The Forge of Marid's Fall IC

[Jacior]

The morning sun peaks over the horizon, first casting its rays on the peaks of the World-Spine. As the sun rises and more is shone upon by its light, a mist forms around the peaks, evaporation from the rain the last couple of days. It is the first nice day in nearly a week and as the sun finally lands on the peaks of the tallest buildings in Marid's Fall, the city starts up early, the sound of forge's being lit and the smell of baking bread fills the streets.

Cassandra is awoken by the sound of a bird tapping a snail shell against her window, the rapping sound like a shrill bell against the glass.

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra sits up in her bed before stretching and parting the hair in front of her eyes to look at window, while Cass liked birds, and animals in general, she wasn't much of a morning person so right now it was little more than an annoyance. Instead of immediately stopping the bird, she went to the chest that held her clothes and pulled out her work set, an undyed tunic, leggings, and a band to keep her hair out of her eyes before she goes to the window and opening it, likely scaring the bird away in the process, the air would be nice today if it didn't get too hot, then the humidity would be hell.

Once set, she goes down the hall, grabbing her leaf patterned scarf, which was seen as a signature for her, and went to the main room to set up shop, bringing out display cases with show pieces, whetstones, some quartz of various colors cut to display the different cuts she could make, and charms she's made by carving designs into metal. Once set up front, she starts up her furnace, she'd probably be using it later in the day, and opened shop.

[Jacior]

The bird flees as Cassandra approaches the window, dropping the snail it had been trying to crack open. A light breeze through the window reminds her why living on the side of a mountain was both better and worse than the flatlands below. It was nearly the middle of the summer season and with the rain, a chill almost hung in the air, but having lived their as long as she had, she knew it'd warm up before long.

Business was slow, as usual. Some of the locals were warming up to the idea, but many couldn't get over a women working a forge. The store was mostly empty for the greater part of the morning. Someone came in to pick up an order, a couple of young girls took a liking to a pair of pendants that had been hanging in the window and one, rather gruff looking man came in and looked at swords for about twenty minutes, picked one up as if to purchase it and when he noticed the shopkeep was a women, placed it back down and left.

Shortly after midday, noted by the sounds of the city's bells tolling, a great many people tumble into the shop, all looking at weapons and armor and causing a general ruckus.

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra wasn't surprised by the sale of the pendants, they were pretty popular actually, but it did annoy her to no end that someone would leave just because she was a woman, she'd seen many female warriors lay much bigger men on their backs, so why would anyone see a female blacksmith as odd? Then again, that was on the other side of the Spine. It helped somewhat that she was one of the only people that dealt in cyrite weapons on this side of the Spine.

She'd have to start doing hunts on her own soon if she really wanted to prove herself, not that it was a big deal, she could live on what she made from her charms, alchemical items, and smaller items, but she took pride in her skill with weapons, both in making and wielding them, and to have someone judge them based simply on what she looked like was just plain insulting.

She had plenty of time to calm down before the rush, luckily, and used the opportunity to sharpen her blade until the rush started. Once it did, she stowed her sword and kept an eye on everyone in the store while keeping things from getting out of hand. She was also looking out for anyone that looked like they might be answering her request for a guide to this part of the Spine, someone knowledgeable about the creatures and area, but not necessarily a fighter or hunter.

[Jacior]

Some of the men give scowls to Cassandra as they look through her wares, but none seem inclined to leave. It seemed whatever was causing this rush was causing them to overlook certain traits the proprietor possessed. Nearly all of them find something to suit their tastes though, be it armor or weapon and make their purchases and head off down the street in a bit of a rush. A couple people are still left milling around the shop, taking more careful time to choose from what's left or perusing other objects there.

One man however, gives Cassandra a look before walking up to the counter. "I'm surprised you're still here, Girly. I figured you would have closed up shop and left with that rabble earlier, what with you looking for a hunting guide for this side of the Spine." He was moderately older than Cassandra, perhaps in his late thirties. With a rather unkempt appearance and slightly-too-dirty-to-be-polite clothing, he seemed like one of the street people from some of the old places Cassandra has lived before.

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra looks up at the man, with a raised eyebrow, "waiting for someone to offer before I start going out there," she replies plainly, "I take it, since you're asking, that you're interested?"

[Jacior]

"You've not left this shop all day, have you, Girly?" The man says, with no real change in attitude. Though, his widening eyes when she spoke so plainly, maybe spoke of a burgeoning amount of respect. "They say a group of guides have just shown up from the other side of the Spine, claiming to be accepting an apprentice each to learn the lay of the land and the monsters that have started popping up over here." He looks her up and down. "I don't know if any of 'em will take a woman, but it can't hurt to try right?"

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra nods, "thanks, I'll take a look into it. And I prefer Cassandra," she glances at the shop to see how many people are around, "I owe ya one, but if I'm going to catch one of them I'll need to leave now. Come by tomorrow and I can cut you a deal on something."

[Jacior]

There's about three other people in the shop, excluding the man your talking with. "Aye, I know your name, Girly. Not many folks around here that don't, truth be told." He shrugs at that and ambles out the door. "I don't really need anything, but I might take you up on that anyway, Girly. Better go hurry before the good ones are gone." He calls out over his shoulder before closing the door rather loudly behind him.

[EdroGrimshell]

"The good ones are the ones that actually take their time picking someone," Cassandra mutters as she ushers people out and closes shop before she changes into her combat gear, a white and gold kimono style top with a leaf pattern, loose-legged pants, and shoes that are easy to slide on, with a mithril shirt under her top, then heads out to find these guides.

[Jacior]

With a little asking around, she discovers that the guides are in one of the squares near the edge of town, one affectionately nick-named Tribulation by the locals. It's upon arriving there though, that Cassandra realizes she's not the only one to come down here. Half the populace seems to be trying to crowd into the square, but she can't tell how many are there for purpose or just for a look.

On the stage, which seems to have been brought out by the city for this event, there stand eight, or is that nine, people of varying heights and builds. Four of them seem to be women and the rest men, but from this distance it's nearly impossible to tell for sure.

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra sighs, it was always a crowd... she started to push forward, using her sheathed sword to weave through people and clear a path for herself, as long as no one tried grabbing the scarf everything would be fine. Once she got to the front, she'd be in a good position to actually get an idea of what was going on.

[Jacior]

It seemed the people on the stage, three women and four men now that you were close enough to make them out, were actively waiting for the crowd to quiet down. Though it was plain from the smile on more than one face that they were enjoying the attention. It was obvious that they could stay there most of the day soaking in the crowds talk and looks.

