Casualty's Respite: Ch 1: On First Landing [Archive]

Galdrath

04-29-2011, 06:02 PM

Casualty's Respite

Thank you for waiting! Chapter 1 is finally finished and edited. It took a little longer than I wanted it to due to some RL issues but it is here nonetheless. A big thanks to my lovely wife Avaly for proofreading and editing. Without her, you would probably be scratching your head at a good portion of the story, hehe. This will be a multi chapter book based around my in game character Shougai the Trickster.

This is an ambitious endeavor that I am undertaking. Trying not to level up faster than the story progresses is a lot harder than you think, especially since the Tricksters are a fun class to play. So far the first 4 chapters are outlined already and will be in the works shortly.

Disclaimer:
This is an original story by me, Galdrath.
Proofreader/Editor: Avaly.
This is based off the game Fiesta Online. Any likenesses within are property of OnsOn Soft and hosted by Outspark.

Thank you all for stopping by and hope you all enjoy reading Casualty's Respite!

Casualty's Respite:
Chapter 1: On First Landing
Chapter 2: TBA
Chapter 3: TBA
Chapter 4: TBA

Attention: This will be a 16 post submission so please hold off on posting until I at least reserve the proper spaces! Thank you!

Galdrath

04-29-2011, 06:02 PM

On First Landing

The ebb and flow of the water gently rocked the ship as it was moving into the docks. The skilled sailors quickly tied up the great vessel and began lowering the sails. Why did she want to come to this place? The other four passengers were already picking up their traveling gear and lining up to descend the gangplank. She on the other hand, continued to huddle in the corner, her tattered and stained clothes making good camouflage against the dark wood of the helm. What was she doing here? The passengers began the descent down to the mainland. A hand reached out towards her.

“Come on missy.” A soft but scruff voice called to her. She squinted in the sunlight to get a look at who was talking to her. The captain was staring back at her with a warm smile on his face. Begrudgingly she lifted her hand, accepting his. He hoisted her up with very little effort.

“You have any luggage that needs to be taken down, hun?” he asked. She shook her head. All that she owned was on her already; her clothes….and that was it. Her stomach growled. The captain chuckled.
He reached into a pocket and pulled out a silver coin.

“Take this and get you something to eat on land.” He firmly placed it in her hand. Again, a warm smile filled his face. He had been this kind to her ever since she had come aboard those six months ago. Her clothes then were not tattered, but new. She had money and belongings, but those did not last long. The trip had taken its toll on her physically and mentally.

Uncertainty and worry was creeping in every chance it got, never giving her a moments rest. It was too late now though. She had made up her mind to travel to this place and here is where her new life would begin. She placed the coin in her one good pocket, smiled up at the captain, and made her way to the gangplank. She stopped just as she reached the top and turned back.

“T-Thank you” she stammered. He chuckled again. “You take care of yourself now, you hear?” She nodded. Timidly, she descended the plank.

As her feet hit the solid pavement she nearly fell over; solid ground did not move like a ship at sea. Steadying herself she was finally able to look around at the tiny fishing town she had just come to.
To the left there were houses lining the plaza, a great fountain sculpted to look like dolphins, a pier that stretched out a ways into the harbor, capped with a lighthouse. A large market plaza covered the area to right. She had seen this from the ship as they had come in.

In the center of all of this was one woman on a box, smiling and waving at everyone that walked past. The other passengers from the ship were gathering in front of this woman. She must be the information teller of town. Figuring that would be the best place to start, she walked over and took a place next to a rather small woman with pointy ears.

Galdrath

04-29-2011, 06:03 PM

“Welcome to Roumen!” The woman on the box began. “I am Remi and I will be your brief guide to this wonderful town.” Waving her hands in a circle as she spoke. “Now, there are a few things I must get out of the way first. Did any of you bring a weapon with you ?”

Everyone began looking at each other. The rather large man looked disappointed, maybe from not bringing one, and the tall, slender woman looked appalled to be asked such a thing. The pretty young woman looked a bit nervous, but was nowhere near like what the petite girl at the end was feeling. That girl looked positively terrified. Should I have brought one? She asked herself. Mixed feeling about the situation was clouding her judgment on the matter.

“I take that as a no” Remi piped in. “Well, you all should have I is all I can say.” Everyone gave out a collective gasp except the large man who gave out a short whoop of excitement at the prospect of being in a land dangerous enough to have needed weapons. Remi continued.

“Now, since everyone here did not bring anything I am authorized to equip you all with a proper weapon so that you may successfully face what perils this land has in store for you.” She smiled.

The smallest girl looked like she was going to relive her last lunch at any time with that last comment.
Without breaking a sweat Remi plunged on.

