As Jack and S'haar walked into the inn, Lon'thul seemed to be deeply engaged in the act of telling his story. He was waving his arms about as though trying to act out the scenes he was describing. "There were dozens of bodies strewn across a large field. The fight must have been in constant motion as the combatants fought with spear, sword, claw, and even teeth!"

Lon'thul gnashed his teeth to emphasize his last sentence while someone from the crowd placed a full mug in front of him to encourage him to keep talking. "One of the bodies belonged to the largest argu'n I've ever seen. He would have stood a full head taller than me if he hadn't had a sword shoved clear through his chest at the time!"

Lon'thul reached for his drink, only to see it grabbed up by the one person he least expected to see at that moment. S'haar took a long swig from the mug before slamming it down on the table and looking down at Lon'thul. "You tell a good story, but for the record, there weren't 'dozens' only about twenty, and unless I miscounted, only about six were dealt with by 'spear, sword, claw, or teeth,' the rest was his doing." S'haar jerked her thumb back at Jack while she contemplated the mug again before taking another long pull.

Jack quickly found himself in the middle of an agoraphobes greatest fear, the center of attention. This was slightly compounded because everyone in the crowd now staring at him stood one to two feet taller than himself, giving Jack the impression he was drowning in a sea of eyes.

The small portion of his brain still capable of wit directed a mental 'et tu Brute?' to S'haar. The rest of his mind was franticly choosing between fight or flight before settling on the lesser mentioned third option, freeze. After all, Jack was utterly dependant upon S'haar if he wanted to communicate with any villagers, and she didn't seem interested in leaving just yet.

Meanwhile, everyone in the crowd was looking between Jack and S'haar with varying degrees of incredulity. Lon'thul voiced the thought on everyone's minds. "I don't mean to offend you or Jack, but... How? I mean, just look at him! Most of the children in the village would be a decent match for Jack!"

S'haar sighed as she finished the mug and signaled the innkeeper, Sur'ruin, for a refill and some food before continuing. "What you are forgetting is that Jack is here as the representative of the dragon, and the dragon doesn't send her chosen representative out to us without giving him the means to protect himself."

Jack was decidedly uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was going but couldn't bring himself to so much as open his mouth to protest. He just had to hope that S'haar knew what she was doing.

Nodding her thanks to the innkeeper as her mug was topped off, S'haar took another drink before continuing. "How do you think I travel from their mountain home to the village safely when it's this cold out? How do you think Jack can get so much quality metal so quickly? How do you think they were able to forge this blade for me?" S'haar punctuated her last question by drawing her sword and placing it on the table in front of her.

All eyes were focused on the impossibly sharp blade as S'haar let the moment of silence drag on long enough to emphasize her next statement. "It is easy to look at his small stature and peaceful demeanor and underestimate Jack. I did when we first met. The hill raiders did too, and look what happened to them. How long will the rest of you underestimate him before you realize he has more to offer than just some metal ore?"

Food was finally brought out, and S'haar made it apparent she was done talking to the crowd. As the gathered crowd dispersed, Jack eventually joined the other two at the table. With a glare directed at S'haar, he finally spoke up. "What was that all about? You know I'm not interested in bragging about that fight. If anything, I'm trying to maintain a low profile."

S'haar grabbed a plateful of food and placed it in front of Jack before gathering a plate for herself while she responded. "Well, if crashing into the mountain and later showing up to the village with a small fortune in metal didn't already make maintaining a low profile impossible, this lout telling the whole village about our fight with the raiders destroyed any chance you had of that."

Lon'thul reached for some of the food before S'haar slapped his hand away without looking as she continued. "Besides, if you are going to get this outpost of yours up and running in the middle of winter, it's a good idea to have a bit of a reputation as someone who can do the impossible. I saw an opportunity to help, so I took it. You're welcome."

