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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nonlethal Force" data-source="post: 3014468" data-attributes="member: 35788">The next day Charis, Semeion, and Rhema woke up early to travel from Huetown to Fingerdale once more.  Of course they wanted to check in on Ischarus and see how his training and healing was progressing, but they also knew that they had a bit of work to do.  It’d been three months since they returned from Quehalost and it was approaching time to go back.  That meant that there would be a deep need for better equipment.  They hadn’t placed a priority on selling the equipment that they had managed to bring back to Tongra from the few resistance squads that they had met in the mountainous passages between here and there.  It was the sale of that equipment and the purchase of any new equipment that would take precedence over meeting with Ischarus.As they entered Fingerdale again for the second day, Charis couldn’t help but smile.  “At least this time we won’t have to worry about an unintentional sicknesses!  And if we do, I’ll know what to look for this time!”Rhema chuckled at Charis’ comment.  “I was thinking about the same kind of thing, but I didn’t really want to jinx you.  And I’d rather not deal with anything else today.  We need to get our errands run before Ischarus finishes up with his training.”As she spoke of her errands, a smile crossed over her face.  Semeion took note of the smile and couldn’t let it go without continuing the conversation. “So, you are obviously looking forward to these errands.  Any particular reason why?”Rhema nodded, but kept her focus on the road as the walked under the gate to the city.  “There are two shops that we need to visit.  The first one is a blacksmith friend of my father’s.  He keeps my father in supply of the right farming equipment that we need around the villa.  Of course, forging farm equipment is how he keeps his business name clean and well known among the commoners.  His true love is buying and selling weaponry.  The reason my father likes him is simply because he refuses to forge for Lord Ironblood’s army.  Not that he does it to spite the Lord, my guess is that he pays a tax to avoid forging for the army and being blacklisted.  He doesn’t make this known too loudly, but the reason that he doesn’t forge for the army or the city guard is because he knows that they are not always honorable in their methods.  My father and I believe that kind of business ethics is well worth supporting.”Charis wasn’t quite sure she was following the reason for Rhema’s excitement about the shopping.  “And buying from this man has you that excited?”Rhema laughed.  “No, I guess I got a bit distracted by Garreth and the Silver Glaive.  Actually, truth be known I’m honestly much more excited about finally getting out to this little shop that I have been to a few times.  It honestly doesn’t look like much besides an herbalist shop that on the side is deeply involved in mystical activities like telling fortunes and reading palms and stuff.  Of course, that’s merely just part of the business.  The real reason that I am excited to shop there today is because they had this beautiful azure crystal sword that I have wanted to buy for some time.  It’s an absolutely gorgeously crafted sword and they claim that the crystal it is made of is just as hard as forged steel.  Nothing wrong with forged steel, but the ability to carry around a dark blue sword that is just as good as steel is too much to pass up.”Semeion and Charis each smiled at Rhema’s explanation – more at her enthusiasm than anything else.  They walked a bit further into the city and Rhema pointed down a side road.  “The Silver Glaive is down this road.  We’ll get Garreth to give us a legitimate price for our goods and then split up the funds.  You guys can obviously do what you want with your share of the earnings from the sale.  And no doubt that Garreth would be happy to take your money back in sale of his own items from the price that he gives us.”They arrived in short order outside the Silver Glaive and Rhema opened the single door leading into the front room.  The door was heavy, and after the three entered the shop Rhema closed the door with a solid thump.  At the sound of the closing door a woman’s voice could be heard from around the corner in the next room.  “Be right with you, I’m pulling my hot water off of the stove for tea as I speak.”Rhema recognized the voice and in a normal volume spoke to Charis and Semeion.  “That’s Faereena, Garreth’s wife.  She often helps out in the shop, but she helps more than anything with the sales room.  Garreth is a skilled metal smith and anyone who knows him thinks little of his appearance.  But he’s a bit gruff to be a salesman for people who just stumble upon this place.”In a louder voice, Rhema spoke to the woman in the other room.  “No hurry, Faereena.  We can wait for you to put a tea bag in the water.”The sound of a mug setting down upon a table could be heard from where the trio stood.  The sound of the mug was followed by an exclamation that rose in volume as Faereena neared the room where Rhema and her companions stood. “Why, Rhema!  I’ve been looking forward to your visit for a while now!  You’ve been away too long.”Her speech cut off as she rounded the final corner and realized that Ischarus had been replaced with a pair of newcomers.  She continued in her speech and covered her instinctual hesitation.  “So, how is your dad?”Rhema chuckled.  “Busy as ever on the villa.  Fortunately, he’s in need of little as far as instruments of the field.  Garreth can rest easy over the forge for now.”  The two women shared a short laugh and Rhema continued her greeting.  “Faereena, these are my friends Semeion and Charis.  These two have accompanied Ischarus and me for a few months now.”Faereena could be seen to visibly exhale a sigh of relief.  “Well, that’s a relief, there lass.  When you showed up with new friends I thought maybe something happened between you and Ischarus.  Or worse yet, I thought something had happened to Ischarus himself.  So where is the lad?”Charis entered the conversation before Rhema could answer the question.  As she spoke, Charis strolled forward and extended a hand in greeting.  It was then that Charis noted for the first time that Faereena had the best known mark of an elf.  She had pointed ears.  “Ischarus is doing what any man would do given his situation.  He’s off getting special treatment at the temple while we are left to do the legwork.”Rhema smiled at Charis’ comment and supplied her own explanation.  “He’s getting a religion fix, Faereena.”  Faereena lifted an eyebrow in Rhema’s direction.  Rhema responded to the nonverbal inquiry by offering a bit more of the explanation.  “No, there’s nothing the matter.  He just needed to ask a few questions while we were in the area.”  Her answer was obviously vague and Faereena knew Rhema had left it vague intentionally.  The saleswoman continued to speak in general terms without forcing the party to feel obligated to say more about Ischarus.  ”Well, at least he isn’t in any kind of trouble, then.  So, what can I do for you this visit through?”Semeion remained silent, figuring that Charis and Rhema already had the situation in control.  The conversation was heading down the path of business anyway, and he didn’t have any particular love for negotiating prices.  Charis laid out a few weapons onto a table in the room and spoke.  “Well, we understand that your shop here will not only buy a few weapons off of our hand but then you’ll gladly sell us some new ones in exchange?”Faereena laughed at Charis’ charm.  “Lass, we’ll gladly take weapons off your hands at a fair price and even more gladly take the money back in exchange for equipment of your own choosing.  Why don’t you guys who are new take a look around the place while I figure out what I can give you for what you brought in.”Rhema patted her pocket, “We’ve brought additional resources, Faereena.  I think we’ll be looking at the fine equipment today.”The elf woman smiled back at Rhema.  “Well, Garreth does fine work with his hammer.  And he enjoys making items that people find interesting.  Sure, he can make a standard item that serves well in the field.  And for the most part that’s exactly what he does.  But when he gets inspired I think you guys will find that his work is rather extraordinary.”Faereena set about to evaluating the weapons and other items that they had taken off of the denizens and highwaymen that they had encountered between Fingerdale, Quehalost, and back again.  As she worked, Charis and Semeion looked over the weapons on display.  They casually spoke to one another as the browsed.  Eventually Charis decided to test one of Garreth’s heavy picks in her hand and seemed quite pleased with the balance.  The pick end was shaped normally as she expected, but the handle was forged and hammered so that the metal handle looked as though it were a basket weave pattern that was spiraling around the handle to the very end.  At the end of the handle a metal ball that was nearly double the radius of the handle had been placed as a guard and counterbalance for the weight of the pick end.  Charis decided that it was this ball that made the weapon so superior since it did an effective job of counterbalancing the weight of the pick in her hand in almost any position that she held it.  She motioned to Semeion to pick something up and try the balance of the item for himself while she continued to test Garreth’s design against one of the picks she had found while traveling through the tunnels.  