Naras' Vignette

[JadedDM]

The priestess counters, "People stare time at me all the time. Let them. By the Bond of Crafting, I invite you to the temple." She moves closer and offers Roken her hand, "In Gonto's presence!"

[JadedDM]

Roken appears a bit surprised by the dwarf's sudden passion, but nods and shakes her hand. "Well, thank you, kohen. I just hope the congregation is as welcoming."

[JadedDM]

Naras nods back, "In all honesty I do not know them yet. But if Gonto is truly in their hearts, they will get over it with time and help and maybe my boot up their backside," and puts her hands on her hips. "But not your boot. If they give you serious sh*t then you tell Gonto. That means me." She smiles and shrugs. "Now, unrelated to any of that, I want to practice armour crafting to the glory of Gonto. What's the best you can do for me without damage to yourself? Maybe something like: if I practise when you're not working and use your scrap and offcuts. Anything rubbish goes back into scrap. Anything saleable, you get first choice I keep the second and so on."

"Oh and before I forget, did you see or hear anything about some mechanical insects, maybe a year ago?"

[JadedDM]

"What little scraps I have might not be enough to forge a whole suit of armor," Roken points out. "But alright. I agree to your terms, plus a renter's fee of 15 gold a month."

Roken nods at her question. "The clockwork spiders. Yes, that was a dark time in our town. I'm glad they finally put an end to those murders."

[JadedDM]

"5 silver a night attended and we've got a deal," offers Naras, extending her hand again.

"So the threat of the mechanical bugs has gone?" she queries, disappointed at missing the opportunity to study such a thing.

[JadedDM]

Roken shakes her hand. "It would seem so. I am told the wardens collected the remains of the bugs as evidence. Nobody ever found the inventor's blueprints, though, so it's a mystery how he even made them. Maybe the design died with him."

[JadedDM]

Naras scratches her chin, adding "Good. What was the inventor's name? Ans I don't suppose you'd know which wardens did the collecting?"

[JadedDM]

"Ahh...Fresno? Frisco? I can't remember, really. He was the town clockmaker and a bit of a recluse. And I don't know which wardens worked on that case, but you might try the Paragon. The spiders attacked some people there, and killed the original owner's daughter. Someone there might know something more," Roken says.

[JadedDM]

The priestess unconsciously scratches her beardless chin again. "Thanks Roken, I'll make a point of trying to see him. And I was going to drop into the Paragon anyway. But while I'm here, would you have a look at these and tell me if you have any better versions? Sharper, better balanced or what have you? If so, what sort of prices would I be looking at?" She pulls out her short sword, spear, sling and then sling bullets for the weapon-smith to have a look at. And, if you don't have such at the moment, would you be able to make better versions? Again, approximately how long and how much?"

****
When the weapons discussion is concluded, she wishes him "it's been a pleasure, but I should be off now. What time do you finish? Then I'll pop back just before and see how well I can work the metal; probably start with a shield."
****
Then she trundles off try and see the jeweler, greeting with ""Hello. I am Naras Stonebreaker. I'm standing in for the Kohen.""

[JadedDM]

Roken looks over the weapons. "I don't have any special sling bullets, but I do have something that might interest you." He heads to the back and returns with a beautifully crafted spear. It looks to be ancient and possibly of dwarven make. "Not one of mine, of course. An adventurer sold it to me years ago. It's enchanted to be lighter and sharper than normal. It's not cheap, though--I ask 120 gold pieces for it."

He sets it aside. "I can try to craft you a masterwork weapon. It's almost as good, but it will take a great deal of time to forge. Anyway, you can return at nightfall. I should be done for the day by then."

Naras departs and heads for the jeweler's shop. It is a simple, two-story building with a sign hanging out front. There's a large green diamond engraved on the sign for the illiterate. The place is full of jewelry and various curios and relics of old cultures. Most of the expensive stuff is behind glass. A spiral staircase leads up to the owner's flat.

The jeweler himself is a middle-aged gnome that has black hair and a beard with streaks of grey in them. He has an impressive nose, thick eyebrows, tanned skin and is decked out in some rather gaudy looking jewelery. Every finger has a ring on it, and a gold medallion hangs around his neck, nestled in his thick, course chest-hair as his shirt is partially unbuttoned.

"Oh, the new kohen?" he asks. He seems excited until he gets a good look at Naras, then appears crestfallen. "Ah, well...I had heard a new kohen was in town and she was a woman. I guess I had hoped you'd be less...boyish." He shrugs. "Oh, well. What can I do for you this fine day, kohen?"

[JadedDM]

Examining the weapon, her eyes sparkle as she comments, "This is rather good. And yes, I'd be interested in a masterwork shortsword. How much for one of those?"

****
Unfazed she replies to the jeweler, "Thank you. News travels fast here. Who might I have the honour of addressing?"

[JadedDM]

Before she left Roken's shop, he would have told her that a masterwork short sword would cost 50 GP and take him and his apprentices a month to forge.

"Name's Hubert, Hubert Diamondeye," the gnome says, nodding. "Best jeweler in town. Well, only jeweler...but if there were others, I'd far outshine them."

[JadedDM]

She answered, "Pleased to meet you, Hubert, and I'm sure you would. It's a fine craft, well beloved of Gonto." She pauses to see if there was any indication of his religious stance. After the pause (and any response) she continues, "I've heard that about a year ago there were some mechanical bugs around that killed some people. I want to try and find out how they work. What can you tell me about them? And the name of anyone else involved that I could till talk to?"

[JadedDM]

"Ah, yes, I suppose it is," Hubert replies. "Perhaps you'd like to say a blessing for my shop, help increase business some. Priests of Gonto can do that, right?"

When she mentions the mechanical arachnids, he blanches and looks almost about to faint. "Wh-wh-what? I don't know anything about that. Why, what did you hear? Did the wardens send you? They told me the charges were cleared from my record and that was the end of it. I had nothing to do with it. I barely even knew Frisno, really. We had lunch once or twice out of professional courtesy, and nothing more."

[JadedDM]

Naras nods, looks the gnome straight in the eyes and says, "Blessings are indeed possible for the deserving." And then pauses, rubbing her nose thoughtfully, before continuing, "Well, as a professional courtesy to a fellow crafter, I'm allowed to tell you that my appointment here might be temporary. And you'll understand, of course, that anything to do with crafting is the province of Gonto. And spiritual matters, of course, can be independent of the interests of the wardens. Now,.." and she leans forwards and slightly lowers her voice, "...I'm not allowed to comment on any investigations into crafting heresy. That would be most improper." The priestess straightened, "But I would appreciate you telling me, Hubert, in your own words, everything you know about this Frisno matter. Everything. Gonto knows what is in a crafter's heart and the truth and completeness of his words." She openly clutches her holy icon and holds her other hand open towards the jeweler. "In your own time, please Hubert, Gonto hears your words and holds them sacred from repetition by the sanctity of the Holy Confessional."