“ Please step forward and I will hand out the weapons. Come, come now. Hurry please, we have other guests that will be arriving shortly.” The large man stepped forward, a smile broadly plastered on his chiseled face.

“Lets see,” Remi began, “Brutish, a bit of an ego, and probably a large dose of fearlessness. Ah! Here you are my dear sir, enjoy.” She handed the man a massive razor sharp sword. The man took it in one hand and made a few quick swipes in the air off to the side.

“Perfect.” His Excitement almost too hard to contain. He reached down and grabbed his bag, thrust his new shiny toy into his belt and made off towards stairs that looked like they led to more houses or shops.

“Wait! Oh dear.” Remi waved her arms franticly trying to get the man’s attention. “I wasn’t finished yet! Hmph!” She thrust her fists to her hips obviously a bit peeved that her speech was lost on the man.

Galdrath

04-29-2011, 06:03 PM

“Don’t worry about him my dear.” Chimed in the tall woman. “He is way too headstrong for his own good. He will learn his own way no matter how much sense you try to talk into him.” This appeared to calm Remi down a bit. A smile returned to her lips and she turned back towards everyone, focusing on the tall woman.

“For you my dear, I have this.” She produced a thick wooden staff. “With this you will be able to command the elements and deal with any foe from afar as well as multiple enemies at one time!”
A grin replaced the near permanent scowl that had covered the tall woman’s face since they had left the ship.

“This will do my dear. Just the type of thing I am used to in my homeland.” She grabbed her baggage, moved it off to the side and sat down on it. Placing the staff across her lap, she waited patiently for the next passenger to receive their weapon. Next up was the pretty young woman.

“I have something a bit different for you, young lady.” Remi chirped obviously amused at what she was about to unleash. “For you I give the gift of healing yourself and others. This is a very rare gift that will come in handy in the harsh land outside of this town. Now please stand still for a moment and I will cast the spell over you.” Remi produced a scroll from her left sleeve and opened it. As she began to read the incantation, a glow began to surround the young woman. Remi finished speaking and returned the scroll back to where she got it. The glow continued for a few short minutes more then with a slight flash, it disappeared. The young woman’s eyes widened as the knowledge that she had just gained flooded into her mind.

“One last thing for you…um...yes, here it is. Its crude but effective. It would probably be best if you found someone to venture out into the wilds with once you do decide to go.” She handed over what looked like a bent iron rod with spikes sticking out all over it. The young woman cringed, but accepted the item and took a seat next to the tall woman. Up next was the now perfectly terrified tiny girl with the pointy ears. She made her way forward.

“My, my dear. Its not as bad as you are thinking it is.” Remi said as soothingly as she could. “I have something that may help you out a bit. Its personally my favorite!” A slender bow appeared in Remi’s hands. However, the bow did not have a string. A confused look spread across the face of the tiny girl.
Remi smiled again raised the bow. She made as if to draw a string back on the bow and suddenly a shining line appeared from one end of the bow to the other and began bending back as Remi pulled.

As she reached the pinnacle of the draw, a brilliantly shining arrow appeared between her fingers and settled its head on the arrow shelf. The tiny girl let out a gasp of excitement, her fear completely melted away by the shining prize before her. Remi slowly released the tension in the bow. First the arrow, then the string disappeared from sight.

Galdrath

04-29-2011, 06:04 PM

She handed the bow over to the tiny girl who snatched from her hand and held it tightly to her chest. She too walked over and sat down on the opposite side of the tall woman.

“Well, now that that is over, I think its time fo…” Remi stopped mid sentence as her eye finally found the girl that had been hiding off to the side of the group. Once again the dirt and tattered clothes had made for good camouflage against the giant fishing nets hoisted about the dock.

“Hello dear, I’m sorry I didn’t see you there earlier.” Remi softly called out to the poor girl. She motioned for the girl to move closer to her. Hesitantly she did as she was told and advanced forward. “Are you a passenger like everyone else here?” She nodded, her eyes darting between Remi and the others. Remi bent a little at the waist, cupped the girl chin in her hand and stared deeply into her eyes. She was beginning to feel a little shy, a blush forming on her cheeks. Remi, satisfied, let go and smiled.

“Alright my dear, I believe I may have something for you as well.” Remi hopped off the box she was standing on. Turning around, she opened the box and began rummaging through it. “They will be a bit worn and rusty and probably won’t fit, but I am positive James can fix them up real fast for you. He’s our blacksmith. Yes, he should be able to work he magic on them. Aha!” Remi’s hands stopped on something and she pulled it out of the box. Whatever it was had been wrapped in a deep purple silk and tied with a piece of orange cloth.