Jack chewed on that thought while his mouth chewed on his food. The meat resembled a beef roast but had a more tangy flavor, as though it had been marinated with a sour juice before being roasted. It was an odd flavor, but the more Jack ate, the better he liked it.

Finally, Jack turned to S'haar. "While it's not the way I would have gone about it, you have a point. Thank you."

S'haar merely nodded, her eyes closed as she enjoyed her own plate. Jack was feeling a little sorry for Lon'thul, who could only understand half the conversation while also giving the food a look people usually reserved for the crush they were too afraid to talk to. "Why don't you let the kid fix himself a plate and ask him about the metal and kovaack?"

Lon'thul's eyes lit up once he received permission to dig in. His speech was only slightly slurred by saliva while he cut himself a thick slice of the haunch. "The metal has been purified and loaded back into your cart. It's waiting for you to retrieve it. Even after Mar'kon and I took our cut, you have more metal that I'd know what to do with!"

Lon'thul took a large bite out of his serving, his face an expression of pure bliss. After swallowing, he continued. "The Kovaack had sat a little too long without being properly cleaned, so about half the meat was unsalvageable, the rest I traded to the inn on your behalf. You can negotiate the trade's details if you wish, but I got you each about twenty meals if not. The hide and bones are set aside for you to do with as you wish. Now, what's this I heard about an outpost?"

-

Jack and S'haar soon found themselves at the woodworker's hall, giving Lady Fea'en the same explanation they'd given Lon'thul not long ago. "So to get metal workers and smelters up and running by the mountain, the first step is to get housing set up. To that end, we'd like to hire out however many workers you have to spare to get the outpost started."

The experienced woodworker was rubbing her jaw in thought. "Well, the kind of project you're talking about isn't really possible in the winter, and we always have more work than we can handle in the early spring. That means we couldn't even get started on it until summer..."

Jack grinned. He'd seen this problem coming and already taken it into account. S'haar unfolded the coat she'd been carrying while she continued to translate what Jack said. "Normally, you'd be right, but in addition to the compensation we'd typically offer you for a job like this, each worker will receive a coat like this they can keep for themselves once the job is done."

Fea'en inspected the coat flipping it inside and out and looking closely at the stitching. "This IS a well-made coat, better than any I've ever seen, but it doesn't really matter how generous the compensation is or how good the coat is. We simply can't work outside when it's this cold out."

Jack held out a warming pouch for Fea'en to take. "With these, you can. They are designed to fit in the pockets on the inside of the coats."

Fea'en took the pouch from Jack, her surprise immediately evident on her face. "It's warm, like a heated stone, but it's so light!"

Jack's grin grew as he spoke. "Yup, and it'll radiate heat at a steady rate like that for up to eight hours once 'activated.' After the heat has been drained, the dragon can recharge them so they can be used again. Any workers will also be given tents and blankets designed to utilize these same pouches until an adequate shelter has been built. We'll trade out the pouches roughly three times a day so everyone can stay warm while they work."

For the first time since Jack had met her, Fea'en cracked a smile of her own. She slipped the pouch into one of the pockets and put the coat on. The coats were fastened with a bone nob designed to fit through a leather loop. "I've got a bunch of apprentices just doing busy work since demand is so low in the winter."

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Testing out the range of movement in the coat, Fea'en moved about in that oddly graceful manner of hers. "Ok, it won't be cheap, but I've got a half dozen apprentices I can spare from our winter work, and to make sure the work is done properly, I'll come myself and oversee the construction."

Not that Jack was about to complain, but his surprise at Fea'en's offer was clearly evident on his face. Fea'en gave Jack a grin that reminded him she was every bit as much a predator as S'haar before speaking. "What, you don't think I'm going to pass on the opportunity to get myself a coat like this, do you?"

-

As they left the woodworking hall, Jack was pleased with how well things had gone so far. Admittedly, Fea'en had negotiated a steeper price than Jack had been hoping to pay. It had quickly become evident that even with all the metal he now had at his disposal, he only had enough for a downpayment for the job at hand, but he could always get more where that came from. After all, that was kind of the whole point of this endeavor.