The largest of the men, standing nearly a head taller than everyone on the stage and presumably everyone in the crowd, is heavily muscled and wearing heavy platemail. He seems to wear it like a second skin though and as he steps forward, you can't help but feel that it's no hindrance in the field. He carries a greataxe, stylized to appear as a dragon breathing flames. "Quiet, quiet now everyone. We know you're all excited, but we have some things to say first." He steps back and one of the women steps forward.

She's dressed sparsely, almost in no armor at all. Her hair is cut very short and a thick, jagged scar extends from her cheek down her neck and under her armor. Her weapon appears to be a flail with twin heads and very long chains. She seems much more serious than the man before her. "First off, anyone here not seriously looking to learn, LEAVE NOW! We have not the time nor the patience to deal with crowds." From several looks given to her by the rest of those assembled on the stage, that feeling wasn't exactly mutual.

The crowd doesn't exactly eager to disperse, but after a number of minutes of inactivity from the stage, about half the crowd leaves, grumbling and murmuring to itself.

Another of the men steps forward, this one quite a bit smaller than the first. He's dressed in baggy clothing, with both his pants and his sleeves ending wide and long enough to conceal his hands. He carries no weapon and seems quite a bit more amiable than several people on the stage. "Now that the looky-loos are gone, it's time to weed out the stragglers. Anyone here not prepared to die, please leave now as well." He says with a smile. About half of who is left also take their leave at this point. "I said anyone. I meant everyone. Please leave if you aren't ready to lose your life." When no one makes a move, his smile falters ever so slightly before regaining itself. "Have it your way." He says and his sleeves move slightly before several people cry out in pain, including someone directly behind you. Looking back, you see a thin, sharp looking razor sticking out of his shoulder.

Most of the remaining crowd runs off at this, leaving about twelve people, including yourself. The second woman steps up and scowls at the remaining people. "I thought you would have scared off more than this." The man with the sleeves just smiles and shrugs at her. She has a pair of swords at her hip and she's dressed, rather quite like Cassandra. "What are we to do with this many people? I'm not taking on more than one of them. If that." She scowls again at the group and jerks her head towards the next person.

The third man doesn't bother getting up from his sitting position on the stage. He's wearing leather armor, reinforced in several places with plates of some metal that reflects green light, despite being silvery in color. "A test perhaps? But what would suit them for something such as this?" Laid across his lap is a simple staff, reinforced with metal at the tips. He lays back and stares up at the sky, apparently not very interested in whatever the group decides.

The last of the women, wears scalemail that looks peculiar, though you can't seem to put your finger on why. Her hair seems long, but most of it is tied up into a thick braid. What is most eye-catching however, is the massive shield and bizarrely shaped lance she carried, it was far too short to be effective. "Why not a trial by combat? It's usually the most simple way to go about things, and it'll help us figure out who here is actually ready and who's just suicidal!" Her voice is chirpy and sweet and she looks to be the nicest of the women on the stage.

The last man carries a scythe that seems much to large for him. It seems a little odd, but after the last woman finishes speaking, everyone turns to face him. It seems as though he is their leader, unofficial or otherwise. He wears a blindfold and little more than peasants clothing. "I don't see why not." And the somber expression he was trying to put on breaks into a grin. "HA! I don't see! Bwehehehehe." You can almost feel the rest of the group on the stage roll their eyes. "But I think we should ask them what they think on the matter. There's no need to be blind to the needs of those assembled after all." And after a moment he starts laughing to himself again. "I guess I have to be blind to that, don't I?" The woman with the twin swords audibly groans.

He points at the crowd, directly at Cassandra, actually. "You, you're the only girl that stayed. You decide how we're to pick 7 of you out of the 12 that are here."

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra raises an eyebrow as she scans the people on the stage, starting and ending with the blind man, "I imagine that tests from each of you would take to much time," she looks towards her competition, "so, a trial by fire, see what you have to work with and who would fit your own teaching style best."

Cassandra is still holding her sword, "I do also believe that each of you should interview more than one of us so that personality clashes do not occur, if you choose someone that fits skill wise, but has a personality you can't stand, you'll just be wasting time."

[Jacior]

The man with the scythe grins. "I like her! But that's not really how this is going to work. We're going to pit you against each other, and then you're going to pick one of us! Assuming you win that is..." He nods to himself, as if all this was very sagely and wise. It was then that the lancer spoke up again. "But there's seven of us and twelve of them. That's not going to work very well." He frowns at that. "You're right of course. So, we either go find two more people. Or one of us can sit out. Or we can work out some sort of complicated tournament style fight." He folds his hand under his chin. "So many options."

The man who'd attacked the crowd shrugs. "There's always the culling method. We simply kill five of them and then there's no issue!" More than one person nods at the last statement, leading you to wonder what you might have gotten yourself into. The group on the stage starts talking amongst itself at that, but too quiet to hear from where you're standing.

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra decides to look through her competition, get a read on them and see which ones are really her competition, "just like untempered steel..." she mutters as she looks through the people.

Appraise: [roll0]

[Jacior]

The group on the stage finally ceases their deliberation after a minute or two. "It's been decided that you shall all fight, tournament style. Best of three." The baggy sleeved man said with a peppy tone. "Lethality of the fights is to be left up to the competitors. Anything goes folks." They divide the group up into pairs using a system you can only assume is with great care and calculation.

Your first opponent is a slightly older man, the one with the greataxe. He seems to value function over form and his weapon and armor have no ornamentation, other than obviously being well made. He grunts at you, but makes no other committal noises.


Roll for initiative: [roll0]

[Jacior]

The man brings his axe up to bare first, not hesitating because Cassandra is a woman. His swing is enourmously powerful and the first strike hits true into her shoulder, she can feel the blood flowing down her side. "That axe is annoying, let's get rid of it," Cassandra says and swiftly draws her sword and shifts her weapon to pull the axe from the larger man's hand.

As the axe changes hands, the man looks bewildered and more than a little embarassed. "I uh, surrender. I can't do anything without my axe." The match was yours with little effort it seemed. Well, that was quicker than Cassandra expected, "Here," she hands back his axe, "you ever need another one I deal in them. I suggest keeping a back up weapon for this sort of situation. My sheath is built for that purpose."

"Well that was certainly a fast fight!" The blind man exclaims and claps his hands together. "Come up here and let Laura take care of your wound. She's good at that kind of thing. And we can wait for the rest of the lot to be done." You come up on the stage and stand, letting the lancer handle your wound. She appears to know magic as her hands start glowing as they rest on your shoulder. You also make note that she has you face her and attempting to look behind you is blocked by the smiling face of the old man. "He certainly did a number on you for one attack, didn't he Girly? Wow."

