image [https://i.imgur.com/z1kqTxf.jpeg]

Your move action will take you over the merchant Space “Kevin's Smithy”

Would you like to end your move on the merchant Space?

Yes/No

As Will had expected, as soon as he’d rolled his dice, he got the option to stop at the next merchant Space. Choosing to accept the offer, Will found himself in what looked like a medieval armory.

From a book series dealing with the trials of talking animals, which would be read by children around the world and leave them with lifelong trauma.

Armor for anything from mice, through birds, lizards and cats and up to horses and ranging from light leather armor and up to heavy plate that looked to be made from precious metals and studded with gems hang from racks around the room. Will even saw what looked like several suits of plate armor made for various sizes of fish.

Metal claws, horns, fangs, stingers and wings hang from the walls, at different sizes and made of different metals. A tail flail that looked identical to Jeremy’s caught Will’s eye, as well as a set of bronze claws that were a twin to his own.

“And here I thought that this world was completely uninhabited, seeing as my shop instance was completely deserted until now”

The speaker, who’d appeared from around one of the armor stands, was tall and broad-shouldered, just like Will would have expected a blacksmith to be. He wore a leather apron over simple canvas shirt and trousers, and had a large hammer slung over his shoulder.

He was also, quite clearly, a brace of racoons standing on top of each other. With one of them, the one doing the talking, poking his head out of the shirt’s collar and looking at Will with obvious amusement.

Another racoon was halfway out of the shirt’s right sleeve, and holding onto the hammer with his paws. Somehow, the tiny paws were able to hold a hammer larger than the racoon’s entire body without any visible strain.

Will only realized he was staring when the… being in from of him spoke again.

“You should close your mouth, or the flies will go in. Unless you’re an insectivore, in which case that’s probably something you’ll be in favor of. Not sure quite what you are, to be honest.”

Err. Sorry. Wombat. I’m a wombat. Name’s Will.

“You don’t look like any bat I’ve ever seen. But I guess it does mean you’re likely an insectivore.”

Not a bat. A wombat. Completely different animal. And I’m an herbivore.

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“Never heard of wombats. Either way, Mr. wombat, my name is Kevin, and I’m the owner of this store. As well as the armorer and weaponsmith. None of which was doing me any good, seeing as you’re the first one to even bother coming in. And even that took far longer than I’d been expecting.”

Yeah, that’s because of how this world is built. We don’t actually get to decide on where we’re going. But the other guy should have been here before me. We both got the option to stop on merchant Spaces a while ago, and he should be ahead of me.

“Nobody’s been here before you, from your world. Doesn’t matter though. You’re here now. What can Kevin’s Smithy do for you? Maybe some protection for your hind parts? I can see that you’re a bit lacking in the armor department over there.”

I’m actually naturally armored there. Seems to give me almost as much protection as actual armor does.

“You are, without a doubt, one of the weirdest customers I’ve ever had.”

Says the brace of raccoons in a leather apron.

“Nothing strange about a brace of raccoons in an apron. Not even close to having an armored butt.”

You know what? Fine. I’m not going to argue about that. Not like I can really argue that wombats aren’t weird. Back to actual business, I think I’d like a better weapon than what I have right now, more than any more armor.

“Yeah, I can see that you’ve got a basic set of claws there. Can I assume that you’ll want to stick to claws?”

Yeah, that’s probably the best direction for me right now.

“Good. For claws, I have a set of uncommon claws with a sharpness enchantment on them. Gets you two damage categories instead of the one you get from your commons. Alternatively, I’ve got a rare set that boosts your attack speed.”

How much for the rare set?

“Fifty silver marks.”

Ouch. That’s way above my budget, I’m afraid. How about the uncommons?

“Five silver for the uncommons.”

That one was actually possible, but would cost all of Will’s cash. Without actually solving his elemental damage issues, since the extra damage wouldn’t help against monsters with both physical and lightning resistances. And Will was more or less certain that he’d find an enchanter on the final merchant square, which meant he’d need all five silver marks for a new aspect to upgrade Electrical.

Still too high for me, I’m afraid. I don’t suppose you’d be willing to buy some materials from me?

“No trade ins or barters.”

Figures. I’m afraid I’m going to have to pass on buying anything, this time. Maybe after my next trip to Fili’s

“Suit yourself.” The smith shrugged. Which was a seriously weird concept, considering that it involved his shoulder raccoons climbing higher, without the arm raccoons going along with them. “You know where to find me if you change your mind.”

Will bade the smith farewell, and went to find some privacy before moving on.

Quest Shrine

Pick one of the offered quest cards.

The familiar quest shrine materialized around Will, with all its faux-Viking glory. The three cards hanging in front of him had an iron-grey back, a bright purple back, and a beige, kind of boring, back.

Knowing that he had to pick one of the cards, Will didn’t hesitate, and went for the iron-grey option. The two unchosen cards vanished, and the one Will touched flipped around, showing Will its face. The upper half of the card showed an image of an anvil, with the bottom half filled with the quest details.

Iron Shortage

Kevin, the brace of raccoons owner of Kevin’s Smithy, is facing a severe iron shortage.

Something is up with the iron mines, and supply has completely dried up.

Bring Kevin the Smith enough iron to work with, and he’ll reward you!

Reward:

50 xp

Uncommon gear

You have got to be kidding me! I was literally just there!