Remi turned back around and handed the item to the girl. It felt heavy in her arms. Pieces seemed to move individually and made metallic clinking sounds. She could only guess what lay inside the silk.

“Now don’t spoil the surprise!” Remi wagged a finger. “Make sure to keep it wrapped up until you hand it over to James. He will know exactly what to do once he sees the silks anyway. Woo, I’m tingling with excitement myself. That item hasn’t been released in a very long time.” Remi shivered a bit but the smile did not fade from her face. Still in a bit of a confused state, the girl moved over and took her place behind everyone who was already seated.

“Ok, now that everyone is equipped, it’s time for my final topic for you.” Remi said as she took her spot back on top of the box once again. “If you head up the stairs, you will find several people that can help you during your stay. Healer Julia will teach you about healing stones if you do not already know beforehand. Skill Master Ruby can teach you new and exciting ways to use your newfound abilities. Blacksmith James can provide upgraded weapons and even armors to protect you as you further your advancement into the wilds. Finally Weapon Title Master Zach can teach you how to increase your damage against certain icky monsters. So be sure to check with each of them before you head out on your adventures, ok?” Everyone nodded in agreement.

Galdrath

04-29-2011, 06:04 PM

“Now that everything is taken care of, you may all go as you please. Have fun.” Remi hopped back off the box and clapped her hands together.

The dirtied girl watched the others pick up their belongings and head off in different directions. The girl look back down at her newfound treasure. The only thing else she had was the silver coin. She turned to walk off in the same direction as the young woman when a hand lightly pulled her back.

“One more thing my dear.” It was Remi. She had a piece of paper in her hand with the word Coupon in big letters spread across the top of it. She looked at it for a second then back up at Remi. “Please take this as well.” She handed it over. “This is a coupon for a free outfit from my friend Vietree in the Market Place. I was gong to use it today, but you need it more than I do. Please take it and get yourself something nice.” She grasped the paper and placed it in the pocket with the coin.

“T-thank you.” She managed to squeak out. Remi lifted a hand and caressed the girl’s cheek.

“Look like you had a very hard ordeal didn’t you? I can tell. Make sure you visit Vietree first before going to James. He’s a bit pickier about appearance than you would think.” She laughed finding that a bit funny. She pointed off to the market towards the back. “Around the center spire to the back is her shop. Now scoot. Go on and have fun!.” With that, Remi shoved the girl in the direction of the market and waved.

“Oh, one more thing!” Remi called out. The girl stopped and turned. “What is your name young one?”

“Shougai.” She spoke confidently. “ My name is Shougai.”

“Welcome to Roumen then Shougai, welcome.” Remi replied and the girl turned back around and walked away.

“Shougai, huh?” Remi whispered to herself out of earshot, biting her thumb. “ Dark times are about to come to Isya. Teva help us all.”

The market was more vast than she thought. Meat shops, vegetable tables, trinkets, fine silks, anything she could think of looked like it had a place. It didn’t take her long to get distracted enough to forget why she had come this way. As she neared each booth, things became apparent that her appearance was influencing the people around her. Some began to shy away, merchants would ignore her, and some patrons began whispering a bit too loud their opinions about her.

Shougai was again growing uncomfortable and began fidgeting with the cloth strap on her package. Her stomach growled once again. She reached into her pocket to verify that the coin still existed and felt the paper that she had stuffed in as well.

Galdrath

04-29-2011, 06:05 PM

Oh yeah! Memory of the item flooded back into her. She was supposed to find a woman named Vietree about a new set of clothing. Her eyes began scanning the market once again, this time searching for a clothing shop that fit the description. There was just one.

She approached the shop cautiously. There wasn’t much to it really. It was like the others; a small table with wares spread out over it, a tent covering the table from sunlight, and clothing draped from racks off the sides of the tent. What stood out though was the woman Vietree herself. The woman was dressed head to toe in blue fabric. An elegant dress that was hemmed perfectly to fit her form; a belt with various pouches attached to it no doubtedly filled with her tools of the trade. Oddly, the woman’s left arm was not sleeved like the other. The sleeve itself was still attached but it flapped in the breeze behind her.

“Hello?” Shougai hesitantly asked as she drew up in front of the woman. Vietree didn’t seem to hear her. Actually ,Vietree looked as if she was a statue. Shougai raised a hand and waved it in front of the woman’s face. Still no acknowledgement. “Vietree!!” She shouted. Still no response. She sighed. Guess this would be yet another person who was going to ignore her, just like so many others. Shougai turned to look at the wares on the table. Elegant fabrics lay gracefully across it. Blues, reds, yellow, greens, purples, and every other color she could think of seemed to be woven into a silken cloth. She reached out to feel the deep purple silk.