The fights are over in short order after that. "We've got one fatality over here!" The girl wielding twin swords calls out, straightening up from inspecting the body. From what you can see, the man is torn open something horrible. "Next bout! Up and up." This fight you're paired against a man wearing nothing but hides and carrying a blood-specked maul. "Get ready, I'm gonna crack your little head open." He doesn't seem the most friendly type.

Initiative: [roll0]

[EdroGrimshell]

"We'll see," Cassandra replies, drawing her sword.

Initiative: [roll0]

[Jacior]

Cassandra flashes forward and makes her attack, but gets her sword caught in the armor on the man, giving him a chance to dodge. The man side-steps Cassandras attack, but only barely. His swing goes wild however, smashing into the ground and cracking the stones. Cassandra glances at the weapon, and goes to do the same maneuver she had used against the axe man from earlier. "I hope you can fight without your maul," Cassandra says as she takes hold of the heavy hammer and slams the head into the ground while directing her sword at her opponent

"As a matter of fact, I CAN!" The man says and swings his fist at Cassandra, connecting a blow on the same shoulder she'd hurt earlier. "But you can't hit nearly as hard," Cassandra replies before she surges forward, slashing with her sword right at his stomach, and seemingly passing through his side as she dashes past him, still holding the Maul in her other hand.

The man grimaces at the cut before glaring at her with the utmost contempt. "I'LL CRACK YOUR HEAD OPEN WOMAN!" He swings overhand with both his arms, landing a solid blow against Cassandra's head. But it doesn't feel cracked.

Cassandra's blade comes up to strike while he's distracted by his own attack. Suddenly, blood gushes from where she had struck him earlier, "I hope you like my attack, it's a rather potent one," Apparently a little too potent, for immediately afterwords, he topples over like wall being pushed down. "I guess you won't learn from the mistake though," she states as she flicks the blood from her blade and sheathes the sword.

The woman with the twin swords comes to check the collapsed man. "That's two fatalities this round! You people really don't mess around, do you?" She says, almost a complement. "Well, that concludes that, doesn't it! You two," he points towards the axeman you fought earlier and the man wielding the katana. "Leave. Be gone from our sight for a hundred years!" He starts laughing. "Actually, if you could be in my sight in about five minutes, that'd be great!" He laughs to himself as the two men leave dejectedly.

The other fatality, unsurprisingly, belongs to the man that killed someone in the first round. He looks at you and one other person, the one wielding the single longsword with a certain disturbing eagerness. "You three get to pick first." He says sagely. "So choose wisely your Master."

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra hums lightly, then goes to the two that caught her eye, "a quick question," she says, "are either of you artisans as well as warriors?" the question is directed at the woman with two swords and the man with the staff.

[Jacior]

"You'll find that each of us here crafts our own weapons, armor and gear. I would not place my trust in the blade I did not forge with my own two hands." The one with the twin swords says, insulted by such a prospect. "You should follow such an example, none here will make anything for you."

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra grins, "I've already taken to that philosophy," she says, "I own a forge in town where I make my own weapons and armor," with that said, she makes her decision, "I think we may be able to work well together," she says to the man with the staff, the metal he had on his armor interested her.

[Jacior]

The man doesn't notice at first, not having gotten off his back since he laid down earlier to watch the clouds. The man with the scythe nudges him with his foot. "Finnegan. She picked you, get up you slug." He grumbles and grunting all the while, rises to a sitting position. "Of course she did. Why couldn't I sit out like we were talking about?" He scratches the side of his scruffy face. "You know we voted fair and square." The man groans and flops back down, hitting his head hard on the wooden platform. "I know, I know. I was just hoping."

Finnegan rolls over and climbs to his feet, using his metal-shod stave as a prop. "I guess it's settled then."

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra blinks, "would you like to come to my shop? We could talk there before starting, learn a little about each other."

[Jacior]

"Sure, if you've got something to drink, that'd be great." He says and shakes his head to each side.

[EdroGrimshell]

"I have some wine, but there's a tavern nearby if you want something stronger," Cassandra says as she leads the way.

[Jacior]

"To the tavern then!" He says and hops off the stage, nearly falling on his face. "I assume you're buying?"

[EdroGrimshell]

"Just don't go overboard," Cassandra says.

She leads Finnegan to the tavern and takes a seat with the staff user, "a drink or two before we start?" she asks, "they have a decent mead here, and I'm partial to the spiced cider."

[Jacior]

"Something hard and brain-rattling." Finnegan says, ordering something most obviously reserved for late-night drinking. When it's brought to him, he quickly drinks it down and orders another, which he takes the time to sip.

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra gets a spiced cider, "to start, I'm Cassandra Blackmoor, I'm a swordsmith by trade," she says, "my skill relies on speed, evasion, and blocking mostly, though I do have a kata that lets me deal more damage if I need to. I'm rather skilled with swordsmithing, alchemy, koltgari, gemcutting, trapmaking, and making puzzle boxes, as well as decent with most other forms of craft. They're what I'm hoping to expand, more so that my combat abilities, by gathering new materials from the hunts."

[Jacior]

Finnegan gives her a look, slightly unfocused already. "I don't remember saying I was going to teach you how to fight. I'm supposed to be teaching you about what's out there and how not to get yourself killed." He takes another swig of his drink. "Good to know you know how to make traps though, that'll help you out there. I guess I have a couple questions myself. If you're just looking to improve your craft skills, why not hire someone to gather materials for you? Certainly safer and a lot less time-consuming."

[EdroGrimshell]

"I like to know where my materials come from," Cassandra replies, "and I'd like to refine my swordsmanship. This kills two birds with one stone."

[Jacior]

"So it's not all about the crafting. You can say that you know, I'm not here to be judging you." He holds up his hands as if to protect himself. "You don't need to bite. I'm already teaching you."

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra blinked, did she really come off as biting with that statement? "No, not completely about my craft," she says, then waves for another cider, and another drink for Finnegan if his was empty, "...so, I know your name is Finnegan from one of your colleagues mentioning it, but I don't know much else about you."

[Jacior]

"There's not really much more than that to tell. You got the basic gist of our group from everyone else." He says, as his next drink comes. "Therese wanted you to pick her, you know. Something about you she liked. Anyway, I guess, what do you want to know about me? You know I like to drink already."

[EdroGrimshell]

"I suppose I'll see most of what I want to know when you're teaching me," Cassandra says, "but the one I am most interested in is your armor, or at least the metal you used for it anyway."

