Twenty-one days until the Duel with Edbert
Mid-Afternoon
With my meeting with Jose over and the advice and news he had provided processed, I was ready to continue the plan. First, I would head to the smithy of Moriah Filigree’s family, given she had already heard that part of my plan and the fact it was both the largest and highest-ranked smithy in Strongbridge.
When I arrived, I heard an absolute racket of noise, but it wasn’t one made up of metalworking and other smithing tasks. It was an argument. Or rather, arguments that were all kind of being had around each other.
As I walked cautiously up to the entrance door of the three-story building which had great opening and closing steel shutters and reminded me of a quasi-medieval version of a car repair shop. More than the arguments I noted as I started closing the distance, I was struck by the lack of movement and clang of hammers against metal.
Normally, by this time of day, the doors would be wide open and the Feligree family would be diligently working away at projects alongside their monster partners. Those big bay doors would be open to allow for the various Cindnutum and other monsters that the Filigree clan partnered with to go out and sun themselves in between jobs, as well as to allow breezes through to help cool the smiths between their jobs.
They were shut, and more than that one of Moriah’s cousins stood outside of them with a posture that he thought he was on guard. The fourteen-year-old glared at me for a moment when I looked at him and tensed his weapon. I tried not to laugh at the fact that he was trying to intimidate me with of all things, a pair of oversized blacksmith’s tongs.
When he recognized me though he untensed and gave me a polite nod. After we exchanged the simple greeting of “Good Morning”, I knocked on the entrance door I was standing in front of.
Instantly the arguments I had heard from down the lane stopped. After a moment, I was greeted by a woman who stood at four feet with a build that was both petite and strong, because while she was small-boned, she was also ripped with muscles. With a plait of long red hair the same color as Moriah’s aside from a few vividly white stripes in it I knew even without an analysis that this was Minerva Filigree, the grandmother of Moriah.
The woman looked me up and down a few times before speaking, and although I felt on an emotional level that she was judging me there was no proof of that. I didn’t even feel the electric tingle I had been taught over the past few months was how it felt for a human to have the analysis skill used on them.
“It was you who did it? Ha. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, when people look for the master smith of the Filigree Foundry, they always get surprised that it’s master smiths.” Which I understood without further context. Moriah had previously spoken, -no honestly she had bragged -, her grandmother, Minerva, and grandfather, Mario, had founded Filigree Foundry and built it into a smithy that even got orders from the capital - though I had never actually gotten anything more than a look implying I was an idiot for asking about it.
“Anyways, come in. Wade is it? We’ve got some things to discuss about your request. Opportunities, even. You didn’t go to visit the carpenters first did you?”
“No.”
“Attaboy.” The woman slapped me on the shoulder. It almost bowled me over. The elder smith ushered me in.
As I followed her, the twenty-plus strong members of the Filigree family began their cacophony once again, but a simple glare from the hugely muscled and tall bald man with a solid black mustache stopped the rest of the Filigree from arguing or even talking. Given his difference from the looks of the others, I did analyze him on instinct.
[[ Grandmaster Craftsman Mario Filigree
Class: Smith – Level 30 ]]
As I realized who he was, I gave him a polite bow of the head. “Grandmaster Filigree. I am Wade Calhoun. It is nice to meet you.”
Before the man could respond, Minerva gave me another slap on the shoulder that almost bowed me over.
“Mario, the boy has your manners!” then she began to laugh, and when she was done she looked to a few of her grandchildren. Without even so much as speaking she seemed to direct them to gather up a few chairs from one of the rooms which were not workshops, Minerva smiled to the room.
“Now now, don’t be a clutch of fledgling cindnutums. I get that you’re all excited, but if you keep on giving us so much trouble about it, Mario and I will decide which one of the family gets the quest and its rewards.”
Which threw me off. Quest? What… what was she talking about?
“Grandmaster Minerva, apologies, but quest?” I asked. “What quest?”