“Please keep your hands off my silks my dear.” Came a voice behind her. It was Vietree, apparently no longer playing statue. She noticed the odd look on Shougai’s face. “Oh sorry, whenever I get an idea for a clothing design I tend to totally space out. Sorry if you were trying to get my attention earlier. Silly me. What can I do for you this fine day?” She asked as if not noticing the deplorable state of Shougai’s dress. Just for a second, Shougai thought she saw Vietree’s eyes dart to the silken package. Just maybe.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out the coupon.

“Remi said…Remi said to come to you and hand you this paper.” She handed it over. A wave of relief washed over her. The paper was finally out of her hands, no longer a weight that tugged at her heart. She really hated relying on others. But then again, right now she had no choice.

“Ah I remember this coupon.” Vietree began. She folded it into a tight square and tucked it away into a pouch on her side. “Well dear, since this is a favor from Remi you do not have a choice in what type of outfit that is picked for you.” A devilish grin spread across Vietree’s face. This can’t be good, she thought.

“Here you are dear, my newest creation! Please go inside this dressing room and put them on and comeback out so I can hem them to your size.” She handed some black and tan clothing over to her as well as some red strapped heels and black socks. A small dressing room lifted from the ground next to Vietree and she opened the door to let Shougai in. “Hurry up now, I can’t wait to see how it looks!”

Galdrath

04-29-2011, 06:06 PM

Inside, Shougai removed the coin from her pocket then disrobed. She opened the folded cloths to find some new underclothing. She donned those quickly, feeling a bit embarrassed that she was changing practically out in the open. She slipped on the black ankle high socks and grabbed the pants. They were actually more like shorts crossed with bloomers, puffing out a bit at the hips.

They had an interesting black and tan checkered pattern on them as well as a cute belt with two separate belt attachments that hung on each side. Next up was the top. She noticed a problem right away. As she slipped her arms through the holes, she began to worry. The only thing she could find to close the top was a silver pendant at the neck of the top. She clasped that to the other side of the neck portion and turned to look at herself in the mirror.

An “eep!” escaped her lips and her face turned beat red. Her whole midsection and a good portion of her chest was exposed. She felt like she was about to faint.

“Everything alright in there?” Came Vietree’s cheerful voice through the door. She stared again at herself in the mirror.

“Y-yes. Everything is fine.” She lied. What was she supposed to do now? She couldn’t go out like this, not in public. But they were new cloths she thought. They were better than her destroyed dress. She picked up her silver coin and put it in her nice new pocket and grasped the handle on the door, turned it and walked out.

“Oh my!” Vietree squealed as Shougai exited the dressing room. “It looks better than I had imagined it on an actual person. And it looks like it was a near perfect fit as well. These cloths must have been made just for you!” She pulled out a measuring tape and began checking every inch of Shougai’s body. The blush was as fiery as ever on her cheeks.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit too revealing in the front?” She asked. Vietree stopped for a moment and looked up and down Shougai’s figure.

“Nope, it looks just fine!” She quickly said and got right back to hemming the pants to fit a bit snugger on the hips.

She laughed a bit. Here she was in a new town, getting free cloths, and all she could think of was how she looked in them. She should be at least grateful for them. It looked like Vietree had put a lot of work and thought into the design. She did like how it accented a couple features on her body, made her look a little bit more mature. The more she thought about them, the more she realized that she actually liked the design. It seemed to call out to her.

Galdrath

04-29-2011, 06:06 PM

Vietree had finished her tailoring and was admiring her work. Everything fit alright. Nothing too tight, nothing too loose. She had to admit, Vietree knew exactly what she was doing. She noticed something though. There were two iron loops, one on each side of her belt. They seemed a bit out of place.

“What are these for?” Shougai asked as she slipped her thumbs in each loop and pulled a bit on them.

“Those are for something special.” Vietree said wryly, a thin smirk appeared. “It’s not something you will need to worry about anytime soon my dear. But it may come in handy much later, you never know.” The comment puzzled her, but like most things she has come across so far, its best to just go with it anyways. Well, there wasn’t much else to do here so she may as well take her leave now.

“Thank you very much for the new clothing.” She said with conviction. “It is very much appreciated. I just hope I don’t get them too dirty.” It would be a shame if they did get dirty, she really was starting to like them. She would have to pay a bit more attention to this outfit then she did the last one.

“It was my pleasure my dear. Just come back here if you ever need anything again. I might just have a new style you can wear around for me.” A chuckle escaped Vietree’s lips. “You can be my walking advertisement per say. Now go get something to eat before you starve to death, my child.”