[Jacior]

"The metal in my armor? I call it gut ore, but I think it's real name is impas or something, I don't really remember. Is that the reason you picked me? Because of that?"

[EdroGrimshell]

"Not entirely, but it was a contributing factor," Cassandra replies, "it was between you and the lady with two swords, it just so happens that I found you more interesting. Call it woman's intuition, or a gut feeling if you prefer."

Cassandra was thankful for the scarf as she blushed lightly for the next part, "I should probably have gotten names earlier, but I would like to know your colleagues' names for if I run into them later."

[Jacior]

"I'd be surprised if you did. Everyone has their own plan for teaching their 'student'," He makes motions in the air with his fingers. "I know at least one of them had plans to dump theirs out in the wild for a week and see how they did." Finnegan rolled his eyes at that. "But if you really want to know I guess I can tell you. No rule against it anyway."

He extends the fingers on his left hand, folding them each in with the other hand as he recites the names. "There's me, Finnegan. The big guy who spoke first today is Gladwick. Nessa is the one with the scar and the karuki-gi. The one who attacked the crowd? That's Martin, he's a little hard to control sometimes. Therese, the one who wanted you, is our little oriental flower." Blinking at that, he adds. "The one with two swords."

"You already knew Laura's name, she the lass that healed your shoulder. And Stephen is the blind guy. Be thankful you didn't pick him. You'd have probably rolled your eyes out of their sockets listening to his jokes. He's always said if he lived to be a hundred he'd never see the day." Finnegan stops and groans at that, burying his face in his hands. "Now he's got me doing it too."

[EdroGrimshell]

"And you didn't want a student," Cassandra comments, "Why is that exactly? Just want to relax?"

[Jacior]

"Basically." He says blatantly. "Too much work, too much time. Never really see a return on investment. I mean, you're never going to save my life one day like out of a book. I can understand wanting to pass on some knowledge, but that should be when I'm an old man. Not in my prime. Not when I could be cloud-watching or practicing my forms or something."

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra laughs, "I think you'd like my Aunt, she has the same mentality," she says, "I learned a bit from her, actually, but her style is... well, she's a drunken boxer..." she continues somewhat slowly at the last part, "she's actually supposed to be coming out this way some time, you might get a kick out of having a drink with her."

[Jacior]

Finnegan held up two fingers, straight out from his body. "I've learned two things in life: Don't make promises if you're not one-hundred percent sure, and not even then. AND, never drink with someone who's itching for a fight after getting sauced. It only leads to property damage."

[EdroGrimshell]

"Good advice," Cassandra replies, "so I guess the teaching starts now then?" she says with a wry smile, though Finnegan couldn't see it past her scarf, he'd definitely hear the humor in her voice.

[Jacior]

"You can count that as your first lesson if you like." Finnegan says, shrugging. "I wasn't really counting on doing anything today."

[EdroGrimshell]

"If that's the case, would you like to see my shop and forge?" Cassandra asks, "might be useful to see what kind of work I commonly do."

[Jacior]

"Useful in what way? I'm not teaching you how to make stuff either. You've got the wrong idea if you think that." Finnegan says, slugging back another drink. "I WILL teach you how to work with some of the more fiddly materials, unusual metals and what not. But my job is not teaching you fighting or making things. If you want that, then you're going to have to do something to impress me. And frankly, you're not capable enough to do that. Nor do I have the energy to bother."

[EdroGrimshell]

"More to just see how I work than anything else," Cassandra states, "if you don't want to take a look I don't think it'd be a hindrance to either of us, but I don't think it'd hurt either. If it's all the same though, I need to head back soon to start working again. I'll pay for the drinks," with that, Cassandra takes her leave as long as Finnegan didn't have anything else to say.

[Jacior]

"I'll be here if you need me. We'll get started in the morning." Finnegan says, ordering his own drinks as necessary. If you don't come back to see him, it's safe to assume where he'll be the rest of the day.

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra nods and heads back to her shop to work the rest of the day and get some rest for tomorrow. She'd also get to work on researching a few things for her sword, namely its truename, and an alchemical solution to try and give it some of the properties of other metals.

Profession (Merchant): [roll0]

Truespeech: [roll1]
Craft (Alchemy): [roll2] +2 from Alchemist's Lab
Knowledge (Arcana): [roll3]

[Jacior]

Cassandra makes little headway on the name of her sword, it seemed whatever she was doing, just wasn't the right thing to learn it. As for her alchemical pursuits, she fairs better. With a little imagination and a couple of obviously stupid idea, she starts on what she believes will be the base for a number of solutions that she could apply to the blade, with time and effort. Though as a base, it wasn't going to do much by itself.

With thoughts of swords, names and metals in her head, Cassandra sleeps a surprisingly sound sleep. Until someone starts banging on her door with something hard. If she looks out the window, she can barely see the hint of light in the sky past the Spine. But it wouldn't be light out here for another hour at the very least. More rapping shakes her from that thought though, as whoever's out there is decidedly impatient.

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra goes to the window, having already guessed who was there, and sticks her head out the window, "I'll be right down, just give me a minute," if he looked, he'd see her without her scarf for the first time, and the reason she wore it, every single one of her teeth came to a point, like a shark's teeth.

She gets dressed quickly, which was much easier with her adventuring gear than her work gear, and headed downstairs to meet the guy, grabbing her signature scarf along the way and her sword as she walked by it.

With that she opens the door to meet whoever was there.

[Jacior]

It is, unsurprisingly, Finnegan, carrying several large bundles in his arms. He waits outside until she opens the door, where he pushes past her into the shop. "Girl, you know you got a mouth full of monster teeth?" He seems completely sober, despite what he was drinking most of yesterday. "Not that I don't support being ready, but a piece of advice for the future: Don't greet your guests with a sword in hand. Quite rude. And, I should add, against me, completely useless." He drops the stuff he was carrying on the floor and looks around. "Nice little place you got here." You recall, suddenly, not telling him where your shop was. Or that you lived above it.

[EdroGrimshell]

"It's why I wear the scarf, it's from my father's side of the family," she replies with a twinge of annoyance to her voice, "people respect him enough to ignore it, me, not so much. I try not to let people know about it."

Her living quarters weren't exactly a secret, a lot of people in town knew she lived here, but it was still interesting that Finn found her here, "As for the sword, I always grab it on my way down, only difference is I usually set up shop and leave it at the counter before opening the door," Cassandra states, "force of habit."