Ultimately, Garreth’s design was so superior that she placed her own pick upon the stack of items Faereena was evaluating.  Faereena smiled and noticed the pleased expression upon Charis’ face.  “I told you, didn’t I?  Garreth does good work!  I knew you wouldn’t be disappointed.”Semeion was inspired by the quality Charis had found in one of Garreth’s picks.  He turned to Rhema and waited until he had her attention.  “Do you want either of the daggers that we had found in the tunnels?  I know that they’re of quite good quality, but I am thinking of selling them and wanted to give you the chance to take one first.”Rhema declined the offer with a twinkle in her eye and a curious shake of the head.  Semeion knew what the motion meant.  Rhema was still convinced to pick up her azure crystal sword.Having received the answer he sought, Semeion placed the daggers on top of the pile that Faereena was evaluating.  Faereena immediately took note of them.  “I hope I don’t need to tell you that these daggers are a pair of finely made instruments themselves.  I’ll gladly take them off of your hands as it’ll save Garreth some work in duplicating their quality.  I just wanted to make sure you knew what you were selling.  These items are nearly of the same quality that Garreth is capable of making.”Semeion smiled at the saleswoman’s honorable assertion and replied, “Daggers just don’t feel right at my side when Ischarus has his sword and Charis has her pick.  I want something a little more noticeable.”  His eyes spied a well crafted rapier hanging on the far wall and he walked over to it and lifted it off of its hook.  Semeion carefully unsheathed the rapier and noted that at first the blade looked as though it was simple undecorated steel.  However, once he had the blade off of the wall and in his hand he could see that the only decoration on the blade was on the top of the hand guard and therefore away from his hand.  The top of the hand guard was clearly carved with the face of a dwarf on the top.  In fact, the carving was such that the actual blade of the rapier substituted for the nose of the inscribed dwarf’s face!  Semeion laughed quietly to himself as he examined the simple carving.  Once he had seen the dwarf’s face, he also realized that the strip of metal which ran from the hand guard to the end of the handle which was intended to protect his fingers was also lightly carved.  In the greater image this piece of metal became a long dwarven beard when looked at from any angle that allowed the dwarf face to be seen.  More to himself than anyone else, Semeion spoke upon seeing the humorous carving atop the hand guard.  “If this isn’t the humor of the elves!”  He quickly added the item to his inventory.Rhema was also looking at a weapon, although it was clear that the weapon she held was not one in which she had been trained.  She had lifted up a long sword, almost identical in shape to the weapon Ischarus was currently using in his training.  When she realized Semeion and Charis had found something to please themselves she added, “I think it is time Ischarus got a new blade, what do you think?”Semeion added, “I certainly think that he earned it, so long as the blade he currently uses doesn’t have any emotional ties to him.”Rhema replied quickly, “Heavens no!  That sword is an old instrument that my father gave him one day.  It’s nothing but a beginner sword in truth.  This one here done by Garreth is a much better sword.  Just look at it!”The sword was indeed a nicely forged sword.  The blade had been forged hard and fast and it shined from almost any direction.  As Rhema examined the blade, she found that a small verse had been inscribed where the handle met the hilt.  The verse was inscribed in the tongue of the elves, and Faereena commented on the inscription as she finished up her calculations.  “I’ll let Ischarus figure out what it means before I tell you.”Rhema also noted that while the blade shined from almost any angle, the hilt was the opposite.  A dark blue sapphire had been encrusted in the bottom of the hilt, and the dark gemstone blended in magnificently with the dark hilt.  She could imagine Ischarus proudly drawing the blade.  The hilt dark would be in his hands, the sapphire only occasionally glistening below his lowest fingers.  The blade of the sword would shimmer in any light in contrast to Ischarus’ hands and the hilt of the sword.  She carefully sheathed the sword and added it to her belongings.Once they had all finished, Faereena informed them of how much they owed on top of the value for their trade in weapons.  The three weapons they had purchased were considerably of a finer make than any of the weapons they brought to sell except for the pair of daggers.  Semeion, Rhema, and Charis each paid their share of the debt and bid Faereena farewell.  As they left the smith’s salesroom, each of the trio bubbled with anticipation.  