As if on queue, her stomach gave a boisterous growl. It nearly doubled her over in pain. It had been such an exhilarating time getting new clothes that quite a bit of time had passed. She had to get something to eat this very instant. She thanked Vietree once again, waved goodbye, and headed for the nearest food stall. She reached one with an assortment of breads and cheeses. She ordered up a healthy slice of their finest cheese and a roll of sourdough. She found a nearby barrel and decided to use it as a convenient seat. She broke the bread, crammed a chunk of the cheese inside one half and began devouring it as fast as she could.

Several people had stopped to witness this strange event unfold. A young girl in a very revealing and interestingly patterned outfit gnawing on a piece of bread like it was the only food she had seen in weeks. They would be right, but in actuality, it was more like a whole month since she had eaten this well. She didn’t care right now though that they were looking at her.

Her being, her whole existence was focused on this wonderful bread. Such wonderful flavor, such texture. She was in utter bliss. But all good things come to an end. She found herself at the end of the second half of the bread in no time. There was no cheese left as well. She had a few coppers left in her pocket and spied a cider stall a few strides away. She hopped off the barrel and skipped her way to the stall weaving between the still staring crowd.

Galdrath

04-29-2011, 06:08 PM

With a belly full from the food and drink, she returned the way she came back to where Remi had met them as they got off the boat and headed in the direction of the stairs leading up into the middle of town. The next item on her list would be to find the Healer Julia if she remembered correctly. This person should be near the top of the stairs on the right. The stairs looked like they had been etched out of a fine white granite. Very well kept stairs, she thought out loud. She was a tad bit winded as she began ascending the stairs. There were more steps than it really looked like from down below.

She spotted Healer Julia right away as she crested the stairs; a short girl with very long blue pigtails.
She stood a moment to catch her breath then took off at a brisk pace directly for Julia. Julia was outside standing next to a table with a few glass beakers, one with a red liquid and one with a blue liquid contained inside them. She had in one hand what looked like a mold of some sort and in the other a dropper with a misty substance inside. The mold was currently filled with the red liquid. She tilted the mold on its side and inserted the dropped in the side and squeezed.

The misty substance entered the mold and as soon as it made contact with the red liquid it began to fizzle and bubble. Julia set down the dropped and began to violently shake the mold back and forth. After a few seconds she stopped and held the mold a ways out from herself. The mold appeared to still be violently shaking in her hand as well as beginning to glow slightly. The more violent the shaking the brighter the glow got. At the point Shougai thought it would explode, it stopped shaking and a blinding flash burst from the mold.

Once her vision had returned, she noticed that Julia was smiling and holding in her hand a perfect looking red gemstone. It shone with a glow that seemed to come from within as well as out.

“Sorry about that!” Giggled Julia. “Sometimes they explode when I make them so I hold them a bit away from me so my clothes don’t get too stained. But this one turned out quite nice if I do say so myself!” She grabbed a small pouch from off her belt and placed the stone inside it. She then handed the pouch to Shougai. “I assume you are here for some of these since there were a few other new people that stopped by today as well.” Shougai accepted the pouch.

“Thank you . Um, what are these?” Confusion sinking in once again like a heavy stone in a puddle of mud.

“Those are soul stones.” Came the reply. “The red one heals your wounds and the blue one revitalizes your spirit so you can fight longer! Here, let me show you how the red one works.” Julia reached into another pouch and pulled out another red stone. She held it up to the light. “Look at it real close.” She said. Shougai stared at the gem.

Galdrath

04-29-2011, 06:08 PM

She could see her reflection in it but was not seeing anything out of the ordinary. She was about to ask what was supposed to happen when she felt the knife slide into her arm.
It took all of her might to not scream out loud. She looked down to see Julia inspecting the blade protruding from Shougai’s arm.

“Hmm.” She snorted. “The blade went in much farther than I wanted it to. Must have used a freshly sharpened one. Sorry about that.” She grabbed a hold of the handle and quickly pulled it out of Shougai’s arm. Tears burst from her eyes. What did she do to deserve to be in the hands of this masochist? “Hold still.” Julia snapped as she grabbed the bleeding arm and quickly applied the red stone to the wound.

The area that was touched by the stone instantly became numb. Shougai could no longer feel the wound at all. She wiped the tears from her eyes with her free hand and looked down at the wound. The red gem was once again glowing…but it looked like it was melting. No, it WAS melting. She stared in amazement as the gem fully melted into the wound and disappeared. After a few seconds, the ooze reappeared and began to bubble itself out of the wound. Once the bubbling had subsided, Julia took a cloth and wiped the remains away from the area. To Shougai’s total amazement, there was no longer a wound. Just healthy, albeit bloody, skin. Shougai shook her head. This new land she had come to is almost too strange to believe.