[Jacior]

"Like I care what you look like. You think people look at me and see anything but a lazy drunkard?" Finnegan says and pulls a flask from his hip and takes a swig before looking down at it and over at Cassandra. "Want some? Anyway, they're mostly right actually." He stops and runs a hand trough his hair. "Actually, that's a startlingly accurate description of me, isn't it?"

He shrugs and looks around. "To each their own. Some people might think that you were unwelcoming to guests is all." He looks down at the stuff he dropped on the floor. "You got a big table around here? Put that stuff on it and tell me what you want to learn first. The sooner we get this done with, the sooner I can go take a nap."

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra deadpans, "my smithy has one," she says, taking the stuff to it, "I'm most curious about what I may encounter out there, and what to avoid if I wanna live long enough to get back."

[Jacior]

"Sensible, practical. Kind of boring. You might have to have to wake me up if I doze off during this, really long, dull lecture on geography, flora and fauna." He digs through the pile of things and pulls out a long tube. "This! Is possibly the most complete map of the Spine-lands you're going to see in your lifetime. And that means: no, you can't have it, and no you can't copy it." Finnegan pushes all the stuff that you just put on the table onto the floor without a thought and unfurls the map across it, pinning the corners down with some objects at hand.

What you see is an extraordinarily detailed map, the majority of which you can bet most cartographers would pay a fortune just to see, let alone get their hands on. "Ok, here is the plains you only can know too well." He gestures at the near semicircle that made up the plains that extended from the base of the mountain farther than the horizon. "This is about are far as most people get before they turn back. Understandable really. It's a long trip just to get the forests, without counting the various creatures that inhabit the plains."He widens the circle he outlines to include the foresty parts to the south and some mountainous regions to the north. "You want to live? You stay within this part of the map. You go further with your skill, and you'll be dead far from where anyone can or would care."

"From there, it's really a simple matter of breaking down the types of creatures you're likely to see in this region. In the plains, it's mostly herbivores. Don't camp near the water though, there's a lot of stalking creatures that will go for you. They aren't afraid of us like the creatures on the other side of the spine. Mostly, they're harmless if you can fight them one on one. And oddly, they don't like hunting in packs. Too much competition that way. You'll get them in pairs or threes sometimes, but any more than that and it's a surprise." For someone who thought this was a boring waste of time, he seemed surprisingly animated and talkative. "I talk about this area, because that's where you have to start no matter what. It's a pretty quiet place, you don't see much really. The southern parts are where the creatures start getting bigger and the to the north they start getting smarter. Which do you want to hear about first?"


http://cdn.obsidianportal.com/assets/6107/Krynn_World_Map_-_1.jpg

[EdroGrimshell]

"Hm," she hums as she looks at the map, "I'll probably go for both eventually, but I'd probably go for the bigger ones first."

[Jacior]

Finnegan nods slightly to himself, almost as if he expected Cassandra to say that. But who knows really. "Ok then. Instead of being vague, we're going to talk about the four creatures you're most likely to encounter when you head south." He reaches down and pulls out a book, almost a tome really with its size. "This is my personal field guide. I can't guarantee all of the info is accurate, but it's what I've experienced personally. So that's all I can go off of." He opens it a spends a moment leafing through it before stopping on a page and laying it down on the table. "We'll start with these and explain the warning to stay away from the water in the forest." He stops and grins. "I haven't given you that warning yet. Oops."


http://digital-art-gallery.com/oid/4/800x618_2005_Bigbug_2d_surrealism_monster_fantasy_ picture_image_digital_art.jpg


"I call them king krabs, I have no idea if anyone's actually named them yet around here. They're mean. They're territorial. They're about the size of a small horse, if you're lucky. They're also blind, utterly and completely. They use smell and sound to track prey and their sense of smell works just as good underwater. But, they can't go very far from the water either. Keep a hundred foot distance and there shouldn't be any encounters with them." He stops for a second. "And I don't know how common a trait it is, but some of them can spit. And I wouldn't mention it if it was just spit. They lob globs of saltwater mixed with some kind of organic acid. It can eat through most metal in a minute if you don't get it neutralized. Their shells are fairly hard, but they molt so often it usually doesn't matter. Most will be pretty soft if you fight them." Finnegan flips through another couple pages before settling on the next target of discussion.


http://coolvibe.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Fantasy-Art-Jona-Skoog-Jungle-Monster.jpg


"Ugly things huh? I call em tongue flies. They're just as gross in person. They're small buggers, but they like to travel in swarms. About the size of a house cat, really. The sting they've got is paralytic, which is pretty much their goal. They sting you and drag you off, presumably to their hive. The tongue is a problem too. It's sticky, they'll try to pull your weapon out of your hand. But, with these things, the sting is all you need to worry about really. They don't have enough strength to do anything with their arms except grab you. They're pretty harmless, truth be told." He picks up the book and cycles through a couple pages before settling on one.


http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101123214943/finalfantasy/images/0/0c/Unused_monster.png


"Ok, I've got two things to avoid here. We'll start with the one you'll most likely find first. Simply put, plains-charger. They're big, they're stupid, they're a bitch to fight. They like to lay around most of the time. The bigger they are, the more they lay around. They're all carnivores though. And damn good at being hard to spot before you get on top of them. That horn is no joke, it's for killing things. They're faster than they look with those legs. But knowing you, you'll want to go after them. Why? Because that rocky stuff on them? It's actually rock. And don't you know, they love to eat the rocks that specifically have unusual metals in them."


https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-nzjbOq2j7is/TYc7VBqsnMI/AAAAAAAAAf4/7NI6frl8d3E/s1600/SpikeBeast.jpg


Finnegan almost reluctantly flips to the next page. "I was thinking maybe this one wouldn't be necessary to show you, but you strike me as the type to attract all kinds of trouble." He gives you a rueful smile. "I don't have a name for this one. You can call it whatever you like. We only fought two of them. It was a pair, presumably mated. If you come across one, or two, gods forbid, run. Just run. Even I wouldn't try to fight two of them alone. Stay out of the deep forest. That's all I have to say about it."

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra nods, "I could probably use the shell from one of the King Krabs to make armor if I find one of the moltings or fight one with a hardened shell, though that'd be tough given what you've told me," she says contemplatively, "what about more docile animals that may be out there? Ones that someone may actually be able to tame."

[Jacior]

"There's really not. The most docile creature out there will still sooner take a charge at you than you at you. It's really an aggressive environment. If you want something tame, get a dog." Finnegan says flipping idly through his book.

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra hums, well, there goes that idea, "hm, besides creatures, what else is out there? Some plants may be useful for my alchemy in particular, or even to concoct poisons to help take down some of the creatures out there," Cassandra says, alchemy was such a useful art, and it was one she fully intended to exploit here, even to make poisons.