Now it was time to seek out the mystical herbalist shop that Rhema had been excited about earlier.[Sblock=Color-Free Speech Section]The next day Charis, Semeion, and Rhema woke up early to travel from Huetown to Fingerdale once more. Of course they wanted to check in on Ischarus and see how his training and healing was progressing, but they also knew that they had a bit of work to do. It’d been three months since they returned from Quehalost and it was approaching time to go back. That meant that there would be a deep need for better equipment. They hadn’t placed a priority on selling the equipment that they had managed to bring back to Tongra from the few resistance squads that they had met in the mountainous passages between here and there. It was the sale of that equipment and the purchase of any new equipment that would take precedence over meeting with Ischarus.As they entered Fingerdale again for the second day, Charis couldn’t help but smile. “At least this time we won’t have to worry about an unintentional sicknesses! And if we do, I’ll know what to look for this time!”Rhema chuckled at Charis’ comment. “I was thinking about the same kind of thing, but I didn’t really want to jinx you. And I’d rather not deal with anything else today. We need to get our errands run before Ischarus finishes up with his training.”As she spoke of her errands, a smile crossed over her face. Semeion took note of the smile and couldn’t let it go without continuing the conversation. “So, you are obviously looking forward to these errands. Any particular reason why?”Rhema nodded, but kept her focus on the road as the walked under the gate to the city. “There are two shops that we need to visit. The first one is a blacksmith friend of my father’s. He keeps my father in supply of the right farming equipment that we need around the villa. Of course, forging farm equipment is how he keeps his business name clean and well known among the commoners. His true love is buying and selling weaponry. The reason my father likes him is simply because he refuses to forge for Lord Ironblood’s army. Not that he does it to spite the Lord, my guess is that he pays a tax to avoid forging for the army and being blacklisted. He doesn’t make this known too loudly, but the reason that he doesn’t forge for the army or the city guard is because he knows that they are not always honorable in their methods. My father and I believe that kind of business ethics is well worth supporting.”Charis wasn’t quite sure she was following the reason for Rhema’s excitement about the shopping. “And buying from this man has you that excited?”Rhema laughed. “No, I guess I got a bit distracted by Garreth and the Silver Glaive. Actually, truth be known I’m honestly much more excited about finally getting out to this little shop that I have been to a few times. It honestly doesn’t look like much besides an herbalist shop that on the side is deeply involved in mystical activities like telling fortunes and reading palms and stuff. Of course, that’s merely just part of the business. The real reason that I am excited to shop there today is because they had this beautiful azure crystal sword that I have wanted to buy for some time. It’s an absolutely gorgeously crafted sword and they claim that the crystal it is made of is just as hard as forged steel. Nothing wrong with forged steel, but the ability to carry around a dark blue sword that is just as good as steel is too much to pass up.”Semeion and Charis each smiled at Rhema’s explanation – more at her enthusiasm than anything else. They walked a bit further into the city and Rhema pointed down a side road. “The Silver Glaive is down this road. We’ll get Garreth to give us a legitimate price for our goods and then split up the funds. You guys can obviously do what you want with your share of the earnings from the sale. And no doubt that Garreth would be happy to take your money back in sale of his own items from the price that he gives us.”They arrived in short order outside the Silver Glaive and Rhema opened the single door leading into the front room. The door was heavy, and after the three entered the shop Rhema closed the door with a solid thump. At the sound of the closing door a woman’s voice could be heard from around the corner in the next room. “Be right with you, I’m pulling my hot water off of the stove for tea as I speak.”Rhema recognized the voice and in a normal volume spoke to Charis and Semeion. “That’s Faereena, Garreth’s wife. She often helps out in the shop, but she helps more than anything with the sales room. Garreth is a skilled metal smith and anyone who knows him thinks little of his appearance. But he’s a bit gruff to be a salesman for people who just stumble upon this place.”In a louder voice, Rhema spoke to the woman in the other room. “No hurry, Faereena. We can wait for