In the orange light of the furnace Ingeit pounded a red-hot piece of tal into shape. Satisfied with its shape, the dwarf lifted the glowing tal with his tal left hand and quenched it in a barrel of murky white fluid. Lifting the completed work once the steam faded, Ingeit examined it.
The smith found no flaw in the cook pan, but still he grimaced. Such simplistic work was below him, but was required to keep food on the table for him and his family. Sighing, he placed the pot in a nearby pile and placed a new hunk of tal into the forge. Just as he prepared to begin his work, the sound of the door chi caught his attention.
"Hoh, a custor at this ti of night?" Humans, unlike dwarves, were diurnal by nature. As a result, the vast majority of his sales happened during the day, handled by his assistants. Still, for Ingeit every sale was vital. Immigrating to Geltheas with his family and setting up this shop after his apprenticeship ended had used up nearly all of his savings.
Quickly pulling the piece of tal out of the furnace with his tal arm, the dwarf straightened out his beard and adjusted his clothes as best he could, then made his way to the front counter. "Hello, I'm here. Just a mont."
What the blacksmith saw when he rounded the corner into the store lowered his spirits sowhat. The potential custor appeared to be a very young human wearing so absurd costu. A black robe and mask covering all of the child's features made it clear that he was trying to look mysterious. Young delvers with sothing to prove were the absolute worst custors to deal with. They frequently acted entitled and felt themselves above civilians and craftsn. Fortunately, this likely wouldn't be a waste of the dwarves ti; the mask appeared to be runecraft, so the kid at least had so money.
"I'm the owner of this shop, the na's Ingeit. Is there anything specific you're looking for?"
The child's head swiveled around wildly. It almost seed as though he didn't have a spine, the way his head whipped around wildly to every corner of the store. Ingeit had seen plenty of children overwheld by the various weapons and armor he had on display in the past, but this was different. Rather than examining the rchandise, it more resembled the way scouts had acted the few tis Ingeit had gone on hunting expeditions.
Without replying, the strange child approached the low counter. Upon reaching the table, it slid a folded paper out of its robe and set it on the countertop.
"I wish to have this design crafted. Why do you not have your arm healed?" A strangely monotone voice of a young human boy appeared in the blacksmith's mind. The cadence reminded Ingeit of ego artifacts its teacher had crafted which were capable of ntal communication. Perhaps this child was unable or unwilling to talk, and had acquired such an artifact to speak in its stead? Putting aside those thoughts for now, Ingeit returned his focus to the custor's questions.
"Ha, most folks 'round here don't have the guts to ask about that sorta things. Humans are so easily offended." Ingeit lifted his heavy tal left arm to be more easily inspected. The arm was made of two rods of blue-tinted tal held together by an orb of glowing purple light where an elbow, wrist, and shoulder would normally be. The hand was a disk of the sa tal with five small cones of tal floating around it. "It's not a cursed wound or anything like that. I had my old arm removed because this is better. It doesn't burn, it doesn't shake, and I can make perfectly precise movents with it." To demonstrate, Ingeit moved the fingers rapidly through several complex formations, bringing the points together perfectly, making a circle with point to base, and other shapes.
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All the while, he smiled wide. This arm was his pride. His masterwork which allowed him to graduate from apprentice to have the honor of owning his own store. With so reluctance, he finally stopped showing off and picked up the custor's order, opening it to inspect the design.
What he saw inside was hard to understand. It was a very accurate drawing of sothing that could exist. And even better, it had exact asurents and proportions listed out. This was already more than he usually got for a custom request from a delver. What made it difficult was the complete lack of any design conventions he had ever seen. The asurents were placed seemingly randomly, and were connected to the parts of the design with a reference table. The number values were also complex, requiring mathematic equations instead of actual numbers for many of the values. Perhaps most strangely of all, despite the high level of detail on the design, there was no material specified.
"What kind of tal do you want this made out of?" Not taking his eyes off the bewildering design sheet, Ingeit directed the question towards the young human.
The child responded by placing a small Association coin bag on the counter. "I am not knowledgeable on the comparative advantages of all available tals. Use the most suitable tal that this much money can afford."
Ingeit raised his eyebrows and set the paper aside to check the pouch. With a glance, he could see many gold coins. A rather large sum for a mundane object. It was surprising for a human to so directly trust a craftsman in this way. Among dwarves, trusting the honor of a rchant to give you sothing worth your gold was common sense, but not so with humans.
Raising his opinion of the young boy a notch, the dwarf asked a few more questions as he carefully counted the coins. "What do you plan to use this for?"
"The purpose of this object is to defend from attacks, particularly slicing attacks."
Ingeit nodded his head. This could certainly be used that way, although it would be difficult. "Why not just use a shield? What weapon skills do you know?"
"A shield would be too large and cumberso. I have skills with unard combat, hidden weapons, and string manipulation."
Stopping his counting, Ingeit quickly moved back to the design docunt. "String manipulation you say? Hmmm, yes I can see it. This could certainly be useful. Do you mind if I modify so aspects of the design? I believe I can improve articulation and durability by redesigning the connections."
"I was inford you are an expert at crafting items out of tal, so I accept your judgnt in all aspects of design."
This was exactly the kind of challenge that led Ingeit to leave his holand. While so masters are content to spend their whole lives crafting the sa heavy plate armor, hamrs, and shields that dwarves love, what Ingeit loved was innovation. New concepts, strange ideas, unique quirks on old weapon designs. That's why a shop in a city of humans, known for their creativity, was ideal. And even better, a town with a dungeon to attract those insane delver types.
Ingeit slamd the plans down on the table and extended his calloused, aty right hand towards the human. "You got yourself a deal. I'll begin work on it imdiately."
The child stared at the hand for a mont, seemingly not knowing what to do. A mont later, the dwarf heard that strange chanical voice again.
"Can you have it done before the festival starts?"
"Ha!" Ingeit placed his tal hand on his stomach as he let out a deep, booming laugh. "You doubt my speed? I'll have it done by this ti tomorrow. Now, are you going to shake my hand or what?"
A black-cloaked hand reached up and gripped Ingeit's index finger, then shook it randomly for a few seconds.
So, the kid really didn't know what shaking hands is. Ingeit let out another round of roaring laughter.
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