Craft (Alchemy) can be used to make poisons, but it suffers a -4 penalty unless I take a feat for it.

[Jacior]

"I'm gonna be honest, except for a few carnivorous plants that tried to eat us, I didn't pay much attention to the plants out there. That's ah, Martin's field, actually. He claims it's for poison's and such, but he's got a book of pressed flowers in his pack." Finnegan grins. "He's not all bad, you know."

[EdroGrimshell]

"I guess I'll have to do that research on my own then," Cassandra says, "I am most curious about the odd metals you mentioned the plains-chargers eating, that's likely the last thing I'd like to know today."

[Jacior]

"That's where I got the gut metal for my armor. The ones in the south seem to seek out even the small sources of it and eat it. The bigger they are, the more they typically have inside. That's a theme you're going to find."

[EdroGrimshell]

"Right," Cassandra replies, it looked like she was going to ask something else, but stopped herself, "I think that's all I'd like to know, is there anything you think I may need to know out there?"

[Jacior]

"Stay within the radius I circled. Beware sand spouts. Bring... a fishing rod!" Finnegan nods sagely again. "So useful."

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra smiles behind her scarf, "I'll keep that in mind," she glances at what else he brought with him, mainly just curious, he seemed so careless with it, "I guess that's it for lectures for the day."

[Jacior]

It doesn't seem like all that much really. A couple books, including his field guide, the map, and what appears to be samples of shell, metal and bone. "Actually, until you make a trip out there and learn for yourself, that's pretty much the end of our lessons." Finnegan says glibly. "I find the best way to learn is to do. But unlike some others I will not mention, I'm going to let you go out on your own time."

[EdroGrimshell]

"Would you be coming along to make sure I don't over reach?" Cassandra asks, honestly curious, "until I get the hang of it," she didn't mind if he'd come along or if she'd be on her own.

[Jacior]

"You don't even have any idea if I'm good in a fight and you want me to come with you? Not worried I'd be drunk and useless the whole time?"

[EdroGrimshell]

"I never asked if you'd fight, only if you'd keep me from getting into something I can't finish," Cassandra says, "I know a few teachers watch their students for a while to make sure they don't do anything stupid, my alchemy teacher was like that."

[Jacior]

"It's not a dumb idea I'll admit. But I was kind of looking forward to my vacation... I guess if you really want."

[EdroGrimshell]

"I'll probably be working to earn some extra money and make some more alchemical items before I head out, so you don't have to worry about me leaving right away, I do want to be prepared before I head out there," Cassandra replies, "so you can relax and decide if you'd like to come with me or not, I won't mind either way."

[Jacior]

"Whatever you decide. I'll be here when you want to go. I can't go until you're taught, dead or tell me to buzz off." Finnegan says and throws his pack on the floor. "Wake me up when it's lunch time. It's way too early to be doing stuff." He curls up on side of the room, using his pack as a pillow and almost in moments Cassandra can hear light snoring.

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra promptly opens shop, looking to earn some real money today, and do some proper research while she's at it. Though she'd start by making up a batch of Healing Salves. She makes sure to wake Finn up for lunch, and prepare enough food for both of them.

Profession (Merchant): Take 15 for a total of 25.

Craft (Alchemy): Take 15 for a total of 34. DC 25. Crafts 25 x 34 = 850sp = 85gp = 3 Healing Salves. Only investing 25gp so no left over gp for another batch.

[Jacior]

The day is moderately more busy than usual. Apparently word spread about Cassandra's acceptance as an apprentice and some of the less stubborn folk seem to have stopped their curmudgeonly ways. Finnegan spends most of the day sleeping, only waking up for lunch until the late afternoon when he makes some odd excuse and vanishes. He doesn't come back by the time she closes for the day.

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra cleans the forge and closes shop, it was a good day, really, Finn had helped her in more ways than one, people hearing he was teaching her had brought in more people than usual, which netted her a nice chunk of gold.

[Jacior]

It isn't until after Cassandra has locked up and is cleaning the shop that she hears someone knocking quietly, but insistently, on her door.

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra looks towards the door, odd enough that they came after she closed, it was worse because she was just about to do some more research for her sword.

She sets down the materials she was about to test and heads to the door to see who was there.

[Jacior]

The person standing there is none other than the man who'd informed you of the goings on yesterday. "Hope I'm not disturbing you, Girly. Thought I'd come and see what'cha could offer me for my help yesterday."

[EdroGrimshell]

"I did say I owe you one," Cassandra says, letting him into the shop, "I honestly thought you'd be here earlier than this," she says before asking, "so, what did you have in mind?"

[Jacior]

"I don't rightly know. Do you do custom work?" He asks, stepping into the emptied shop.

[EdroGrimshell]

"I do," Cassandra replies, "Swords mainly, but I can forge almost any metal weapon or alchemical item."

[Jacior]

"Then my request might seem a little outlandish to you. I need a pair of... for lack of a better term, I will call them battle sleeves. Armor up to shoulders, thick heavy gauntlets that still let me use my hands." He says, trying to explain it.

[EdroGrimshell]

"Battle sleeves?" Cassandra asks, "Are these for blocking attacks or increasing the damage a punch can do?"

[Jacior]

"Both. What good is offense with out defense and the reverse?"

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra nods, "I could do that, though it may take some time to get it right, I can make gauntlets as weapons easily enough, but letting them act as shields is a new trick that may take some work to balance out while allowing full mobility," she comments, "I'll need measurements of your arms, your budget, and the time frame for making them."

[Jacior]

"I assume you have measuring equipment. As for money, as much as it takes. And time... before I die, preferably." He says amiably enough. "Or you die. That too."

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra nods as she grabs a slate and chalk, a measuring ribbon, a large piece of parchment, and a chunk of charcoal, "I'm going to trace your arms as a reference as well as getting measurements," Cassandra says, putting down the parchment on the front counter, "will probably take a few minutes to get everything down."

[Jacior]

"Not a problem. Do what you need." He says, letting her get what she needs to get. "It's just something I need to get done."

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra nods, quickly taking measurements of both arms and writing them down on parchment, using the slate as a clipboard, with some notes on the actual slate underneath the parchment, then gets tracings of his arms all the way up to his shoulder.

"I'll probably need to contact you for fittings so I can get it just right, is there a way I can contact you regularly?"

[Jacior]

"I'll come by once a week or so to see how it's going. Don't worry about that." He says shortly. "But until then, I better be off. I have other things to do tonight."

