Omen: 10, 15

“So, this is Sam’s Scales…”

The building was a small wooden shack in one corner, with quite a breadth of space of greenery between it and the other nearby buildings. A sharp smell in the air tickled Adam’s nostrils, though it was kept at bay by the nearby flowers. A sign board hung in the air, that of a large scale with a large tilted S painted within its edges.

Adam pushed the door open, the bell ringing above him to declare his entrance. The smell struck him sharply, causing the Half Elf to wince. To his surprise, the store was much larger on the inside, essentially one long room, with basic shirts of scales tied to wooden posts.

An older man, perhaps in his sixties, sat in one corner, sewing scales together. His salt and pepper hair was cut short, though he wore a thick goatee, which was black as night. He was shorter than a typical Aldishman, and though he was thin, his fingers were thick and heavily scarred.

“Mister Sam?” Adam asked.

“I don’t know about no mister, but I’m Sam,” the man replied, staring at the stranger who wore a purple breastplate. “Who are you?”

“Adam,” he replied. “I passed through the town a while ago and your nephew, Garry, made me promise to buy some scale mail after the tournament. I placed well, so I’m flush with coin.” Adam eyed up the scale all around, most of it scale on leather.

“How well did you place?”

“Third.”

“Third?”

“Yeah. They call me Purple Adam, I hear.”

“Didn’t pay attention to the tournament,” Sam admitted, cutting the string once he was done tying it up. “Was too busy working.”

“Can’t disrespect that,” Adam said, nodding his head slowly.

“You covering your ears because you’re a leaf ear?”

“How could you tell?” Adam’s forehead twitched.

“You’re a handsome bastard.”

“Will you deny my coin?”

“No. Coin’s the same, whether it’s from an Aldishman, an Aswadian,” Sam said, before his eyes caught sight of Adam once more, “or an Elf.”

“Only half.”

“What are you lookin’ for?” He eyed up the puthral armour. “Don’t know what I can offer anyone wearing Iyrman steel.”

“It’s not steel, it’s-,”

“Puthral, yes, it was an expression.”

“I’m not good with expressions, being a leaf ear and all.” Adam chuckled.

Sam placed his scales to one side, and leaned back on his stool, up against the wall. “I can’t offer you anything better.”

“Then I won’t be buying anything for myself, but I could buy something for someone else, can’t I?”

“You can. I’ll need measurements to make sure it’ll fit, but I’ll suppose it’s a gift?”

“Something like that. Measurements aren’t too important, it’ll be enchanted.”

“Enchanted?”

“That’s right.” Adam flashed a smile towards the older Aldishman. “I’m Executive Adam, from the United Kindom. We work for an enchanter, and I would like to procure your finest work for them to enchant. It might be put up for sale, but chances are, it’ll be gifted to someone very special.”

“…” Sam stared at the Half Elf. “My finest work is pricey.”

“I placed third, so I’m flush with coin.”

‘Third? So he’s got at least a thousand, no doubt.’ Sam thought, eyeing the Half Elf up. Puthral armour, a fine axe at his side, he wasn’t a nobody, that was for sure. “What are you looking for?”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Do you work with Dragon scales?” Adam asked, before wincing.

“A little, but can’t get my hands on many at a time. Not a lot of Dragons killed recently. No, I heard something about a White Dragon and a Blue Dragon, but I’m not sure I can get their scales.”

“Ah, right. I guess I do have some of their scales left…” ‘Do I?’ Adam thought back to the pile of Dragon scales. ‘No, Elder Gold took most of the good bits…’

“You have some?”

“None usable for armour, unfortunately.” Adam sighed. “I gifted a bunch of them away.”

“…”

“Alright, instead of Dragon scales, how about hydra scales? I think we still have some, and I think I could pull some strings to acquire enough for a breastplate.”

“Hydra scales?”

“Is that alright?”

“Aye. I’ve worked with hydra scales before.” Sam continued to eye the Half Elf up. “So you’ll bring the hydra scales?”

“We’ve got some, so I might as well use them…” Adam paused. “Just a moment.” Adam fell into thought. ‘Could I enchant it and gift it to…’ “Yeah. Hydra scale mail. That would be perfect.”

“If you’ve got the mail, I can make a scale cuirass for it,” Sam said. “I don’t deal with mail.”

“Right, I just meant a cuirass.”

“A scale cuirass, made of hydra scales.” Sam thought for a moment. “If you’re providing the scales, and I only need to make the cuirass, it’ll set you back thirty gold, and shouldn’t take me longer than five days. If you want me to take longer to make sure everything is lined up perfectly, then I’ll need at least two weeks, and you’ll be looking to pay at least sixty gold.”