Jack was just headed down to the village's metalworking section when an argu'n wearing unmistakably fine robes and flanked by his two imposing guards approached. "Ah, Jack, just the man I wanted to see!"

A'ngels turned and nodded to S'haar. "And S'haar, I'm glad to see the news of your injury must have been somewhat exaggerated."

S'haar chose not to respond, but Jack gave the noble a small deferential bow before addressing him. "Lord A'ngles, How can I help you?"

The noble seemed somewhat pleased at Jack's attempt at the formality and inclined his head in return. "I've heard the news that you're building an outpost to secure higher metal production and refinement. I was somewhat concerned about all of the village's craftspeople you're going to be recruiting. I was hoping to speak to you about that before it became an issue for either of us."

Jack was only slightly surprised that A'ngels had already heard of his plan. He'd known it would be an issue eventually. He hadn't planned on having to deal with it until his next visit to the town, but he supposed that it was better to deal with it now rather than having it hang over his head.

Stepping forward, Jack started to frame his argument for the noble. "Well, it's not so much that I'm taking workers from you, as it is we're seeking to increase the efficiency of the gathering and smelting process and thus the profitability to yourself as well as us."

Lord A'ngels raised an eyebrow, which Jack took as an invitation to continue. "Right now, we only spend a few days actually mining up the ore I bring to town. Most of our time is spent getting food, maintaining equipment, and traveling to and from the village, among other things. By setting up an outpost with workers there to smelt the metal, maintain the equipment, gather food, etc., I'll be able to focus more time on collecting the metal itself."

The noble was following along but clearly wasn't invested yet. It was time for Jack to bait the hook. "Now, of course, I'll be compensating everyone for their work, but I'm also going to need protection come spring. To that end, I'd like this village to become the patron of my outpost. You'll supply the guards, both onsite and for the deliveries, and in return, I'll offer you one-fourth of all the refined metal as payment for their services. Add in all the metal the workers will be paid in, and your village will have so much metal you'll become the primary supplier of it for the region."

There it was, Jack hoped that offering a direct payment to the village, and thus A'ngels, would grab his attention. "Hmm, you make a good argument, but after bloodying the hill raiders the way you did, they'll be out for revenge. The number of guards I'll have to supply would significantly reduce the village's protection, so I'll have to hire guards from surrounding villages. We can probably make that happen, for half the refined ore you produce."

Jack seemed to stop and think for a moment, but he'd been expecting that counter and already had his own counter offer ready. "I can do half the iron and other common metals, but only a quarter of the more rare metals such as silver and gold. I have another project I'll need those for, which will help increase our efficiency. Also, any metal shipments will be considered to be paid in full once they leave the outpost. You'll be responsible for their safe arrival at the village."

A'ngels tilted his head to the side. "I'm curious what you'd need soft metals for that would increase the efficiency of gathering metal, but I suppose there is a lot about your methods I don't yet understand. I think these terms are acceptable for now. After a summer of production, we'll reexamine the terms, agreed?"

Jack knew A'ngels was planning to increase his cut once Jack became dependant on his labor supply and guards, but he was hoping to be far enough along with his repairs that it would no longer matter. Besides, he knew he was unlikely to get better terms from any village further away than this one. "Agreed."

The village lord looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'll also need to send some security with the workers you'll be taking. Something to keep an eye on the village's...inventment. I believe you are on good terms with the hunter, Lon'thul, correct? So he'll do for now."

Jack didn't particularly like being told he would take on extra people without his input, but the Lord had chosen well. If he refused Lon'thul, Lord A'ngels could very well send someone that would be a worse fit for the outpost, like his son. Also, the hunter could provide an additional benefit to the outpost by using his finely honed skills to keep the outpost's food supplies filled and ready.