She thanked Julia for the tutorial and pouch of stones and turned to leave. Just as she did, her foot got caught on the little side table. “Oh no!” Was all she was able to do as she watched the vile of blue liquid begin to fall from the top of the table. Just as she thought; it was doomed. A blue blur shot out of nowhere snatching the vile up before it could even spill a drop. It was Julia, with catlike reflexes, that had saved the day.

“Whew!” she piped. “Would not have been good if that had dropped, I don’t have any more.”

Shougai breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t know what would have happened if that had actually fallen. Explosions of red and blue came to mind. Wouldn‘t there also be purple explosions? She shook her head. Standing around and daydreaming was not a good sign. She needed to get to James’ shop at least by midday. Apologizing and thanking Julia again, she carefully made her way back onto the street and headed up in the direction of James’ forge. She didn’t get far though. Julia came running up from behind.

“I have one last thing for you.” She said as she finally caught up to her. “I noticed your silken package and I happen to have a very old scroll here that has the same orange tie. I think they go together so I think you should have it.” Trusting the scroll in Shougai’s hand, she turned and skipped off. “Um…Thanks.” She didn’t know what else she was supposed to do. So many weird occurrences already because of this package. She hoped there would be no more interruptions. She just wanted to know what it was. She tucked the scroll in her belt and continued on.

Galdrath

04-29-2011, 06:09 PM

Walking on, she realized that wasn’t going to happen. There was already a woman eyeballing her from the left side of the street. The woman appeared to be wildly swinging a sheathed sword without regard for her surroundings. Well, there was no point in delaying the inevitable. She headed straight for the woman.

“I’m Ruby, Skill Master of this here Roumen” The woman introduced herself without being asked. “I have all sorts of learning scrolls. Swordsmanship, magic, archery, clerical. I also deal in production skills such as enhancement stone making and potion craft.” She paused and gave the purple package a glare. “But I have nothing for you at this moment. Now get, I have important business I need to attend to.” She waved her hand at Shougai, dismissing her. Shougai wanted to speak up and confront the rude woman, but thought it might be best to let things go. She needed to be on her way.

Continuing on, she came across something she really wasn’t prepared for. There was a man…with green, floppy hair…in a yellow apron without a shirt on and no shoes…standing on a door step, staring at her without blinking. Shougai was instantly creeped out. He was just staring, not moving and it looked like not even breathing. This had bad written all over it. She scooted as far to the other side of the street as she could and tried to calmly edge her way past the man. To her relief, the man just continued to stare instead of advancing towards her. Once she was safely past the man by a good ways, she finally focused her attention on James’ forge which was just ahead. She was finally here.

She clutched the package to her chest once more and entered the forge. James was hard at work…standing in one spot holding his hammer. He looked a bit imposing standing there though. He was a big man, his arms heavily muscled from his craft. It was now or never though. She approached.

“Hello James!” She said, trying to put on a brave face. He lifted the hammer onto his shoulder .

“Well, hello there missy.” He beamed. “Welcome to my forge. What can I do for you? Need a knife sharpened? Maybe some specially made hair pins? Anything you can think of, I can make out of metal.”

“I was actually told to come to see you by Remi.” The words fell out of her mouth before she was ready for them to. “ I was told to give you something once I reached you forge.” She felt embarrassed.

“Oh really?” He asked quizzically. “ And what would that be?” She gripped the package tightly one last time then slowly brought it out for him to see. He reached out and grasped the package. His eyes widened with recognition. “My, my missy. Remi must have really thought highly of you to give you this.” A slight frown formed on his face.

Galdrath

04-29-2011, 06:09 PM

Great, she thought. Yet another person that has something against this package. What was inside it that was so ominous that everyone was hesitant around it? Her curiosity was boiling over by now. She needed to know what was contained within. James set down his hammer next to an anvil and brought the package to his workbench. His hands hesitated over the orange binding. Carefully he gripped the ends and pulled. Shougai held her breath. The binding fell away and he began unfolding the silk. What emerged was something Shougai had never seen before.

“Claws?” She said, puzzled. Everyone was scared of a set of claws? They did look weird to her and appeared to be wearable on your hands by the look of the strapping. They were very rusty and looked very dull and dinged. Such a unique weapon. How would one go about using them in combat was the question. Wouldn’t they be kind of flimsy on your wrists and not be able to cut into something effectively?