“I expected to pay much more than that.”

“If I had to source the hydra scales, then I’d ask for more than a hundred, but if you’re providing them, then you’re only asking me for some leather and the labour.”

“Right, that makes sense. What’s the best leather you have?”

“The best leather I have will depend on the colour you want.”

“Grey.”

“Grey? Then the best I’ve got is monohorn leather, all the way from Aswadasad. It’s pricey.”

“How pricey?”

“I’d charge you at least fifty gold for it.”

“Done. You’ll take two weeks, you’ll use monohorn leather, the hydra scales we provide, and you’ll make a cuirass made of scale. I’d like for it to be sized roughly to me, but a little… no, actually, I’ll bring someone for you to measure up.”

“Alright. That’ll be one hundred and ten gold.”

“I’ll pay you fifty gold upfront, and one hundred upon completion,” Adam replied.

“I’ll need…” Sam paused. Typically, he’d ask for half the gold upfront, and half upon completion. “One hundred and fifty gold total?”

“You have to tell Garry that Adam of Fate’s Golden kept his word.” Adam smiled.

“Alright.” Sam held out his hand and shook the Half Elf’s forearm.

Adam returned in the evening with hydra scales and another muscular hunk by the name of Jurot. He had bought some of the scales from the porters and farmers previously, glad he had thought so far ahead. It had also been easy enough to convince Jurot.

“Hey, Jurot, come with me to get your measurements taken.”

“Okay.”

Easy enough.

“You’ve asked an Iyrman to come take measurements?” Sam asked.

“Not an Iyrman, my brother.”

“Your brother?” His eyes fell to Adam’s forehead, before he raised his brows.

“Yes,” Jurot replied.

“Well, alright…”

“Who is the scale armour for?” Jurot asked while Sam used his string to take his measurements.

“It’s a gift for someone,” Adam replied. “I’m keeping it a secret.”

“Okay.”

‘That was it?’ Sam thought. He began to grow curious, but he knew not to ask too many questions. They were paying him good coin, and he wasn’t going to ruin such a chance of making extra coin.

“I’ve brought fifty gold, and once you’re done, head to the guild and hand the armour there. They’ll pay you the rest of the gold once they check it.”

“Alright.”

“For the sake of future business, if I wanted basic scale armour, the full set, how much would that cost, and how many days would it take?”

“About fifty gold, about ten days,” Sam replied.

“Good to know.” Adam held out his hand. “Pleasure doing business with you, Sam.”

“You too, Adam,” Sam replied, holding out his hand, shaking Adam’s.

Adam and Jurot stepped outside. Adam inhaled the fresh air, until the back of his nose stung, and he coughed. “Is scale armour that good?” Adam whispered. “I feel like it’s pretty effective for money, and it’s pretty quick too.”

“It is decent.”

“Might have to equip the future warriors with scale armour if it comes down to it.”

“If they are not strong, scale mail is reasonable,” Jurot confirmed.

“Cool, cool. I’ll think about it. Rick and the others have some nice chain mail and stuff, so we probably shouldn’t get scale for them.” Adam wondered if he could get something for them to increase their Defence. ‘I wonder if there’s an easier way to equip my workers. He can do what, forty or so a year? I doubt I’ll gain that many a year, so I guess it’s not too bad as a way to equip them. Spears and shields are pretty easy to grab too, so if I’m in a pinch it’s not a bad idea.’

The pair returned to the guild, where most of their group relaxed. Adam eyed up the armour the group wore, and his eyes fell to Vonda. ‘I should probably equip our Priest with plate mail too. I’ve got enough enough to equip her, but would she feel mad? She probably has enough money after betting too, probably? Would she rather donate it to her temple?’

“What are you thinking so deeply about?” Vonda asked.

“Something stupid.”

“Yes.”

Adam narrowed his eyes. “You’re lucky you’re our designated lifesaver, otherwise we’d have a problem.” Adam slowly smiled, chuckling lightly.

Vonda continued to smile at him. “So we will leave in the morning?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you done with your business?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you need to buy scale armour?”

“I gave my word.”

“Who is the scale armour for?”

“It’ll be a gift to someone special.”

“A special someone?”

“No, someone special. I don’t think I have a special someone.” Adam leaned back. ‘I do need a mother for my kids. Thank Baktu they haven’t asked about their mother. They’re a little young so far, so I have what, one or two years before they start asking? Three years if I’m lucky.’

Vonda decided against interrupting Adam’s thoughts, seeing as he was thinking about his children.