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra nods, "so do I, research that may aid you as much as myself."

Research Rolls
Truespeech: [roll0]
Craft (Alchemy): [roll1]
Knowledge (Arcana): [roll2]

[Jacior]

The man takes his leave and Cassandra gets down to work with her research. She makes great strides working with the base she'd made and cyrite, experimenting with a steel rod, she manages to infuse with the properties of cyrite, destroying what little stock of it she had left.

That being done with, she cleans up and hits the sack, with any luck, Finnegan wouldn't wake her up before dawn again.

End Day 2

--------------------------------------------------

Start Day 3

Cassandra manages to sleep well through the night and morning comes with little incident. The day seems to be hers to do with as she pleases!

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra woke in a good mood, her work from the previous night had left her feeling good, a cyrite infusion would be a great boon to her work, she'd only need cyrite powder and alchemical reagents and she could essentially enchant a weapon, without a speck of actual magic!

So she has an extra kick to her step when she opens the shop and gets to work, maybe she could get some more cyrite to work on that infusion. A pound of the stuff would only be ten gold, seeing how far she could make that go would be the real test.

But until then, she'd have to man the shop.

Profession (Merchant): [roll0]

[Jacior]

The shop is absolutely packed today. There's more people here today than there's ever been before. She only barely manages to keep up with all the people and makes a tidy sum for the day. Again, Finnegan is gone all day. You haven't seen him in a couple days now. And he left his stuff here.

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra rushes through the day, a little panicked by the sudden rush, she really wasn't prepared for that, but it did fill her pocket some. It was time to get started on another project, finding the truename of her sword. After that she's make a preliminary design for the commissioned gauntlets, just a sketch of what they'd look like with notes, using the best of her knowledge to make them as accurate as she could.

Previous Truespeech check was 28.
The other thing is just fluff.

[Jacior]

With hours of intensive meditation, Cassandra uncovers part of her sword's true name: Aeith. She can feel there is more to it, but this it what her meditations have uncovered to this point.

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra writes down that part of the name, both in draconic and sylvan script, then sets up her koltgari tools for the following day. The shop would be closed for the day in two days, tomorrow she'd have a sign up to say as much. That'd be her day to work on various projects.

[Jacior]

End Day 3

--------------------------------------------------

Start Day 4

Cassandra awakens suddenly from her sleep. There's no outside light, so she can assume it's still the middle of the night. She's not sure exactly what's woken her up until she hears faint whispering near the foot of her bed and some shuffling.

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra reaches to her neck, grabbing the small bag that covered the pellet of liquid light and pulls it off the pellet, hoping to use the sudden change in light to blind whoever was in her room, or at least get a look at their faces.

[Jacior]

The sudden light blinds the pair of would be thieves at the foot of Cassandra's bed. They both swear and cover there faces quickly, but you notice the pair of them wearing goggles. "I thought that spell was supposed to keep her asleep!" One of them says, slightly muffled by the hands covering his face.

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra dashes to the door and grabs her sword, just dropping the sheath as she turns to the thieves, "unfortunately, a strong enough will counters that," with the pellet around her neck, it lit up her face from below, and without her scarf, her shark teeth are completely visible, "mind telling me what the hell you're doing in my room?"

Intimidate: [roll0]

[Jacior]

"W-we were told to come here, that you had some really valuable stuff." One of them says, having pulled the goggles off his face. "They gave us a magic scroll and said we could have the rest of your stuff as long as we gave them the map and the books."

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra's eye twitches, "Finn," she mutters, "shouldn't trust what people like that tell you, never know what you might encounter," Cassandra says, "now, you've got two options here, drop everything and get the hell out or have a sword shoved up your asses. I think I know which you'd prefer. You've got five seconds."

[Jacior]

The pair of thieves quickly drop the remnants of the scroll, and empty their pockets of thieving equipment and run past Cassandra down the stairs and out onto the streets where they disappear into the night.


Loot:

1 scroll (2 copies of the Deep Slumber spell still remain)
2 sets of Masterwork Thieves Tools
4 daggers

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra sheaths her sword and follows after them, locking her door more securely once they're gone, then checks to make sure the books and map were in a secure place if they were still here. Time to look into some better locks.

With that done, Cassandra secures her new equipment and heads back to bed, covering the light pellet once more.

[Jacior]

The rest of the night passes without incident and soon it is morning again. From the looks of things, it is going to start raining again soon. And who knew how long it'd last this time.

[EdroGrimshell]

"Well, today's going to be slow, at best," Cassandra says, going through her daily ritual. She'd spend most of the time no one was in the shop throughout the day forging steel plates for the gauntlets, she knew about standard gauntlets, but this would require some extra work.

Profession (Merchant): [roll0]
Craft (Weaponsmithing): Take 15 for a result of 35
Craft (Armorsmithing): Take 15 for a result of 28

[Jacior]

The day passes with moderate business. There aren't as many people as yesterday, and a lot of those are just looky-loos on top of it. A couple people though buy high price items and make the day not a total waste.

Cassandra progresses quite nicely on the gauntlets, making a decent pair of prototypes between sales. The sleeves prove harder though, and she can't seem to work out how to connect them in several places. The methods she comes up with make movement really restricted. It seems like a problem for another day.

[EdroGrimshell]

With the prototype almost completed so far, Cassandra returned her focus to her sword, trying to focus on the next part of its truename.

Truespeak Check: [roll0]

[Jacior]

Tonight is just as successful as the previous attempt. The next part of the sword's name comes to her in a trance: 'orin. It seemed the blade had a long name, as Cassandra can feel the name is not half over yet.

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra wrote down the new part of the name and went to bed.

inevitable d%
[roll0]

[Jacior]

End Day 4

--------------------------------------------------

Start Day 5

The night passes uneventfully and the day is dark and heavy with pregnant rainclouds. It feels like it could start raining any time.

[EdroGrimshell]

Today was Cassandra's day off, so she'd be working on refining the gauntlets all day, she had the weapon part down and could make more if she needed, now, though, she needed to work on the armored part of it.

Two Armorsmithing Checks
Craft (Armorsmithing): [roll0]
Craft (Armorsmithing): [roll1]

[Jacior]

Try as she might, Cassandra just can't seem to wrap her head around the joints of the sleeves without weakening the whole piece to near uselessness.

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra growls in frustration, she was never good with armor, and this was just infuriating. Fortunately, she wasn't above asking for aid. She grabbed her oiled cloak and hat to shed the rain and headed outside, locking the door along the way, in search of an armorsmith to help her with this little problem.

