Preparations

[Praetorum]

Date: 8th of Vhalar, Arc 720

Previous

Prae padded through the slowly brightening streets of the glass quarters, stifling a yawn as he did so. Willow had sent a message to tell him the ship was coming in even earlier than expected, and that she needed him at her shop at the crack of dawn, so now Prae was blinking away sleep as he made his way there, the first peek of sunlight illuminating his way. 



Willow seemed to be busy when he arrived, and he chose to stay quiet, watching as she fiddled with..... a box? Something like that, it seemed. As he watched, she closed the box, and Prae saw there was something like a hole in the top. Then, she grabbed a pair of tongs, and reached into the smelter, pulling out what looked to be a small stone cup. When she poured its contents into the hole on the box, he saw it had contained molten metal, now flowing into the box for.... some reason Prae could not fathom.


"Oh, you're here. Perfect timing. Can you read?" She shook out the last drops of molten metal into the box, and set the cup down next to the smelter.


"I can read common, yes." He said, blinking curiously at her. "Why?"


She pulled a neatly folded piece of paper out from under her apron, and passed it to him. "The ship should be at the docks soon enough. Find the captain of the Laden Swallow, and give him this letter. If he complains, remind him he still owes me for his arm. It'll probably be about two crates of metal—you can carry that much back, can't you?" 



Praetorum nodded. With hone, he the question wasn't how heavy the boxes were, but how unwieldy. Well, if it came to it he could just take two trips, probably. 



"Alright then." She said curtly, and turned back to her work. "The docks are on the other side of the city so hop to it." 


[Praetorum]

Praetorum arrived at the docks just in time to see the Laden Swallow be unladen, its crew slowly carrying crates down a plank to stack them at the docks while a biqaj supervised, barking orders with his arms crossed across his chest. As Prae drew closer, he saw that one hand was not of flesh and blood, but of what looked like reddish gold instead, shaped into a loosely clenched fist. "Are you the captain of this ship?" Prae asked, pulling the paper he'd been given out of his pocket. 



"'pends on who's asking." The man grunted, before gesturing for a sailor to move some crates out of the way. "If you're looking to book passage, the answer is no."


"I'm not." Prae assured the man. He offered the letter to him. "I've got a message from Willow Dubois. About metal."


The man raised an eyebrow, and took the paper, unfolding it to read. "Willow, huh? And she wants.... Aeva's tits." The captain threw his hands in the air. "She does this every time, demanding materials with absolutely no notice." He grumbled to himself. "If she didn't pay so damn well..." The captain shook his head. "Right then, come on. Let's get you her damn ingots."


He led Prae to a nearby pile of boxes, and started checking markings, presumably looking for the correct crate. "So, you her new apprentice then?" Prae blinked. 



"Well—"


"No, of course not, what am I talking about?" The captain scoffed. "If she ever took an apprentice she'd probably chain them to her damn smithy. You work for her often, or did she just drag you in off the streets to run an errand for her? At least she pays well, right? Ahah!"


"Ah, it's the other way around actually." Prae admitted, as the biqaj gestured for his sailors to pull a pair of crates out of the pile.



The captain frowned in confusion. "What do you mean."


"I'm actually paying her." Prae explained. "These—" he gestured vaguely at the crate of presumably metal slowly being lifted by a pair of sailors "—are for me."


The captain stared at him for a few moments, and then burst out laughing, doubling over with mirth. "You—you—" he wheezed out. "You're a customer. And this stuff isn't cheap, so whatever she's making you is probably damn expensive, right?" Prae nodded. "And she's still making you come down an—" He dissolved into laughter again. "Fates, that's exactly like her. It's a miracle she's still in business when she acts like this all the time." 



Straightening up, the biqaj clapped him on the back with a wide grin. "My sympathies for having to put up with her. But she's worth it. Now." The biqaj gestured to the two crates, set aside from the rest. "I can't spare sailors to help you bring these to her, but we'll be here all trial, so feel free to take them one at a time."