She flashed me a grin wide and bright enough that with the proper it could’ve started a fire.
“Just wait until the chairs get there and we’ll talk about it.”
As we waited, she lost her grandmotherly steel for the softness of one and played with a few of the children who had scampered down from the family’s quarters on the upper floors when the arguments seemed to stop. Some of the children had cindnutum that croaked at the woman and demanded pets just as the grandkids got hugs.
Which I soon realized was normal for the cindnutum of the Filigree family. It had to be because as I stood there a Fornyosoma, ribbited in the shadows behind me demanding a pat from me. As I gave it one, I realized it was the same Fornyosoma that Moriah had ridden through town when chasing a clutch of runaway cindnutum on the first day I met her.
I patted it gently and it let out a happy series of ribbits and chirps.
***
Soon, there were eight chairs and a well-kept rectangle table that could fit six chairs, brought in front of us. As Mario and Minerva took seats, they gestured for me to take one too.
Then waved over a brunette teenage girl with the tendency to glare that Moriah had, and a mild-mannered teenage boy with light red hair. If one was able to think of Minerva being as petite as an average grandma, this man looked like the Filigrees had kidnapped him directly from the confines of a library. He was gangly and had no discernible muscle. They waved over two people who were older than most of the others, that looked to be direct children of the couple, and then they waved over Moriah.
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After everyone had sat, and Moriah looked around nervously, Minerva slapped the desk with the same comfortable movement she had slapped my back with twice.
“Now that we’ve got who we want at the table, the rest of you can get to your chores and tasks. We’ll get back to you if we need your help with the project at hand, but don’t let any Tauraceans suffer from you not making shoes for their hoofs; or any of the other numerous tasks we’ve got to wait over long. We didn’t become the only Grade A Smithy in Tidewarren by sitting on our duffs, so you’d better not either!”
The family scattered to tasks as if they had been thrown by a tornado and even in the middle of the workshop floor we began this obviously important discussion.
“So just to make sure you’ve all seen it.” Minerva started, and moments later I had a system window appear in front of me.
[[ Strange Eyes, Strange Ideas – The young man known as Wade Calhoun has come to you with a series of jobs that could open many new possibilities. Use your skill in smithing, engineering, and craftsmanship in general to create the items he had come up with and requested and you will be greatly rewarded.
This is a quest with variable rewards based on your actions. Multiple people may contribute to its success and gain its rewards.
Rewards:
Base completion success: 40 Experience Points and 1.5% of the experience points which are metabolized monsters that are captured by this new device when the device is made by your hands. 1% of the experience points that are metabolized by monsters captured by this new device when the device is made by another member of the Filigree Foundry. .5% of the experience points that are metabolized by the monsters captured by this new device made with your blueprint, by any other craftsman. Additionally, the work on monster accessories may grant you insight (based on luck stat and wisdom stat) into inspiration for creating new monster accessories.
For the primary participants: A rare crafting tool of your choice delivered through a system prompt.
Base failure cost: 50 Experience points.
Additional Rewards: Variable.
Additional notes: You have multiple paths to success, and multiple paths to failure. Good luck!
]]
There was no acceptance prompt when I saw it, but I got the feeling that was because I had caused the quest to come to be. It was a surprise, because this was only the second quest I had even encountered and because I was surprised my simple ideas had caused it.
“I was a little surprised when I heard everyone arguing when I got here, but now I think I get it.”
It wasn’t hard to figure out, because while the experience point rewards for the quest weren’t great. Not even enough to get kids directly to the cusp of being able to master their apprentice class and grab the proper smith class, even – they weren’t the only thing offered. Craftspeople weren’t the dumb laborers some liked to romanticize them as. They could see the subtext in the quest. The importance wasn’t in the upfront reward, but rather in the unlocking of a percentile bonus for everyone that someone used. I was surprised, was my idea new?
