In a dimly lit, and more than slightly run down bar, a loud and boisterous group of people sat at a long table, consuming copious amounts of alcohol and food.
The owner of the bar and inn kept glancing over at them, wishing that he could throw the group out, due to the fact that they were disturbing the other customers, who were leaving one by one, driven away by the noise and behaviour of the group.
The owner, though, knew that he had no good excuse to get them to leave—After all, it’s only a group of people celebrating after a day's work, right? Part of the problem was that the building hadn’t seen such a cheerful and loud atmosphere for decades. It had even gained a somewhat strong reputation as a prime place for seedy transactions and dubious dealings.
Thus, this group was driving away his biggest customers, who preferred dark and quiet places, where they wouldn’t be recognized, or asked complicated questions.
However, were the owner to ask the group to leave, then he was sure things would get messy, quickly. If they went to the city guards, then it would bring their attention on his previously unremarkable building. Considering that he caters to people not wanting any attention, the owner couldn’t afford any exposure. So he just had to leave the group alone, and bear the cost of the customers who had left.
The group continued to make merry through the night, seemingly unaware of how many they drove away. At the head of their table, sat a gigantic and beefy man, with a beard worthy of a dwarf, and hands as big as his plate. If one looked closely enough, they would notice that his overly large hands plucked at his food nimbly and delicately, in a way that seemed impossible considering how large they are. Parts of his beard were singed, and his face somewhat sooty. When he laughed, it was with a deep booming sound, echoing through the building. His eyes, black though they might be, smoldered within their sockets, like flames dwelled within.
The rest of the table was filled with similarly eccentric characters, in many different styles of clothing and personalities. While the large man seemed to be fire, across the table sat his opposite, with a clean shaven face, sharply made clothes, and eyes that could pierce through you with their coldness. His hands were pale, and he ate with great care. When the whole table laughed, he only smiled slightly, casting a sinister light over his icy features.
One of the few women at the gathering sat in the middle, halfway down the table from those two polar opposites. She had deep black hair down to her back, and her thin and elegant hands worked quickly. You could see stains on those hands if you looked close enough, like a paint or ink of some sort. Her tired looking eyes took in the whole table, and seemed to see everything at once. At one point, she brushed back her hair, revealing long, pointed ears. She would laugh and smirk in equal measures.
Across from her, there was only an empty chair. It was the only unoccupied chair at the whole table, in this large group of twenty or so, filled with so many different races and people. And while there was twenty people there, the focus of everyone seemed to be one those three, and the empty chair. It was obvious that the group was expecting one more, someone capable of demanding just as much attention as the other three, who were considered the leaders of the group, for many reasons. While waiting for the chair’s occupant to arrive, conversation at the table continued.
A variety of things were talked about. A common theme seemed to be economics, and trade. Odd things to speak about in such a run down bar. One even had to wonder why this out-of-place group had even chosen such a place to meet in the first place, given the atmosphere, and reputation owned by the building. In fact, that was another topic that the group talked about—the choice of location. It was first brought up by a middle-aged and slightly overweight man, posing the question to the whole group. He had been the second of the group to arrive at the building, and had nearly thought that he misheard the meeting location, until he spotted the large, bearded man sitting alone at one end of the then empty table. Even then, he couldn’t not notice the grim atmosphere of the place, and how the large man seemingly rejected it, by drinking merrily, and loudly greeting the man as he entered. Others expressed a similar question, and the dark haired woman answered them.
“Well, it’s simple really. We left the choice to Hogvir, and he gleefully chose this place.”
Hogvir, the large man at one end of the table, smiled broadly.
(Hogvir) “I thought it would be interesting, and a good difference to those stupidly fancy places we always go. They always seem to want to throw me out.”
Some of the people at the table grumbled at that.
The cold refined man opposite Hogvir spoke.
“Just because you want to come here, does not mean this is the same for the rest of us, Hogvir. We often go to those ‘stupidly fancy places’ because most of us feel more comfortable there.”
(Hogvir) “Ugh. Fine. You got me there, Jourmont.”
Listening to their conversations, many things could be figured out. Hogvir, the large man, seemed to work with metal, forging armour, and providing rare ore to other blacksmiths in the city. Jourmont, the cold man, cooks food for a living, and runs several popular ‘stupidly fancy’ restaurants in the city. The black haired woman, named Ash, runs a tailor shop catering to both nobles and adventurers alike. Everyone at the table ran a business of their own. If anyone listening in knew the shops, parlors, and banks of the city well, they would be shocked to find that, at that table, sat many of the biggest names as far as business is concerned in the city.
The night wound down, and the group at the table began to leave, one by one, claiming that they needed rest for the next day, or that they had to get home soon. Eventually, only three were left at the table, Ash, Hogvir, and Jourmont.
(Ash) “*sigh*. That makes it—what, the third time, right?”
(Jourmont) “Correct. Maybe we should just leave him alone? Not invite him next time?”
(Hogvir) “No, we’ll invite him. We’d better. As a fellow blacksmith, I can tell just how much he’s surpassed any of us. We have to get to know him, somehow.”
(Ash) “And how do you propose we do that? That guy is the most secretive person in the city at the moment. No one’s even seen his face yet, nor meet with him for more than ten minutes at a time. We’ve invited him to our meetings, but he’s never shown up, and shows no intention of doing so.”