"I appreciate it, but there's no need for that." Prae said. With his claws and tail, he quickly drew runes of sevenfold strength, threefold endurance on his limbs and torso, before carefully scooping up both crates, stacking one on top of the other. He was just about tall enough that he could tuck the top box under his chin, keeping it balanced as he adjusted his hands to get a better grip. 



"Well then." He said to the slackjawed captain. "I'll be off then, and thank you for your help."

[Praetorum]

"Well that was fast." Willow looked him up and down appraisingly, eyes lingering on the electric runes that hovered over his clothes. Prae had attracted an awful lot of attention, which was actually a good thing when he was trying to make his way down a crowded street with his vision partially blocked by crates. People got out of his way very, very quickly. 



"The captain was very cooperative." Prae said. "And I am very strong." At least when he had his runes on. 



"I can see that." She told him dryly. "Put the crates down right over there. How was the old sea dog, anyhow."


"Busy." Prae carefully set down the two crates against the wall. "He had a good laugh about the fact you were making me carry these crates."


"Hmm? Well it wasn't like I could go myself, with how busy I am. He finds everything funny, anyways." Willow waved her hand dismissively. "Right, hold still."  Taking out a piece of string, Willow began to measure Prae everywhere, muttering to herself as she did and occasionally going to a table to jot her notes down. Prae didn't need to ask what she was doing here—there weren't that many ithecal in Rharne, after all, and since she was crafting this armor custom for him, she needed his dimensions. Although he was somewhat surprised at just how detailed her measurements were getting—she was even measuring his tail, for some reason. 



It was a far cry from when he'd gotten his first set of plate armor, when the quartermaster had shown him into a room with a variety of sizes and told him to pick out whichever felt right. 



It took a few bits for her to finish with her measurements, and as soon as she was done, she disappeared into the building. Prae had a few moments to wonder if he was supposed to go, before she came back with a wooden glaive. "Here." She said. "Give that a few twirls, let me see how you want it balanced."


The glaive was a little short for him, clearly designed for a tall human rather than an ithecal, but Prae did his best all the same, going through a handful of sweeps and slices, shifting hand position to show her what he was used to, both in terms of balance and in terms of length. He needed another few feet at the back, they decided after some experimenting, and a proper counterbalance so he could use it without toppling forwards. 


"Right." She said. "And now we need to figure out the weight." The glaive was a slashing weapon, mostly, with enough of a point to stab if need be. The weight of the weapon was half of its effectiveness—too light and he would have to use more strength to much less effect, but too heavy and he would tire himself out during a battle. 



Prae, as a rule, would not use a weapon he could only wield using hone runes, so he dismissed his runes as Willow dragged a box full of iron rods to him. Picking one up, Prae tested the weight, then shook his head, grabbing a second, larger rod as well and hefting them both up. Using both hands, he could mimic how he would use a polearm, so the weight distribution was more or less right as he added and replaced the rods in his hand, trying to find a combination that would feel right. 



"Here." He said finally, presenting her with three rods—one massive one, and two smaller ones. "This weight feels about right." Carefully, she took the rods, and set them aside. 



"Right then. Come back in a tentrial, and I'll do the final fitting for your equipment."

[Doran]

Prae:

Knowledge:
Strength: Preparations [1/3]
Strength: Preparations [2/3]
Strength: Preparations [3/3]
Polearm: Preparations [1/3]
Polearm: Preparations [2/3]
Polearm: Preparations [3/3]

Loot: -
Lost: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: -
Renown: -
Magic XP: -
Skill Review: Appropriate to level.
Points: 10

- - -

Comments: I like that you turned the acquisition of Prae’s new equipment into a series of threads rather than taking care of everything in a single solo. I was amused when Willow, the cantankerous smith, told Prae, her paying customer, to pick up the metal.

Anyway, Hone is definitely a useful magic to have when it comes to heavy lifting.

I liked the captain, by the way. “Aeva’s tits” is an interesting swear!

Both Willow and the captain are NPCs with distinct personalities which I think is great, and I appreciate your attention to detail and that you had Willow take Prae’s measurements.

I would have liked you to write about your PC doing polearm things in more detail – you requested three knowledges, after all – but I could see where Prae used the Polearm skill.

Enjoy your rewards!