was thinking leather armor for her when we go against some tougher opponents. I hate it when they land a hit on her.”

Molly has pulled out a tape measure and was wrapping the measure around Siri’s chest. “I don’t blame you. It would be devastating to see this beauty get injured. I’m thinking a form fitting leather coat for her. Loose enough for movement and tight enough so that nothing can get a handhold on her. Does she tank? Probably hit points, strength, and endurance if she does. Dexterity maybe?”

“I’d like to mix it up a bit. Hit points, strength, and dexterity. Float like a butterfly and all that.” Mack kneeled down and started massaging Siri’s ears. Molly grabbed a pad of paper that was sitting on the table. She quickly wrote down the sizes for Siri and Mack’s requests.

“Lexen, this is two new gatherers and customers that you’ve brought me. My husband takes care of the gatherer referrals, but I feel you deserve something from me. How about you keep that chest piece that you are borrowing?”

“Thank you very much. After seeing Karion’s gear though, I was wondering if I could keep borrowing this chest piece and some leg armor as well? If it’s not proprietary, I’d love a crash course on Runic Initiation.”