(Hogvir) “I have an idea, but I’m not sure how you guys’ll like it.”
(Jourmont) “Oh? Pray tell.”
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At the other end of the city, while those three discussed various things, a small hut containing an equally small smithy cast a dim red glow out it’s windows, and a persistent hammering came from within.
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Even with how late the night was, no one came to bother the small figure hammering away at a glowing piece of metal. Though, the fact that the hut was situated near the red-light areas of the city might have contributed to that. After all, there was more than one type of banging going on during the night.
Incredibly, the metal seemed almost alive under the hands of the small figure, and took shape quickly. The metal cooled as the figure worked it, though, and it was put back into a forge, glowing red hot, even though there wasn’t any visible fuel source.
As the night went on, the metal bar shaped itself into a gently curving dagger, without any ornate embellishments. While the shape of it was classically elegant, it was otherwise as plain as could be. The blade was beveled, and soon took on an edge. While the blade wasn’t anything fancy, there were some barely noticeable color changes in places, with lighter areas near the cutting portions of the blade, and darker grey areas at the spine and flat sides.
Some wood was affixed to the tang of the blade, where the handle would end up. The dark colored wood was trimmed down by the figure, until it put down the blade, seemingly satisfied. The blade was left unpolished, and could almost be mistaken for a second-rate blade, but for the fact that the shape of the blade was anything but simple, with a slight curve, one edge, and even width until the point, where it slimmed down, and joined up with the spine, which had also been gently tapered, forming a false edge near the point of the dagger.
The figure wrapped the dagger in linen strips, and left it by the anvil. It didn’t join any of the other finished blades in the small hut, which were resting against one wall. Those finished blades varied in size, shape, and impression. They all had one thing in common, though—These were some of the deadliest blades in the city at the moment. Even if some of them seemed unfinished at the moment. In fact, some of the unfinished ones were far and above the others.
The figure put on a cloak, and hid its face within a featureless mask before grabbing the linen wrapped blade, and leaving the hut. It only walked outside, though, and simply waited, as the sun began to rise.
It didn’t take too long for someone to arrive.
It was a man, wearing a nicely made suit, and carrying a dignified air, followed by two other, less refined men struggling to hold a chest between the two. They dropped the chest in front of the figure, who opened it, and exposed the glint of various non-precious metal bars within. Some of it was steel, some was iron, though there were other metals in there, with various shades of color ranging from the simple greys, to a couple of blue bars, and others that were black. There was even a pure white bar in there.
The dignified man spoke, as the figure looked through the chest.
“As agreed, here’s the payment for your latest work, and the three previous ones. Now, if you would please produce the finished work?”
The figure, not looking up from the chest, simply held out the wrapped blade. The dignified man unwrapped it, and pretended to inspect the blade, even though it was obvious he had no idea
what to look for.
“May we do business again, Bladesmith Kai.”
The figure, Kai, nodded in the man’s general direction, before shutting the chest, and picking it up easily, even when two grown men had struggled with it’s weight. This would be a near super-human feat for a grown man, and Kai barely seemed to reach the shoulders of one average sized person. While Kai was busy with this, the dignified man smirked lightly, with a trace amount of disdain in his eyes, before leaving.
Kai hauled the chest back to the hut, and simply dropped it on the floor near the forge, before going through a door leading deeper into the hut. Inside the other room, a bed was pushed into a corner, and another chest held personal effects like clothes, books, mementos, and a small iron knife, poorly made, but well cared for. Kai shut the door, and locked it. Not many would realize it, but the sound of metal clinking sounded from multiple points on the door as it was locked, securing it in an over-kill fashion.
Confident of the safety, and privacy in this room and the hut in general, Kai took off the mask and cloak, and removed the blacksmith’s apron.
Kai spun around, and looked into a large mirror set into one of the walls.
Sizing up the figure in the mirror, Kai simply stared for a few seconds, before sitting down on the bed, and meditating.
The figure in the mirror had been that of a girl, looking to be around twelve years old, with long, bone white hair, golden eyes which darkened toward the center, and doll-like pale features. Were she to grow a little more mature, she would easily be a very beautiful woman. Though, the focus of most people would be on the delicate and small horns emerging from her head, and the fact that her eyes had reptilian slit pupils. She also had a long and thin tail hidden, wrapped around her waist.
When she had looked in the mirror, some windows had popped up in front of her, titled Status. This was the reason she had looked into the mirror in the first place, before meditating.
Status:Name: Katariah SilverRace: Demon/ElfAge: 13Gender: FemaleMain Class: MageSub Class(es): Smith; SwordsmanLevel: 20Health: 300Mana: 75000Strength: 48Stamina: 32Dexterity: 60Intelligence: 62Wisdom: 58Luck: 1
Skills:Mana Manipulation: Medium LV9Fire Manipulation: Medium LV7Dark Manipulation: Basic LV9Water Manipulation: Medium LV4Earth Manipulation: Advanced LV3Smithing: Expert LV2Woodworking: Basic LV9Sword Fighting: Advanced LV9Tailoring: Medium LV3Demonic Transformation: Basic LV2Analyze: MAXFarsight: Advanced LV8Wiseman: Expert LV4
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