you to put a tea bag in the water.”The sound of a mug setting down upon a table could be heard from where the trio stood. The sound of the mug was followed by an exclamation that rose in volume as Faereena neared the room where Rhema and her companions stood. “Why, Rhema! I’ve been looking forward to your visit for a while now! You’ve been away too long.”Her speech cut off as she rounded the final corner and realized that Ischarus had been replaced with a pair of newcomers. She continued in her speech and covered her instinctual hesitation. “So, how is your dad?”Rhema chuckled. “Busy as ever on the villa. Fortunately, he’s in need of little as far as instruments of the field. Garreth can rest easy over the forge for now.” The two women shared a short laugh and Rhema continued her greeting. “Faereena, these are my friends Semeion and Charis. These two have accompanied Ischarus and me for a few months now.”Faereena could be seen to visibly exhale a sigh of relief. “Well, that’s a relief, there lass. When you showed up with new friends I thought maybe something happened between you and Ischarus. Or worse yet, I thought something had happened to Ischarus himself. So where is the lad?”Charis entered the conversation before Rhema could answer the question. As she spoke, Charis strolled forward and extended a hand in greeting. It was then that Charis noted for the first time that Faereena had the best known mark of an elf. She had pointed ears. “Ischarus is doing what any man would do given his situation. He’s off getting special treatment at the temple while we are left to do the legwork.”Rhema smiled at Charis’ comment and supplied her own explanation. “He’s getting a religion fix, Faereena.” Faereena lifted an eyebrow in Rhema’s direction. Rhema responded to the nonverbal inquiry by offering a bit more of the explanation. “No, there’s nothing the matter. He just needed to ask a few questions while we were in the area.” Her answer was obviously vague and Faereena knew Rhema had left it vague intentionally. The saleswoman continued to speak in general terms without forcing the party to feel obligated to say more about Ischarus. ”Well, at least he isn’t in any kind of trouble, then. So, what can I do for you this visit through?”Semeion remained silent, figuring that Charis and Rhema already had the situation in control. The conversation was heading down the path of business anyway, and he didn’t have any particular love for negotiating prices. Charis laid out a few weapons onto a table in the room and spoke. “Well, we understand that your shop here will not only buy a few weapons off of our hand but then you’ll gladly sell us some new ones in exchange?”Faereena laughed at Charis’ charm. “Lass, we’ll gladly take weapons off your hands at a fair price and even more gladly take the money back in exchange for equipment of your own choosing. Why don’t you guys who are new take a look around the place while I figure out what I can give you for what you brought in.”Rhema patted her pocket, “We’ve brought additional resources, Faereena. I think we’ll be looking at the fine equipment today.”The elf woman smiled back at Rhema. “Well, Garreth does fine work with his hammer. And he enjoys making items that people find interesting. Sure, he can make a standard item that serves well in the field. And for the most part that’s exactly what he does. But when he gets inspired I think you guys will find that his work is rather extraordinary.”Faereena set about to evaluating the weapons and other items that they had taken off of the denizens and highwaymen that they had encountered between Fingerdale, Quehalost, and back again. As she worked, Charis and Semeion looked over the weapons on display. They casually spoke to one another as the browsed. Eventually Charis decided to test one of Garreth’s heavy picks in her hand and seemed quite pleased with the balance. The pick end was shaped normally as she expected, but the handle was forged and hammered so that the metal handle looked as though it were a basket weave pattern that was spiraling around the handle to the very end. At the end of the handle a metal ball that was nearly double the radius of the handle had been placed as a guard and counterbalance for the weight of the pick end. Charis decided that it was this ball that made the weapon so superior since it did an effective job of counterbalancing the weight of the pick in her hand in almost any position that she held it. She motioned to Semeion to pick something up and try the balance of the item for himself while she continued to test Garreth’s design against one of the picks she had found while traveling through the tunnels. Ultimately, Garreth’s design was so superior that she placed her own pick upon the stack of items Faereena was evaluating. Faereena smiled and noticed the pleased expression upon