It wasn't ideal, and Lord A'ngels was obviously flexing some power over the outpost with this move, but it could have been a lot worse. Jack only hesitated a moment longer before replying again. "Agreed."

Lord A'ngels nodded. "Good, I'm glad we were able to come to an agreement! I'll let you be on your way. I'm sure you've got plenty more work to do to get our outpost ready for production."

Jack wasn't particularly happy about the noble's use of the word 'our,' but decided this was not the time or place to start an argument over it. With a bow of his head, he and S'haar were on their way.

-

Jack and S'haar stood before Mar'kon, explaining their plan for the fourth time that day. "So while we'll need several workers down the road. However, to begin with, we'll just need one smith to do repairs and maintenance on the woodworker's tools. Got anyone you can spare who might be able and willing?"

Mar'kon was rubbing his hands on his signature greasy rag as he thought. Jack desperately wanted to take the rag and give it a good wash but suspected it was more oil than cloth at this point. It just might disintegrate if any soap was added to the mix.

Finally, Mar'kon seemed to make up his mind. Turning around, he glared at each of the workers for a moment before speaking. "Right, I know you lot were focused on listening rather than working. You heard the offer. Any of you want to risk life and limb to get in on this hair-brained scheme from the get-go?"

Pretty much every worker present stepped forward and waited. Mar'kon glaired at the lot of them a moment longer before responding. "That's what I thought. Yer all as mad as I was at yer age."

Mar'kon seemed to fix his glair on a specific worker. "Tel'ron, yer work on knives and sheers had been decent enough this last year. Think yer up to the job, kid?"

The worker approached the group with a big grin plastered on his face. Jack didn't think he looked too young. He was probably a bit older than Lon'thul. Then again, Mar'kon was just about the eldest argu'n Jack had seen so far, so he supposed everyone looked like a 'kid' in Mar'kon's eyes.

Tel'ron walked right up to Jack and offered his hand. Jack was a bit surprised at how many people knew about handshakes already and wondered what other mannerisms he might have accidentally introduced to their society. As he shook Jack's hand, the argu'n spoke. "You saved me from a long, dull winter. Don't worry, I'm not as lazy as my father. I'll work hard to get the job done."

Jack looked a little quizzically at smith. "Do I know your father?"

Tel'ron grinned. "Well, you should know him by now. You pass him every time you come into the village. He used to be more active in the guard, but he just works the front gate these days. His name is Ger'ron."

Jack's eyes widened a little at this. Looking closer, he could see the family resemblance, though it probably wasn't as evident to him as it would be to another argu'n. "Well, if you're half as good-natured as your father, you'll be a welcome addition. We'll be meeting at the inn shortly after dawn. Meet us there, and I'll cover the cost of breakfast and have your coat ready. Do you have your own tools, or will I need to supply those?"

Tel'ron shook his head. "Nah, I got my own set. I'll see ya there, bright and early!"

The smith then walked up to S'haar and offered his hand to her as well. "It'll be exciting working with my dad's star pupil. He always told me if I had half your talent, I'd be set for life. I don't know if he ever told you, but the reason he's on permanent gate duty is that he got in a big fight with the captain when you got kicked out. Don't worry, though. He doesn't regret a thing. He said it was about time he stood up to that 'pompous windbag.'

S'haar seemed genuinely pleased to hear about her old mentor. "So you're the rebellious son who became a smith rather than a guard. You know, he wanted me to go knock some sense into your head when you chose this profession."

Tel'ron shook his head. "Well, I'm glad you didn't. From what I hear, I'd have been lucky to survive the encounter."

Stepping back, he nodded to Jack again. "Well, I'd better get all my tools gathered and ready to go. I'll see you both in the morning!"

As the three of them watched the smith run off, Mar'kon added his own final thought. "He's a good kid, you take care of him, and he'll take care of you."

Turning back to his charges, Mar'kon started laying into the closest with his rag. "You all have stood around staring long enough! Back to work with ya!"