RP:Cornelius commissions a weapon from Taikahn

Background

Cornelius had met Taikahn formally for the first time just recently, although he had seen the dapper lizardly chap around Kelay on a number of occasions. Circumstance had prevented them at the time from lengthy conversation.

By pleasant chance Cornelius came across the Preklek again in the Hanging Corpse of Vailkrin.

A profitable discussion in the Hanging Corpse Tavern

Cornelius strolls into the tavern, winking at Urghdak with an insouciant grin as he does.

Taikahn was pretty much just hanging out, pun semi-intended--Mechator was roaming the table he was seated at and various small metal parts were strewn about a dirty tablecloth that the prek had brought himself so protect the Corpse's tables from grime and/or metal filings and/or scratches, etc. He'd somehow managed to boost the light output of the candle at his table so it gave him plenty of light to work by. He was, however, quite engrossed in his work and didn't notice Cornelius walk in.

Cornelius was mildly surprised to find the tavern so quiet, but it did make it easier to notice Taikahn tinkering away "Hello old bean, what fortune to meet you again, and so soon at that! You're working on something, I take it?" Stating the obvious of course, but the hint of curiosity to the tone adds the unspoken 'What is it?'.

Taikahn looked up suddenly, head tilting, listening to Cornelius and picking out the important bits--he was in analytic mode this evening. "Hello as well, and indeed I am! At the moment I'm just," he gestured vaguely, "tinkering. Playing, really. I haven't had any new laws of physics to challenge recently, nor have I yet gotten any requests for custom items to build people. So, I'm just seeing how my various springs and gears and whatnot fit together." He shrugged.

Cornelius pulls up a chair by Taikahn's table "Fascinating stuff, mechanical devices. It is, in fact, a question of mechanical engineering I am considering. Perhaps nothing as challenging as a new law of physics, but I am wondering if the drow design can be improved upon when it comes to miniature crossbows?"

Taikahn raised an eye-ridge, thinking the question over. "Very little -can't- be improved when it comes to the traditional design of crossbows. They're slow, prone to misfire, wildly inaccurate in some cases... what exactly is the drow design? By the way, I have made a custom crossbow before, remind me to show you later."

Cornelius has had chance to look at one in close detail, having picked up Kuzial's prior to the final resumption of their duel. "They are a crossbow in miniature, largely crafted of their peculiar adamantite materials, designed to fire single-handedly. The accuracy is adequate at short ranges, dicey at best beyond that. They are light and convenient, but tend to be a use-and-discard weapon due to their reload time taking longer to effect than it takes an opponent to close the gap." He pauses, thinking it over. "If there was some way of reducing the reload speed, that would make it a weapon worth carrying. Especially if it was prettied up with an ebony stock with silver engravings."

Taikahn listened intently but towards the end of the last part snickered and tried to keep from laughing. "'Prettied up'? A selling point of a weapon is prettiness?" Then he sat up and thought more about that. "Hrm. I suppose for the culture it makes sense. Anyhow," now he started thinking about the mechanics, "I know how to dramatically increase the rate of fire on larger, two-handed crossbows, but a tiny one? Hm." He thought... and thought... and whipped out a sheet of paper and a stick of pyrite and sketched up a design. "How does this look?" It... maybe had a tiny amount of crossbowishness in the appearance but the similarities stopped at the stock. For one thing, it had three arms rather than two. And an odd sort of projection out one side. And the diagrams of the trigger mechanism didn't seem to do at all what a crossbow's trigger would do. "This thing will fire almost as fast as you can pull the trigger repeatedly. Gravity reloads it, gears recock it, all you need to do is pull the trigger. However, for rate of fire you're sacrificing range and puncturing power. This won't punch through armor, I've already done the calculations in my head."

Cornelius smiles "As a gentleman of Penzance, it is essential that my implements of negotiation are also classed as the height of fashion." He examines the diagram intently, not bothered in particular by the unorthodox designs "An intriguing proposition. Your description suggests a cache of missiles within the weapon itself? How many bolts would it store?" He scratches at his jawline with a thumb "I can handle reduced power and range, so long as there is decent accuracy. Can this design allow for ease of carrying? The third arm looks a bit awkward for portability compared to the standard bow-front of the regular design."

Taikahn made an "it depends" gesture. "Depending on the diameter, about... twenty bolts, or thereabouts?" He grinned and pointed to a smaller part in the corner, detailing how the crossbow would actually fold up and fit inside a holster. "It's very portable."

Cornelius raises both eyebrows in respectful surprise "Astounding. I like the design, old bean. I rather like it a lot." He stares intently at the diagram "Can it be built? And at what cost the materials and artisanship?"

Taikahn laughed lightly. "Thank you, and would I offer you a design that can't be built? I can get this assembled in..." he thought it over, "a week, perhaps. I find my own materials, which adds to the cost of the artisanship, though... say, three and a half thousand gold pieces?"

Cornelius grins "Then we have an accord!" He extends his hand in gentlemanly fashion to seal the arrangement "Naturally, to ease things along, I shall pay in advance. Word of your reliability has spread, so I've no fear on that account." The inevitable moment of vanity strikes "Oh, one thing, old bean: can it be arranged to come in a tasteful finish of black, with a spread-winged raven engraved in silver? - such as appears on the cuirass I currently wear?"

Taikahn reached out and shook Cornelius' hand firmly. "Ah, well thank y--it has?" He lifted an eye-ridge. "How is word spread, exactly? I'm not exactly the most well-known being on Lithrydel." He thought about the styling request. "I'm not an artist--I can make it black, certainly, but you may want to find someone else for the silver engraving. Is that alright?"

Cornelius smiles "I keep strange company, old bean. Black will do - I'm certain there will be a jeweller who can be relied upon to engrave the weapon without damaging it."

Taikahn felt this response was just a tad bit cryptic for his tastes but hey, if word was getting out don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Or something like that. "Right then. Um--are you going to want flat black or a reflective coating?"

Cornelius hands Taikahn a promissory note for his account with the Rynvallian Bank "The clerks in Rynvale shall allow you to claim the gold at any time convenient to you, my good man."

Taikahn accepted the note with gratitude. "Thank you very much, and I assure you it will function at least as well as I've described."

Cornelius inclines his head "And thank you for granting your expertise and artisanship. A flat, non-reflective black would be best. I would prefer it not to easily reflect light where possible."

Taikahn nodded, thinking. He said a word in a foreign language, then continued the sentence: "--will be best for the bodywork, then, and I'll coat the metal bits in a non-reflective material. Good, that'll make it lighter."

Cornelius gets to his feet, and bows "Examining your designs has been a pleasure, old bean, even if they are beyond my practical comprehension. But one can appreciate art without understanding it. My apologies for having to take my leave so soon. Alas, of late, business has me dashing to and fro in a most frightful manner. Hopefully at some point we shall be able to sit down and converse in a more relaxing fashion!"

Taikahn nodded emphatically, also getting to his feet as a courtesy. "I completely understand, believe me. Yes, hopefully soon indeed! I shall start as soon as I can."

Cornelius bows again, and strolls out into the darkness of Vailkrin, thoughts swiftly turning to the dilemma of approaching his ancestral home. He would need fire, yes, and lots of it.

Taikahn returned to his seat and started making a more detailed diagram, making sure to actually write his math out just in case of internal screwups.