“Least you didn’t hear them going at each other with hammers,” Mario remarked with a chuckle. As he said it, his mustache fluttered with wind, despite his low but booming voice. His lungs must have been strong.
“Of course, he didn’t, my dear. All it took was grandma cracking some skulls.” Minerva spoke up with a wild woman’s grin at her husband. She slapped the table again and looked at me. “But to the case at hand. We need you to let us handle this project in-house, and for you to approve the quest’s takers. No help from the Lively Lathe Carpenters, they’re good but you involving them dilutes the Foundry’s gains.”
I was confused and despite not saying it, she picked up on that. Was I that easy to read? I was beginning to think so.
“In exchange, we’ll give you a discount on the jobs and any other commissions you come to us with.” She looked at Moriah as if she was about to add something and smirked, before looking back to me.
“We can get the job done in an eight-day. Our suggestion is Moriah, Marsha here.” she pointed to the brunette palette swap of Moriah. “And Marshall, Marsha’s twin brother.” she pointed to the toothpick of a smith with light red hair.
Before she could go on, the other two adults spoke up, almost in unison despite glaring at each other to stop their counterparts from talking.
“Mother! That’s not fair to our children, especially the oldest. Moriah barely unlocked her Smith class, and the twins are barely back from Duke Reimund’s Folly! How do you know they won’t go back there?”
Mario gave a glare at the two of them, both his son and his daughter – and for a moment I felt the air heat up. As quickly as it did, they slumped.
“Your mother didn’t stutter, Marcus, Martina. We’ve already decided which of the grandkids we want to work on the project. If you want to argue, go start your own foundry.”
The pair of adults who had just been close to throwing a tantrum now did their best impersonation of a child sulking.
Then the man looked at me. “So where did you get this idea of yours? And with Cerbeari being as tough as they already are, why bother to request armor for it? I know about your fight in twenty days – heck you’re the hottest gossip in the town right now, but I don’t get it. Armor isn’t normally considered a thing for monsters, as tough as they are on their own.”
I grinned. “If it works the way I think it is, you’ll see the results. But the reasoning is simple. Baloo, that’s my Cerbearus, he’s strong – but he’s also not evolved. I have no idea of how to get enough experience to evolve him even if I knew the method, and Edbert has some evolved monsters. So I need an equalizer. He’s got the strength, but I’ve got outside knowledge. Grandmaster Mario, let me tell you about the gospel of ACME.”
***
In the end, I didn’t agree to only commission the Filigree Foundries on my project, because of three reasons. Firstly, I needed the expert woodworking skills of the Lively Lathe Carpenters, and Calvin’s master and colleagues would be infuriated at me if I took the job from them. Secondly, the threat of competition would make everyone work together. Thirdly, as I revealed just to Mario and Minerva along with my demand to have every member of the foundry work on at least one part – even if it was constructing hinges – of my main project? That system prompt for the quest never actually put a limit on the number of participants; and while only the main participants would gain the boon of a rare crafting tool, anyone who participated in the construction of my idea would gain the base experience and a percentile of what experience points as listed.
I had a very similar conversation with the carpenters of the Lively Lathe but without any of the strange glances or smirks. It came to the same result, and they agreed to take the job without complaining about me also giving it to the Filigree Foundries.
I was still surprised that no one had bothered to try to combine the concept of mousetraps or bear traps with reliquaries. Perhaps it was my view of monster-capturing devices in media back on earth that influenced my view on reliquaries. Perhaps I had watched too many cartoon cats and mice as a kid. Whatever the case, I could only hope that they would be able to fulfill my whole order and that maybe one day all the crafters involved would be good enough at the new construction to be able to each deliver one of my new reliquaries per day.
The rest of my shopping trip was buying supplies for many days in the wilderness, a few spare changes of clothes, and of course a few pairs of the finest wellie-like boots that could be found in Strongbridge. I was not going to allow myself to get swampfoot when trudging through the Dragon’s Tooth Bog dungeon.
Next stop? Alec and the Shepherds.