“All that was in there was a set of claws?” She continued. “I was thinking it was something much worse than that by the way everyone has been looking at it, wouldn’t you think so James?” She looked up at him. He was just staring at them. Not making a sound, just staring. After a few seconds, his right hand reached out and picked up one of the claws and turned it over. He seemed to be mulling something over in his head. What could these claws possibly be or yet, what could they mean? She was worried.
After a brief moment, James set the claw back down on the table and gave out a loud sigh.

“Remi was right that you needed to bring these to me.” He finally spoke. “They will need to be cleaned, sharpened, and perfectly fitted on your wrists. Let me get started.” He scooped them up and moved towards his forge.

“Wait, what?” She called out. What just happened? First he was all silent and now he’s all gung ho for working on them. There was something she wasn’t being told but she didn’t know how she was going to get that information. So many questions she needed to ask but she felt it wasn’t her place to ask them.

“You can go ahead and take a seat on the stairs over there if you like, this will take a bit of time.” he called out. She nodded. Nothing much left to do but follow his directions. She walked over to the stairs, passing a very nasty smelling garbage can, and took a seat a few rows up. A chubby tabby cat came over and purred at her feet.

Looking down the street further, she noticed another man standing outside his shop. She waved to him. He made eye contact with her but turned his head the other way without acknowledging the gesture. How rude! She puffed her cheeks at him and stuck her tongue out. Guess even in a new town there will always be snooty people. She reached down and stroked the tabby. At least animals are not as picky. A butterfly fluttered by them and the tabby took off in pursuit. She smiled and put her head in her hands and watched as the tabby ran out of sight.

Galdrath

04-29-2011, 06:10 PM

“Um. Miss. You can come back now.” Came the voice of James from around the forge. She hopped off the stairs and made her way back to his forge, this time holding her nose as she passed the garbage can.
“Sorry, but what is your name miss? I didn’t catch it earlier,” he bashfully asked.

“Shougai.” She blushed. James was the first person besides Remi to ask her name. Another odd thing about the people here, she noted.

“Shougai, eh?” He rubbed his chin. “Not much of a pretty little girl’s name. I personally took you for a Margaret myself but that just shows how much I know about pretty little girl names.”

She giggled. “Nope. Just Shougai. Don’t know why I was named that way but it feel right. Feels like its supposed to be my name.”

“Anyways, I am finished with the claws.” He changed the subject, setting the claws back on the workbench. The metal shone a bright grey, the edges flashed with precision sharpening, even the strapping looks freshly sewn on. They looked totally different than when they were brought in.

“Wow!” Was all she managed to say. They were far more brilliant than she ever thought they would be.

“Give me your hands” James ordered. She reached out and he grabbed her right hand. He placed a claw on the back of her hand and centered the base. Flipping over her hand he quickly brought up the thick leather straps and cinched one snuggly in her palm and another one he cinched around he wrist. He knew what he was doing, much like Vietree, experience showing in his work. He had already finished fitting the other hand before she realized. She turned her hands back over. The equipment was not as heavy as she expected. She wiggled her arms. There was no movement in the blades. They were kind of fun.

James set up a block of wood on his anvil, motioned for her to step up to it and pointing at it. She understood without him having to say what was needed. She stepped up to the block and raised her right hand above her head. Tightening her hand into a fist she closed her eyes and brought down her arm as hard as she could onto the block of wood. There was a sickening screech of metal on metal contact that made her grit her teeth and she stopped moving her arm. She opened one eye and then the other and stared in amazement. The claws had cut straight through the block of wood and had suck a good distance into the anvil itself.

“Well now.” James said scratching his beard. “Seems I will need to fix my anvil now or get a new one.”

Galdrath

04-29-2011, 06:11 PM

“I’m so sorry.” She blurted out as she withdrew the blades from the anvil. “I didn’t know that it would go that far into that thing.” She blushed. There she was again, breaking other peoples belongings.

“Don’t worry your little head” He replied. “I was expecting something like this as soon as you brought these here. Remi must have seen something in you for her to hand these over so willingly and now I kinda see that myself.” He looked down at the anvil again and shook his head. “I would not have been able to do that with those myself, you know.”

“Really?” She was taken aback. “And what do you mean Remi saw something in me?”

He looked up at her and appeared to ponder something for a few moments. He sighed. “Well someone at sometime has got to tell you about these. Better someone who knows a bit of truth about the situation tell you than you going off and hearing a bunch of hooplah and rumors and such. But first I need to show you something…for safety purposes.” He reached out and turned her right hand over again.