[Jacior]

As Cassandra walks down the road, the rain not having started yet, she spots a familiar figure stumbling down the road clutching his staff for balance.

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra just blinks as she sees Finnegan, completely drunk, before she sighs and walks over, keeping some distance as she calls out, "Finn, you alright?" she asks the clearly drunk man.

[Jacior]

Finnegan looks up at Cassandra in his drunken stupor. "Ho hey there Casssowary. What're you doing up this late?" He smells like a week in a distillery and considering Cassandra hasn't seen him in a couple days, it's possible that's where he's been.

[EdroGrimshell]

"It's not even night yet, Finn," Cassandra replies, "was going to look for someone to help with a little problem I've been having, but I think I'm going to bring you to my shop to sober up instead, unless you have somewhere else to be right now."

[Jacior]

"I'm just going home. Where's the flying cart?" Finnegan looks around loopily. "Hey! What're you doing here? It's a little far from your shop now isn't it? It's going to start snowing soon. You'll get sick!" He seems to be thoroughly sloshed.

[EdroGrimshell]

"How much have you had to drink?" Cassandra asks as she starts leading him towards her shop, "you caused me a little trouble too, a couple thieves broke in to grab the map and books you left behind, if that spell took hold they would have been gone along with all of my stock," she says, trying to get something into his head that'd help him focus a little.

[Jacior]

"Only a cask or two, I'm sure." Finnegan says as he stumbles and leans on Cassandra suddenly for support. He was much heavier than he looked and nearly pulled her down with him. "I'll be fine after you whip me up some of that miracle cure of yours. Best thing I've ever had."

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra sweatdropped, she had a hangover cure from her aunt, but it wasn't something a normal person would use, and she didn't even have the ingredients. Maybe an antitoxin mixed with a couple of the herbs from her healing salve could be used as a cleanser.

"Let's just get you inside for now," Cassandra replies, unlocking the door to the shop along the way to bring Finn inside.

[Jacior]

Finn follows her in, stumbling all the way and nearly knocking over several fairly expensive things. "It's not too much trouble, I'm sure." He says, maybe talking to someone who isn't there. "She'll be fine in the morning. Just need to stop being so drunk. Then I can help."

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra sits Finn down and gets and antitoxin, steeps some of the herbs she uses in her salves, and uses that to dilute the antitoxin. She gives it a taste, and spits it out immediately, it was bitter. She grabbed a lemon and a small amount of mint and mixed them in to mitigate the bitterness, knowing they wouldn't throw off an antitoxin or the herbs.

Then she went back to hand the concoction to Finn, "this might be able to help clear out your system."

[Jacior]

By the time she brings back her makeshift concoction, Finn is fast asleep... On the floor. Somehow he fell out of the chair without Cassandra hearing him. His snoring, it seemed, was the same whether he was drunk or sober.

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra sighs, sets an extra blanket over the downed man, places the drink on the table with a note saying 'for the hangover' then goes back to her shop, she had some time to meditate on her sword's name some more.

Truespeech: [roll0]

[Jacior]

With some time in the quiet, Cassandra manages to get the sword to give up another part of its name: saefor

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra writes down the new part of her swords truename with the rest of it, locks up, checks on Finn, and heads to bed with her thoughts on getting help with the gauntlets and getting some cyrite to mess around with.

[Jacior]

End Day 4

--------------------------------------------------

Start Day 5

The night passes uneventfully and morning soon comes to pass. It feels impossibly dark though for morning and when Cassandra opens her eyes, it's like she needn't bother. It was pitch black.

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra grabs the corded necklace and undoes the bag holding the pellet of liquid light.

[Jacior]

The room lights up as it should. There didn't seem to be any reason for it to be so dark. Looking towards the window, Cassandra can see a thick covering of white on the window.

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra touches the glass, "even drunk he knew it was gonna snow..." she muttered. She sighed and got dressed before heading downstairs to check on Finn and to put her forge to use warming up the place.

[Jacior]

Finnegan is rubbing the sleep from his eyes when Cassandra comes down the stairs. "Your floor is surprisingly more comfortable than the alleys. Less rats too." He looks around in the darkness. "Why is it so dark, it's got to be light out by now." Cassandra notices it's not actually cold, not even chilly in her shop.

[EdroGrimshell]

"You mentioned snow yesterday, and it looks like you were right even if it's the middle of summer and not the least bit cold," Cassandra replies, "if you have a hangover there's a little concoction I made for it. Not sure how well it'll work, but it should purge any lingering alcohol from your system."

[Jacior]

"I've never had a hangover in my life, I'm not about to start now." Finnegan says, laying back on the floor and stretching out, looking rather comfortable. He freezes and then sits up. "What do you mean I mentioned snow yesterday? Who in their right mind thinks it's going to snow in the middle of the summer? It was so muggy last night I thought I was going to drown on dry land!"

[EdroGrimshell]

"No clue, you were drunk as Baator and I thought you were just saying whatever came to mind, but, well," Cassandra goes over to the door and opens it, "last I checked there was only a white sheet of something in front of the window."

[Jacior]

"I must have been drunk if I thought it was going to snow. That's just crazy." Finnegan says as Cassandra heads for the door. When she opens it, a wall of white meets her before falling inwards onto her. It's definitely snow, if the sudden cold around her legs is anything to go by.

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra grabs a handful of snow, balls it up, and tosses it at Finnegan, "I'd say that's snow, wouldn't you? Funny thing, you were right about it even if you were drunk."

[Jacior]

Finnegan yelps as the sudden coldness of the snowball hits him. "Why in the nine hells is it snowing in the middle of the summer? And why would I know about when I'm drop dead drunk?" He eyes the snow with a distrustful glare.

[EdroGrimshell]

"No idea, but it's got us stuck in here, my window on the second floor is snowed shut," Cassandra says, "so unless you wanna try climbing out the chimney, we're stuck in here until we can dig our way out. Got any ideas? If not, I'm gonna grab my coal shovel and start digging," she continues already heading to the forge.

[Jacior]

Finnegan just shakes his head. "By all means, dig away." He says as he climbs to his feet and walks up the stairs. Cassandra hears a thump, a muffled swear and then nothing as the sound of the footsteps upstairs stops.

[EdroGrimshell]

Cassandra looks up, "The windows are blocked up there too, Finn," she calls up, "and my room's the only thing up there," she says, following him upstairs, keeping a hold of the pellet of liquid light she used to get around, "plus the trip wire I put in the door after the last time someone tried getting in here," she says reaching the top of the stairs.