Charis’ face. “I told you, didn’t I? Garreth does good work! I knew you wouldn’t be disappointed.”Semeion was inspired by the quality Charis had found in one of Garreth’s picks. He turned to Rhema and waited until he had her attention. “Do you want either of the daggers that we had found in the tunnels? I know that they’re of quite good quality, but I am thinking of selling them and wanted to give you the chance to take one first.”Rhema declined the offer with a twinkle in her eye and a curious shake of the head. Semeion knew what the motion meant. Rhema was still convinced to pick up her azure crystal sword.Having received the answer he sought, Semeion placed the daggers on top of the pile that Faereena was evaluating. Faereena immediately took note of them. “I hope I don’t need to tell you that these daggers are a pair of finely made instruments themselves. I’ll gladly take them off of your hands as it’ll save Garreth some work in duplicating their quality. I just wanted to make sure you knew what you were selling. These items are nearly of the same quality that Garreth is capable of making.”Semeion smiled at the saleswoman’s honorable assertion and replied, “Daggers just don’t feel right at my side when Ischarus has his sword and Charis has her pick. I want something a little more noticeable.” His eyes spied a well crafted rapier hanging on the far wall and he walked over to it and lifted it off of its hook. Semeion carefully unsheathed the rapier and noted that at first the blade looked as though it was simple undecorated steel. However, once he had the blade off of the wall and in his hand he could see that the only decoration on the blade was on the top of the hand guard and therefore away from his hand. The top of the hand guard was clearly carved with the face of a dwarf on the top. In fact, the carving was such that the actual blade of the rapier substituted for the nose of the inscribed dwarf’s face! Semeion laughed quietly to himself as he examined the simple carving. Once he had seen the dwarf’s face, he also realized that the strip of metal which ran from the hand guard to the end of the handle which was intended to protect his fingers was also lightly carved. In the greater image this piece of metal became a long dwarven beard when looked at from any angle that allowed the dwarf face to be seen. More to himself than anyone else, Semeion spoke upon seeing the humorous carving atop the hand guard. “If this isn’t the humor of the elves!” He quickly added the item to his inventory.Rhema was also looking at a weapon, although it was clear that the weapon she held was not one in which she had been trained. She had lifted up a long sword, almost identical in shape to the weapon Ischarus was currently using in his training. When she realized Semeion and Charis had found something to please themselves she added, “I think it is time Ischarus got a new blade, what do you think?”Semeion added, “I certainly think that he earned it, so long as the blade he currently uses doesn’t have any emotional ties to him.”Rhema replied quickly, “Heavens no! That sword is an old instrument that my father gave him one day. It’s nothing but a beginner sword in truth. This one here done by Garreth is a much better sword. Just look at it!”The sword was indeed a nicely forged sword. The blade had been forged hard and fast and it shined from almost any direction. As Rhema examined the blade, she found that a small verse had been inscribed where the handle met the hilt. The verse was inscribed in the tongue of the elves, and Faereena commented on the inscription as she finished up her calculations. “I’ll let Ischarus figure out what it means before I tell you.”Rhema also noted that while the blade shined from almost any angle, the hilt was the opposite. A dark blue sapphire had been encrusted in the bottom of the hilt, and the dark gemstone blended in magnificently with the dark hilt. She could imagine Ischarus proudly drawing the blade. The hilt dark would be in his hands, the sapphire only occasionally glistening below his lowest fingers. The blade of the sword would shimmer in any light in contrast to Ischarus’ hands and the hilt of the sword. She carefully sheathed the sword and added it to her belongings.Once they had all finished, Faereena informed them of how much they owed on top of the value for their trade in weapons. The three weapons they had purchased were considerably of a finer make than any of the weapons they brought to sell except for the pair of daggers. Semeion, Rhema, and Charis each paid their share of the debt and bid Faereena farewell. As they left the smith’s salesroom, each of the trio bubbled with anticipation. Now it was time to seek out the mystical herbalist shop that Rhema had been excited about earlier.[/Sblock]</blockquote>

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