“You notice these indentions in the metal right above where your middle knuckles on your hand are?” He asked. She nodded. “Lift up your fingers into each of those indentions for me.” She did as he asked. As she did so, the blades of each claw began to retract into the metal guard on the back of her hands. She watched and each one went out of sight, neatly tucked into place. She couldn’t believe solid pieces of metal that she had just used to gouge deep marks into an anvil had scrunched themselves up into a tiny box on the back of her hand.

“Wow.” Was all she was able to say. What else was there to say? At least now her hands were free to move a bit without the threat of being cut by those vicious things.

“Now to bring them out again, all you do is just make tight fists.” James explained. She made fists and was startled as the blades shot out at an alarming rate, slicing a piece of James’ apron off at the end. “Oops. Forgot to mention that you should point them away before bringing them out.” He chuckled. Not wanting to slice anything up again she retracted the blades once more.

James sat down on the damaged anvil and motioned for her to take a seat in his whicker chair that she hadn’t realized was there in the first place. She took the seat and turned her attention to James. He brought out a wooden pipe, lit it up and took a few puffs. He still seemed hesitant about something. She didn’t know what it was, but it must pertain to the claws in some way. Her curiosity was piqued. James put the pipe down and cleared his throat. He took one last deep sigh and began to talk.

“I don’t know all the specifics.” He began. “But I will do my best so just bare with me.” She nodded.

Galdrath

04-29-2011, 06:12 PM

“Now several decades ago there was this fiasco with an elf named Epith. He was one of the good guys to start, but something happened and he turned real mean like. Anyways, He ended up killing a GM, a Guardian Magi, turning a blue-ish color and losing his powers or something like that. Well he ended up disappearing from history shortly afterwards. No one has heard hide nor hair of him since then. But traces of his presence have popped up every once in a while suggesting his powers are coming back.”

“Well as you might have guessed, these here blades are one of those traces I talked about. People for several years after they were found have tried to use them. But each time someone used them, they would go rusty and dull in a short amount of time, like within a hit or two on things. People started calling them cursed and such, but then a man by the name of Izel took notice of them and took them back to his tower for studying and research.”

“After a few years he brought the claws wrapped in purple silk to Roumen and gave them to his servant Maria, instructing her to find someone to use them. I don’t know the specifics of what was said but it came to be known that someone not of this land was to come and wield them in the name of good to fight the coming chaos. Well that’s what Maria preached anyways. I, personally, do not think that Izel guy was the type to care about who’s hands the blades fell into as long as they found the correct person.”

“After a couple months of searching herself, her friend Remi asked to take over the search since she was in charge of greeting every new person that arrived in this here land. See, Remi has a knack for knowing certain things about people. She can judge what types of skills would work best for which people and she can even tell sometimes if the person has a good heart and whatnot. Its come in handy a few times I can tell you.” He gave a wink. Yawning, he stretched his arms above his head. “Remi has been searching ever since for someone to come along to hand these off to. And it looks like you were the perfect fit.”

He hopped off the anvil and patted off his backside. “It looks like she was right in her selection though.”

“What do you mean?” Shougai asked.

“Well, from what I can see, the blades are still sharp and rust free.” He said cautiously peeking into the little box that housed the lethal edges. Shougai pointed her left arm away from James and released the blades from their hiding place. They were indeed rust free and looked as sharp as ever.

“What am I to do now with these things and that information?” She said as she retracted the claw once more.

Galdrath

04-29-2011, 06:13 PM

James shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t really know myself. I told you everything I know of what is going on with them. The only person that would know about them would probably be Izel, but he is long gone. You could ask Maria over by the lighthouse, but I don’t know if she would know any more.”

“I think I will anyway.” She said, feeling a bit uneasy about the situation. She got up from the chair and stretched herself.

“That may be best,” he agreed. He pointed off a ways towards the forest at a set of descending stairs. “If you take those stairs you will pop near the lighthouse pier.” She looked in the direction he was pointing.

“Thank you James.” She said. “I guess I will get going. See you later then?” He nodded.

“Come back in a while. I may be able to enhance those claws for you later.” She smiled at him and began walking in the direction of the stairs. She didn’t get far past the rude guy to her left that still refused to look at her when she heard something to her left.

“Hey you, girl!” Came a grumpy sounding voice. She looked to see who was calling to her. It was a rather sour looking short old man…with a flower growing out of his head. She stopped in her tracks and stared at it. What was a flower doing on the top of a human’s head? And it appeared to be alive and thriving at that! She stood there mesmerized by the sight. Her daze was snapped by another bark from the old man.

“Come here this instance girl! Hurry up, I haven’t got all day. Chop, chop.” He stomped his foot and scowled at her. She knew this was going to be another situation she didn’t think would end very well…